DATA SPINNING

The treatment of adolescents with psychotropic drugs should be done with care and proper over-site from an MD. Where do those MDs get their information about what medications are available and what works? Obviously, from reputable journals and drug reps that show up at their clinic several times a month advising them what is new and available.

So what happens when the information the drug reps use or the journals present is not accurate? 

An article from Medscape explains how drug companies "spin" data to make their drugs look better in clinical trials. It demonstrates the disconnect between the medical field and drug companies, and shows that there is no good solution to date. Link

TALK THERAPY FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA

A new research study proves that schizophrenics respond well to small doses of anti-psychotic drugs and larger doses of one-on-one therapy.

People like Eric Berne, Thomas Szasz, and Robert Whitaker may have been prophets. Each writer and many others have tried to move the emphasis away from the biology and into the relationship for years.

Now, there will be a little murmur before we relax back into the comfort of medication. What is it about medication that makes us relax? Well, it means that there is a simple answer to a complex biosocial relational problem, a one stop shop, if you will, where everyone can get their symptoms relieved without the messy process of finding out what the problem is. In other words, treat the symptoms and not the illness.

Szasz called mental illness a myth. Berne said a person could get well rather than better. And Whitaker said that medication was overused and became ineffective over time. The new study appears to agree. When emotional health is a social/relational problem with a biological outcome, it changes everything. 

Treating the person, their life experiences as if there is a pattern to their life begins a process of explaining how they can heal and what steps each individual needs to get well - not be symptom free.

Thanks to the National Institute of Mental Healthy for funding this study.

A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING LIFE PATTERNS

I got up early this morning because I wanted to put together a short booklet to explain Life Patterns. I have been working on a Life Pattern Treatment book, but felt for some of the groups I work with it would be more convenient to have a short synopsis of the basics.

I should have it finished this weekend and maybe up on the web by early next week. The short text will cover all the basic topics of Life Patterns and lead into the Exploring Life Patterns workshop. It will not contain the treatment information that is in the book for therapists.

I think the short version will be particularly helpful with substance abuse treatment, giving clients an orientation before the workshop begins.