I did not intend to imply that by treatment I meant only drugs. New therapies are being devised all the time.

Recently, it has been shown that by direct electrical stimulation in certain parts of the brain, sufferers of intractable years-long deep depression, previously treated completely unsuccessfully by any other means, found almost instant and long lasting relief. That's just one example.

I think, however, the main point of my post has been lost in the details of this discussion but perhaps I didn't make it clearly. It's not all that long ago that places like Bedlam were full, their residents condemned to spend the rest of their lives in miserable conditions, untreated, and in some cases, uncared for. I admit that even then individuals were committed to trying to find the causes of, and treatments for mental illness. But for the most part, it was seen as perhaps the result of a sinful life, an act, or in any number of other unhelpful ways. Things have gotten a lot better and we're the beneficiaries. Sure, there's still a lot we don't know. That was part of what I was trying to get at. It all takes time. But progress is being made and our understanding can only improve as time passes.

My post was from a purely personal point of view. I was just trying to say that I have been very frustrated with the difficulty of obtaining an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment, hampered by the subjective nature of the situation, but was pleased to take heart from the idea that things could be a lot worse and are destined to only get better.