Saturday, January 15, 2011

placebos revisited

can you get addicted to a placebo? i was searching for a definition of reward with google (easier than finding and thumbing through the dictionary) and one of the reasons i love and hate the internet popped up. when i put 'reward' in the google search box, 'reward deficiency syndrome' came up as an option. now i've seen it all. it's supposed to explain addiction by showing how people need positive strokes or rewards and when they don't get them they look to temporary 'cures' like alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, etc., to help assuage the deficiency.
there's a diagnosis for everything.
and do you know why a diagnosis is important? other than that it gives people the ability to say 'i have reward deficiency syndrome' instead of 'i can't control myself'? it allows doctors to put its number in a box beside which said doctor can put an order for a medicine or a treatment for that diagnosis and then the insurance company is supposed to pay for it. no diagnosis, no payment.

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