Greetings Economists,
Jim Devine replies to my remarks this way,
Jim,
My understanding of this comes from an article in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN,
which was basing its conclusion of statistical evidence rather than
anecdotes. But it's possible that conclusions have changed since that
article was published.
More importantly, I've heard it through the grapevine that the best thing
for depression is cognitive therapy PLUS an SSRI such as Prozac. The drug
allows the cognitive therapy to work, so that the two are complements, not
substitutes.
Doyle
I think we both agree that a combination of the two is preferable. I would
add to this a little extra but isn't about any disagreement we might have.
As progress with understanding the brain continues, it is certainly possible
to better understand what is happening when someone is having a depression.
This might yield wide spread understanding in the public about depression.
I have been feeling a little down myself recently. I had someone pass me in
the streets and say buck up it can't be that bad. Typically people respond
to depression in inappropriate ways. I think the folk psychology of how to
deal with sadness in this culture is highly dysfunctional. That goes along
with how people are thrown onto their own resources to deal with disruptions
and stress in their lives.
The key issue in all this is deeply related to the discussions about
addiction also. People self medicate to deal with their intense feelings.
A system of commodities that help with symptoms cannot alleviate the other
aspects of depression. Many people are traumatized by the social system.
Drugs that remove the symptoms do not help the person. The point is that a
social system that is unable to consider the many different parts of how
people need support cannot really deal with depression.
thanks,
Doyle Saylor
