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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
 Posted - 01/30/2013 : 12:28:41
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Once anxiety and stress were problems. Now they are illnesses. But a backlash is brewing. A new report says post-traumatic stress disorder is a "non-disease", writes Chris Horrie.
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1112509.stm |
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plum
United Kingdom
641 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2013 : 14:19:21
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'Piglet was a "seriously troubled individual", according to Canadian researchers quoted in The Sun newspaper.'
Clearly they have never read The Te of Piglet or The Tao of Pooh. Philistines. |
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Dr James Alexander
Australia
127 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2013 : 15:55:14
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interesting article, and to think that its more than 10 years old. Things have become even more extreme in terms of disease mongering in the intervening decade. There is no reason to assume PTSD is a disease in any medical sense- like all other 'mental illnesses' it is only an illness in a metaphoric sense, not a literal sense. One has to question how much harm/good is done with the metaphor, especially when everyone forgets that its only a disease or illness in a metaphoric sense. I think it is even pejorative to refer to Post traumatic stress disorder as a disorder. It seems to me that there are certain typical reactions which people can have (not all people) to traumatic events- this is a natural human response. Why call it a disorder? Where traditional cultures personified things, we have a culture which thingifies people- treating them as though they are a 'disease' category rather than as humans with particular experiences. People dont benefit from being pidgenholed in this way (a psychiatric diagnostic label only accounts for less than 1% of a beneficial outcome from psychological treatment). The only people who benefit from diagnostic labels are i) those who feel powerful by using them to describe others, and ii) the pharmaceutical industry, as long as they can market a drug to fit the label- which they usually seem to do, regardless of what the science actually says.
Personally, i am all for a label free psychology- it adds nothing helpful to people's suffering, and in fact the label of being 'mentally ill' will often just add to people's suffering because of stigma, and the drugs which the label then justifies using on them. And finally, there is actually no science behind the labeling scheme- it is just a consensus of opinions of mental health professionals. They can decide by a vote whether one experience is or isnt a 'mental illness'. No other branch of medicine or science does this. I suspect the metaphor has long outlived whatever usefulness it ever had.
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plum
United Kingdom
641 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2013 : 16:17:24
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Indeed James.
When did psychology become the glorification of the pathological? Give me the soulful anyday.
I'm forgoing the political rant, much as a former self would have relished it. As long as there are Doctors/PhD's like you pushing through a paradigm change, humanity stands a chance. |
Edited by - plum on 01/30/2013 16:30:32 |
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chickenbone
Panama
398 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2013 : 17:02:11
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| This is so true, Dr. James and Plum. I think a good example is what Big Pharma has done with osteoporosis/osteopenia. Before the BP drugs that Big Pharma developed for the treatment of osteoporosis came out, they first had to make osteoporosis a disease. Previously, all it was is a natural thinning of bones, a result of aging. It was only a problem when someone fractured because of thin bones. But this did not happen very often. So big pharma saw their opportunity and used the DEXA scan (an extremely useless piece of technology as it only inaccurately measures one aspect of bone architecture)to arbitrarily label anyone they chose with the (new) disease osteoporosis. Of course, aided and abetted by it's evil twin, the ridiculous FRAX system. But they wanted to really go for the gold, so they invented a disease called osteopenia, the forerunner of osteoporosis. Now they could market these highly dangerous drugs to women who obviously did not have a problem at all. Now fairly healthy women are being scared out of their wits and put on drugs that are causing horrific side effects and disability. NOW, we have doctors who are "osteoporosis experts" who are pushing these drugs to poor unsuspecting women. That is all these experts do. This is really unbelievable - when will the public ever wake up?? |
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2001 Article: post-traumatic stress disorder
