God and Medicine-1
OVERVIEW
Recently, the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) had the makers of acetaminophen (Tylenol) place a strong warning (called a black box warning) about the dangers of overdosing on acetaminophen. Doctors have known that if you give a 170 pound man approximately 5000 mg, or 10 tabs of 500mg. of acetaminophen over 24 hours you run the risk of permanently ruining his liver and without a liver transplant you will die. We are victims of advertising Tylenol is not the only company, the pharmacy companies that tells only part of the story. What Tylenol says is reads…”doctors recommended” they do not say is that doctors use acetaminophen (Tylenol) because it causes less gastric upset than non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’S) such as, aspirin (ASA), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin ), naproxen (Al eve).
All drugs have side effects, ALL treatments have side effects some have more and of course, some have less. This is true in Psychological treatments whether you use psychotherapy, drugs or a combination of both.
When I got my degree in psychology (1971) it was the “dark ages” we known so much more now. The last 10 years we as a people have learned more about psychology than all of the pre-vious times. We know that the level of dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and epinephrine in the brain affects our emotions and our actions. The lack of, or too much, of a neurotransmitter often are the root of our psychological problem. The problem is this, what came first the mental symptoms (The Chicken) or the physical symptoms (The Egg)? The truth is that in many cases it is a mixture of both. Years ago psychology took a turn towards the medical model. When that happened psychologist and psychiatrist strolled hand in hand thru the tulips. The medical model was the only game in town. The medical model looks at the world with perspec-tive of being sick and the reasons for being sick. This model sees you’re as needing a cure, because you have a disease.
The roots of positive psychology go back into the ‘dark ages’ of the 1950’s. B. F. Skinner’s ‘rats nest’ behaviorist ideas ruled in psychology. His operant condition theory seems to rule at time. However, humanistic psychologists such as Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Erich Fromm, shaped a more natural path to well being. Psychiatrists, for the most part, were looking at the medicine/sickness/disease model as their source of inspiration. Psychologists were looking at the person as someone who needed help to cope in the clients’ life. The difference being psychiatrist tended to look for the ‘magic pill’, which they eventfully found after many, many years of research. The psychologists were searching for the ‘magic therapy.’ Today, psychologist and psychiatrist generally agree that a combination of medicine and psychotherapy works well for most clients.
We come back to the Egg and Chicken, again. The question is if our thoughts/emotions are in control or genetics in control of our behaviors. The answer is an unequivocal, sometimes both. We know from recent research that severe mental disorders, i.e. schizophrenia, Bi-Polar (Manic-Depressive), psychotic episodes, Major Depression there is a genetic component in the ma-keup of the client. They lack or have too much of one or more of the neurotransmitters; they need medicine and psychotherapy. The vast majority of the people who need psychology help-can are helped by a form of talk therapy. Most patients can be helped by combinations of med-icine and psychotherapy. In the last 5-10 years Positive Psychology has come into its own as a viable tool in unlocking people’s potential and seeing themselves as their own best friend.
Happiness is Just around the Corner
The long promised salvation as come and it is the Positive Psychology and Resilience theories. Positive psychology and resiliency move in the realm of the here and now, not worrying about what the mother or your teacher did to you when you were 12!
Psychology has now has discovered resilience (about 20 years ago) due the pioneer work of Dr's. Martin Seligman, E.E. Werner, Al Siebert and others. Their work started as a look at people who were supposed have poor coping skills because their low socioeconomic status. They found that about 1/3 of the subjects were able to thrive in poor circumstances. This led to wondering why they were different, and eventually researchers were able to quantify the coping skills of this group. They were resilient in their everyday lives Researchers found that the coping skills of the resilient could be learned. The study of resilience helped to found to a school of psychology called “Positive Psychology.”
About 3,000 years ago the Bible stated that; “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”Proverbs 17: 22 (NIV) Another version reads; “A happy heart is good medicine, but low spirits sap one’s strength.”(CJB) Happiness has found a home. In the context of Resilience/Positive Psychology happiness means the good life. The root word is from ancient Greek. “…eudaemonia or eudaimonia, the good life, which is what Thomas Jefferson and Aristotle meant by the pursuit of happiness. They did not mean smiling a lot of giggling. Aristotle is talking about the pleasures of contemplation and the pleasure of good conversation. Aristotle is not talking feeling, about thrills, about orgasms. Aristotle is talking about what Mike Csikszentmihali works on, and that is, when one has a good conversation, when contemplates well. When one is in eudaemonia, time stops. You feel completely at home. Self-consciousness is blocked; you are one with music.” (Edge Foundation, Inc., 2004)
Happiness, then, is more than having good time or laughing out loud. The phrase, “simple pleasures” has a meaning to us. We, as a race, have strong feelings about sun sets and sun rises. They raise positive emotions in us. We can appreciate the beauty of nature. Happiness is knowing that what we do is fulfilling it does not depend on material wealth or other’s actions.
Resilience
END OF PART ONE
