Posted by JohnL on April 30, 2000, at 3:32:44
In reply to Re: AndrewB, posted by Cam W. on April 29, 2000, at 11:18:07
*****Cam, your posts are wonderful. I enjoy every one of them. I hope it's OK if I jump in and comment on a couple things?
> Andrew - I haven't seen anything on Jensen's work (except what you and others have written). As you notice, I have been conspicuously absent from these discussions. Everything I know about the biochemical and pharmacological workings of meds says no to his theories (from what I have gleaned from the posts).
*****Understandable. This variation of traditional psychiatry is just now finding its way into a few medical schools. At this time it is confined to a handful of private physicians, of which Jensen seems to be the pioneer.Some aspects may have merit, but I would have to read the book and study his theories.
*****You should. It will not replace what you already know, but add to it. Enhancement. More ammunition for the battle against the beast. It's easy reading and will take a few hours. Half of it is geared for the physician, chock full of technical stuff. But again, it isn't meant to replace conventional psychiatry. It is meant to enhance, and is specially geared for the difficult patients who have already had multiple 6 week failures.
>
> If his theories were so good and his methods so vital to medicine, why is profiting from them.
*****If my local GP has a good method, then why should he or she not profit from it? Should it be for free? Do we pay a psychiatrist for treatment that isn't getting us better, but not expect to pay for one who does? In reality, his fees are exactly the same as everyone else's. He isn't scalping or taking advantage. His fees are right in line with every other pdoc in the phone directory. As for the book, it's about $30. I think he could easily scalp people by charging $95 instead. I don't suspect he's getting rich off this modest book (workbook more accurately). It is not a requirement to pay for his service or his book, but rather a free choice. He can only profit from those who freely choose at their own discretion to enlist his service. Or they can pay someone else instead. Somebody's going to get paid, whoever provides the service.*****I think he's making an attempt to get his ideas into the psychiatry mainstream, including medical schools as we speak. I don't think it's for self glory either. I think he really does have an unusually prominent passion for psychiatry, above and beyond what we normally see. But his main goal is getting his patients well, which doesn't leave a whole lot of time to spread the word on what's working in his practice.
>I know many people profit from their medical discoveries, but I think that it is wrong.
*****That's the way of the world, isn't it? Every single person on this earth receives compensation for their contribution to society, whether it be a product, a service, an idea, or whatever.>Scientific discovery and innovation should be freely held up to scientific scrutiny (randomized double blind placebo controlled clinical trials) before some writes a book an makes extraordinary claims (we need to extraordinary proof).
*****I agree. Hopefully in the next five or ten years some energetic medical schoolers will put some new complimentary theories, like Jensen's for example, and perhaps others in the works, to the test. Until that time, I'm sure he will continue helping patients get well that have been failed by straight forward approaches. And until that time, I'm pretty sure hundreds upon thousands of other authors will come and go scalping people for the most ridiculous unproven books on every topic imaginable from A to Z.
>
> My unsubstantiated opinion - Cam W.
*****Mine too. :-) I thoroughly enjoy every one of your posts. Thank you very much for the time and energy you devote to sharing your knowledge with us all. I remember the first day you showed up. I wondered, who is this Cam W? I don't know where you came from or how you found this board, but I'm glad you're here! :) JohnL
poster:JohnL
thread:31659
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000429/msgs/31739.html