It's true, and there are some preliminary studies that suggest they can... but it takes a lot of time, a lot of support, and a lot of attention. There was a recent article in the Washington Post - maybe not so recent, about the time the film "A Beautiful Mind" was released - that described the way schizophrenics in India can often achieve total remission of their illness - due to a combination of allopathic medicine [i.e. western drugs] and extensive familial and professional support [family and therapists working together]. For instance, the family is welcomed into the therapeutic relationship. There is a presumed right of family members to inform the doc if they see side effects, etc. and the docs take this information seriously. It's much more holistic, and people not only get better, but they quite often stay better.
I was reading a couple months ago about PTSD - the 'cortisol bath' that stress causes can actually rewire our brains. And there is now some evidence that this 'rewiring' can also be reversed... but a combination of meds and social support seems to work better than meds alone or support alone...
And MedScape has been posting links to studies that suggest similar progress may be possible for people with borderline personality disorder. Yes, people with that. Small studies, long duration of treatment, but encouraging.
Just for funsies, let me share my own little secret. Several months back, I decided to look into the biochemistry of a 'benign' blood disorder I was born with, that was diagnosed when I was 22 - so almost 30 years ago. I was told then that it was benign, nothing could be done about it, but that I couldn't donate blood because of it. [This seemed a little contradictory to me: if benign, why blood donation not OK? But I digress.] I hadn't thought about it for years.
Well... the Human Genome Project had been plugging merrily along, and so had a bunch of researchers in Europe and Japan. And guess what? That 'benign' condition of mine is an enzyme deficiency - genetic - comes in several varieties with varying degrees of severity - and has major effects on the metabolism of a whole variety of drugs, so much so that one particular cancer treatment carries a specific warning NOT to give it to people with my condition! Because it can kill us. And so can - of all things - acetaminophen (Tylenol), if we take too much of it; and too much, for us, is a lot less than too much for most other folks.
Imagine my surprise to discover that a great deal of my listlessness, the 'just-enough-energy-for-a-full-time-job-but-not-enough-for-a-life-on-top-of-that', my food preferences [massive cravings for broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, brussels sprouts, cabbage, eggs, meat], my drug sensitivities [I usually need about half the recommended dose of most meds, and I refuse to take acetaminophen, it always makes me feel rotten] - even my lifelong problem with migraine headaches - are apparently directly related to this 'benign' condition - and that, in my case, something as simple as drinking green tea, taking a few simple supplements, and consuming more of the foods I crave [broccoli, cabbage] can stimulate my liver to make more of the enzyme I need!
It was like someone turned on a light in a dim room. I'm still Stormchild, but I'm Stormchild energized. I've emerged from years of mild dysthymia and not so mild periodic depressions, I've become much more able to integrate and apply the insights I've attained. Reality doesn't look much different to me, I was always perfectly lucid and there were real and solid reasons for me to be less than thrilled with life - but it no longer overwhelms me. I can stand up and spit in its eye now, if I have to, but even better, I can stand up, flip it off, and move to a better seat.
This is biochemistry at its best - lived! Breathed! Understood and deeply used to heal... and my T, who is a clinical psychologist but with a lot of biochem in his background too, has been jumping up and down and cheering for me. While we continue to work on extricating my heart from the old patterns of learned pain, we rejoice that I may now have the energy I need to not only escape those patterns, but create new and better ones in their place.
Sorry, dear MS - I'm passionate about these things. I hope it comes across as the best kind of passion, the healing, strengthening kind. The answer to your question is yes, yes, yes they can, and tomorrow they may be able to even more, and the day after that --
we move, we dwell, in the midst of miracles.
