Re: Science and politics
Well, if you're not going to be collegial, Allen, I'm out of this one. Make it a good day. --Louis-- Louis Schmierwww.therandomthoughts.com Department of Historywww.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia 31698/~\/\ /\ (229-333-5947) /^\/ \ / /~ \ /~\__/\ / \__/ \/ / /\ /~ \ /\/\-/ /^\___\__\___/__/___/^\ -_~ / If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\ _ _ / don't practice on mole hills -\ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Science and politics
Person A: I am sorry to say this but I think your argument is rubbish, and here's why... (detailed points). Person B: (frowns) You're not being colleagial; so I won't talk to you anymore. I can use this one in my critical thinking class this morning. Thanks again to Louis. We might even make comparisons with another person who won't admit mistakes--President Bush! TIPS is such a gold mine. --Dave Louis_Schmier wrote: Well, if you're not going to be collegial, Allen, I'm out of this one. Make it a good day. --Louis-- Louis Schmierwww.therandomthoughts.com Department of Historywww.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia 31698/~\/\ /\ (229-333-5947) /^\/ \ / /~ \ /~\__/\ / \__/ \/ / /\ /~ \ /\/\-/ /^\___\__\___/__/___/^\ -_~ / If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\ _ _ / don't practice on mole hills -\ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ___ David E. Campbell, Ph.D.[EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of PsychologyPhone: 707-826-3721 Humboldt State University FAX: 707-826-4993 Arcata, CA 95521-8299 www.humboldt.edu/~campbell/psyc.htm --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: tips digest: April 21, 2004
You do realize that this is an ad about a fictional clinic from the movie Godsend starring Bobby Dinero, right? -- Subject: Re: Xeroxing human life From: Marie Helweg-Larsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 07:28:43 -0400 X-Message-Number: 7 It would be nice if the founder (Richard Wells) submitted his vitae online. I did a quick search on Medline and can't see that he has published anything. I also searched in the Lancet specifically (a place he has supposedly published) and couldn't see any publications by a Richard Wells. Perhaps he publishes under a different name?! Marie [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://www.godsendinstitute.org Send me something. Stephen ___ Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips ___ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- -- Herb Coleman Instructional Technology Manager Adjunct Psychology Professor ACC/AFT Local 6249 Austin Community College [EMAIL PROTECTED] 512-223-3076 * * Every action has a connected and directed * * pre-action. * * -Herb Coleman after seeing Bowling for Columbine --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
students' concerns
One student of mine is concerned about going to University of Wisconsin for fear of disappearance ,the other student is concerned that since scientists were able to produce a mouse from two females,that he as a male may not be necessary for reproduction. Michael Sylvester,PhD Daytona Beach,Florida if two people always agree, one of them is unnecessary --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: students' concerns
I shoulda just hit delete, now I have to shout it out: 1) Tell the student to grow up, get over it or getmore likely/betterthings to worry about 2) See answer to #1 My (admittedly rude but honest) response to another freakin' waste of time,effort and bandwidthquestion from: Michael Sylvester,PhDDaytona Beach,Florida "ifone list memberalways asksfictionalquestionsfrom fictional students based on ridiculousdistortions ofthe day'sheadlines,he or she is unnecessary" --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: students' concerns
At 12:38 PM -0400 4/22/04, michael sylvester wrote: One student of mine is concerned about going to University of Wisconsin for fear of disappearance ,the other student is concerned that since scientists were able to produce a mouse from two females,that he as a male may not be necessary for reproduction. Have them read one of John Paulos' books, such as Innumeracy. -- * PAUL K. BRANDON[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Psychology Dept Minnesota State University * * 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 * *http://www.mnsu.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html* --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Suicide / Antidepressant
From C. Stonecipher National Park Community College Hot Springs, AR. [EMAIL PROTECTED] For those of you interested in the antidepressant / suicide concern; I forward the following: Medscape Psychopharmacology Today Talking Points About Antidepressants and Suicide Thomas A. M. Kramer, MD Medscape General Medicine 6(2), 2004. ¨ 2004 Medscape Posted 04/14/2004 Introduction Many people have asked me for advice about how to respond to questions from patients and the lay public about the recent press, and ultimately US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warnings, about suicidality and antidepressants. I thought it might be helpful to the readership to present some talking points about this issue which may be used in responding to these questions. A Matter of Scale The first issue that I would suggest addressing is the one of scale. Fluoxetine became available in 1987, and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) became available shortly thereafter. In the 17 or so years that we are talking about here, there have been millions -- if not tens of millions -- of prescriptions resulting in numerous satisfied patients and practitioners. If SSRI-associated suicidality truly is a major problem, it is difficult to understand why it is coming to light now. This idea was discussed in a few studies in the early 1990s, but these were dismissed as exceptional cases. It is not at all clear why this is becoming an issue all of a sudden in 2004. It must be emphasized how important the newer generation of antidepressants has been in improving the lives of many individuals. These medications, despite their current negative press, have been enormously effective in reducing the burden of depression. Their side-effect profile is relatively low (although certainly not zero) and they are considerably safer in overdose than their predecessors, making them considerably less risky for suicide. The Risks It is important to directly acknowledge the suicide risk caused by these medications. It is real and well understood, at least by experienced psychopharmacologists. There are 2 mechanisms that we know about that cause these medications to potentially precipitate suicidality. One is extremely rare, and the other is milder but more common. The rare one is the potential for SSRIs to precipitate an akathisia. This movement disorder, usually associated with antipsychotic medications, has been reported as a rare side effect of SSRIs. This intense restlessness can be so dysphoric for patients that they might consider suicide rather than endure the restlessness. This is something that practitioners should warn patients about, and look for closely, as it is quite treatable with adjunctive medication. The second mechanism involves the natural history of recovery from depression. Depression is a disorder with numerous symptoms, and when the disorder is treated effectively, the symptoms do not resolve all at the same time. Classically, the physical symptoms of depression (including lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, and sleeping and eating disturbances) resolve first and the subjective depressed mood resolves last. As a result, patients who are being treated for depression can have increased energy and increased functionality as they recover, while still struggling with subjectively depressed mood. This increases their suicide risk; they may have lacked the energy or the ability to attempt suicide prior to starting treatment, but as they begin to recover they regain ability and motivation before they have a subjective sense of improvement. As a result, patients are usually at greatest risk a week to 10 days after starting medication, and by 2-3 weeks later, that risk is resolved. Experienced clinicians understand this as a function of the disease, not the specific treatment, and are careful to watch for it and to instruct family and friends to also be aware of it. The problem may be exacerbated by the trend of primary care physicians treating depression. They usually see patients for 10- or 15-minute periods of time and very rarely more frequently than once a month. Why Is This an Issue Now? Why did this happen? What started this whole process of questioning whether these drugs are safe, and as such what should be the thresholds for prescribing them? It appears that this all started in Great Britain, when the UK equivalent of the FDA began to look at data from clinical trials in children. The concern that the researchers expressed has been greatly misunderstood. They did not say that these drugs routinely caused suicide; what they said was that there seemed to be very little evidence that these drugs were particularly effective in children. When compared with placebo, the children taking medication did not seem to be doing all that much better. Thus, there appeared to be little benefit to the medication, and since there were a few more episodes of suicidal behavior (there were virtually no completed suicides on
Re: students' concerns
Can you provide proof that you are an instructor and have students to this list? [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Suicide / Antidepressant
I have inserted my responses to Dr. Kramer (forwarded by Dr. Stonecipher without critical comment) within the copied ()message below. From C. Stonecipher National Park Community College Hot Springs, AR. [EMAIL PROTECTED] For those of you interested in the antidepressant / suicide concern; I forward the following: Medscape Psychopharmacology Today Talking Points About Antidepressants and Suicide Thomas A. M. Kramer, MD Medscape General Medicine 6(2), 2004. ¨ 2004 Medscape Posted 04/14/2004 Introduction Many people have asked me for advice about how to respond to questions from patients and the lay public about the recent press, and ultimately US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warnings, about suicidality and antidepressants. I thought it might be helpful to the readership to present some talking points about this issue which may be used in responding to these questions. Dr. Kramer is a well known advocate of polypharmacy, the giving of multiple drugs to alleviate disorders when single drugs have not been effective. I have not looked up his connections to the drug companies but I am sure he is well funded by them. His disclaimer as to funding relates only to this particular message within which he reports no specific results of research. I invite anyone to inform me if I am wrong. A Matter of Scale The first issue that I would suggest addressing is the one of scale. Fluoxetine became available in 1987, and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) became available shortly thereafter. In the 17 or so years that we are talking about here, there have been millions -- if not tens of millions -- of prescriptions resulting in numerous satisfied patients and practitioners. There is no evidence available for these numbers. Even in the unlikely event that they are true, the prescriptions are not for verified diagnoses of depression and the fact that there have been few complaints does not indicate that the patients or practitioners have been satisfied. When one turns to polypharmacy as Dr. Kramer has advocated, does one do so after a satifactory trial of Prozac? No. The mere use of the drugs does not reflect satisfaction any more than the equal possibility that it reflects desperation. If SSRI-associated suicidality truly is a major problem, it is difficult to understand why it is coming to light now. This idea was discussed in a few studies in the early 1990s, but these were dismissed as exceptional cases. It is not at all clear why this is becoming an issue all of a sudden in 2004. It must be emphasized how important the newer generation of antidepressants has been in improving the lives of many individuals. These medications, despite their current negative press, have been enormously effective in reducing the burden of depression. Their side-effect profile is relatively low (although certainly not zero) and they are considerably safer in overdose than their predecessors, making them considerably less risky for suicide. The effect size of SSRI's compared to placebo is .39. This is hardly worth considering when the effect size of *inert* placebos is 1.20 or so. This leads to a miniscule (but statistically significant) efficacy increment in the number of people who would benefit that is hardly worth the cost. Get your stats class to calculate the area of a normal distribution between 1.20 and 1.59 z. One would be better off working on impoving the placebo effect. See: Kirsch, I., Sapirstein, G. (1998). Listening to Prozac but hearing placebo: A meta-analysis of antidepressant medication. Prevention Treatment, 1, Article 0002a. Available on the World Wide Web: http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume1/pre0010002a.html The Risks It is important to directly acknowledge the suicide risk caused by these medications. It is real and well understood, at least by experienced psychopharmacologists. There are 2 mechanisms that we know about that cause these medications to potentially precipitate suicidality. One is extremely rare, and the other is milder but more common. The rare one is the potential for SSRIs to precipitate an akathisia. This movement disorder, usually associated with antipsychotic medications, has been reported as a rare side effect of SSRIs. This intense restlessness can be so dysphoric for patients that they might consider suicide rather than endure the restlessness. This is something that practitioners should warn patients about, and look for closely, as it is quite treatable with adjunctive medication. Akathisia (or hyperkinesia), while perhaps related to suicidality, is not the effect of SSRI's that has been observed to be most related to the increased suicide rate. The second mechanism involves the natural history of recovery from depression. Depression is a disorder with numerous symptoms, and when the disorder is treated effectively, the symptoms do not resolve all at the same time. Classically, the
