Posted by Beliala on January 3, 2002, at 2:07:55
In reply to Re: Has anyone read, Your Drug May Be Your Problem, posted by caroline on January 1, 2002, at 13:27:44
Hyperbole sells books. I think there’s a lot of truth in what Dr. Breggin says but it’s hard to separate it from the exaggeration and outright b.s. I agree that it’s dangerous to tell people their very real physical symptoms are "psychological" and that they just need to invest enough time/effort in talk therapy. But it’s equally dangerous to attribute all human suffering to a conjectured chemical imbalance, without even looking at external circumstances (stress can trigger/perpetuate screwed up brain chemistry, and in my case no drug could compensate for the effects of my torturous life situation). I know some of y’all are somewhat offended when pdocs/therapists look for psychological causes, since for many people this isn’t relevant. I’m personally offended when certain problems I have are attributed to a Remeron deficiency or whatever (as if I don’t already hold the world record for "greatest number of serotonin boosters trialed"). I wish psychiatry would unite both aspects of mental health - physical AND emotional. The pdocs I’ve had haven’t helped too much with either - seems they have a very limited vocabulary of words they’ll scrawl on the prescription pad, and that’s the extent of their usefulness.
As for whether psych meds cause brain damage, well, given the screwed-up state my brain’s in I wouldn’t be surprised. Meds: can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.
poster:Beliala
thread:88357
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011222/msgs/88598.html