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Depression, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, ADHD, OCD or other mental health problems... or even those, like me, who are just interested in the subject.
There's an 8-part docuseries which started today and runs for the next 7 days.
The first episode which you have probably missed unless you're very quick was an intro to the topic. Tomorrow's episode will look at gut health and its affect on the brain.
"Functional medicine was invented by nutritionist Jeffrey Bland.[26] He and Susan Bland founded the Institute for Functional Medicine in 1991 as a division of HealthComm.[27][28] That year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said that Jeffrey Bland's corporations HealthComm and Nu-Day Enterprises had falsely advanced claims that their products could alter metabolism and induce weight loss.[27] The FTC found that Bland and his companies violated that consent order in 1995 by making more exaggerated claims. The UltraClear dietary program was said to provide relief from gastrointestinal problems, inflammatory and immunologic problems, fatigue, food allergies, mercury exposure, kidney disorders, and rheumatoid arthritis. The companies were forced to pay a $45,000 civil penalty.[27]
The opening of centers for functional medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and at George Washington University has been described by Gorski as an "unfortunate" example of pseudoscientific quackery infiltrating medical academia.[6]"
Hardly a glowing list of peer reviewed studies, more like a rap sheet for a fraudster.
SB
pssst ... want to buy some snake oil?
And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show
0
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 15:18 - Jan 18 with 3595 views
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 13:57 - Jan 18 by StokieBlue
There is no generic memory in humans so something traumatic that happened in a previous generation cannot affect you unless someone who was there has told you about it. I believe that is a different thing to what you are saying though?
If you'd have said it was due to genetic mutations which may have occurred 2 or 3 generations back I think you would have been on much more solid ground.
As many have pointed out, mental health problems are complex and the reasons for any issues could be wide and varied.
SB
[Post edited 18 Jan 2018 14:21]
I am saying that in a number of cases unresolved trauma can affect later generations with family members often continuing with patterns of deep seated feelings such as fear, rage, guilt and sadness.
I think the whole subject around transgenerational trauma is fascinating and gives us a another way of looking at ourselves and what makes us who we are.
1
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 15:42 - Jan 18 with 3563 views
As Sparks says though, should be viewed with significant sceptism. He claims (among hundreds of other claims) to have cured autism and returned a child to a “normal state” (his words) through using his supplements he sells.
A summary of him: “Dr. Mark Hyman is an antivaxxer physician who practices "functional medicine", basically pseudoscience which deals in such vague concepts as "imbalances in core systems of the body" and "detoxification". Hyman sells expensive "detox supplements", vitamins, and a "detox diet program", among a long list of other such substances and items, all of which he markets through his online "store", and his "Ultrawellness Center". He recommends and sells his expensive products to his patients”
If it works for you, great, but he and his functionsal medicine approach is widely discredited in the medical profession in the USA
[Post edited 18 Jan 2018 6:47]
So, a con man then? Thanks for flagging that, Grizzly.
Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country."
"Functional medicine was invented by nutritionist Jeffrey Bland.[26] He and Susan Bland founded the Institute for Functional Medicine in 1991 as a division of HealthComm.[27][28] That year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said that Jeffrey Bland's corporations HealthComm and Nu-Day Enterprises had falsely advanced claims that their products could alter metabolism and induce weight loss.[27] The FTC found that Bland and his companies violated that consent order in 1995 by making more exaggerated claims. The UltraClear dietary program was said to provide relief from gastrointestinal problems, inflammatory and immunologic problems, fatigue, food allergies, mercury exposure, kidney disorders, and rheumatoid arthritis. The companies were forced to pay a $45,000 civil penalty.[27]
The opening of centers for functional medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and at George Washington University has been described by Gorski as an "unfortunate" example of pseudoscientific quackery infiltrating medical academia.[6]"
Hardly a glowing list of peer reviewed studies, more like a rap sheet for a fraudster.
SB
I think this is interesting.
Obviously there are claims made by individual practitioners which are dishonest but that doesn't mean that the field in which the practice is gobbledegook.
I think the area of functional medicine will likely always fail when it comes to being "scientific". But that is not to say that a highly qualified doctor isn't using his knowledge gained from years of scientific study to cure or help people with mental health problems.
Mental Health, by its very nature is highly complicated and the factors which influence our mental health are almost without limit. It's not like a kidney stone, or a broken leg where the process of cure is mechanical.
My daughter is dyslexic, so I know a bit about this area. There are countless types of dyslexia and no two sufferers are the same. The medical establishment calls these "spectrum" conditions for this reason. There is no single dyslexia fix, nor 10, nor 100. Each patient has to be diagnosed as best they can by a variety of different specialists and even then there is no "cure" or even recognised best treatment.
Now, my daughter has made enormous progress in a variety of treatments and as a result of hard work, both with professionals and family members. I could make all sorts of claims regarding the improvements made in my daughter but they would be dismissed as "unscientific" by the medical establishment because I would not be able to repeat the tests on others and get the same results... why? Because mental conditions are almost unique from patient to patient - they fall within a "spectrum".
Now I've seen this first hand, not just with my daughter, but with other people, adults in their 40's, who have made enormous recoveries from other mental health problems following advice and receiving treatments by trained doctors, using what would best be described as functional medicine. Officially it is "unscientific" for the reasons I have given, but in reality it is drenched in the latest research carried out by trained doctors who specialise in multiple disciplines.
That's why claims of "gobbledegook" are sometimes ridiculous. Science does not have answers for everything, so it's both important and "pro science" to continue to investigate new ways of doing things and not to allow the language of limited science to prevent future discoveries.
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 15:18 - Jan 18 by Bluesquid
I am saying that in a number of cases unresolved trauma can affect later generations with family members often continuing with patterns of deep seated feelings such as fear, rage, guilt and sadness.
I think the whole subject around transgenerational trauma is fascinating and gives us a another way of looking at ourselves and what makes us who we are.
Given that you cannot even demonstrate it to be possible, let alone demonstrate that it is correct, I can't agree with your conclusion.
The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett)
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 16:39 - Jan 18 by caught-in-limbo
I think this is interesting.
Obviously there are claims made by individual practitioners which are dishonest but that doesn't mean that the field in which the practice is gobbledegook.
I think the area of functional medicine will likely always fail when it comes to being "scientific". But that is not to say that a highly qualified doctor isn't using his knowledge gained from years of scientific study to cure or help people with mental health problems.
Mental Health, by its very nature is highly complicated and the factors which influence our mental health are almost without limit. It's not like a kidney stone, or a broken leg where the process of cure is mechanical.
My daughter is dyslexic, so I know a bit about this area. There are countless types of dyslexia and no two sufferers are the same. The medical establishment calls these "spectrum" conditions for this reason. There is no single dyslexia fix, nor 10, nor 100. Each patient has to be diagnosed as best they can by a variety of different specialists and even then there is no "cure" or even recognised best treatment.
Now, my daughter has made enormous progress in a variety of treatments and as a result of hard work, both with professionals and family members. I could make all sorts of claims regarding the improvements made in my daughter but they would be dismissed as "unscientific" by the medical establishment because I would not be able to repeat the tests on others and get the same results... why? Because mental conditions are almost unique from patient to patient - they fall within a "spectrum".
Now I've seen this first hand, not just with my daughter, but with other people, adults in their 40's, who have made enormous recoveries from other mental health problems following advice and receiving treatments by trained doctors, using what would best be described as functional medicine. Officially it is "unscientific" for the reasons I have given, but in reality it is drenched in the latest research carried out by trained doctors who specialise in multiple disciplines.
That's why claims of "gobbledegook" are sometimes ridiculous. Science does not have answers for everything, so it's both important and "pro science" to continue to investigate new ways of doing things and not to allow the language of limited science to prevent future discoveries.
[Post edited 19 Jan 2018 0:57]
I think the problem here may be the labelling - Functional Medicine (which I'd not heard of till your OP) may have become the latest thing regarded as no more than a fashionable fad which enables irresponsible practitioners to fleece ill people who are desperate, and in that context, is rightly dismissed.
However functional medicine seems to me a perfectly legitimate avenue to pursue. I take on board your personal experience with your daughter's dyslexia, and bearing in mind my own experiences with my gut, it's perfectly logical. I have IBD - inflammatory bowel disease - which in some people takes the form of Crohn's disease, and in others, ulcerative colitis. I've been diagnosed with the latter, but the fact is that I only get symptoms and a relapse when I've eaten certain foods, or have cooked food a certain way (I cannot tolerate any hot fat except olive oil, e.g.) Many others with IBD that I've spoken to, find the same, some with the same foodstuffs (dairy is common), some with different ones.
Even when in remission however, we are obviously limited in what foodstuffs we can eat (in my case, being unable to eat any fruit is quite a serious one), and even what we can eat doesn't do as good a job as it does for healthy people, as our ability to absorb nutrients is impaired. This often means our bodies & brains go short of iron, vits C & B12 in particular, leading to lack of energy, tiredness, inability to concentrate & possibility of depression arising from impaired gut function -> impaired body & brain functioning.
But these really are something which individual patients are capable of analysing for themselves, and which should then be tackled with the assistance of a good NHS GP, gastroenterologist, and dietitian if in the UK, not via an unqualified private practitioner.
"Functional medicine was invented by nutritionist Jeffrey Bland.[26] He and Susan Bland founded the Institute for Functional Medicine in 1991 as a division of HealthComm.[27][28] That year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said that Jeffrey Bland's corporations HealthComm and Nu-Day Enterprises had falsely advanced claims that their products could alter metabolism and induce weight loss.[27] The FTC found that Bland and his companies violated that consent order in 1995 by making more exaggerated claims. The UltraClear dietary program was said to provide relief from gastrointestinal problems, inflammatory and immunologic problems, fatigue, food allergies, mercury exposure, kidney disorders, and rheumatoid arthritis. The companies were forced to pay a $45,000 civil penalty.[27]
The opening of centers for functional medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and at George Washington University has been described by Gorski as an "unfortunate" example of pseudoscientific quackery infiltrating medical academia.[6]"
Hardly a glowing list of peer reviewed studies, more like a rap sheet for a fraudster.
SB
Indeed.
the problem I have with this stuff and with the OP- is not some reactionary response but a geneuine concern that many many people (probably a significant majority) would listen to such a video without actually doing the sort of basic checks on credibility that I would do.
Hyman appears to mix common sense about healthy eating and its benefits (whilst claiming its some clever knowledge that others ignore) with unjustified claims about direct medical connections with other things. He appears to mix up and obfuscate the line between obvious medical advice with which professionals would concur, with pseudoscience. Most people cant tell the difference, or dont think to investigate it or apply any scepticism.
Its all very well saying that we should be open to alternative ideas (we should- of course) but when those ideas are pushed around as fact, in professional looking videos, by people with qualifications there is a problem. People take this stuff on board and it becomes part of a received wisdom, despite having no apparent basis in science or fact.
You need a mechanism for sorting facts from supposition, from outright conjecture or deceit.
The people in this thread drawn to Dr Hyman's ideas and to the idea that this must have some merit, because traditional medicine is not a panacea (no one says it is of course- but it helps many people enormously...), need to ask themselves how they tell fact from fiction.
Do you accept that crystals help with mental illness? How about homeopathy? Reiki? Or magic F****** spells?
In the absence of decent peer reviewed studies there is nothing to differentiate Dr Hyman's claims from any of those things. People simply accept, whether in whole or part, this sort of stuff too often and it is actually harmful, imo, to spread it around without clear notes of caution (and even with them). This is how you get anti vaxxers. Or people reliant on "alternative remedies" when they need proper medical help. It also increases the willingness of people and society just to believe all sorts of woo, and to push the utterly fallacious idea that everyone's view can be "true for them" or should be given a fair hearing or equal merit- regardless of whether there is a shred of evidence to support it...
[Post edited 18 Jan 2018 19:14]
The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett)
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 19:12 - Jan 18 by sparks
Indeed.
the problem I have with this stuff and with the OP- is not some reactionary response but a geneuine concern that many many people (probably a significant majority) would listen to such a video without actually doing the sort of basic checks on credibility that I would do.
Hyman appears to mix common sense about healthy eating and its benefits (whilst claiming its some clever knowledge that others ignore) with unjustified claims about direct medical connections with other things. He appears to mix up and obfuscate the line between obvious medical advice with which professionals would concur, with pseudoscience. Most people cant tell the difference, or dont think to investigate it or apply any scepticism.
Its all very well saying that we should be open to alternative ideas (we should- of course) but when those ideas are pushed around as fact, in professional looking videos, by people with qualifications there is a problem. People take this stuff on board and it becomes part of a received wisdom, despite having no apparent basis in science or fact.
You need a mechanism for sorting facts from supposition, from outright conjecture or deceit.
The people in this thread drawn to Dr Hyman's ideas and to the idea that this must have some merit, because traditional medicine is not a panacea (no one says it is of course- but it helps many people enormously...), need to ask themselves how they tell fact from fiction.
Do you accept that crystals help with mental illness? How about homeopathy? Reiki? Or magic F****** spells?
In the absence of decent peer reviewed studies there is nothing to differentiate Dr Hyman's claims from any of those things. People simply accept, whether in whole or part, this sort of stuff too often and it is actually harmful, imo, to spread it around without clear notes of caution (and even with them). This is how you get anti vaxxers. Or people reliant on "alternative remedies" when they need proper medical help. It also increases the willingness of people and society just to believe all sorts of woo, and to push the utterly fallacious idea that everyone's view can be "true for them" or should be given a fair hearing or equal merit- regardless of whether there is a shred of evidence to support it...
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 19:12 - Jan 18 by sparks
Indeed.
the problem I have with this stuff and with the OP- is not some reactionary response but a geneuine concern that many many people (probably a significant majority) would listen to such a video without actually doing the sort of basic checks on credibility that I would do.
Hyman appears to mix common sense about healthy eating and its benefits (whilst claiming its some clever knowledge that others ignore) with unjustified claims about direct medical connections with other things. He appears to mix up and obfuscate the line between obvious medical advice with which professionals would concur, with pseudoscience. Most people cant tell the difference, or dont think to investigate it or apply any scepticism.
Its all very well saying that we should be open to alternative ideas (we should- of course) but when those ideas are pushed around as fact, in professional looking videos, by people with qualifications there is a problem. People take this stuff on board and it becomes part of a received wisdom, despite having no apparent basis in science or fact.
You need a mechanism for sorting facts from supposition, from outright conjecture or deceit.
The people in this thread drawn to Dr Hyman's ideas and to the idea that this must have some merit, because traditional medicine is not a panacea (no one says it is of course- but it helps many people enormously...), need to ask themselves how they tell fact from fiction.
Do you accept that crystals help with mental illness? How about homeopathy? Reiki? Or magic F****** spells?
In the absence of decent peer reviewed studies there is nothing to differentiate Dr Hyman's claims from any of those things. People simply accept, whether in whole or part, this sort of stuff too often and it is actually harmful, imo, to spread it around without clear notes of caution (and even with them). This is how you get anti vaxxers. Or people reliant on "alternative remedies" when they need proper medical help. It also increases the willingness of people and society just to believe all sorts of woo, and to push the utterly fallacious idea that everyone's view can be "true for them" or should be given a fair hearing or equal merit- regardless of whether there is a shred of evidence to support it...
[Post edited 18 Jan 2018 19:14]
>>the problem I have with this stuff and with the OP- is not some reactionary response but a geneuine concern that many many people (probably a significant majority) would listen to such a video without actually doing the sort of basic checks on credibility that I would do.
You don't appear to have done much. You haven't even watched the video, let alone supported your comments with any evidence yourself.
>>Hyman appears to mix common sense about healthy eating and its benefits (whilst claiming its some clever knowledge that others ignore) with unjustified claims about direct medical connections with other things. He appears to mix up and obfuscate the line between obvious medical advice with which professionals would concur, with pseudoscience. Most people cant tell the difference, or dont think to investigate it or apply any scepticism.
You may be right, perhaps you could give me an example where Hyman does what you claim.
Perhaps the link between the gut and the brain is an example of what you describe as "unjustified claims about direct medical connections with other things".
I decided to look into it a little. Here's a peer review of a book entitled "Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain—for Life.
Here's a quote from the peer review abstract:
"At the very least, Perlmutter’s thesis is both interesting and surprising, since it so completely defies the conventional theories of disease pathogenesis. It is also not totally implausible, as the book is replete with scientific studies stacking evidence in support of Perlmutter’s claims." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5045150/
>>Its all very well saying that we should be open to alternative ideas (we should- of course) but when those ideas are pushed around as fact, in professional looking videos, by people with qualifications there is a problem. People take this stuff on board and it becomes part of a received wisdom, despite having no apparent basis in science or fact.
You may be right, perhaps you could give an example of a medical claim he makes which is incorrect. The fact that you are not qualifying your accusations with any examples suggests to me that you are either unable to support your comments or actually haven't done the "sort of basic checks on credibility" that you say you would do. You're not doing yourself any favours by spouting off in this way and not offering any examples to support what you say.
>>Do you accept that crystals help with mental illness? How about homeopathy? Reiki? Or magic F****** spells?
None of those examples have anything to do with the topic being discussed. But well done, you'll certainly convince the type of people who don't do the sort of basic checks on credibility that you claim you would do.
>>In the absence of decent peer reviewed studies there is nothing to differentiate Dr Hyman's claims from any of those things.
What claims are you talking about? Please time reference such claims from the video you are talking about.
>>This is how you get anti vaxxers. Or people reliant on "alternative remedies" when they need proper medical help. It also increases the willingness of people and society just to believe all sorts of woo, and to push the utterly fallacious idea that everyone's view can be "true for them" or should be given a fair hearing or equal merit- regardless of whether there is a shred of evidence to support it...
Now you've switched to full rant mode about yet more topics not discussed in the video, but you haven't watch the video, so you weren't to know.
Your comments are nothing more than a collection of the same unsupported comments you claim the video (which you haven't watched) is guilty of.
In short: unevidenced, unscientific, loud-mouthed, hypocritical guesswork.
In future, please a) watch/read the material you are critiquing and b) support your comments with examples
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 19:06 - Jan 18 by Ryorry
I think the problem here may be the labelling - Functional Medicine (which I'd not heard of till your OP) may have become the latest thing regarded as no more than a fashionable fad which enables irresponsible practitioners to fleece ill people who are desperate, and in that context, is rightly dismissed.
However functional medicine seems to me a perfectly legitimate avenue to pursue. I take on board your personal experience with your daughter's dyslexia, and bearing in mind my own experiences with my gut, it's perfectly logical. I have IBD - inflammatory bowel disease - which in some people takes the form of Crohn's disease, and in others, ulcerative colitis. I've been diagnosed with the latter, but the fact is that I only get symptoms and a relapse when I've eaten certain foods, or have cooked food a certain way (I cannot tolerate any hot fat except olive oil, e.g.) Many others with IBD that I've spoken to, find the same, some with the same foodstuffs (dairy is common), some with different ones.
Even when in remission however, we are obviously limited in what foodstuffs we can eat (in my case, being unable to eat any fruit is quite a serious one), and even what we can eat doesn't do as good a job as it does for healthy people, as our ability to absorb nutrients is impaired. This often means our bodies & brains go short of iron, vits C & B12 in particular, leading to lack of energy, tiredness, inability to concentrate & possibility of depression arising from impaired gut function -> impaired body & brain functioning.
But these really are something which individual patients are capable of analysing for themselves, and which should then be tackled with the assistance of a good NHS GP, gastroenterologist, and dietitian if in the UK, not via an unqualified private practitioner.
[Post edited 18 Jan 2018 19:08]
My thread seems to have caused a bit of a hullaballoo and the "science-supporting" nay-sayers have been quick to jump to wikipedia for their ammunition to fire at Functional Medicine. LOL
However, as you so rightly point out based from your own personal experience, functional medicine seems to me a perfectly legitimate avenue to pursue and it certainly doesn't fall outside peer review:
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 21:12 - Jan 18 by caught-in-limbo
>>the problem I have with this stuff and with the OP- is not some reactionary response but a geneuine concern that many many people (probably a significant majority) would listen to such a video without actually doing the sort of basic checks on credibility that I would do.
You don't appear to have done much. You haven't even watched the video, let alone supported your comments with any evidence yourself.
>>Hyman appears to mix common sense about healthy eating and its benefits (whilst claiming its some clever knowledge that others ignore) with unjustified claims about direct medical connections with other things. He appears to mix up and obfuscate the line between obvious medical advice with which professionals would concur, with pseudoscience. Most people cant tell the difference, or dont think to investigate it or apply any scepticism.
You may be right, perhaps you could give me an example where Hyman does what you claim.
Perhaps the link between the gut and the brain is an example of what you describe as "unjustified claims about direct medical connections with other things".
I decided to look into it a little. Here's a peer review of a book entitled "Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain—for Life.
Here's a quote from the peer review abstract:
"At the very least, Perlmutter’s thesis is both interesting and surprising, since it so completely defies the conventional theories of disease pathogenesis. It is also not totally implausible, as the book is replete with scientific studies stacking evidence in support of Perlmutter’s claims." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5045150/
>>Its all very well saying that we should be open to alternative ideas (we should- of course) but when those ideas are pushed around as fact, in professional looking videos, by people with qualifications there is a problem. People take this stuff on board and it becomes part of a received wisdom, despite having no apparent basis in science or fact.
You may be right, perhaps you could give an example of a medical claim he makes which is incorrect. The fact that you are not qualifying your accusations with any examples suggests to me that you are either unable to support your comments or actually haven't done the "sort of basic checks on credibility" that you say you would do. You're not doing yourself any favours by spouting off in this way and not offering any examples to support what you say.
>>Do you accept that crystals help with mental illness? How about homeopathy? Reiki? Or magic F****** spells?
None of those examples have anything to do with the topic being discussed. But well done, you'll certainly convince the type of people who don't do the sort of basic checks on credibility that you claim you would do.
>>In the absence of decent peer reviewed studies there is nothing to differentiate Dr Hyman's claims from any of those things.
What claims are you talking about? Please time reference such claims from the video you are talking about.
>>This is how you get anti vaxxers. Or people reliant on "alternative remedies" when they need proper medical help. It also increases the willingness of people and society just to believe all sorts of woo, and to push the utterly fallacious idea that everyone's view can be "true for them" or should be given a fair hearing or equal merit- regardless of whether there is a shred of evidence to support it...
Now you've switched to full rant mode about yet more topics not discussed in the video, but you haven't watch the video, so you weren't to know.
Your comments are nothing more than a collection of the same unsupported comments you claim the video (which you haven't watched) is guilty of.
In short: unevidenced, unscientific, loud-mouthed, hypocritical guesswork.
In future, please a) watch/read the material you are critiquing and b) support your comments with examples
I don't think you understand what peer reviewed papers are.
You've linked a book review.
Which incidentally says. ..
To be fair, Perlmutter stops short of branding these therapies as outright “cures,” but he comes close on a number of occasions. The effect of this almost unrestrained enthusiasm is to charge the book with energy and excitement, but simultaneously undermines its scientific credibility.
The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett)
The man behind this appears to be widely discredited by serious scientists and practices a mixture of obvious commone sense medicine and "woo". He is not a psychiatrist or a neurologist.
Given how poorly we deal with mental health in our mainstream medical system (load 'em up with anti-depressants), I can't see the harm of trying something different.
Given how poorly we deal with mental health in our mainstream medical system (load 'em up with anti-depressants), I can't see the harm of trying something different.
Really? Leeches? Electro shock therapy? Wicca?
The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett)
Given how poorly we deal with mental health in our mainstream medical system (load 'em up with anti-depressants), I can't see the harm of trying something different.
we could subsidise psychoanalytic sessions for those who want them and under a certain income threshold
we could trial people on certain psychoactive drugs like psilocybin, MDMA and LSD which have shown great effectiveness in reversing depression and tackling trauma
encourage people to volunteer on organic farms as a natural cheap way to combat depression while improving farm yields/knowledge of food
we could subsidise psychoanalytic sessions for those who want them and under a certain income threshold
we could trial people on certain psychoactive drugs like psilocybin, MDMA and LSD which have shown great effectiveness in reversing depression and tackling trauma
encourage people to volunteer on organic farms as a natural cheap way to combat depression while improving farm yields/knowledge of food
just some ideas loike
Yup.
The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett)
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 13:59 - Jan 18 by lowhouseblue
jeez, so now you need expertise in order form meaningful judgements on complex scientific matters! just how elitist are you? the views of people with no knowledge or experience are just as valid as those of these bloody experts. what do scientists know about science, eh?
Spoken like a true Houyhnhnm !
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 15:00 - Jan 18 by lowhouseblue
pssst ... want to buy some snake oil?
I get the healthy scepticism, it's the blind faith in the supposed detatched rationalism of scientists often in the pay of corporations with vested interests that bewilders me. The scientist from Monsanto says it doesn't give you cancer, it must be true because he/she is a scientist and have (maybe) been peer reviewed by other paid up scientists.
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
No, just the concept of recognising that mental health is one area where our current medical system really struggles. It's widely known that people are being let down. I haven't seen this programme or know what the 'treatments' are, so I'm not arguing for anything specific. But there's nothing wrong with looking for different approaches. Of course if they are then going to be offered on the NHS you'd expect proper trials and proof that they work. But I'm pretty sure that medicine will evolve, so let's keep looking for new treatments.
Given how poorly we deal with mental health in our mainstream medical system (load 'em up with anti-depressants), I can't see the harm of trying something different.
The issue is a lot of alternative medicines (and by that I mean of the woo variety) often end up doing more harm than good.
SB
Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula
-1
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 22:37 - Jan 18 with 3385 views
HEADS UP for those who suffer, or who have loved ones who suffer from on 21:59 - Jan 18 by BanksterDebtSlave
I get the healthy scepticism, it's the blind faith in the supposed detatched rationalism of scientists often in the pay of corporations with vested interests that bewilders me. The scientist from Monsanto says it doesn't give you cancer, it must be true because he/she is a scientist and have (maybe) been peer reviewed by other paid up scientists.
Do you have any evidence that GMOs do give you cancer?
"The true rate of death taking into account all ADRs (adverse drug reactions to prescribed drugs) - those causing admission and those occurring while patients are in hospital - may therefore turn out to be greater than 10,000 a year," they wrote. (UK, 2004)
"Few know that systematic reviews of hospital charts found that even properly prescribed drugs (aside from misprescribing, overdosing, or self-prescribing) cause about 1.9 million hospitalizations a year. Another 840,000 hospitalized patients are given drugs that cause serious adverse reactions for a total of 2.74 million serious adverse drug reactions. About 128,000 people die from drugs prescribed to them. This makes prescription drugs a major health risk, ranking 4th with stroke as a leading cause of death" (USA, 2014)
I'm not sure I know what the 'woo' variety is. Certainly if treatments are to be funded and offered by the NHS I'd want them to be evidence-based.
But if tradition approaches haven't worked for someone, shouldn't they be able to chose other options (woo or not)?
Maybe I should butt out as I don't know what was in the programme!
I don't really mean traditional medicine, that's a separate field and a different debate.
I am referring more generally than just mental health, there are a lot of things advertised as alternative treatments to things like cancer which do more harm than good. Many also insist they don't do regular treatment at the same time.
Agree entirely on your point about the NHS which is why it's excellent that homeopathy is no longer available.
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