Posted by Chairman_MAO on March 8, 2006, at 0:44:41
In reply to Re: oh » Chairman_MAO, posted by linkadge on March 7, 2006, at 21:30:33
I never figured you were, don't worry. ;)
Without going into anything else, let reiterate that a geniune biochemical abberation is not the domain of psychiatry. IF you have a neurobiological pathology--regardless of whether there are behavioral symptoms--the goal of the treating physician is to modify the functioning of the brain.
Ostensibly this is the goal of the psychiatrist. However, what the psychiatrist actually does is use drugs to alter behavior; he does not alter behavior with drugs vis a vis neurons. The behavior is examined, drugs are applied, and the behavior is re-examined. The psychobiological substrate is not referred to because it is unidentifable. Thus, psychiatry is not a medical discipline because the things it purports to treat--the mind--cannot EVER be observed.I keep reiterating this point over and over because I hate saying it the simple way. OK, here it goes: there is no such thing as mental illness.
As Thomas Szasz so simply puts it, the term "mental illness" is a categorical mistake, like calling a whale a fish.Mental: of the mind
illness: medical illness defined by physical pathology"Medical illness defined by physical pathology of the mind?"
or is it
"Medical illness of the mind defined by physical pathology?"Either way you have it, there can be no such animal, just like there can be no whalefish.
Let the flames wash over me and sanctify, O Lord!
**THIS DOES NOT MEAN THE PROBLEMS ARE NOT SERIOUS AND THAT THE SUFFERING IS NOT REAL**
poster:Chairman_MAO
thread:613775
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060304/msgs/617345.html