Posted by christophrejmc on February 23, 2002, at 22:50:15
In reply to Re: Screw Therapy!, posted by spike4848 on February 23, 2002, at 21:13:45
Well... I have double depression -- dysthymia since age nine, and recurrent MDD since age fourteen. (I think I would trade my "fake" depression for my "real" depression; at least I would get some breaks in between.) Psychotherapy has only been helpful since finding someone I could really talk to. It may not cure my depression, but it does help. I also think that therapy can be wrong for some people (regardless of severity), and that some therapists can be wrong for certain patients.
If depression is neurochemical, and feelings are neurochemical, then changing certain feelings can affect neurochemistry. It's unlikely that antidepressants work by increasing the concentration of neurochemicals, rather it is probably the secondary (tertiary, etc.) effects of a change in neurochemicals. I think the same is true of thoughts and feelings; a slight change in one feeling may affect another feeling, affecting another, etc. It's not necessary for one to have a therapist to change (or modify) their thoughts and feelings, but it does help if you allow it to.
I don't see why it matters if one sees a neurologist or a psychiatrist. I don't know of many psychiatrists who do psychotherapy, so it's basically a matter of who's shoveling out the Prozac. What can a neurologist tell me that a psychiatrist cannot?
-christophre (get me away from here, I'm dying)
poster:christophrejmc
thread:18721
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020223/msgs/18762.html