Pride goes before destruction
Since one of my graduate degrees is in clinical psychology, I have a license as a professional counselor, am an approved supervisor/trainer and am a certified addiction counselor one might assume that I know something about mental illness; what it is and what it is not. Anytime the firing of many neurons in the area of the body commonly referred to as the brain leads me to the hubris of thinking I know what I am talking about I am reminded of Proverbs 16:18 “ Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Those who take on the tasks of sponsoring someone who wants to use the 12-step program to heal from active drug addiction or other addictive behavior will find themselves reminding their sponsee “Your best thinking kept you in active addiction.” Another of echoing the words of the prophet.
In undergraduate school I was introduced to a book which had been published several years prior to my subjecting my mind to the study of the stimulation of or formation of neurons and their chemical firing. The book was The Myth of Mental Illness by Thomas Szasz. The author argues that speaking of mental illness involves a logical or conceptual error. One should instead be talking of a lapse in ethical or legal deviation and teaching personal responsibility. Later I would be introduced by the American Psychiatric Association to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of. Mental Disorder (DSM) which purported to be the definitive manual of mental illness and in rather lofty terms included such behavior as same sex liaisons as mental disorders which was in line with laws of the times. There is now the DSM V which now purports to list the continuum of mental illness although presented a little less arrogantly than the original.
Since the coining of the term mental illness scientists have made great strides in accepting the complexity of the thought process which involves “the orderly synapse of neurons firing in a. sequence and in parallel synchronization forming a coherent way of energy which was released by the interaction of electro-chemical synapses that gives rise to the currents of awareness we feel in our mind.” (neuralmachines.com) One can should ask the question, Which comes first thoughts or firing of neurons. The answer is one cannot have one without the other. Scientists at Stanford remind one that deep brain stimulating devices used to treat medication resistant depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder can change the thinking and thus the behavior of some individuals. (neuralscience.standford.edu)
Anne Harrington, professor at Harvard, has written a new book entitled Mind Fixers: Psychiatry’s Troubled. Search for the Biology of Mental Illness. Gary Greenberg has an excellent review of the book in the April issue of The Atlantic. Terry Gross also interviewed. Dr. Harrington on a recent podcast of Fresh Air.
Dr. Harrington raises more questions than she gives answer. Among those questions is an age old one of why placebos work. Some have suggested they work because when the human mind thinks it is taking something or doing something which will help some discomfort the mind begins to send well messages to the rest of the body. Hence the term remembered wellness. Yet, this placebo affect does not happen for everyone.
We do know that the chemical balance in our body greatly affects how all parts of the body, including the brain, work. We also know that genetics, nutritional intake, environmental factors, certain medication and “emotional factors” affect the production, distribution and balance of the chemicals or at least this my understanding. Dr. Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle and many others have suggested and seem to offer proof that if one changes one’s thoughts one can change one’s behavior. Yet this approach is certainly, at best, not sufficient to relieve the acute distress of everyone.
In some respects the distinction between mental and physical is confusing and, in many respects, inaccurate. Yet, to claim, as did Dr. Szasz, that mental illness is a myth is not kind or helpful.
Not surprisingly, it is the wisdom of the Prophet (who spoke in the language of many religions) that is our best guide for those of us who are research neuroscientists, practitioners, or companies developing and marketing pharmalogical treatments, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” We do not yet know what we do not know.
We must tread lightly with open minds and hearts.
Written April 25, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett,org
Since one of my graduate degrees is in clinical psychology, I have a license as a professional counselor, am an approved supervisor/trainer and am a certified addiction counselor one might assume that I know something about mental illness; what it is and what it is not. Anytime the firing of many neurons in the area of the body commonly referred to as the brain leads me to the hubris of thinking I know what I am talking about I am reminded of Proverbs 16:18 “ Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Those who take on the tasks of sponsoring someone who wants to use the 12-step program to heal from active drug addiction or other addictive behavior will find themselves reminding their sponsee “Your best thinking kept you in active addiction.” Another of echoing the words of the prophet.
In undergraduate school I was introduced to a book which had been published several years prior to my subjecting my mind to the study of the stimulation of or formation of neurons and their chemical firing. The book was The Myth of Mental Illness by Thomas Szasz. The author argues that speaking of mental illness involves a logical or conceptual error. One should instead be talking of a lapse in ethical or legal deviation and teaching personal responsibility. Later I would be introduced by the American Psychiatric Association to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of. Mental Disorder (DSM) which purported to be the definitive manual of mental illness and in rather lofty terms included such behavior as same sex liaisons as mental disorders which was in line with laws of the times. There is now the DSM V which now purports to list the continuum of mental illness although presented a little less arrogantly than the original.
Since the coining of the term mental illness scientists have made great strides in accepting the complexity of the thought process which involves “the orderly synapse of neurons firing in a. sequence and in parallel synchronization forming a coherent way of energy which was released by the interaction of electro-chemical synapses that gives rise to the currents of awareness we feel in our mind.” (neuralmachines.com) One can should ask the question, Which comes first thoughts or firing of neurons. The answer is one cannot have one without the other. Scientists at Stanford remind one that deep brain stimulating devices used to treat medication resistant depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder can change the thinking and thus the behavior of some individuals. (neuralscience.standford.edu)
Anne Harrington, professor at Harvard, has written a new book entitled Mind Fixers: Psychiatry’s Troubled. Search for the Biology of Mental Illness. Gary Greenberg has an excellent review of the book in the April issue of The Atlantic. Terry Gross also interviewed. Dr. Harrington on a recent podcast of Fresh Air.
Dr. Harrington raises more questions than she gives answer. Among those questions is an age old one of why placebos work. Some have suggested they work because when the human mind thinks it is taking something or doing something which will help some discomfort the mind begins to send well messages to the rest of the body. Hence the term remembered wellness. Yet, this placebo affect does not happen for everyone.
We do know that the chemical balance in our body greatly affects how all parts of the body, including the brain, work. We also know that genetics, nutritional intake, environmental factors, certain medication and “emotional factors” affect the production, distribution and balance of the chemicals or at least this my understanding. Dr. Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle and many others have suggested and seem to offer proof that if one changes one’s thoughts one can change one’s behavior. Yet this approach is certainly, at best, not sufficient to relieve the acute distress of everyone.
In some respects the distinction between mental and physical is confusing and, in many respects, inaccurate. Yet, to claim, as did Dr. Szasz, that mental illness is a myth is not kind or helpful.
Not surprisingly, it is the wisdom of the Prophet (who spoke in the language of many religions) that is our best guide for those of us who are research neuroscientists, practitioners, or companies developing and marketing pharmalogical treatments, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” We do not yet know what we do not know.
We must tread lightly with open minds and hearts.
Written April 25, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett,org
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