and never without the parallel treatment of psychological counseling.
I disagree with this quite a bit, actually. Never without regular consultation with someone who knows something about mood disorders, sure. Messing about with the brain should be taken seriously, and should be tracked and evaluated on a regular basis.
However, I don't think that diabetics require counseling to take their insulin. Likewise, someone with a chemical disorder of the brain that is alleviated by taking medication shouldn't require more than a regular schedule of meeting with the prescribing doctor for more than 5 minutes at a time, with that schedule to be determined by that person's mental state and their familiarity with the medication. I think that the idea of mandatory counseling, as opposed to consultation and observation, and pushing the idea that medication can't work without counseling drives many people away from getting the medication they need. And, I don't feel that counseling is necessarily the key to discovering when a medication is going wrong.
Not requiring counseling is not the same as saying someone doesn't need counseling. I feel that counseling should be far more accessible and people should be better educated in how to make the most of it. I think we can agree that the world is swimming with people who need counseling (see: Ms. Gilbert, above), whether they're in need of medication or not. That shouldn't prevent someone from receiving theraputic medications, nor should counseling sessions alone be considered adequate for ensuring that powerful medications are having the appropriate effect.
The rest, you get a *hands up* for; I couldn't agree more, and the woman sounds like a sanctimonious twit.
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Date: 2008-07-30 06:13 pm (UTC)and never without the parallel treatment of psychological counseling.
I disagree with this quite a bit, actually. Never without regular consultation with someone who knows something about mood disorders, sure. Messing about with the brain should be taken seriously, and should be tracked and evaluated on a regular basis.
However, I don't think that diabetics require counseling to take their insulin. Likewise, someone with a chemical disorder of the brain that is alleviated by taking medication shouldn't require more than a regular schedule of meeting with the prescribing doctor for more than 5 minutes at a time, with that schedule to be determined by that person's mental state and their familiarity with the medication. I think that the idea of mandatory counseling, as opposed to consultation and observation, and pushing the idea that medication can't work without counseling drives many people away from getting the medication they need. And, I don't feel that counseling is necessarily the key to discovering when a medication is going wrong.
Not requiring counseling is not the same as saying someone doesn't need counseling. I feel that counseling should be far more accessible and people should be better educated in how to make the most of it. I think we can agree that the world is swimming with people who need counseling (see: Ms. Gilbert, above), whether they're in need of medication or not. That shouldn't prevent someone from receiving theraputic medications, nor should counseling sessions alone be considered adequate for ensuring that powerful medications are having the appropriate effect.
The rest, you get a *hands up* for; I couldn't agree more, and the woman sounds like a sanctimonious twit.