Posted by pseudoname on February 11, 2006, at 19:18:59
In reply to Kramer?, posted by Squiggles on February 11, 2006, at 15:57:32
> Kramer caught my eye because he seems "diametrically" opposed to Healy.
Kramer has a more ambiguous and less enthusiastic attitude toward drugs than his book title implies. He says that after his patients achieve some stable improvement, he asks them to try going without their meds. He's well aware of the drugs' long-term health uncertainties. He knows they aren't the only answer, just one that we have and should use. He had psychoanalytic training and I think mostly practices "talk" therapy.
He does passionately believe, however, that depression is a real, fully-fledged illness. For a contrast between Kramer and someone who's diametrically opposed to him on that, there's a transcript of a debate he had with Thomas Szasz (among others) here: http://www.szasz.com/isdepressionadiseasetranscript.html ("Is Depression a Disease?" 3/31/98. Produced by Warren Steibel)
poster:pseudoname
thread:605252
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20051228/msgs/608724.html