Posted by mattdds on October 17, 2003, at 15:49:08
In reply to Normal Brain vs Abnormal Brain Why?, posted by Ron Jones on October 17, 2003, at 15:00:49
Hi Ron,
I don't understand what you are asking when you pose the question of whether people can "will themselves" into sanity. Please define "will". The idea of "free will" may just be an illusion anyway, and philosophers have debated this for centuries. Your question seems to make sense, but if you examine it further, it may not valid. You may be asking the wrong question.
If you are asking whether people can do certain things (psychotherapy, etc.) to treat and help mental illness, the answer is certainly yes. Medications are known to help many people as well.
There is a lot of truth to what you are saying. Little is understood about psychiatric illness and the way psychiatric meds work. Yes there are well known adverse effects of medications, but sometimes the benefits outweigh the risks.
You mentioned that mental illness tends to run along familial lines. This is true. It is suggestive that there is a large biological component to mental illness. But that's really about all we can say.
We all want answers to why we feel ill, but sometimes this obsession with finding the answer becomes part of the disease, or is a manifestation of it.
There are many scientists with mental illness, and this is not the problem. People are actively researching the brain and treatments for mental illness. The problem is the complexity of mental illness and the brain / mind in general, and not a lack of intelligent people investigating the matter.
I would not waste time trying to figure it out. We are not there yet, nor are we even close. Treatment at this point is palliative - that's it! There is no evident brain pathology that can just be "fixed up", and there are no cures for mental illness, just treatments. And our understanding of the brain / mind is extremely limited at this point.
On a brighter note, there definitely are treatments that work. I don't think this is refutable. And if a treatment can restore function and well being to an individual, who cares how it works?
Having been in your position at one time, I might kindly suggest you stop worrying so much about why it happens, and start working out a solution (perhaps cognitive or other psychotherapy, medications, and lifestyle changes) even if you don't know how the solution works.
Best wishes,
Matt
poster:mattdds
thread:270265
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031015/msgs/270295.html