ASCAP: Randy Nesse & Psychotropics

• The Chemistry of Hugs by Jim Brody, 2/26/97
  
  

The December ASCAP arrived. Russ Gardner included a "Science" essay by Randy Nesse wherein it is commented that psychotropics are "... inherently pathogenic because they bypass adaptive information processing systems and act directly on ancient brain mechanisms that control emotions and behavior."

Oh my.

I'm going to find the original paper (1) before commenting that psychotropics allow many of us to tolerate aspects of "mismatch" that would otherwise preclude our reproducing (or not reproducing excessively), rearing our children, staying in a marriage, or tolerating an abusive foreman. I've seen all of these things associated with psychotropic use.

Still, it might be argued that maintaining people in intolerable settings, rural or urban, may have longterm costs, that perhaps we should let things erode "naturally." And, whatever will we do with St John's Wort? It's very natural and replaces 4 or 5 psychotropics, apparently by engaging the same mechanisms but less efficiently, that vat-made concoctions do.

More later. Meanwhile, put a little ASCAP in your life. It's available at http://psy.utmb.edu/ascap. The icons in the address refer (likely) to psychiatry, University of Texax Medical Branch, Across Species Comparisons and Psychopathology. Also subscribe by email to ascap@utmb.edu. $35 per calendar year.

Note:

Nesse R M & Berridge KC, Psychoactive drug use in evolutionary perspective. Science, 1997, 278, 63-66.

I emailed Dr. Nesse for a copy of his paper. His response was in my mail box when I checked 6 hours later. "The reprint is on the way." The Net. I'm still surprised after a year when Brian Robinson responds in the same latency from London. I was shocked when Dylan Evans, same town, got back to me in 15 minutes. Great people using a great tool.

No Replies