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Obviously you had a bad experience with anti-depressants - many people do. I have also had bad experiences with various drugs. The english mental health system

Obviously you had a bad experience with anti-depressants - many people do. I have also had bad experiences with various drugs. The english mental health system is horrible, agreed. However, I don't think reading articles, however scientific, is a substitute for five years of training to be a psychiatrist or psychologist - and if you don't think p-hacking is endemic in this space, I have a bridge to sell you. I can't stop you doing what you are doing. But if you tell somebody who has cholera that 'drinking water' was an alternative to going to a doctor, and they died, you'd go to prison. If even one person takes your advice, against the scientific consensus that anti-depressants work, tries to 'hack' their depression with your 'alternatives', you'll be partially responsible for the outcome. Ultimately, the question is: are you confident enough of your psychiatric/psychological credentials to offer advice about a life-threatening condition? Because that is what you are doing.

jimnotgym 8y ago
> However, I don't think reading articles, however scientific, is a substitute for five years of training to be a psychiatrist or psychologist Why do you keep pushing this line? The page quite clearly says on line 4 and line 6 that you should talk to a doctor. It even suggests discussing the listed things with a doctor. If a doctor prescribed me a statin to help with my cholesterol, then I went away and read up and found that reducing the amount of bacon I was eating would also help, then I went back and discussed that with my doctor, am I better or worse off? If I delete my Github account right now does the information I linked to go away? In lots of cases I have linked to the discussion rather than the article, where the extraordinarily critical HN crowd have pulled the article apart, searched for p-hacking and other frauds and discussed any merits. Is that better or worse than the tabloid stories that abound on health? I don't see how more information about your condition could be a bad thing?
jm__87 8y ago
I think the point here is everything should be on the table? Is there any advice here that is harmful?

jimnotgym 8y ago

> However, I don't think reading articles, however scientific, is a substitute for five years of training to be a psychiatrist or psychologist Why do you keep pushing this line? The page quite clearly says on line 4 and line 6 that you should talk to a doctor. It even suggests discussing the listed things with a doctor. If a doctor prescribed me a statin to help with my cholesterol, then I went away and read up and found that reducing the amount of bacon I was eating would also help, then I went back and discussed that with my doctor, am I better or worse off? If I delete my Github account right now does the information I linked to go away? In lots of cases I have linked to the discussion rather than the article, where the extraordinarily critical HN crowd have pulled the article apart, searched for p-hacking and other frauds and discussed any merits. Is that better or worse than the tabloid stories that abound on health? I don't see how more information about your condition could be a bad thing?

jm__87 8y ago

I think the point here is everything should be on the table? Is there any advice here that is harmful?