Alex,
Wizkid has already identified himself as the most "interesting person who will ever be on PC." I'm sure he knows all about cortisol and adrenaline and such, which is why I didn't elaborate.

To say I'm not charitable is not even close to fair, but then I know how you like to push buttons and get a good debate going.

It may be true that my argument in the present for the appropriate use of medications, is similar to the one articulated years ago in support of lobotomy. But that was years ago. We do better, when we know better.

As far as my stating that the benefits outweigh the risks in the use of psychotropic medications, I was referring to treating mental illness on an outpatient basis in order to give people who suffer from MI with some opportunity for functionality. I am not referring to sedating patients in an inpatient setting. Certainly a well-trained psychiatrist would not make an ignorant statement such that the "benefits of (psych meds) are largely those of sedating people on the psychiatric ward such that they are more manageable to staff." It is in fact true that inpatient psych patients are sedated, some more than others, depending on their precipitating crisis and diagnoses. It is to give their brains a rest and a chance to heal, not to "make them more manageable for staff."

I agree that the long-term side effects of medications require further consideration and study. And we all know that any decision to take, or not take a medication must be an informed and thoughtful one.
Take care,
Okie