Posted by Jannbeau on October 31, 2002, at 18:30:41
In reply to Re: Afraid to try it again, posted by Sioux on October 30, 2002, at 22:29:16
> Hi, Sioux
How insightful are your words! Thanks for responding with such thoughtful comments! Sounds as if you understand interpersonal dynamics rather well.
I also think your comment about drugging a patient into compliance is inspired: most of us -again I'll use this word in quotes-"feel" bad because we do not or cannot conform to society's "norms" or because we haven't learned to rely upon ourselves, to trust our instincts, or because we don't have the coping skills necessary to be "happy"--and who ever promised us a rose garden, anyway?
What I think I am saying is "happiness" should NOT be an expectation. Happiness should be an unexpected gift of the effort expended in striving for self realization. Some psychologist/philosopher--was it Maslow??--theorized that "self-realization"- of which "happiness" may be a fundamental component--or a surrogate concept--is a "process" not an "end," a striving, not an accomplishment; and that, as a "process" it is never finished and thus, our times on the top of the mountain, so to speak, are fleeting, that we can only briefly glimpse Nirvana in this life. Psychoactive medications then become a substitute for the process of seeking the mountaintop, a substitute that physicians are all too willing--and not always because they are "quacks"--to provide. In fact, I think that most physicians prescribe because psychiatrists have no idea how to reach the mountaintop!
Now, do I sound like an old hippie? or an earth mother?? How's that for philosophizing?
Jannbeau
I overheard a language tutor telling another tutor "You know, Americans will pay anything to feel good about themselves; you can't teach them because they feel bad if you correct them."
>
> That did get me thinking about how many different things we are willing to buy in order to feel better. I know for my part I *very* often make poor decisions because I forget that the other person is *not* my best friend. This includes my doctor, the salesperson, the cop on the beat, and a whole host of other innocents.
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> I try to get pretty clear about what I want out of a transaction and why I want it. When I succeed is when I actually do feel good about myself.
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> This, however, is not to confuse personality function with pain (one application of effexor) or clinical depression (the usual use of SRI).
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> I believe, however, that there's a megaproblem with anyone that believes that depression is a discrete condition or that a particular psychoactive drug is/is not going to have a particular effect on a particular person. I do believe the diagnosis "depression" can be the first recourse of a true quack as it is so easy to drug a patient into compliance and leave 'em there until the insurance runs out...
>
> fwiw
poster:Jannbeau
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021025/msgs/125987.html