You are all Crazy
Well, at least half of us are according to Harvard epidemiologist Ronald C. Kessler. He and his compatriots used questionnaires to determine that a whopping "20 percent qualified as being diagnosed for a psychiatric illness". Wow. Sounds like a lot of people need a lot of pills. There's more ... they also found that, "18 percent had a serious anxiety disorder; 10 percent depression or bipolar illness; 9 percent an impulse disorder; and 4 percent a severe problem with drugs or alcohol".
That's a lot of troubled people. One commentator noted:
"We can certainly do a lot more," added Dr. Peter Kramer, a professor of psychiatry at Brown University. Kramer, who also hosts the public radio show "The Infinite Mind," said, "human beings are built with glitches. Mental illness has been around forever.
Yes, psychiatry would like YOU to know that you are probably ill, have probably been ill for ages, and you will not get better without their medications. Hell, they even found that, "... 45 percent of those with psychiatric symptoms qualified for more than one disorder."
Damn - how have you made it this far without falling over and dying?
I decided to investigate the radio program "The Infinite Mind". I had never heard of it. What I found right on the front page of their website gave me a smile. It read:
Host Dr. Peter Kramer examines new research on the biology of depression including new findings showing depression is not only a disease that affects the balance of chemicals in the brain, but the anatomy of the brain, as well.
Ah, I see. They even have your standard depression patient story which ends with this statement:
Because she had already come up with so many theories -- believing at different times that depression was everything from God's curse to a byproduct of modern living -- when she felt better on medication and therefore had evidence that depression is biological, she signed onto the idea quite easily.
Except that it has been established that placebos can also perform the miracle that gave her so much relief.
*sigh*
That's a lot of troubled people. One commentator noted:
"We can certainly do a lot more," added Dr. Peter Kramer, a professor of psychiatry at Brown University. Kramer, who also hosts the public radio show "The Infinite Mind," said, "human beings are built with glitches. Mental illness has been around forever.
Yes, psychiatry would like YOU to know that you are probably ill, have probably been ill for ages, and you will not get better without their medications. Hell, they even found that, "... 45 percent of those with psychiatric symptoms qualified for more than one disorder."
Damn - how have you made it this far without falling over and dying?
I decided to investigate the radio program "The Infinite Mind". I had never heard of it. What I found right on the front page of their website gave me a smile. It read:
Host Dr. Peter Kramer examines new research on the biology of depression including new findings showing depression is not only a disease that affects the balance of chemicals in the brain, but the anatomy of the brain, as well.
Ah, I see. They even have your standard depression patient story which ends with this statement:
Because she had already come up with so many theories -- believing at different times that depression was everything from God's curse to a byproduct of modern living -- when she felt better on medication and therefore had evidence that depression is biological, she signed onto the idea quite easily.
Except that it has been established that placebos can also perform the miracle that gave her so much relief.
*sigh*
posted by Christine at Tuesday, June 07, 2005
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