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May 25, 2009
Our somewhat crazy roomate has gotten a bit
crazier of late, leaving me pondering a few
things about the nature of identity, the value
of humanity, and so on.
On the subject of treatment of addiction, I'm
suspicious of anything but cold turkey --
dancing your way out by shuffling between But: there may be
different drugs seems like a process doomed to cases where sudden
fail, a trading of one addiction for another. withdrawl is too
strenuous, too
It seems to me that the right thing great a risk (IANAD).
to do is to detox completely --
having yourself locked in a padded
room, if necessary -- to find out And the trouble
who you are, and how your brain with that theory,
works, and then see what you can do of course is that
with yourself. you can't separate
self from environment A variant
But what about the case of "mental so neatly -- self- of the
illness", where there's a flaw in discovery in a padded "ivory
brain chemistry that requires some cell is unlikely to tower"
form of medication as a necessity succeed. myth.
to be anything like "normal"?
Hence the strategy
(It certainly can't be unusual for of half-way houses,
people who are "mentally ill" to the gradual re-entry
gravitate toward self-medication into the world.
with "recreational" drugs.)
Then you can't just say "no drugs":
you're stuck with distinguishing The roomate got crazier
between officially proscribed Good after being moved off a
Drugs, and unofficially obtained methodone-like drug, and
Bad Drugs-- then adopting alcohol
and speed.
The nature of your identity is
then determined by official
decree of medical personnel --
who themselves are after all
fallible human beings.
Certainly it's not difficult to think
of cases where the medical profession It does seem likely
was taken with fads that in though that the
retrospect look like they were medical profession
without much scientific foundation: would do a better
job than the subject,
lobotomy if only because they're
electroshock outside of that
freudianism judgement altering
feedback loop --
Consciousness
tweaked by cycles
of external
and internal
chemistry swings.
The trouble with that
theory though, is that
in the absence of
direct, long-term
observation, the
physician must rely
a lot on self-
reported symptoms.
Instead of risking
drug-induced
delusions, they're
at risk of
delusion induced
by junkie-patter.
The addict
quickly learns
what to say
to keep the
drugs flowing.
A question:
Do you have any right to blame such a
"mentally ill" person for their behavior,
e.g. for their drug addictions?
My suspicion is that the answer is "yes".
The idea that insanity completely
absolves one of responsiblity is
loaded with problems.
Drug addicts use whatever
excuses and justifications
come to hand, and this is
a ready made excuse for
anything. "Hey man, it's
a junkie thing."
If you're sane enough to be
I would argue that many walking around free outside
people who are "insane" of an institution, then
are indulging in you're sane enough to be
insanity, on some level held responsible for your
they're willfully insane. actions.
The diagnosed schizophrenic The person involved is
that occasionally goes off likely to play this card
their prescribed meds either way, as convenient:
because life is more
interesting that way. "Don't blame me, I'm ill";
That's an obvious case, "Don't lock me up, I'm not
but only the most crazy."
obvious one.
Another would be someone who
refuses to seek treatment
because they know what
they're going to be told and
they don't want to hear it.
Another might be someone who
has violent episodes whenever
they go into a bar; but There may not be any
instead of avoiding bars, way to *cure* your
they continue to go into them-- insanity, but aren't
in the full knowledge of there coping
what's going to happen. mechanisms you can
use to minimize the
problems stemming
from it?
If you refuse to
find or use those
coping mechanisms,
then what does
that mean, precisely?
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