Re:Alterations in glutamate and the experience of ego dissol...
by SuoDuanDao on Thursday May 28, 2020 @10:51AM
(#23337964)
I did say 'can be'. The soldiers with PTSD whose depression has improved with small numbers of treatments did not simply suffer from a biological abnormality - their brains changed in response to stimulus, which is after all what we'd expect brains to do.
I do think brains should be viewed as different from most organs when we describe medical intervention, they are plastic to a degree other organs are not. If a diabetic could simply 'mutate' their pancreas to function normally with a single intervention, I think most would prefer that to taking insulin all their lives, even if the one intervention was distressing.
Brains actually can change in very dramatic ways. Most are for the worse of course, and we instinctively avoid any change in our mentality, but they are times when it is actually preferable.
Assuming there is an underlying conflict driving things, then medication might be simply masking the symptoms, which is a perfectly valid approach in dire situations, no use seeking out the underlying conflict if the symptoms kill you before you come to a conclusion.
However, if there is no underlying conflict and this is just a twist of fate, searching for an underlying conflict can be aggravating and misleading. If waves of negative emotion occur randomly (or semi-randomly), as has been my experience, and you assume there is always some valid reason for these feelings, the tendency is to re-arrange your life searching for a solution, if that solution does not exist because there is no underlying problem, constant rearrangement can blow up your support system and the routines that help maintain your daily living.