Give 'em some Prozac and send them on their merry way. >> According to the organizers of an upcoming conference, Quebec psychiatric patients are increasingly receiving just such treatment. >> "Instead of listening to people, we just give them a pill," said Eric Skulski, one of the six UQAM students who organized the conference entitled "De la pilule à la parole" (literally "From pill to talk," or, in a more poetic translation, "From serum to speech"). >> Skulski would like to reintroduce the classic patient-on-the-chaise-longue psychoanalytic treatment, where doctors actually listen to their subjects. In the face of the growing power of the pharmaceutical industry and the increasing reliance on medical treatment for depression, he feels that patients are not receiving proper care. >> But not everyone believes that drugs should be unilaterally forsaken in the treatment of mental illness. >> "We don't know enough about depression and we don't understand the chemistry well enough," Dr. Brian Robertson told the Mirror. The director of the psychoanalytic unit of the Allen Memorial Institute is wary of abandoning chemical treatment. >> "We must take each case on its own merit and treat it accordingly," said Robertson. "We cannot be ideological." >> Apparently, many people disagree. Skulski says he's booked a room for 400 people and it's filling up fast. >> The conference will be held Friday, May 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Salle Saint-Sulpice de la Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec, 1700 St-Denis. Admission is free. For more information, call 203-3132. --Dominique Ritter
Give 'em some Prozac and send them on their merry way. >> According to the organizers of an upcoming conference, Quebec psychiatric patients are increasingly receiving just such treatment. >> "Instead of listening to people, we just give them a pill," said Eric Skulski, one of the six UQAM students who organized the conference entitled "De la pilule à la parole" (literally "From pill to talk," or, in a more poetic translation, "From serum to speech"). >> Skulski would like to reintroduce the classic patient-on-the-chaise-longue psychoanalytic treatment, where doctors actually listen to their subjects. In the face of the growing power of the pharmaceutical industry and the increasing reliance on medical treatment for depression, he feels that patients are not receiving proper care. >> But not everyone believes that drugs should be unilaterally forsaken in the treatment of mental illness. >> "We don't know enough about depression and we don't understand the chemistry well enough," Dr. Brian Robertson told the Mirror. The director of the psychoanalytic unit of the Allen Memorial Institute is wary of abandoning chemical treatment. >> "We must take each case on its own merit and treat it accordingly," said Robertson. "We cannot be ideological." >> Apparently, many people disagree. Skulski says he's booked a room for 400 people and it's filling up fast. >> The conference will be held Friday, May 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Salle Saint-Sulpice de la Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec, 1700 St-Denis. Admission is free. For more information, call 203-3132. --Dominique Ritter