Scientific FAQs Dr. Caroline Leaf. Today, it has become commonplace to say that people have chemical imbalances in their brain, most notably a disruption in the proper production of dopamine for diseases like ADHD and serotonin for diseases like depression 1. These people, it is supposed, need drugs to cure these chemical imbalances, hence the terms antipsychotics or antidepressants 2. However, in the first part of the 2. When the first modern neuroleptic, Thorazine Chlorpromazine, was introduced in the 1. Rapidshare London Calling Tab. French researchers Pierre Deniker and Jean Delay noted that the drug created a state of mind similar to Parkinsons disease, introducing a new neurological syndrome in the patient 4. Essentially, these drugs created, not treated, chemical imbalances 5. During the 1. 95. Despite the lack of a conclusive body of scientific evidence these drugs came to be seen as cures, targeting the underlying biological mechanism of the disease of depression or psychosis 7. F-2213K-001-e1506554511923.jpg' alt='The Cognitive Neurosciences Gazzaniga Pdf Creator' title='The Cognitive Neurosciences Gazzaniga Pdf Creator' />Retrouvez toutes les discothque Marseille et se retrouver dans les plus grandes soires en discothque Marseille. Read about Dr. Leafs scientific frequently asked questions. In this book is conjectured that category theory could provide the necessary concepts to bridge the gap between the different levels of brain activity from. It was just assumed that since these drugs affected brain chemistry in a certain way, the opposite reaction must be the result of the disease, notwithstanding the fact that this has never been adequately proven 8. People no longer spoke of the mind altering effects of these psychoactive drugs, and, as psychiatrist and professor at University College London Joanna Moncrieff notes, today it is incredibly difficult to find or publish journal articles on these effects, compelling professionals and researchers to look at patient websites such as askapatient. If the overly simplistic explanation of chemical imbalances in the brain is an insufficient explanation for mental illness, why did many people come to see these drugs as curesAnd why do people still see these dugs as correcting an underlying chemical imbalance There are a number of social and political factors involved in the rise of this infamous theory remember medicine does not occur in a historical vacuum. First, in the second part of the 2. To justify and defend the profession, psychiatrists promoted a medicaldisease model of mental health, which is most notably seen at the time in the publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III, which marked a definitive shift away from psychoanalysis and talk therapy 1. By creating lists of disorders again, based off no conclusive scientific evidence on the possible biological mechanisms underlying these so called disorders, which appeared to be simple, objective ways of recognizing mental illness somewhat like identifying a tumor, psychiatry created a self made marketing weapon against its attackers 1. From now on, institutions like the American Psychiatric Association and the DSM would define what is normal, in turn telling us what it means to suffer and, essentially, what it means to be human 1. They medicalized misery, and today millions are suffering because of their actions, creating a public health disaster 1. Architecture_pexels-photo-116200-e1497463460587.jpeg' alt='The Cognitive Neurosciences Gazzaniga Pdf Creator' title='The Cognitive Neurosciences Gazzaniga Pdf Creator' />A tension has long existed between those biologists who emphasize the importance of adaptation by natural selection and those who highlight the role of phylogenetic. In fact, since it was now widely, yet incorrectly, assumed that these drugs were curing the supposed disease and not just tranquilizing the disturbed individual, forced drug treatments, institutionalization and lack of consent merely became cures 1. The responsibility and guilt of the medical processionals behind these so called treatments were essentially sidelined 1. Today a psychiatrist can be praised for drugging a depressed person with mind altering substances and, if these do not work, institutionalizing them and shocking their brain with ECT electroconvulsive therapy 1. It is even an acceptable and commonplace practice to imprison mentally ill persons, drug them and lock them in solitary confinement, compelling them to live their days marinating in their own excrement 1. It is therefore no surprise that mental health advocate, psychiatrist, former director of the DSM and professor at Duke University Allen Frances declares that there has never been a worse time or a worse place to have a mental illness than in the US today 1. Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical companies, like the psychiatrists, also realized just how effective a marketing tool the chemical imbalance theory could be 2. Despite the recognition amongst many psychiatrists and medical health professionals that the chemical imbalance theory is not valid 2. Eli Lilly still claim that antipsychotic medicines are believed to work by balancing the chemical found naturally in the brain 2. In fact, their marketing efforts, predominantly to doctors through prescription privileges, have been so successful that it is estimated that 8. American public alone believe in chemical imbalances in the brain 2. These companies would not spend billions of dollars on marketing campaigns if they did not think they would work. Additionally, a number of materialistic and reductionistic cultural assumptions have supported these developments. First, we tend to see science and allopathic medicine as the source of all truth 2. The doctor in his white coat is the priest of a secular age, and evidence based clinical medicine is the bible 2. So, if the doctor says that these drugs are safe and will cure chemical imbalances in the brain, even though many of them get most of their information from the drug company representatives who offer multiple benefits for prescribing particular medications, we believe wholeheartedly in what he or she may say and are more inclined to believe the medication will work for us 2. These beliefs, which ignore actual scientific results, are buttressed by a flood of distorted and biased news reports, press releases and scientific journal articles on supposed chemical imbalances, and have transformed the theory into cultural dogma 2. So, obviously, if we experience negative side effects and do not feel the drug is working, it must be something wrong with us, not the drug 2. The situation is critical. Since primary care doctorsfamily physicians, not qualified psychiatric professionals, prescribe most of these mind altering drugs, we do not ask ourselves if these doctors really understand all the implications of using these substances 2. Not even the psychiatrists understand these drugs 3. But for many of us a doctor is a doctor we dont ask ourselves if the allure of money, based off biased information, may blind the himher to the reality of the pill 3. It is perhaps the lure of a quick fix, a magic bullet solution to our problems, that obscures our judgment. And, sometimes, it is far easier to take a pill than to take responsibility 3. True change is a difficult and lengthy process. Anyway, the doctor is the professional right He studied for years correct Who am I, but an ordinary personYou may have not studied for years, but you still have the right to ask these questions, as you will be the one taking the drug and dealing with its side effects. You have every right to determine the potential biases and interests of your doctor, asking them if their use of the psychoactive substance in question is based on the free lunches and monetary gifts of a drug company representative 3. It is your brain, your body, your life. These drugs can directly affect your health, with side effects such as an increased risk of suicide 3. Of course, you may argue that these substances have helped you stabilize your life, thereby allowing you to sort out your problems. Yet there are several considerations to take into account. Most people will feel better after seeing a doctor, whether or not they are given medication at alldoctor visits can have a powerful placebo effect, particularly if the doctor is very friendly and compassionate 4. Moreover, we tend to visit medical professionals when we feel we just cannot cope any longerwhen we are at a breaking point 4.