katie:Any college-level health collection, especially those strong in mental
health concerns, must have THE MYTH OF DEPRESSION AS DISEASE:
LIMITATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES TO DRUG TREATMENT: it goes where few books
so clearly have gone before, arguing that there's little actual
scientific evidence for treating depression as a biological disorder to
be treated with drugs. Indeed, the authors say, there is very little
known about the role of biology in depression; but marketing by
pharmaceutical companies has perpetuated the myth of chemical imbalance
and treatments to benefit their bottom lines.
sv: this could only be written by someone who has never witnessed the effect
that some of these drugs truly have and how they can incredibly change the
quality of one's life. I used to discount it all too, until over the years
I've witnessed their incredible effect on people who truly need them. sheryl
"Katie"
yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1166202030.717116.307430@f1g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...> Sorry to rattle your cultified chains again, Linda, but here's a book
> I'm sure you won't want to read. but offered in the interest of the
> public dialogue nevertheless.
>
> The Myth of Depression as Disease: Limitations and Alternatives to Drug
> Treatment (Contemporary Psychology) (Hardcover)
> by Allan M. Leventhal, Christopher R. Martell
>
> Amazon reviews:
>
> Any college-level health collection, especially those strong in mental
> health concerns, must have THE MYTH OF DEPRESSION AS DISEASE:
> LIMITATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES TO DRUG TREATMENT: it goes where few books
> so clearly have gone before, arguing that there's little actual
> scientific evidence for treating depression as a biological disorder to
> be treated with drugs. Indeed, the authors say, there is very little
> known about the role of biology in depression; but marketing by
> pharmaceutical companies has perpetuated the myth of chemical imbalance
> and treatments to benefit their bottom lines. Therapy is under-explored
> in contrast, and should be one of many alternatives to drug therapies:
> that's the hard-hitting contention of THE MYTH OF DEPRESSION AS
> DISEASE, which should earn much classroom discussion as well.
>
> The authors view depression, not as a brain disease, but rather as a
> mood and behavioral disorder resulting from adverse life situations.
> "It's Not Your Brain; It's Your Life" is their title for a section of
> Chapter 3. Depression might result from the death of a spouse or the
> loss of a vocation where the person fails to find a replacement, or,
> more commonly,******************************** from the long-term
> avoidance of risks of pursuing deeply-held life goals or intimate
> relationships. Avoidance, manifested as isolation, sleeping, drinking,
> procrastination, and the like, can be motivated by fears of failure,
> rejection, humiliation, shame, etc************************************.
> Behavior therapy and cognitive behavior therapy are described with
> considerable clarity as therapeutic treatments for depression. The
> focus of this therapy is replacing the avoidance behavior with
> effective coping behaviors.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Among the most
> interesting parts of the book is the section in Chapter 5 describing
> five cases of depression where a "double arrow" diagram points to the
> crucial step of avoidance that maintains the disorder.
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