RE: I have a few questions to atheists, before I become one.
March 15, 2014 at 12:07 pm
(This post was last modified: March 15, 2014 at 12:51 pm by Lek.)
(March 14, 2014 at 11:41 pm)shep Wrote: do you know of CBT, lek?
I don't recognize it by the initials. I assume it's a related condition.
(March 14, 2014 at 11:48 pm)futilethewinds Wrote: Really, Lek? Of course it's a psychological illness, it's a coping mechanism for dealing with anxiety. There is a biological component, but it is located in the brain, which also doubles as the mind. Depression is also caused by a chemical imbalance, but you don't hear me claiming it is a "physical illness." That's just absurd.
I'll grant you that there are psychological symptoms, but the root cause is related to chemical imbalances - and I view depression in the same way. Strangely enough, the same medications are used to treat both conditions. In my experience with myself and others I know, I believe it works best to treat the physical problem first, then to use therapy to learn to deal with or dismiss the related compulsions. I did view a piece concerning a doctor who took images of the brains of people with OCD and, as they went through therapy and learned to cope, the brain images became more like the images of people without the condition. I've never seen any more about that though.
