News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Anxiety and Depression Are Symptoms, Not Diseases by themgt on Monday March 28, 2016 @07:16PM (#11378245)
I actually agree drugs are useful for treating mental issues, I just disagree that people need a daily drip-drip-drip of e.g. serotonin or dopamine to function. Drugs can be extremely helpful in treating acute mental issues and helping people "break through" or inoculate themselves against episodes of illness, see e.g. psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine for treatments of e.g. anxiety/depression/PTSD/psychological health in the terminally ill, cluster headaches, etc.

The common thread though is that a single dose of the drug offers long-lasting protection, weeks or months or years. It's not about chemically changing the brain day after day, it's about using neurochemicals to jolt the brain out of a rut. It's about occasionally kickstarting the brain back into normal self-regulation, not using externally supplied chemicals to permanently supplement dysregulation.

Re:Anxiety and Depression Are Symptoms, Not Diseases by cnp on Monday March 28, 2016 @07:47PM (#11378438)
For more information on trials being conducted using the drugs described above, see MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies): http://www.maps.org/.