[ExI] "Feral" humans, NOT

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 8:58 PM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yes, if someone acts weird (like not supporting the government) then
> they should be treated for dangerous behaviour.  Millions of children
> in the US already get fed psychiatric drugs to treat behavioural
> problems.

There are multiple features in the clinical examination which identify
a belief or behaviour as psychotically driven but whether it has
potentially dangerous consequences is not one of them. Moreover, if a
belief or behaviour is not psychotically driven then antipsychotic
medication will make no difference. For example, if a person is
religious because they were brought up that way by their parents
medication will not have any effect on their beliefs. But if they
became religious as a result of schizophrenia there will be other
associated symptoms and medication will in most cases make the beliefs
go away or diminish in intensity. The beliefs in themselves may be
just as bizarre in each case, but the cause is different.


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou