Posted by mattdds on December 11, 2003, at 22:05:39
In reply to Re: ALL MEDICATION SUCCESS STORIES HERE! » mattdds, posted by ace on December 11, 2003, at 18:08:52
Ace,
Actually, I totally agree with your notion that psychiatric diagnosis is vague and illusory, at best. Mental illness tends to express itself differently in every case, and the "clear cut" cases of anything are the exception rather than the rule. This is how it seems to me, at least.
I merely suggested you ask that because it gives the reader a pretty good idea of what problem is being treated (e.g. anxiety, depression, insomnia, OCD, etc.)
Psych diagnoses in my opinion *can* provide a loose framework upon which the problems can be attacked. But ultimately, I agree that symptoms should be treated specifically.
With other diseases, say tooth decay, accurate diagnosis is crucial, and we understand well the etiology of these disease, and have a good rationale behind why the treatment works. In psychiatry, on the other hand, we have no idea what the causes are (although we may have some decent leads), and it is arrogant to pretend we have a silver bullet to "cure" any psych disease.
So why not just admit we don't know what the hell is going on and just do what works (namely, treating the symptoms).
That's just my opinion, of course.
Best,
Matt
poster:mattdds
thread:288610
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031208/msgs/288984.html