Posted by Ritch on June 19, 2002, at 23:31:07
In reply to Mitch said it perfectly, posted by rainbowlight on June 19, 2002, at 13:42:01
......I also believe that people are either born thin skinned or thick skinned. I do not believe the theory that thin skinned people can become thick skinned through lifes trials (just my opinion...........
You just brought forth the crux of the argument, IMO. Suffering as a growth experience *can* make for more steely people... sometimes. Conversely, one could argue that suffering just cripples you up worse. I look at meds as "semi-permeable wetsuits with insulating properties". I get the wetsuit idea from a documentary I saw a long time ago (in the '70's) about Switzerland's liberal drug laws. Journalists were interviewing IV heroin/cocaine users in this big park in Zurich. This one guy mentioned that heroin was a metaphorical "wetsuit" for him, so that he could "deal" with the outside world. This relates back to the idea of the "psychologically induced thick skin state" talked about in the thread (induced here by SSRI's). The difference between SSRI's and heroin of course is the longer half-lives and legality of the antidepressants along with their relative lack of euphoria. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it would be better for many people to have *thinner* wetsuits (lower dosages), and that the tapering process of an SSRI would be akin to changing from thicker less permable wetsuits into thinner more permeable ones,... ultimately, however, many people may still *need some wetsuit or other*. If you find that a "problem", then you are putting forth a MORAL argument, not a scientific one.
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:110134
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020617/msgs/110314.html