Comments on: The Truth about Mental Health Disorders – Psychology

By: maciejwrotek

maciejwrotek — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:29:39 +0000

There are methods to diagnose brain abnormalities, called PET, f MRI scanns that show brain activity and blood flow. I don’t know why psychiatrists don’t use them to look at brain. There is a doctor Amen, who uses scans.

By: KapitanoStuff

KapitanoStuff — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:01:43 +0000

@maciejwrotek Let’s say you have a patient with symptom X, and pattern A of bloodflow to part C of the brain. Another patient has the same symptoms but different flow, and a third had different symptoms but similar flow. What exactly have the brainscans told you?
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Oh, and how did you decide what were ‘symptoms’ in the first place?

By: KapitanoStuff

KapitanoStuff — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:49:44 +0000

It’s hardly surprising that notions of “abnormal behavior” change with culture, as notions of “normal behavior” change with culture.
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Do I have Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or am I independent when someone in power wishes I were not? Do I have dyslexia or did I fall behind in school because of my homelife? Am I delinquent, or am I trying to fit in with the cool kids who offend their parents with tokenistic rebellion?
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Oh, and am I manifesting Resistance by asking these questions?

By: maciejwrotek

maciejwrotek — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:49:01 +0000

@why do u think scan will look like that?

By: KapitanoStuff

KapitanoStuff — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:28:42 +0000

@maciejwrotek It might help if your question were related in some way to the point being made. Why do I think the scan will look like *what*, exactly?

By: maciejwrotek

maciejwrotek — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:57:25 +0000

@KapitanoStuff If U look for example on depression, there is global hypoperfusion.

By: KapitanoStuff

KapitanoStuff — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:47:39 +0000

@maciejwrotek Global Hypoperfusion would mean decreased bloodflow through every part of the body. Would certainly cause lethargy…shortly followed by death.
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If you mean hypoperfusion to every part of the *brain*…then you’d get brain death, or at least vastly reduced function, possibly to vegetative levels. Not depression.

By: maciejwrotek

maciejwrotek — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:56:53 +0000

@KapitanoStuff No, brain regulates functions by redistributing circulation. For example caffeine alone at 250mg produces 22-32% decrease in cerebral blood flow. and u r still alive. But caffeine increases glucose utilization.

By: maciejwrotek

maciejwrotek — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:33:34 +0000

@KapitanoStuff type in google for study “Brain Circulation in mental disorders” by KENNETH S. KENDLER, M.D.

MEDICAL COLLEGE OF VWGIIsHA

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

By: KapitanoStuff

KapitanoStuff — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:17:47 +0000

@maciejwrotek Ok, I won’t question the figures, but they still don’t answer the original question. Given the complexity of brain bloodflow, the imprecision of fMRI and the variability between patients, even those with identical symptoms (which never happens) will have markedly different flow patterns, so how do you correlate flow with symptom? How do you decide which flow aspects are significant, which are abnormal, which are relavant, and what is a symptom in the first place?

By: maciejwrotek

maciejwrotek — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:01:38 +0000

@KapitanoStuff There must be a baseline for brain hydration and u go from there. I don’t know if imprecisions are relevant, but i know that PET scanner shows 30% decrease with caffeine so it is useful. It is too complex try to understand where decreased blood flow causes what symptom. U simply correct it, symptoms dissapear, and then u can study details.

By: StanpyX

StanpyX — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:17:22 +0000

While I agree that there are far too many mental diagnostic labels thrown around (ADHD, etc) I do believe mental illness does exist. There ARE people who hear voices in their heads, hallucinate and see images, depressed for no reason to the point of suicide, etc. None of these are ‘normal human behaviour’.

What determines a mental disorder and ‘normal’ if biology or chemistry can’t? Well society does I guess. We don’t 100% understand the human brain, so it’s impossible to get physical evidence.

By: BlackoutDOTcom

BlackoutDOTcom — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 01:34:21 +0000

psychiatry is the biggest sham pulled on humanity other than the federal reserve…..

But people who are on zoloft really hate when you tell them this….. they wanna believe they are taking a real helpful thing.

By: Newworld444

Newworld444 — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:45:14 +0000

Its obvious that psychiatry is established by social/political means. I have nothing wrong with that and think its the right thing to do.
Its not a disease, its a disorder as in going against order. The point of psychiatry is to assist those who feel distress and those who are distressed. To promote social harmony and logical cognition. Yes, obviously its not a perfect institution and is effected by power hunger and corruption like any other. Yet overall I don’t feel it is a bad institution.

By: Newworld444

Newworld444 — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:28:09 +0000

@KapitanoStuff Both. The social part is what causes what psychiatrists label as a disorder.