Month: March 2020

For this blog I am going to be discussing whether psychiatric medicines are safe. While progress of psychiatric medicines has been made in recent years, the long term effectiveness of these drugs has not been evaluated. Before 1955, psychiatric therapies included prayer, isolation, and physical restraints. During this time, the majority of patients resided in psychiatric hospitals. Recently, patients have been moved out of these hospitals, and the use of community mental health services as well as prescription psychiatric drugs have increased. While the FDA has approved these drugs, they only review studies that were properly designed, secretly conducted, and paid for by multinational profit-driven drug companies. The majority of these drugs are not tested for longer than three months and the industry pays researchers to fast track these drugs through the process. Many times the researchers have ties to the FDA advisory committees and have other financial conflicts of interest (Gantt).

Currently, it is not possible to definitely test the psychiatric medicines effectiveness without preventing the release of the drug for extreme periods of time. As a result, I do not believe that it will be possible for long term tests of these medications to be conducted. Because drug companies are only required to report one or two studies and can simply put a warning on the drugs, the drug companies have no interest in conducting any long term trials that may delay their income.  As a result, consumers are often unaware of the potentially fatal adverse drug effects that may include addiction, mania, psychosis, brain damage, dementia, and homicidality (Gantt). 

World famous psychiatrist warns that increased use of psychiatric drugs will translate to more mass shootings

Historically, medically ill patients did not have access to these drugs or services and the current use of them has shown a severe drop in the number of mentally ill patients. In addition, compared to 1977 when 64 percent of psychiatric visits were for psychotherapy now less than 10 percent are for that treatment. Instead, drug prescription has dramatically increased. While these statistics appear to have demonstrated the positive effects of these drugs, many of these results are misleading. Many of these drugs, including the antidepressants have reflected an increase in suicidal thinking as well as completed and attempted suicides (Gantt).

Many of these drugs while they claim they are safe, they are not especially for children. A commonly prescribed drug, Ritalin, has a similar effect on the brain to cocaine and can with long term use has been found to be neurotoxic. Many of these synthetic chemical drugs simply mask symptoms and can be highly addictive. Other drugs such as Thorazine, Haldol, and Prolixin result in serious brain damage. When examining MRI scans of treated schizophrenics, common proof of the disorder is the shrinking of the brain. The effects they experience are often the result of psychotic symptoms after beginning drug use (Gantt). Within children this may be especially harmful as their brains continue to develop. I believe that these drugs must be tested further in order to prevent complications within their use and the research must be properly evaluated. Do you guys think that these drugs are safe and should continue to be used?

Gantt, Edwin E. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Psychological Issues. McGraw-Hill Education Create, 2018.

In this passion blog I am going to be discussing whether free will is an illusion. Some argue that humans simply interpret the feelings and actions that arise as a result of unconscious brain activity. As a result, there is nothing we can do about these feelings because they are a direct product or processes outside of our personal control. We instead experience control over our personal interpretations to our feelings or actions. On the other hand, researchers suggest that just because neurons are activated before we become aware of our decision doesn’t mean that we are controlled by our brain. Current technology cannot differentiate between unconscious and subconscious thought, and therefore doesn’t define our decision making ability (Gantt). 

Free Will Illusionism vs. Disillusionism

While I agree that our feelings arise as a result of our actions I do not believe that they are completely out of our personal control. Neuroscience appears to have confirmed that unconscious processes drive our every action and that free will is nothing more than an illusion. In 1999, Benjamin Libet demonstrated that unconscious neural activity precedes conscious intent. Using an EEG, he discovered that there was a readiness potential before they were conscious of their intent to move their wrist. As a result, he believed that unconscious intentionality preceded conscious intention, but did not object to the existence of free will. The consciousness can still accept or reject an unconscious process. Recent studies using an functional MRI suggest that unconscious roots of our decision begin early and are completely predetermined before consciousness can begin. Despite this, I believe our subconscious thought plays a role in our actions. Currently, neuroscience lacks the technical sophistication; the research fails to define the border between unconscious and subconscious acts. Brain activity cannot simply determine our choice before we are aware of making it. While it is true we are sometimes influenced unknowingly by our environment, we are still able to consciously deliberate the repercussions of our actions and make them as a result. In addition, our ability to willfully distract yourself from a temptation and our implementation intentions are crucial for our decision making. In a recent experiment at Georgia State University, neuroscientists were able to pick up on everything the participant would do before the conscious decision. Despite showing the free will doesn’t exist, most participants believed that the neuroscientists were simply able to read brain activity and as a result were able to predict the participants actions (Gantt). Until neuroscience is able to explain consciousness it is going to be impossible to tell whether free will doesn’t exist. As a result, I believe free will exists. 

https://onlyfreedommatters.com/free-will-vs-determinism/

In my own life, it would completely change my moral and ethical ideas if it was an allusion. I would believe that my actions were simply not my choice and as a result, I would just provide excuses for the way I behaved instead of changing my actions. In addition, it would completely change my opinion of morality as people’s choices would be deemed predetermined. As a result, the concept of morality would not exist. As a result, it is very difficult for me to even begin to accept the idea that free will may be an illusion. It would completely change the way I would act. How would you feel if you knew free will did not exist?

Gantt, Edwin E. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Psychological Issues. McGraw-Hill Education Create, 2018.

For this blog I am going to be discussing whether ADHD is a real disorder. Because mental disorders are defined by their symptoms, there is significant debate on what constitutes a legitimate disorder. ADHD has been particularly extremely difficult to diagnose and it has been difficult to discover whether the prescriptions are appropriate. 

Because the principles of ADHD become apparent in early years and many many normal children exhibit the symptoms of ADHD, including inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, it is very difficult to diagnose. In order to be considered disordered distractibility, the symptoms must be present early in life and continue for at least six months. In addition, to be considered a disorder the symptoms must create a real handicap in at least two areas of the person’s life, including the schoolroom, playground, home, or the community. A large majority of those diagnosed do not exhibit these symptoms, leading to the disorder to be delegitimized. Normal distractibility is often difficult to differentiate from disordered distractibility. Many normal children exhibit symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. While these symptoms describe ADHD, through examination by a professional is necessary for them to be diagnosed. The behaviors must be considered long-term, and pervasive; parents and teachers are often asked for their opinions in order to generate a proper diagnosis. Most substantial causes of the disorder are issues within the genetics as well as the neurobiology of the individual. In addition, mental disorders such as ADHD run in families, leading scientists to believe genetics play a large role in this disorder. 

There must be a degree of subjectivity within mental diagnoses such as ADHD because there is a high variability within the disorder itself and many of the symptoms of each are common within children. There are three patterns of behavior that reflect ADHD; they include hyperactive-impulsive type, inattentive type, and the combined type. Because ADHD is very variable and difficult to differentiate from normal attentiveness issues, a specialist is necessary to gather information and diagnose the disorder. When diagnosing the disorder, the specialist must examine the situation, talking to the patients teachers, parents, and other close individuals. The child must be evaluated for both adjustment and mental health. 

I believe ADHD is a real disorder, but because it is often difficult to diagnose, it is often over medicated and over diagnosed. UK prescriptions for stimulants have increased from 6,000 in 1994 to 345,000 in the latter half of 2003. While no medical test exists and the diagnosis relies on the subjective opinion of a diagnoser, the ADHD still has been connected to studies revolving different portions of the brain, including the frontal lobes, temporal lobes, and grey matter. Children have exhibited 3-4 percent smaller brain volumes in all of these regions. Oftentimes, trained professionals cannot agree on what constitutes ADHD, leading to more complications within the diagnosis. As a result, people without the disorder are often diagnosed which has started to hurt the legitimacy of the disorder.

Gantt, Edwin E. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Psychological Issues. McGraw-Hill Education Create, 2018.

https://www.verywellmind.com/adhd-overview-4157275

https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/ss/slideshow-adhd-in-children

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Adjusted-and-Nonadjusted-Time-Trends-in-Incidence-Rates-of-Diagnosed-ADHD-by-Age-Group-at_fig2_274401149