Posted by Squiggles on November 24, 2002, at 15:07:08
In reply to Fiery Rhetoric, posted by Mr.Scott on November 24, 2002, at 14:35:27
If only it were so easy: the reason
why psychiatrists may not be able to
put you right again, is not because they
are necessarily any more stupid than
a brain surgeon. The reason (imho) is
complex:- the drugs are often new, poorly tested,
unpredictable, only seen on rats for a few
months;- the push to sell the drugs may be so urgent
that there has not been enough time to see
how this drug fares in the long run;- the psychiatrist does not know you as
intimately as your spouse or brother e.g.,
they do not know your idiosyncrancies -- what
is normal or not normal for your character- the diagnosis itself is at best a good guess,
as we do not have blood tests for mental illness
or anything quite so concrete, except in some
cases;- and matching the drug with the symptom is
like matching two colours to get the exact
hue of torquoise or majenta;So, "firing" your psychiatrist because he or she
does not fix your state, does not guarantee you
that the next shrink you employ will be of a
superiour calibre.Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021122/msgs/129074.html