Posted on 05/07/2002 8:48:34 AM PDT by liberallarry
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:26 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
The new research may shed light on findings such as those from a trial last month that compared the herbal remedy St. John's wort against Zoloft. St. John's wort fully cured 24 percent of the depressed people who received it, and Zoloft cured 25 percent -- but the placebo fully cured 32 percent.
In January, Leuchter published a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, in which he tracked some of the brain changes associated with drugs such as Prozac and Effexor, which are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. When Leuchter compared the brain changes in patients on placebos, he was amazed to find that many of them had changes in the same parts of the brain that are thought to control important facets of mood.
"We don't really understand psychiatric disorders at a biological level... Scientists don't understand the neural mechanisms of depression -- or why medicines like Prozac and Paxil work." - Thomas Laughren, who heads the group of scientists at the FDA that evaluates the medicines.
Here are some of the facts presented in the article. The research reveals the scam that's going on. The quote is a surprisingly candid admission - though he then asserts that the meds "work", in spite of the evidence. These faith based assertions by "experts" are sprinkled throughout the article:
The confounding and controversial findings do not mean that antidepressants do not work.
"The drugs work, and I prescribe them"
Once the trial was over and the patients who had been given placebos were told as much, they quickly deteriorated. People's belief in the power of antidepressants may explain why they do well on placebos.
One can only wonder about the continued effectiveness of the "real" meds if the patients were to read this article and find their belief in these meds was misplaced.
Some observers assert that the medicines themselves work because of the placebo effect, but most psychiatrists believe the drugs do have an effect of their own. "Drugs are a "placebo-plus" treatment ..."
Considering the evidence at hand, this can only be understood to be a statement of faith, or worse yet, superstition. There is a dogged determination to hold on to cherished beliefs among those who have largely convince the public that their work is somehow a branch of science.
It's also been known for a long time that, unless the drug in question is significantly more effective than the placebo, its usefulness is questionable. That's the reason they test drugs against placebos. According to this research, the drugs in question don't pass the test.
So we're out of the dark ages of expecting people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and into the enlightened age of knowingly selling them expensive but ineffective pills? And you think that's an improvement? More humane?
A psychiatrist is a M.D. and a lot more likely to be a drug pusher than a psychologist who has a Phd.
Having been depressed before, my problem really was a simple as quitting whining and feeling sorry for myself and doing something about my situation.
Dad? Dad? Is that you?
"Stop yer cryin' or I'll give ya somethin' ta cry for!"
In the meantime, we're robbing the sufferers and calling it compassion. Hypocrisy.
Here's how it works: When your body has a lot of insulin, it drives your blood sugar down. If you eat SUGAR to raise it again, it works for a few minutes, but it also stimulates another shot of insulin that drives the blood sugar down AGAIN, sometimes even further. Symptoms of this roller-coaster insulin/sugar swing are irritability, lethargy, depression, hunger, sugar cravings, headache, anxiety, disorientation, etc. No wonder you feel better! Take a look at Opinions Unlimited under "Nutrition" and see what else happens when your diet is mostly carbohydrates.
More truth than fiction here. Chocolate is a powerful stimulant of serotonin, a brain chemical that makes a person feel alert, interested, awake, and cheerful. But the SUGAR in that chocolate bar has just the opposite effect if it stimulates enough insulin to drive the blood sugar into low levels again. Where's the happy medium, huh?
What a loaded question. But, sure, I've challenged my beliefs plenty, And IF you give me a legitimate reason to question them again, I will. But so far, neither you nor that other guy have. I know what has and hasn't worked for me. Are you speaking from personal experience too?
The truth is, it's not about bias at all - as a matter of fact, I'm not even sure what you mean by that, given the subject matter. If you think my judgement of most of psychology as psuedo-science is a bias, then okay, I'm biased.
But it's only after an objective look at the subject. I have no interest in the subject, other than the fact that I like science, tend to think analytically, and find the greater part of psychology to be a fraud. I've studied it some, and the textbooks I have are full of notations highlighting the unscientific approach of the field in general. Anyone with the least training in the hard sciences would spot the alchemist nature of pyschology/pschyiatry in the blink of an eye. Your emotional rantings are not very likely to change my thinking on this.
When we look at Pavlov, we find actual scientific experimentation. But consider Maslow's hierarchy, or Holme's Social Readjustment Rating Scale, or even Freud's division of human personality into id, ego, and superego - and you find "theories" that are hopelessly beyond experimentation. They are widely accepted as fact, yet unproven and unprovable.
Most "research" in the field is nothing more than an opinion poll, for the truth is plainly told in this article - nobody knows how the human mind functions, yet drugs are peddled to fix it. The claims of "chemical imbalances" are speculative at best, because nobody has resolved the "chicken or the egg" question that this article suggests: do chemical imbalances cause depression, or does depression cause chemical imbalances? If the former is true, then someday when we've figured out the workings of the mind, we might have some real cures. If the latter is correct, we're treating the symptoms instead of the root cause.
Yet we hand out drugs like candy, and advertise them on TV relentlessly - with the constant suggestion that more of us may be depressed than realize it. To anyone not desperate for some help, the scam is obvious. To those who need help, it is the promise of hope - though given by a snake-oil saleman who should be tarred, feathered, and run out of town for selling false hope.
There's more to this article than the last bit of research, by the way. There are drug companies running tests until they get the results they want. They know their products are no more effective than m&m's, and work only through the placebo effect - that's the undeniable conclusion to their research. Yet, in their great compassion for the suffering, they weasel their drugs into the marketplace to sell to unknowing suckers like you. Ah, if I could only be so compassionate, I could have been a terrorist.
Starting with:
Genesis 43:11 ¶ And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down to the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
And ending with:
Revelation 10:10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
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