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A. There is no such thing as "chemical imbalance". B. Medicine is as much of an art as it is science (if not more of an art). C. Only some anti-depressants are

A. There is no such thing as "chemical imbalance". B. Medicine is as much of an art as it is science (if not more of an art). C. Only some anti-depressants are the way you describe. The most promising anti-depressant, I.V. ketamine - acts rapidly, breaks through the most resistant depression is gone from your bloodstream within minutes/hours after infusion and there are zero withdrawal effects.

stronglikedan 7y ago
> There is no such thing as "chemical imbalance". Why do many, many doctors say there is? It seems they, of all people, should know what they are talking about.
- scotty79 7y ago
  Not really. Doctors are trained to recognise symptoms and match the therapy to the symptoms. They of course know mechanism of some (well understood) afflictions. But many are not that well understood and yet therapies for them exist that help some patients with those symptoms. Then when asked about the causes or the mechanism doctors just act like all humans do. They repeat rumours they heard.
- tomhoward 7y ago
  I suspect pharma companies and doctors have settled on the term "chemical imbalance" so they have something to tell patients that is simple enough to understand but medical-sounding enough to accept. Also, general physicians have to be across such a vast range of ailments and treatment options, they don't have much ability to deeply understand the issues themselves. I'm not one for any great conspiracy behind this. For my own reasons I've researched the topic deeply, and I agree that the term "chemical imbalance" is fairly shaky, but I can accept a fairly innocent explanation for why it's come to be.
jaredklewis 7y ago
> B. Medicine is as much of an art as it is science (if not more of an art). This seems like a rather novel point of view. I can’t speak to whether this view is common among medical practitioners, but as a patient I can say I dislike it. I would like that treatment options be selected and evaluated on the basis of empirical evidence. What does it even mean that medicine is an art?
- stordoff 7y ago
  > I would like that treatment options be selected and evaluated on the basis of empirical evidence. How do you balanced the subjective benefits against the potential risks and decide if (continuing) treatment is worth it? That would seem to be something without a "right" answer.

stronglikedan 7y ago

> There is no such thing as "chemical imbalance". Why do many, many doctors say there is? It seems they, of all people, should know what they are talking about.

scotty79 7y ago
Not really. Doctors are trained to recognise symptoms and match the therapy to the symptoms. They of course know mechanism of some (well understood) afflictions. But many are not that well understood and yet therapies for them exist that help some patients with those symptoms. Then when asked about the causes or the mechanism doctors just act like all humans do. They repeat rumours they heard.
tomhoward 7y ago
I suspect pharma companies and doctors have settled on the term "chemical imbalance" so they have something to tell patients that is simple enough to understand but medical-sounding enough to accept. Also, general physicians have to be across such a vast range of ailments and treatment options, they don't have much ability to deeply understand the issues themselves. I'm not one for any great conspiracy behind this. For my own reasons I've researched the topic deeply, and I agree that the term "chemical imbalance" is fairly shaky, but I can accept a fairly innocent explanation for why it's come to be.

jaredklewis 7y ago

> B. Medicine is as much of an art as it is science (if not more of an art). This seems like a rather novel point of view. I can’t speak to whether this view is common among medical practitioners, but as a patient I can say I dislike it. I would like that treatment options be selected and evaluated on the basis of empirical evidence. What does it even mean that medicine is an art?

stordoff 7y ago
> I would like that treatment options be selected and evaluated on the basis of empirical evidence. How do you balanced the subjective benefits against the potential risks and decide if (continuing) treatment is worth it? That would seem to be something without a "right" answer.