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For the HN-reading 22-year-old out there who is trying to climb out of that first unspeakably horrible episode of mental illness, and as part of that, trying to
by braindongle 7y ago
For the HN-reading 22-year-old out there who is trying to climb out of that first unspeakably horrible episode of mental illness, and as part of that, trying to grok what psychiatry really is: at this point in history, models (theoretical or other) are great and can drive progress in psychiatry, but don't for one minute believe any hype like this, from the reviewed book's Amazon page:
"Ticic and Hulley equip readers to carry out focused, empathic therapy using the process found by researchers to induce memory reconsolidation, the recently discovered and only known process for actually unlocking emotional memory at the synaptic level."
Just, no. It's not even worth refuting. What happens at the synaptic level, and what happens at the emotional level, the experience of emotions? We are not meaningfully closer to bridging that gap than we ever have been. Despite great advances in brain science, that sort of talk still belongs in philosophy, not science or medicine.
This is not to say that UTeB or EIEIO or whatever model doesn't hold promise for those of us with lived experience of mental illness. The evidence base for talk therapy continues to evolve. Just ignore any kind of "unlocking secrets" talk. We aren't there yet. We aren't close. But on the web pages that sell books, we are always on the verge of...
- computerphage 7y agoAlso, this blog had a warning post, posted just before this that address this point in some detail that's worth looking at https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/11/20/book-review-all-therapy-books/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/11/20/book-review-all-therap... It's also linked from this post as the last line of section one.
- codingslave 7y agoYeah, I mean things like PTSD exist in the brain for a reason, you were in a situation where some action almost ended your life, so now you are frightened by it. Undoing or expelling that kind of information from your brain is really difficult.
- Cougher 7y agoThanks for this comment. ". . . only known process for actually unlocking emotional memory at the synaptic level." With this, they've taken what may (or may not, I don't know) have taken a legitimate, professional approach to therapy and put it on par with snake-oil charlatanry, on the level of "dynamic neural retraining" practitioners who claim to effect neuroplastic changes in specific areas of the brain with zero evidence; something that researchers have yet to do. It's just CBT performed by "life coaches". It's interesting that the FDA doesn't come down on these sorts of unsupported medical claims.
- Malp 7y agoThanks for this comment- do you think you could reach out to me? Contact information is on my about, thanks
- braindongle 7y agoHi Malp. What is the reason for your inquiry?
- Malp 7y agoYour comment resonated with me and I was curious to see if you had any other insight that you might be able to share- however, the comments section of an HN post seemed too public for the subject matter.