RE: Withdrawal from antidepressants

[Shearon, Tim]

Title: Message

Edward Pollak wrote: =Am I the only one who thinks that the "psychological vs. physiological" distinction reeks of the kind of dualistic thinking of which I try so hard to dissuade my =students?  I tell me students in this context that "physiological" refers to the fairly obvious effects of the drug (and withdrawal) such as cholinergic effects =(nicotine), endorphinergic effects (opiates), etc. While saying that something is "psychological"  is a classic example of the nominal fallacy.  The effects are just =as physiological but the systems involved are more complex & subtle (probably involving dopaminergic pathways at some point) and less well understood.  To =simply say the effect is "psychological" gives the false impression that we understand it and that there are no physiological underpinnings to the phenomenon. =And just because this aspect might be more tightly under the control of learned cues is still  no reason to assert dualism unless you're ready to assert that l=earning is not a physiological phenomenon!   Edward- You weren’t the only one who noted it. As Skinner pointed out, we all tend to talk that way (I think the word he often used is lazy) J. But you are correct that it is probably not a good thing to do (way to talk) when explaining anything to our students. I must admit that at times I do err but I always try to point out the problem and remind in my explanation that it is “as if” it were one or the other. I also try very hard with my students to get them to DROP that “psychological dependency” type of language even to the point of penalizing it in Neuropsychology or psychopharmacology but have had about as much success as you report (I succeed rarely- more often with majors). There is dependency and there is addiction and they are two different things but they are two different physiologically based things (manifesting two different psychological symptomologies). As someone who is oriented toward the classroom and research (primarily) I’m often left wondering how I’d deal with this on an ongoing basis were my main contact with patients. To be frank, I don’t think they care about the language so much (if at all). When “teaching” through the counseling interview I suspect that there are different sets of contingencies- It interests me enough that hearing how some of our clinical members deal with this would be interesting and probably helpful- close as that may be to selling a soul at reduced cost. J Tim     _________________________________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Albertson College of Idaho 2112 Cleveland Blvd. Caldwell, ID 83605   [EMAIL PROTECTED] teaching: History and systems; Intro to Neuropsychology; Child Development; Physiological Psychology; Psychology and Cinema   -----Original Message----- From: Pollak, Edward [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 10:20 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Withdrawal from antidepressants   Carol wrote "Dependency vs. addiction is another matter. I tend not to use the word = addiction because of the implications and associations that go with it. = But, dependency may be physiological or psychological, or both. Physical = dependency occurs when the body experiences withdrawal symptoms (not = limited to those accompanying regulation of dendrites) and can involve = metabolic changes or induction changes--in other words, changes in how = the body metabolizes the drug or changes in how quickly the liver reacts = to the presence of the drug. On the other hand, psychological dependency = has more to do with the person's belief that he or she needs the = drug--and can also produce very real reactions."   This is a point my students rarely "get" but I keep trying! Ed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, West Chester University of Pennsylvania Co-founder & Editor www.adcham. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/epollak/home.htm   --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]