Posted by chujoe on June 8, 2010, at 19:41:45 [reposted on June 11, 2010, at 13:45:10 | original URL]
In reply to Re: Brainstorming alternate treatment options » Leo33, posted by lpslpslpslpslpslps on June 7, 2010, at 20:10:42
LPS, I've been thinking about you, perhaps because we both have academic interests, but also because of the ADHD component in your dx. I have found that 30 mg of Ritalin spaced out over the day is very effective for me, but I have no idea how that would interact with your other meds.
Basing my opinion on your own descriptions, I would also like to suggest that there are psychological issues you ought to consider. At one point in a poet you said something to the effect that it was frustrating to still have problems with issues "the pills are supposed to solve." In a spirit of friendship and solidarity, let me gently suggest that "pills" won't "solve" anything, though they may give you the clear space you need to solve the problem yourself.
I have the sense that your fascination with psycho-pharmacology is an avoidance strategy in two ways: 1.) It is a complex body of knowledge you can focus on instead of what you're supposed to be doing; 2.) it underwrites your reluctance to take responsibility for the garbage filling your apartment (and your life & your mind). So let me recommend what I think is an important book that concerns itself with the human behaviors people on this list are dealing with. The book is Richard P. Bentall's "Madness Explained: Psychosis and Human Nature".
Bentall's text is not a self-help book, but an exhaustive look at the psychological literature on mental illness; nor is it one of those partisan anti-psych screeds or an indictment of the pharmaceutical industry. He hardly concerns himself with those things and he is in fact quite friendly to biological approaches to psychosis, depression, anxiety, etc. It's just that he begins from the premise that, while the brain certainly influences the mind (and behavior), the mind (and behavior) also influence the brain. It's a scholarly book & Bentall cites his sources, but it is not difficult to read. In any case, I think it offers an exceptionally productive framework for thinking about the issues many of us here are facing.
poster:chujoe
thread:950715
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20100529/msgs/950716.html