Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said mental illness may be best treated using "faith-based approaches" as opposed to pharmaceuticals.

He gets so close-

Violent crime has risen over precisely the period we have shuttered these psychiatric institutions. And you know what? The number one psychiatric institution today is jail. It’s prison. And they don’t do a very good job. And now you then get the calls to clear the jails or to have commuting of sentences or shortening of sentences. People leave those jails in a worse psychiatric condition, often, than when they even entered.

Yes! Yes!

We can do this again learning from past mistakes without those abuses. I don’t think I want to be pumping psychiatric institutions with pharmaceuticals into people.

Seems reasonable.

Faith-based approaches – there are better ways to do this.

Oh for fuck’s sake.

And, of course, the ironic thing is that Ramaswamy is a pharma bro.

  • Capt. Wolf
    -6•9 months ago

    Recovery from depression usually involves finding activities the person finds fulfilling and meaningful. This is why faith based recovery works. However, It’s mostly because you’re placing worthwhile meaning in an activity that is giving you purpose to let your mind heal. It is about having a regimented schedule, like attending church on Sundays, praying before meals, attending church functions.

    We use the same kind of techniques in therapy based recovery too and we encourage our clients to attend church if they want to for that very reason. Faith is an excellent tool if it drives you toward being well. Again, it just has more to do with what you find meaning in and what gets you up and going. For some people, it’s going for a jog, for others it’s working out, for some it’s faith.

    • @[email protected]
      2•9 months ago

      I used to think that faith in a religion could be a healthy method of recovery. Unfortunately, after much thought, I believe that it is just a quick solution bandaid for things like addiction and other types of mental crisis that has the potential to do more harm than good in the long run.

      Having been through various rehabilitation programs for alcohol, I did believe for a long time that faith in something like a religion could help. Unfortunately, there is a large subset of people that will quickly get disillusioned very quickly once their mind starts to heal from whatever.

      Once I learned that life just is and death just is, it helped me accept everything for what it is. Soon after, I learned I had complete control over all of my decisions. I found my own inner peace, in a way. Once that happened, I had no reason to slowly kill myself anymore with booze.

      My point is that pointing someone in the direction of their version inner peace is good. Using religion to do that is dangerous as you are pointing a vulnerable person in the direction of establishments that exist to exploit people.

    • queermunist she/her
      -4•9 months ago

      Having faith that there is a Purpose for you and you are Loved and that you are not Alone is, itself, powerful beyond just simple habit and ritual. People who actually believe in God can really just put their faith in Him and really be comforted by it.

      That’s nice for them. Worthless for me