An Example of Why I like Dr. J
Correction: The quotation is from Donn Arms, an associate of Jay Adams at the Institute for Nouthetic Studies (INS).
Folks let’s get this straight. The mind is not a physical organ. It cannot have a disease or illness except in a metaphorical sense as in a sick economy or a sick joke.
Typhoid fever — disease
Spring fever — not a disease
Scarlet fever — disease
Bieber fever — not a disease
`Dr. Jay E. Adams: father of the one and only valid contemporary biblical counseling model; the first one.
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Er…PTSD?
Psychopathy?
Narcissism?
Anxiety disorder?
The mind may be a concept. The brain is an organ. In a sense, the mind is the brain. The brain can have a disorder.
I don’t get this quote, Paul.
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Argo,
The first one I know nothing about. The second, third, and fourth are NOT brain “disorders.” They are NOT a brain sickness. They are not a biological or genetic disorder. Connections between #’s 2,3,4 and “brain disorders” have never been proven. Moreover, schizophrenia, has been exposed as an escape mechanism by many counselors. Addressing anxiety and depression as brain sickness is a very ill-advised approach. I have personally counseled 2 people who were told they would be on anti-depressants for the rest of their lives. That hardly ended up being the case. In contrast, I know of 2 people who were brought to death by eventual chemical poisoning via anti-depressants.
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Anxiety disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks can indeed be brain disorders. In addition, my daughter has ADHD as a result of a congenital stroke. This is a medically sound diagnosis.
Treating an anxiety disorder with an anti depressant makes no sense as anxiety isn’t depression. Serotonin uptake inhibitors are extremely effectively in treating PSTD and anxiety disorders if they are as a result of brain physiology.
I am on 25mgs of Zoloft and it is a night and day difference (I have been diagnosed with PSTD with generalized anxiety). For something not a brain disorder, my brain certainly responds well to the medication.
Serotonin re-uptake has been medically shown to be a cause of anxiety disorders.
And anyway, even non-physiological psychological problems are still brain problems, strictly speaking. There is no part of a human not rooted on the body. If there is a pathology, it IS a physical pathology. How you deal with it may vary, but to pretend that a psychological issue isn’t a “brain” issue is, literally speaking, a false belief.
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Argo,
Like I said, I know nothing about PSTD. All I know is my firsthand experience in the initial biblical counseling movement started by Jay Adams in which the medical model was rejected. Hordes of people overcame their mental disturbances through that counseling which focused on changes in thinking, and lifestyle changes. Innumerable people who were told by professionals that they would need medication for the rest of their lives are drug-free and leading happy, fulfilled lives. Schizophrenia was proven to be an outright farce. In virtually all cases with counseling children, they were taken off Ritalin with very positive results. I don’t dispute for one second that a stroke would cause someone to have difficulty in focusing. I don’t dispute for one second that anti-depressants can make someone feel better. I do dispute the idea that the way people think and live have nothing to do with these conditions.
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