Question
Compare the Ted Talk video to the Carlat Article “Mind over Meds” and explore the following question:
What is the role of psychiatric medication in the promotion of patient well-being?
>>Ted Talk: New Understanding of Mental Illness (Follow the link below): https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_insel_toward_a_new_understanding_of_mental_illness?utm_campaign=tedspread–b&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare >>Carlat Article: Mind Over Meds (see attached
Answer
What is the Role of Psychiatric Medication in the Promotion of Patient Wellbeing?
Psychiatric medication plays an important role in the promotion of patient wellbeing by enhancing the level of their mental and emotional stability. Patients that suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, and other conditions are unable to lead normal lives. Therefore, psychotherapists and psychopharmacologists play a big role in promoting their wellbeing by either giving them medication, therapy, or both. These interventions act as critical treatment procedures that help them to restore them their normal lives.
According to Insel (2013), mental illness leads to more disabilities compared to other diseases that are considered to be more dangerous like cancer, stroke, and heart diseases. Insel (2013) also observes that the rise in the number of disabilities due to mental illnesses has prompted more research into the ways of curbing mental illnesses. It has been established that both medication and therapy are effective ways of controlling mental illnesses. They mostly work through the placebo effect. This view is shared by Carlat (2010), who notes that psychiatrists thus have an important role of listening to their patients, diagnosing their condition, and providing medication, therapy, or both, with an aim of promoting their wellbeing (Carlat, 2010). Medication helps to restore the mental condition of the patient to a normal state thus preventing the occurrence of any disability. However, Carlat (2010) warns of a worrying trend where psychopharmacologists are veering away from psychological curiosity by focusing on symptoms with the aim of prescribing a matching drug instead of first and foremost probing the patient’s thought process, something he likens to navigating without a compass.
Overall, psychotherapy and drug therapy are thus both important means of providing medication to patients who are suffering from mental illnesses. In cases where the patients are not responding to drug therapy or psychotherapy, both methods can be combined to help promote their wellbeing. However, in many cases, one of the methods will work sufficiently to promote normal functioning of the brain.
References
Carlat, D. (25 April, 2010). Mind Over Meds. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/magazine/25Memoir-t.html
Insel, T. (2013). Toward a New Understanding of Mental Illness. TEDxCaltech. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_insel_toward_a_new_understanding_of_mental_illness?utm_campaign=tedspread–b&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare#t-274633
