[MUD-Dev] Virtual World Theory

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On Mon, 1 Sep 1997 19:08:22 PST8PDT, Jeff Kesselman
<jeffk at tenetwork.com> wrote:

>Simple fact: Psyhcopharmacology works.
>Its still in its infancy but the undisputable fatc is that where we HAVE
>been able to isolate the emchanisms invovled and chemcily treat-- cheifl in
>teh area s of Chronic Affective Disorder and Psychotic patients, there
>results have been remarkable.

There are a lot of remarkable results, and a lot of spectacular
failures. A glance through the PDR will reveal that we know shockingly
little about how ANY of these drugs actually work. This disturbs me, and
draws a much closer parallel to witchcraft than I am comfortable with. 

I do have some very close friends who have been helped drastically by
antipsychotics, antidepressants, et cetera. I'm not saying the field
doesn't work; far from it. I'm saying that the field is not a panacea,
and that in fact there can be no such panacea. Sometimes it just isn't
effective. Sometimes it's effective by turning the patient into a
drooling idiot who is little more than a vegetable. And sometimes it's
effective enough to relieve major symptoms, but not quite effective
enough to allow the patient to lead a normal life. 

I went to high school in Leesburg, at a boarding school for 'problem'
students. My major problem was that I was just plain uncontrollable and
socially inept (no doubt the result of my overly computerised life).
Some of my classmates and roommates had more serious problems, ranging
from simple animosity to alcoholism and drug addiction, with a
reasonably large complement of just plain nuts. I've stayed in touch
with several of them. Some are now full-blown schizophrenics. And
believe me, having four schizophrenics at the same dinner table is a
memorable experience... especially if you're at a restaurant.

Have you ever seen a close friend so doped up on Thorazine that he can
barely talk? No wonder he's not a problem anymore. He's nothing. He's a
lump. An inanimate object. And so much more manageable, isn't he? I'm
sure the voices don't bother him at all anymore. After all, he can't
understand real ones, either.

But on the other side of the coin, I've seen friends who teetered on the
brink of suicide for years suddenly show up exuberant, with a zest for
life I never would have believed possible. They always pass the credit
on to some new medication they started (Prozac for three of them). It
works sometimes. It doesn't work other times. But we should at least
admit that it doesn't always work.

>>"Confessions of a Crap Artist" by Phillip K. Dick
>
>Dick is a brillaint writer.  Jes also got hsi own problems.  But he
>certainyl is bneither a pshycologist nor psychiatrist and I wodner thus how
>he can 'confess" for one.

I think a writer is in many ways both psychologist and psychiatrist, and
at the very least must have a strong foundation in human social
interaction if he intends to have any success. While science fiction
allows you to escape some degree of that, you never wholly get away from
it. From the psychiatry angle, a writer could be seen as 'prescribing'
his books for various ailments such as boredom and itellectual ennui. ;)

>>> I think there is far too much effort being invested in changing people's
>>> worldviews today. 
>
>Im sorry.
>
>We staretd here by discussing a violent, degarding act of agression by one
>human being o nanother.

Yes, and if I remember properly I was a proponent of bullets to the head
rather than wasting obscene amounts of time, effort, and money on trying
to change them. Some of them can be changed. Most of them, I believe,
cannot. I think there's a culture these days that builds up a belief
that therapy is good for *everyone*. Well, yes, everyone can benefit
from therapy when they are READY for it. But it's that readiness which
is elusive, and difficult to quantify. The therapist-patient
relationship is founded on trust. Any professional can tell you that.

Unfortunately, there really are people in the world who are messed up
enough that they believe their worldview to be correct even when it
differs radically from established social norms. Some of them may be
right. However, when their worldviews become destructive, you can't just
go shake a finger at them and go 'naughty naughty, have some therapy'
and expect it to work. Therapy is only truly effective with the willing.

>There are 2 valid reasons in our scoiety to treat someone:
>	(1) They wish to chnage their own lives.
>	(2) Theya re a danger to others.

The latter is meaningless without the former. Treating the unwilling is
brainwashing. It's also futile, as the human mind is far more resilient
than most of us want to give it credit for. If someone is a danger to
others, he should be removed form the company of others. I do believe
that there is room to learn here, and that new rehabilitational
techniques could be gleaned from study of these individuals; but I don't
know of any currently available medical technique which will be
effective on an unwilling subject.

>Those are the ONLY times a ethical or responsible metnal health
>rpofessional; will treat someone.

I would *hope* the majority of mental health professionals are ethical
AND responsible, myself. ;)

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 You see me now, a veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I've been 
 living on the edge so long, where the winds of limbo roar. And 
 I'm young enough to get involved, too old to see, all the scars 
 are on the inside; I'm not sure that there's anything left of me
               -- Blue Oyster Cult, "Veteran of the Psychic Wars"
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