Quote Originally Posted by Sisqui View Post
Psst.......see my later post



Which is exactly what just about everyone here does say.
Yes, indeed. I spotted your post just after that magical 'Send' button was pressed. However, even so I think you oversimplify things. I understand this is probably a huge tangent from the rest of the thread, so I shall continue the spoiler way.

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You mention that things like bulimia need an action of will to improve. Now, either this is totally trivial (even a schizophrenic needs to actually take his drugs, even a cancer patient needs to actually go to chemotherapy, etc.), or it still may not necessarily be the case. Bulimia is a terribly complex condition, and it is entirely possible for there to be sufferers out there for whom no amount, literally no amount of good will and strength of mind will help their condition on its own. For these people, drugs may well be essential. And once this possibility is understood, it becomes conceivable that there are people for whom, with the right drugs, the rest becomes easy.

Basically, what I'm trying to stress is that there's no singular theory, no singular cause, for these conditions, so no matter what you're looking at to say definitively "drugs are not enough" seems almost callous to me, as there will be people that need the drugs. There's also a certain unfalsifiability to the idea that if drugs alone don't help then clearly the individual isn't trying hard enough. One conclusion I often see scarily drawn from this is that if someone needs drugs then they're also not trying hard enough. I guess if I had to boil this down to a core issue, it would be: "if you remove drugs (and all the biology that comes with that), cognitive-behaviour therapy, etc., what is this 'force of will' that we're left with?" I understand that one needs to not expect a passive approach to getting better to work, but beyond saying "go to a professional, and listen to them" I don't see what more there is to it. Of course that just opens up the can of worms of how capable someone really is of seeking help if they have a serious condition... Oh dear.


Anyway, I also think that my second point still stands though that a thread for collects woes can indeed encourage them.