Brain or Mind, or Brain AND Mind

An insightful and important article appeared in the NY Times yesterday that we should all read and consider.  It might be titled Confessions of a Psycho-pharmacologist, but it's actually titled

Mind Over Meds By DANIEL CARLAT 

The concern Carlat raises is multifold:

1. Medication is not the panacea that drug companies, doctors, and patients all want it to be.
2. Cognitive behavior therapy and other talk therapies are still essential components of the cure, even when drugs are effective.
3. The professional split between drug prescribers and talk therapists is creating a wrongful perception of talk therapy as the lesser stepchild of psychiatric practice, possibly discouraging patients from seeking -- and insurers from paying for -- broad spectrum therapy.
4. The cost of treatment is actually lower -- and recovery quicker -- when medication is combined with talk therapy.