Posted by Simon Sobo MD on December 12, 2002, at 21:22:51
In reply to Re: Drunk on Zoloft? » Simon Sobo MD, posted by BrittPark on December 12, 2002, at 15:23:53
You comment "In particular tomagraphic imaging of the brain, though in its infancy, has usually found that there are significant chemical and anatomical differences between "normal" and "mentally ill" people."
Most of these studies are almost comical.
If you raise your right arm one part of the brain will show activity. If you raise your left leg another part of the brain will be busy.
Thus, for example, it is shown that when confronting an attention requiring task ADHD kids don't use the part of the brain that normal kids use to process information.
DAHWe already know they are not using this part of the brain from their behavior. Documenting that this is taking place does not mean the problem is necessarily biological. It merely demonstrates what would be expected given what can be observed. They are now using the thinking delaying parts of the brain.
I do agree with you that many patients will not be helped by psychotherapy alone. I also think some patients are not helped by psychotherapy even with medication.
My article was not an attack on meds, merely an attempt to understand what they might be doing on a psychological level. As I noted in the article there is value in viewing the meds likelihood of success on the basis of an accurate diagnosis but there is also a weakness in relying on diagnosis alone under the false impression that a particular diagnosis points to a particular chemcial imbalance. I was suggesting that understanding the psychological effects of these drugs might be valuable in deciding when and how they might be used with particular patients and particular situations. But that requires knowing the patient a lot better than 15 minute med checks once a month allow and evaluations based solely on diagnosis and side effects. Emotional problems are not the same thing as a strept throat. Strept throat points to penicillin regardless of other details of the patient's life. A given psych diagnosis does should not automatically lead to a specific med.
poster:Simon Sobo MD
thread:123623
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021210/msgs/131570.html