sociatry821

[thana ag]

Dear Adam,
Thanks for your response. I need to clarify what i meant.

My email was really a response to a person in despair(Ed)_,and really 
directed basically to him,not implying any global solution for  despair . I 
was touched by his staement and responded in kind:. A mini "each  a 
therapeutic agent to another" occassion.

Of course i don't mean that despair per se is good: By  "good" -i meant  
that it is good to be the aware of despaiir and its causes -any awareness is 
good ! What one does in response  that is another story. But without 
awareness there is no other story .
Antidepressants have their place,but not  to blunt the unpleasantness of 
awareness.
To advocate "pain" as an incentive for growth?!  No! Awareness -yes

Ed is off to Nova Scotia. Let's hope no oils spills, or such....
warmly,'
anath
>    Adam:
>   1. I don't think SRI's like Prozac are being used to cope with 
>environmental stresses, but more, a biological depression coming from 
>demoralization at many personal as well as cultural levels. Stopping their 
>use will most certainly NOT help things. See Peter Kramer's book, "Against 
>Depression."
>    2. You are again repeating what I consider to be magical thinking: The 
>old saw (which is just a tiny bit true) that pain makes man think. That's 
>as foolish as "no pain no gain." The grain of truth is that there is a 
>measure of discomfort in thinking, and a measure of discomfort in 
>motivating thinking, but it cannot be too general, too vague.
>        My approach is not to use the negative reinforcement of fear and 
>guilt, but rather the positive reinforcement that comes when people are 
>empowered, helped not only to think, but to be rewarded for thinking. This 
>involves among other things getting improvisation, spontaneity, some of the 
>arts (done the right way---they can be done badly, too!)-- into education, 
>sociodrama, critical thinking... instead of just giving back "right" 
>answers on tests.  Plus many other approaches.
>        Certainly I agree that consumerism and other factors are in the 
>long run self-defeating. Confrontation without knowing what to do 
>differently, or knowing how to do it or think about it more creatively, 
>only increases the desire to retreat.
>
>       I keep this discussion up in hope that others will also join in. 
>It's a good question---what tactics should we use. Warmly, Adam
>
>

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