Posted by clint878 on October 28, 2006, at 11:03:36
In reply to Re: Anti-psychiatry theory of iatrogenesis » clint878, posted by fuchsia on October 28, 2006, at 6:52:05
>Take a functioning bipolar II, give them a few rounds of antidepressants and the illness takes off like wildfire. That's how it was with me anyhow. I really cannot believe that the course of my illness would have been this devastating if I hadn't had those treatments.
After doing some more research, I'm not sure this view is proven either. I don't know what to believe. For example, recent journal articles suggest that the so-called "kindling theory" is not sufficient to explain the course of bipolar disorder.
And even if it were, then it could have been drinking caffeine or dealing with too much stress that would have caused the episodes instead of the antidepressants.
There's a problem when we talk about "harm" being done. Depression, untreated, causes harm to the brain and the heart, and other parts of the body. It's shown that there are fewer neurons in the brains of people who have been chronically depressed.
So would the damage caused by the untreated depression be better than the damage caused by the antidepressants, which eventually led to finding the correct treatment?
poster:clint878
thread:698173
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061028/msgs/698427.html