I was relieved to see that you close this piece with a sound conclusion, but dismayed that you lead with some of the most pervasive, unfounded cliches of what has been called “neuromythology.” For instance the biobabble myth that: depression is caused by lack or excess of neurotransmitters.

As I’m sure you are aware: There is absolutely no evidence to support the idea that depression is “caused” by too few or too many of any particular neurotransmitter. Depression is correlated with these states. But there is scant understanding about the nature of the relationship between the two. A causal relationship has never been established.

Any psychiatrist will tell you that we have no idea what the mechanism is makes these drugs work (when they do better than placebo).

As you rightly point out treating the mind affects the body and vice versa. You explicitly address this in your piece, I just wish you hadn’t loaded the misconceptions in the first paragraph, the only one that many people read.

The solution lies in the integration offered by a bigger picture. That is a person with physical and spiritual/psychological dimensions.

Disentangling cause and correlation is indeed tricky.

Thanks for a great post on a very important topic.

Though most scientists would say that brain and mind are the same thing (i.e., monism), that is not all that helpful. We need to distinguish three kinds of mind: unconscious, subconscious, and conscious. Conscious mind is especially significant because it is the teacher of the subconscious. Though conscious mind emanates from brain function, it is unique. Some researchers say that it is an observer of the output of subconscious processes and can veto subconscious impulses and decisions. Others (I among them) say that it also is the primary teacher of the subconscious mind, controlling what sensory and cognitive experiences are presented to the subconscious. See my new, inexpensive e-book on “Core Ideas in Neuroscience” (neurosciideas.com). I also operate a blog on what science reveals for improving everyday memory (thankyoubrain.blogspot.com).

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I was relieved to see that you close this piece with a sound conclusion, but dismayed that you lead with some of the most pervasive, unfounded cliches of what has been called “neuromythology.” For instance the biobabble myth that: depression is caused by lack or excess of neurotransmitters.

Thanks for pointing that out. I know I oversimplified the biology of depression (and the other disorders). I did so for the sake of brevity at the expense of accuracy. Depression is also correlated with abnormalities of the frontal lobes.

As someone with a background in neuroscience that also has aspirations to become a psychotherapist I do not necessarily see the two as irreconcilable. I think that those that put too much emphasis on the biology over the psychology underestimate the power of neuroplasticity. I believe that while most behavior and by extension mental disease may be explainable in terms of biology we must acknowledge that our brains our constantly changing in response to the environment. The subjective experience of the psyche plays an important role in how neurobiology changes. The future of both of these fields will be one in which they are compatible rather than competitive.