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Do some research on the history of the psychiatry profession and the evil practices they have committed throughout the world. Start with the Nazi experiments, then read about the Russian experiments, then go to America and read about the experiments done in sanitariums and mental health hospitals. Then read how the psychiatric profession created a problem called ADD so drug companies could make a fortune by facilitating drug-dependency in children and onward into adulthood. Tons of books have been written about this topic. You mentioned that psychiatry has made major advancements in the treatment of severe depression, OCD, manic depression, severe anxiety, etc. The "advancements" are drug-related, not outcome related. Drugs don't cure, nor do they address the cause; they merely mask symptoms and create new ones. Likewise in the medical field, in general. We've made tremendous technological advancements in medicine over the past two decades, but our overall health is much worse than it was 20 years ago. You ever hear of psychiatrists talking about ways to prevent mental illness? No, because they don't know the cause, so they guess at the treatment, and sometimes do more harm than good. That's exactly what Dr. Amen admitted to doing before he came across the use of PET scans.
Its clear from your rant, that you don't work in medicine, or know much about it, other then what you read on the internet.
First off, nice straw man argument to start off with.You want to condemn entire practices of the many, because of the misapplication of the few? Throughout history, people have used all sorts of professions, skills, and knowledge to destroy and hurt one another. Sometimes nefariously, and sometimes because they didn't know any better. People have used engineering, chemistry, microbiology, etc, etc to create instruments of destruction. Should we condemn those professions as well?Its clear from your rant, that you don't work in medicine, or know much about it, other then what you read on the internet. Healthcare, especially mental healthcare, is not as cut and dry as you would like to believe. Yes, we are unhealthy as a population now, but that is, quite often, from personal lifestyle choices. You can't drive your car into a river, and then blame the mechanic because its not working right anymore. Personal culpability plays into overall health. Just because we don't understand something completely, doesn't mean we should ignore it. Mental healthcare is extremely difficult, because its quite often, not the result of a definitive anatomical indicator. Its not like a cancerous tumor, or coronary artery disease, or pneumonia. Its trying to identify why a particular person's perceptions are different, and how do we even being to measure that, when it varies person to person? The only thing that is universally applicable in mental health, seems to be the symptoms, and not always the cause.Have you ever met anyone with a serious mental illness? What is your suggestion to them? "We don't know why you feel this way, so tough shit?" Do you honestly not know that medicine keeps a lot of these people alive and grounded? Should we not have made that progress?Do you know that in all things, there are no absolutes? Regardless of the best science, the best testing, and the best treatment, some afflictions, physical and/or mental, are incurable. A lot of medicine is based on improving the quality of a patient's life, and not on curing what can't be cured. That doesn't mean there hasn't been progress made, because human health is not always a straight line race. There is no point A to conclusion B in certain scenarios. Say what you want, but there are people walking around today, functional, who would have otherwise 30, 40, 50 years ago, been either cast out, homeless, imprisoned, or locked in a mental institution and forgotten. All because advancements in psychiatry, and psychiatric medicine.If Amen's work leads to even better success, and more advancement, that is awesome. But, to claim the entire field of mental health, has been, to this point rubbish, is ludicrous. Especially, since Amen's work, is just building on the groundwork that has already been laid.
Thanks, Werd. Nothing like a first person account to override posturing and speculation. I'm glad to read that you have found relief. BTW, aren't you in law enforcement? If so, I can imagine that environment might cause some anxiety and/or panic. For the record, I may have started this debate over the merits of AMEN's work. If so, that was not my intent. I am not qualified to judge the merits of the product he is pushing. I can, however, (and did) comment on the huckster overtones in his presentation. His scans have a brand name which he repeated over and over again, like Oxyclean. He also made a lot of noise about the failings of any approach that does not benefit from the use of his product. Maybe what he is pushing is a beautiful thing that will put an end to mass shootings and racism and other fear induced social ills. Maybe it will accomplish nothing more than lining his pockets. Maybe it will do nothing more than start arguments on the internet. In the end, I don't expect it to do anything for me or to me. P.S. His illustrations appeared simplistic and fatuous to me. Does a brain look like any of those pictures? Why is this stuff being generated for mass consumption? Seems to me that this type of thing would (maybe should) be collegial, not dumbed down for mass consumption as he has done in this presentation. Maybe he was just playing for funding. Is TED about venture capital?
For brain health, I supplement my diet with MCT's, derived from coconut and palm kernel oils, along with BHB salts, in order to supply my brain with an alternate fuel source (ketones) than carbs/sugar.
Do you also track your ketones? Are you on a ketotic diet? I believe the brain still needs glucose, but that's easy to get via gluconeogenisis. Do you perform intermittent fasting?I've just bought a blood testing meter that tests both blood glucose and ketones. I've only started using it, though, so only have a few days of data.
That's a long time. I've had fasts of 4.5, 5, and 5.5 days, plus many of 3 days. This week, I'll fast from Sunday night to Tuesday at lunch (rarely eat breakfast any more), Tuesday night to Thursday at lunch and Thursday night to Friday at dinner. I'm trying to mix things up while still having dinner with the kids at least a few times a week. I will also "splurge" at times. We're going on vacation next week, for instance, and I'll eat relatively freely (still try to avoid most carbs, like bread, but it's difficult to stay in ketosis while traveling). When I come back, I'll probably fast for several days. Supposedly, if you're in long term ketosis, the type of ketone that the breath analyzer tests for goes to zero, but you'll still be in ketosis. The blood meter works better, but the strips are expensive (the meter is cheap). Since going low carb and adding intermittent fasting to that, I've gone from 43 inch pants to 36, increased my HDL, lowered my triglycerides, etc.