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In general CBT is thought to be effective for treatment of depression (for example, see study). CBT is probably the best studied method of psychotherapy (the evidence which exists is of a fairly high standard). Compared to medication, CBT has the advantage of providing individuals with the...

Pedantic correction: DSM-III Homosexuality was eliminated as a disease category in the creation of DSM-IV. Note, though, that gender identity disorder still exists as a category. There are a number of LGBT , and similar, groups advocating its removal in DSM-V (slated for release in 2012 I...

While the ideologuefools advocate socioeconomic positions without any empirical argument for why society is likely to be better off [i.e. response in the healthcare thread will make me happy :)].

Rousseau (second discourse).

By stripping this Being [man], so constituted, of all the supernatural gifts he may have received, and of all the artifical faculties he could only have acquired by prolonged progress; by considering him, in a word, such as he must have issued from the hands of Nature, I see an animal less...

I'm not sure about prescribing trends tbh, though I'm sure there are studies or media releases out there addressing the issue. Certainly I can affirm that SSRIs are a matter of debate at the moment. This is partly as a result of metanalyses, as you have noted. Also, in the context of children...

On chemicals and causation An important point that seems to be missed here is that 'chemical imbalances' and 'negative self-thought' may either be intimately related, or may be one in the same thing. If we accept the neurochemical basis of the human mind then doesn't it seem reasonable...

Physical happenings and mental activity Firstly, a lot of the confusion surrounding what to make of the term 'chemical imbalance' lies at the philosophical level. As Mr. Netanyahu so eloquently expressed, how on earth can we reduce the human mind to mere chemistry? The fact that peoples' folk...

I wanted to say a few things in response to some topics under discussion in this thread, On the efficacy of anti-depressants Focussing on SSRIs, it is reasonable to ask whether SSRIs (like prozac, zoloft, etc) have any real effect on depression. There are some recent metanalyses (that is...

For an example of how you might look for a connection between 'chemical imbalances' and cognitive states see the article on GABAergic signalling that I linked in this previous post: http://community.boredofstudies.org/4225903/post-79.html

Kwayera, there is an important difference between a placebo and a cognitive therapy. That is, the former simply requires the belief that the therapy will work while the latter involves, if we accept the relevant theoretical assumptions, alteration of cognitive networks, thought processes...

Testability and, in particular, falsifiability are very important for any science. However, sometimes it is necessary to compromise somewhat, especially in the social sciences where the rigorous controlled experiments of the physical sciences are generally not possible. Psychotherapy, for...

This entertained me.

Note, though, that psychotherapy and dynamic models of the mind have extremely strong historical ties with psychiatry. Speaking therapies can be seen as the domain of both psychology and psychiatry, even though mainstream psychiatry is becoming more and more medicalised (for better or for worse).

ADHD is generally treated with amphetamines (or similar) which are found to improve concentration and other cognitive functions. Zoloft is not a depressant - it is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) used as an anti-depressant.

I caught your point, but I was correcting your strawman of the state of play - i.e. I wanted to make clear that neuroscience is not at the point where it can fully make claims to that extent. IMO, the most interesting phenomenon is consciousness. It is relatively straight forward to...

Not quite. Pathways and molecules have been discovered which appear to underlie such things, but we are far from being able to explain how/why they give rise to phenomena like rage and love. Perhaps this will happen, though, if cognitive models come to be in tune with the molecular neuroscience...

It's not quite that simple. The best theories suggest that it is an interaction between genetic predispositions and environmental triggers. Religious beliefs may well help in some cases. Religion can give a person a sense of community and a transcendent cause outside of themselves. Also, it...

Quite frankly? Is this something that you know by intuition alone or are you actually basing your beliefs on data? If you buy into spirits and mind-body dualism then fair enough, the 'mental states are not the result of chemicals' position makes sense. However, if you at all concede that...

Pretty similar deal to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is probably one of the most commonly practiced therapies in the context of depression.