Wednesday, April 20, 2011

John - Mark L. Miravalle's book:

The Drug, The Soul, & God

"Antidepressant use is not per se immoral,

"so long as it is used for therapeutic purposes,

"that is, for the authentic benefit of the patient ..."



These snippets from page 75.

"Legitimate Uses of Antidepressant Drugs

"These condemnations of antidepressant misuse are not meant to imply that it can never be morally acceptable to make use of the drugs.

"Even though the problem may have an experiential basis, it is sometimes prudent to have recourse to drugs in order to aid in the process of recovery.

"To quote from the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistants, Administered for therapeutic purposes and with due respect for the person, psycho - pharmaceuticals are ethically legitimate.

"Antidepressant use is not per se immoral, so long as it is used for therapeutic purposes, that is, for the authentic benefit of the patient.

"As we have seen, the patient is not benefited by using the drugs in such a way as to separate his cognitive life from his responsive life, and therefore, if the drugs are administered, it can only be ethically permissible within a framework of maintaining the harmony between the two powers...

"If the origin of depression is based on experience, which in turn affects the emotions, then logically the only way to licitly alter the emotions with a drug is by addressing the problem in the patient's experience at the same time.

"If perception is left to itself while the feelings are manipulated in a different direction, then a moral breach has occurred..."

Good, sound -- albeit heavy -- reading! :)

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