Article: What if Mental Health is Really Brain Health

[Judee]

https://www.lymedisease.org/amen-cl...BReXnBb6H8mGuYzDDaGfjmmS-AhvPx5DtESR28E4i7_ec

Short article that makes some good points.

"...psychiatry remains the only medical field that does not typically look at the organ it treats."

and

“Adding neuroimaging tools like SPECT to day-to-day clinical practice can help move psychiatry forward by transforming mental health care, which can be stigmatizing and often shunned by the general public, to brain health care,” says Dr. Amen.

 

[pattismith]

I agree that psychiatry has to move on and become a real neurologic science.

We do need Psychiatrist docs experience, they are the ones that study the best the brain effects of drugs, they are the ones that know a bit about brain neurotransmitters, and how to balance them via drugs....

But we also need better objective brain tools to validate psychiatrics studies, etc

 

[BrightCandle]

Psychology has a big issue with repeatability in everything it does. No two doctors can diagnose the same symptoms as the same condition, none of the treatments seem to work any better than any other and whether they cure people has itself pretty low quality evidence. We spend an awful lot of money and research money on it despite the fact the vast majority of what it does has failed to show any lasting improvements to those it treats.

The crisis of replication is a big problem because it shows its not really science, the entire point of science is the predictive aspect where knowing something will likely or always happen and to what extent. Its not a science in my opinion and treating as one has done a lot of harm. Its not as bad as homeopathy, some psychological interventions do work according to the patients so I think there are a set of conditions for which talk therapy is effective but I suspect as a society we are likely better off solving the societal issues underpinning that rather than treating it as a medical condition. Most of what Psychology treats today however will be found to be a physical condition of the brain once we understand the organ better, in the meantime every cent we put into psychological research would be better spent elsewhere. But alas we have known this since the 1960s and ever more money is being wasted on it.

 

[Hip]

"...psychiatry remains the only medical field that does not typically look at the organ it treats."

That pretty much sums up the fundamental flaw with psychiatry's approach to locating the causes of mental symptoms and mental ill health.

 

[Judee]

Most of what Psychology treats today however will be found to be a physical condition of the brain once we understand the organ better,

I agree. I think that was my point in posting this thread. I just did not say it as clearly as you did. Thank you.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

I think that was my point in posting this thread. I just did not say it as clearly as you did. Thank you.

No, you said it just fine. I read the thread for exactly that reason..... that the defective functions of the brain are diagnosed without ever going near the brain itself. It's the difference between treating 'mind' and 'brain', sort of like treating a disease of the intestines with a dowsing stick.

Well done @Judee ....