?On 23 February 2010 Stephen Black wrote: > Not to set Allen Esterson off again, but for those tiring of a > steady diet of Olympics, there's a long interesting essay, in > historical context, on the dilemma of treating depression. It's > on-line at the _New Yorker_ at http://tinyurl.com/ykqfon8
I'm up to my neck in preparing an article, so can't rise to Stephen's bait (assuming I wanted to -:) ), but I'll respond to one remark of Louis Menand's: "For some disorders, such as depression some disorders, such as depression, we may never know, in any useful way, what the underlying pathology is, since we can’t distinguish biologically patients who are suffering from depression from patients who are enduring a depressing life problem." It may or many not turn our to be relevant, but I'm reminded of a comment by a scientist in the nineteenth century (anyone recall who it was?) who gave as an example of scientific facts we could never know -- the constitution of the stars. This was shortly before the discoveries of Fraunhofer and Kirchhoff enabled scientists to achieve that feat using spectroscopy. In passing – Menand writes: >And there was the rapid collapse of Freudianism […]. For those still interested in the controversies around Freud, my latest on him (and Jeffrey Masson) has just been posted here: http://simplycharly.com/freud/allen_esterson_freud_interview.htm Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London [email protected] http://www.esterson.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- From: [email protected] Subject: Is psychiatry a science? Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:55:14 -0500 Not to set Allen Esterson off again, but for those tiring of a steady diet of Olympics, there's a long interesting essay, in historical context, on the dilemma of treating depression. It's on-line at the _New Yorker_ at http://tinyurl.com/ykqfon8 The author, Louis Menard, runs through much of the stuff we discussed in our recent thread, including the alleged placebo status of anti-depressants, in what appears to me to be an even-handed presentation. Some quotes to pique your interest: "So the antidepressant business looks like a demolition derby-a collision of negative research results, questionable research and regulatory practices, and popular disenchantment with the whole pharmacological regime. And it may soon turn into something bigger, something more like a train wreck". "The recommendation from people who have written about their own depression is, overwhelmingly, Take the meds! It´s the position of Andrew Solomon, in "The Noonday Demon" (2001), a wise and humane book. It´s the position of many of the contributors to "Unholy Ghost" (2001) and "Poets on Prozac" (2008), anthologies of essays by writers about depression. The ones who took medication say that they write much better than they did when they were depressed." Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=824 or send a blank email to leave-824-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
