Posted by JohnL on May 4, 2000, at 2:25:28
In reply to Re: Shorter trials: believe it! , posted by SLS on May 3, 2000, at 16:02:15
Scott,
You are correct, in my opinion, of everything you so eloquently stated in your post. (Have you ever considered being a writer?)Jensen hasn't to my knowledge presented his ideas at conferences and such. Maybe he has, I don't know. That's because he's too busy getting patients well instead. As I've mentioned, that's his passion. He's not your typical political or academically involved psychiatrist, but rather one who spends all his time doing what he was trained to do...get people well. Hard to do that when spending time on the road doing conferences. He is absolutely thrilled at getting people well, and that's what he spends his time doing. But he has presented his ideas to medical schools, where it can make a real difference in longterm psychiatry, and it is actually being taught at this moment as we speak. So though yours and my doctors won't likely be aware, the upcoming generation will.
And on the subject of conferences, there are so many. How could anyone keep up. I drove to Boston (1 1/2 hours away) to see Dr Bob when he was there at a conference. The place was flooded with hundreds upon hundreds of people with MD, psychologist, or psychiatrist on their name badges. But you know what, neither of my two psychiatrists had even heard of that conference.
And of course quick trial methods wouldn't stand critical review by the psychiatric community. Neither would Columbus's theory of a round world, or a bacterial theory of ulcers. Additions or modifications to longstanding theories don't happen overnight. And there is usually a lot more resistance and critique than acceptance early on.
And it's true when researchers say "We aren't there yet". But that doesn't mean nobody is there yet. Some few people are already there. Just because the masses aren't doesn't really mean one thing or the other. Just that while some people might already be there, we as a whole are not.
All I know for sure is the facts...the best psychiatry as whole can offer us in empirical evidence is 70% success in reducing symptoms by 50%. And which drug choice accomplishes that is not much better than flipping a coin. I personally cannot do acrobatics over that. I actually do not embrace one theory or another, but I do relish exploring new ideas. I try to find fault. When I can't, I begin to accept. Every fault and critique you have offered so far, I've already been there. I was at first a stronger critic than you. But the more I read, studied, and pondered the issue, the more sense it all made. But it didn't happen overnight. It will take even longer for psychiatry as a whole.
poster:JohnL
thread:31785
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000429/msgs/32208.html