Creating a panacea

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vijun

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I think the slogan for most psychiatrists around the world should be, we wont take your misery away but we will do what ever we can to make sure that you live with your misery for as long as possible. Actually I could say the same thing for all other fields of medicine. An oncologist can use radiation to shrink or stop the growth of a cancerous tumor but they are not curing the disease. A psychiatrist can prescribe Clozaril or Geodon for a person suffering from schizophrenia but if they stop taking the medication the voices will always come back. Where are the cures for all of the diseases that human beings have to live with? Oh I am sorry I forgot. Medical doctors and pharmaceutical executives are not in the business of curing diseases. What is the point of curing a disease when you can have millions of people buying your products at a high price because they depend on it for their survival?

I believe that every human being on this planet deserves exactly what they get, regardless of whether it is pleasure or pain. Every human being that has been raped, robbed, tortures, or murdered deserved it. Every person that is suffering form diseased like cancer, diabetes, AIDS, or any other serious disease deserves exactly what they are getting. My beliefs have nothing to do with fairness, feelings, justice or morals. Those are all chemical illusions. My beliefs are all about actions and reactions. Actions that were made millions of years ago by the first life forms capable of making choices because they evolved the ability to retain information from their senses. Actions that were made by human beings thousands of years ago. And the decisions that are being made every second in the present by humans. When I look at murderer or rapist I don’t see evil. I see the same thing that I see when look at person suffering from a disease like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. I see genes or different combinations of amino acids to be precise. We have he power to completely eliminate all of our genetic flaws, but unfortunately the majority of humans on this planet would prefer to continue living like cavemen. We chose to embrace primitive traditions and beliefs that are responsible for slowing down scientific. We would prefer to worry about ethics and morals before we worry about the physical and emotional pain that people are living with. It is time medical doctors to work together and fight the only war that is worth fighting. The war against our genetic flaws.

Psychiatrist should be using their knowledge of neurochemistry to enhance the pleasure and wellbeing in the lives of depressed individuals. This would enhance the cognitive abilities of some people suffering from depression. If more intelligent people were out there it would help win the war against our genetic flaws.Perhaps some of you could consider working with pharmacologist to create a drug that would give people a pleasurable experience similar to heroin but with fewer side effects.

The creators of this website should consider making a section for medical students to communicate about the creation of a panacea.

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Medical research, on all fronts, is is waging a war against genetic flaws. As far as a drug to give people pleasurable experiences "similar to heroin but with fewer side effects." First of all, if a drug were to exist it would certainly at least be psychologically addictive. Secondly, the objective of mental health is not to give people pleasure, but rather to attempt to erradicate mental illness(es) that may prevent people from pursuit of such pleasure. (Sounds like you've read Brave New World and didn't realize is was SATIRE).

You seem to have a dismissed the entire nature vs nurture agrument in favor of a 100% biological paradigm, whereby you see all human behavior as a product of our genes. Very few people share your one-sided view of this. Most people agree that behavior results from a mix of things: genetics, biological, environmental, influences of culture and society, etc.
 
vijun said:
I think the slogan for most psychiatrists around the world should be, we wont take your misery away but we will do what ever we can to make sure that you live with your misery for as long as possible. Actually I could say the same thing for all other fields of medicine. An oncologist can use radiation to shrink or stop the growth of a cancerous tumor but they are not curing the disease. A psychiatrist can prescribe Clozaril or Geodon for a person suffering from schizophrenia but if they stop taking the medication the voices will always come back. Where are the cures for all of the diseases that human beings have to live with? Oh I am sorry I forgot. Medical doctors and pharmaceutical executives are not in the business of curing diseases. What is the point of curing a disease when you can have millions of people buying your products at a high price because they depend on it for their survival?

I don't buy into your conspiracy theory which lumps physicians in with pharm executives as not being "in the business of curing disease." Do you have any idea the amount of research, worldwide, that is directed at mental illness? (Perhaps you could begin the edification process with a visit to the NIMH website here for starters) Unfortunately, physicians' armamentarium in treating disease is limited to what research provides us. So, until we have a cure for a disease like schizophrenia, we have an obligation to our patients to alleviate their suffering, i.e. treat their symptoms to the best of our abilities. You are right in saying that there are many diseases for which we have no cure. However, many of those diseases can be managed. The mental health profession is full of people who are doing the best they can with the (limited) tools we have (i.e. drugs, therapy).
 
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