Comments on: What Is Mental Illness? Schizophrenia to Bipolar Psychology

By: awiley51

awiley51 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:13:58 +0000

Ridiculous! Stigma causes (rather than results from) the problems experienced by people with mental illness? Stigma can and should be reduced through knowledge and empirically validated treatments, not by pretending mental illness isn’t real. The idea that people should just “enjoy” schizophrenia is offensive in the extreme, substitute another debilitating disease and see for yourself. Treatment CAUSES suffering? Ah, the Golden Age of neglect, isolation, and grotesque quack “treatment.” ???!

By: nagzul

nagzul — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:18:34 +0000

Not enjoy it. But actually try to train it down. Social behaviors are learned. Chemical balance appears due to a cause, rather it be mental development or outside sources. To only medicate it, is only hiding and covering the problem.
That’s pretty much all psychiatrist want you to do. They don’t want to go into case studies and therapy for schizophrenia. As well as a ton of other things that have been cured in therapy. It’s the business age. Money money money.

By: awiley51

awiley51 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:02:06 +0000

The claim that mainstream mental health treatments do not include therapy is false. A number of therapies have been empirically validated (e.g., cognitive behavior therapy for depression), but combined treatments (medication and therapy) have been the most effective for most people. The idea that psychiatrists (or folks in related fields) do not want to find a cure is silly. The rewards (financial and otherwise) would be tremendous. Biology isn’t everything, but the brain is an organ, right?

By: DavidAlanRogers

DavidAlanRogers — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 07:20:27 +0000

DritonGusia, schizophrenics are a danger to themselves and others. Paranoid delusions are no laughing matter.

Social stigmas do not cause the mental unease of people suffering from bipolar or schizophrenic disorders. Its the fact that they’re genuinely terrified.

You should all be ashamed of yourselves for dismissing the suffering of so many people. When a person needs help, lend a hand. Don’t stultify them with New-Age psycho-babble.

You’re free to play games with your own lives.

By: repeater74

repeater74 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:30:56 +0000

Great points about pharma and the perpetuation of conditions for the sake of profit. I would disagree however that there is no scientific evidence supporting genetic basis for Schz. Many neurodegenerative disorders have strong correlations to mutated genes, ApoE, tau, Parkin, DJ1 and (in the case of Schz) Disc1. These disorders are often both polygenetic and environmental, discounting either of these aspects is ignoring a possible solution.

By: awiley51

awiley51 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:55:58 +0000

@repeater74 How, exactly, do big pharmaceutical companies perpetuate psychiatric disorders? Such an argument needs specifics. How do they perpetuate schizophrenia, autism, depression, Tourrette’s, etc.? And, how would a cure NOT be profitable?

By: DavidAlanRogers

DavidAlanRogers — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:35:42 +0000

Bipolar disorder has tell signs in the structure of amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex.

Schizophrenia has been linked to abnormalities in certain chromosomal regions.

Depression is often linked to anomalies in the neurotransmitive properties of the brain.

There is no scientific evidence to support these claims? Dr. Breeding strikes me as the type of person who has never read an opposing argument or study.

Way to protrude your own piety without evidence or fact. Congrats, Doc.

By: repeater74

repeater74 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:03:48 +0000

What I meant to convey in the statement about pharma is that a diagnosis = income. Often the boundaries of a disorder are stretched to encompass borderline diagnosis. The classic example is osteopenia (which I won’t explain for brevity’s sake). I am most certainly not anti-pharma, but they do bring rake in billions and they are accountable to their shareholders who expect next quarter to surpass the previous. So to recap, I didn’t write “pharma perpetuates psychiatric disorders,”

By: repeater74

repeater74 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:10:04 +0000

Additionally let me add this: I am a scientist in a genetic engineering lab that focuses on the creation and characterization of animal models for biomedical research. I witness the soundness of this science everyday. For Breeding to insinuate that a schizophrenic is better off in the presence of a calm psychoanalyst than under the collective knowledge of neuroscience pure hubris. It reminds me of the AIDS deniers or faith healers.

By: awiley51

awiley51 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:29:47 +0000

@repeater74 Thanks for the clarification, sorry for misunderstanding your point. There are, of course, legitimate criticisms of how mental health treatments are developed and delivered–including diagnosis, most evidence suggests that people with psychiatric disorders are underidentified and undertreated. Dealing with “borderline” cases is a tough issue that demands careful and thoughtful treatment. Mental illness is complex, drawing the line between normal and abnormal is hard, but necessary…