Self-Making: It’s all in your head
Imagine a world where simply by scanning your body, or in this case your brain, doctors could instantly tell from your genes what sort of physiological problems you are likely to encounter in your lifetime. Then instead of having to protect against any of these disorders they could simply solve them on the spot. Unfortunately the more we dive into the genome the less we understand it. Most genes, as Rose explains, do not work like Mendel’s pea blossoms. We are currently trying to understand gene expression, but unfortunately, it looks to me like any kind of real understanding is at least a century away.
Instead of treating the source of these diseases, we are left trying to treat the symptoms. I thought this statement was fairly telling: “In the eugenic age, mental disorders were pathologies, a drain on a national economy. Today, they are vital opportunities for the creation of private profit” (Rose, 209). Having a treatment that you can sell to people for a lifetime has always been more profitable then having a ‘one-shot’ cure. As the article explains, the 1980’s were the decade when neurotransmitter drugs first came into prominence; there had been drugs to treat mental disorders since the 1950’s, but they all had fairly unpleasant side effects. Prozac was the first ‘clean’ drug, because it affected a single neuropathway. However, it was the 1990’s that really began the TV ads for these drugs. They give several examples of this, the first are Ritalin and Adderall both of which are used to treat ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. “This was the most marked in the United States where prescribing rates increased eight fold” (Rose, 210). I am skeptical that rates of this disorder rose by anywhere near that amount; this is the power of marketing.
These ads also focused on the idea of “restoring the child to his or her true self” (Rose, 211). Which brings as back to the discussion of, ‘what is the self;’ clearly the definition of self is not bounded to the body in this case. This also is suggesting the self is not in the mind. In the beginning of the article Rose suggests, “We have become ‘neurochemical selves’” (Rose, 188). I suppose what he is getting at is that we now see the brain as simply another organ, as apposed to giving it special significance.
The second example of a heavily advertised drug that they give is Prozac. This drug had originally been designed to target mild to moderate depression. Soon, however, it was prescribed for a wide variety of disorders. Another drug that treated similar symptoms was Paxil. This was one of the first drugs that used “direct-to-consumer advertising” (Rose, 213). Paxil treated Generalized Anxiety Disorder, ads strive to make you think that all the worries in your life are because of this disorder, and Paxil would take all of them anyway; Prozac ads also had this affect. These ads, like those for Ritalin, implied that once you started taking the drug you would once again be yourself. What were you before? These ads make it seem that there is something wrong with you that is somehow different for other people problems.
The power of persuasion is amazing in these ads. I personally feel that these disorders are over diagnosed. The power of belief comes into play here too. Early I began talking about how the power of belief can make you healthy; well in this case it can make you sick. For example, someone who is simply having a rough week, problems at school/work, or maybe an argument with a spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend, then they turn on the TV and discover that they must have General Anxiety Disorder and there is a pill that will solve all their problems. Also, a parent stressed out from work, and who does not have time to deal with an overly active child, might be convinced by this clever marketing that their child has ADHD. I personally believe drugs should be a last resort.
Toward the end of the article Rose discusses the rise of psychotherapy and counseling in the second half of the 1990’s, because they discovered that Prozac alone was not treating severe or even moderate depression. Here’s were the discussion of environmental factors comes into play, because things like “unemployment, poverty…substance abuse or trauma…[have an] impact on this neurochemical brain” (Rose 220). These stressors are constant. I think counseling is very useful. Close friends and family are a good resource for free counseling. Of course their advice might not always be the best, so it is nice to have a third party who is not personally involved with your life. The only problem with psychotherapy is that it can be very expensive; it is hard to put a price on it. And often times people who need it the most cannot afford it.
We need to seek natural and healthy ways for people to deal with their neurochemical disorders. I am interested to see how the field of mental health changes in the next decade. People have began to understand just how little we know about the brain, the first big discovery in modern mental health was the lobotomy, as far as I know this procedure is very rare if it happens at all today. However, her recent electroconvulsive therapy, what used to be called shock treatment, has apparently helped the actress Carrie Fisher, according to her autobiographical book and stage performance, Wishful Drinking. Then there was the rise of pills, which rather then severing the brain physically, affected it at a chemical level. Today, the use of chemicals is a supplement to counseling, and is intended to be only temporary, if at all possible. Good counseling allows the brain time and reassurance to heal itself.
Article Citation
Rose, Nikolas, 2007. “Neurochemical Selves” inThe Politics of Life Itself: Biomedicine, Power, and Subjectivity in the Twenty-First Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Pp. 187-223.
Picture Links
http://amphetamines.com/adderall/adderall.jpg
http://darkgrooves.com/brokenbeats.net/imagedump/adderall.jpg
http://socialjusticenow.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/prozac.jpg
http://rookery2.viary.com/storagev12/940500/940915_d375_625x1000.jpg
The Simpsons “lisa on happy pills” :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww9wOqA5EtQ
