PSY HOpHARMA-OLocY

By DR. ALEX GUEST

N. PREVIOUS articles we have

- discussed some aspects of
drug therapy in modern’ med-
icine and how pharmacologic
agents are used to relieve suf-
fering and cure sick individuals.
Some of these compounds are

simple and have been known ©

and used for centuries; others
were only recently developed
through complex biochemical
processes.

Here we will briefly discuss a _

group of compounds designed to
influence human behavior and
‘thought processes and belong-
ing to an ever-increasing group:
.the psychopharmacologic agents.

We do not understand what
these compounds do- to the
highly developed nervous sys-
tem of man. We do not know
at what level they exert their
influence, nor the processes
that they disrupt.

What we do know about
these pagwerful new drugs is
very limited. If a dog has a spe-
cific area of his brain destroyed,
the previously placid animal will
become wild and _ uncontrol-
lable. If the damaged animal is
then given a “tranquilizing”
medicine, he will revert to his
former friendly self.

Maniacal mental patients who
could not formerly be controlled
were found to be quite docile
when maintained on_ these
drugs, and if their thought pro-
cesses were still as bizarre as
before at least their behavior
was more restrained.

On the basis of these exper-
iments and others founded on
equally pathological situations,
an entire new industry has been
created to treat mental stresses

occurring to normal people in
their everyday lives.

_ The efficacy of these drugs in
the treatment of severely dis-
turbed humans: has not been
proved, and it is certainly not
known what the long term ef-
fects of the chemicals will be
on the mental processes of the
user. Nonetheless these com-
pounds are now being exten-
tively used in private practice,
and they are being demanded by
patients.

Their use is no longer limited
to severely disturbed patients or
pathologic situations. They are
being prescribed and used to
dull the impact of commonplace
occurrences.

In this world today there are
many frequent crises. These are
caused primarily by social, eco-
nomic, and political factors.

buying is expensive:

If added to purchase -price
and total repaid in

When they say
4% per year:
6% per year:
8% per year:
10% per year:
1% per month:

If charged only
on unpaid balance

3/4 of 1% per month on
unpaid balance

5/6 of 1% per month on
unpaid balance

1% per morth on

unpaid balance

1-1/4% per month on
unpaid balance

1-1/2% per month on
unpaid balance

2-1/2% per month on

unpaid balance

An expensive
way to buy

The following table, compiled by the California
State Consumer Counsel’s Office, proves that instalment

12 equal monthly payments:

you pay
in true
annual
interest

7.3%
10.9%
14.5%
18.0%
21.5%

True annual
interest

9%
10%
12%
15%
18%

30%

The constant tensions caused by
the problems of unemployment,
increasing militarism, and ra-
cial inequality add to the ordi-

nary problems that every indi-

vidual must continually meet.

The difficulties that mankind
faces today cannot be hidden
behind a mountain of tranquil-
izers or psychic energizers. We
are being deceived’ if we in any
way believe that these psycho-

- pharmacologic agents will bet-

ter prepare us to cope with the
problems of this world.

These drugs merely dull our
senses, distort our judgment
and cloud our reasoning. They
cannot be expected to help us
meet the monumental tasks of
this era.

The challenges of: this age
are immense and to insure the
continued progress of mankind,
the concerted mental and phy-
sical effort of vast numbers of
people is required. No chemic-
als increase the efficiency of the
healthy body.

The psychopharmacologic
drugs can only decrease mental
processes. We cannot hide ‘the
problems of the world, and just
as we would not give aspirin to
treat pneumonia, we cannot
hide nor treat the sicknesses of
this earth with tranquilizers.

War, poverty, unemployment,
racial inequality, and all the
other symptoms that accompany
the disease of capitalism can
only be relieved when the di-
sease is eradicated.

Fond farewell
to dirty pots?

Boil-in-bag vegetables are one
of the fastest-growing develop-
ments in the frozen food indus-
try. To prepare them, the cook
simply immerses the bag: in
boiling water for about 15
minutes.

Since the vegetables never
touch the water, they lose no
water-soluble vitamins or miner-
als in the home cooking. They
have a sauce, which the cook

does not have to prepare. Best _

of all, there’s no pot to wash.

In its July issue, Consumer Re-
ports gives test ratings on wide-
ly distributed brands of the
seven most common types of
boil-in-bag vegetables with but-
ter sauce: corn kernels, peas, cut
green beans, lima beans, broc-
coli spears, carrots, and mixed
vegetables.

Quality was found generally
high. Of the products tested, 80
percent were judged either ex-
cellent or very good, and none
was less than good. The testers
judged the quality of the boil-in-
bag vegetables to be about the
same as that of frozen vege-
tables with a homemade sauce
made from grade A butter and
appropriate seasoning.

The convenience costs extra,
of course. The housewife pays a
premium of about 10 cents ona
10-ounce package over what the
same dish would cost if made
with cartoned frozen vegetables
and a homemade sauce.

J. $. Wallace

We had good neighbors on each side
Both were shot, and Lincoln died.
Lenin lives in other men
But when will Lincoln live again?

ACK in the Thirties a group of progressive pio?
were trying to develop a mine far north of steel
ing the months they worked there they had 1?
and of course.never saw a newspaper. Without fresh
their talks on politics tended to seem at times like
nograph needle stuck in a groove. ©
So they passed a resolution: any reference 1
was forbidden until all work was finished and
their final meal for the day. A
They had an Indian working with them. He bir
silent all the day they adopted their resolution. whee
per was over and the dishes washed, he swirled ty
in the pan, tossed it as far as he could, and the! j
“Now let’s talk about Lenin.” On another occasi0®
dian chief came hundreds of miles over tough itt
find out more about Lenin and what he stood for woh
had picked up over the bush telegraph and excl
-thirst for more. epars f |
That camp seemed like an island in a sea alt
Yet the men in it had influence beyond their firs a!
ings because they stood for democracy, social jus
right of national minorities like the Indians and nds
There are times when we all feel like isolated isl
P.S.—A group of men were once discussing jaf
in the human body. Lincoln was asked how long ee i
a man’s legs should be. He replied: “long enough”
the ground and no longer.”

CAPITALISM:

“In the 200 yards of the Herbertstrasse | fj
alone 20 bordellos stand, cheek by painted J” ig
round the clock shifts of whores sit waxen an@ igi
faced behind show windows. Elaborately coiffed st
tites in spiked heels wobble lumpily along the Si i as
brushing shoulders with stew bums in cowboy i
pale faced hoods with patent leather hair. Along ©
-a tourist can .. . watch an ‘Intimate’ movie in
or cheer a brace of Amazons in black pantie
wrestle in a tub of mud.” — Time Magazine.
SOCIALISM: 4
“Most seamen are unhappy at what they sats
four years of Communist power have stripped jar
its waterfront bars, free-wheeling merchants and it
colorful foreign population... As a shore-leave © pet
sa is yawn provoking. For those not interested in fo
ballet there’s littlé to do except glance in on * q
Seamen’s Club and perhaps chat with a marie
- get
n

=
=

ech
5 a

while sipping vodka, or take a guided tout.
closes by 11 at night. ‘If anyone thinks he ©

4 alle
trouble, he’s indulging in wishful thinking,’ si gt!
of the Washington Trader . . , Still one sailor rind:

tricted for falling asleep in a restaurant and 7“ Dee
other managed to fall off a dock. He was res¢
crew of a nearby Russian ship,” — Business

in. i.
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September 3, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE