Posted by Elimino Pete on March 22, 2009, at 1:13:03
In reply to Re: Depression as a brain homeostatic reset, posted by linkadge on March 21, 2009, at 9:27:28
I understand your point and the analogy of the adrenaline surge in a fight or flight situation, linkadge. I really believe your idea makes some sense. It would certainly be worthy of investigation and could possibly be studied with the aid of today's imaging technologies (maybe it already has?). Humans are amazingly resilient and adaptive creatures. Just look at all of us, right? So many things regarding mental conditions are quick to be characterized as maladaptive. To the contrary, I believe a good many of these are actually quite adaptive at their core. That would seem to apply to observable behavior in addition to happy chemical activity in the brain. So yes I think you are beating around something that has TONS of merit. That you experience it subjectively only adds to its validity. Along the same lines, one could argue that the development of at least certain psychoses is adaptive and homeostatic. A person can be so unable to deal with reality that they must create another one in order to survive. It seems to me it technically could be argued that virtually everything that occurs within an organism is homeostatic. We get to that mind/body connection though, and it tends to throw our science for a loop. It's that age old problem of trying to study something using the same thing it is that we are studying. These are just humble opinions of a not always so smart guy like me. My best to you, linkadge!
poster:Elimino Pete
thread:886279
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090313/msgs/886503.html