I’m glad to be back! We have had technical issues with our site for several weeks. Everything should now be operational.
FYI, in case you didn’t catch this before, I’m a “sport bitcher”. I love complaining, and being sarcastic, especially about “the system”. After 52 years of observation and study of neuroscience there is only one thing I know for sure…if the government is involved it’s screwed. (This is to be continued later.)
In order to bitch convincingly I stay well informed through informal as well as formal study every day. I realized many years ago that every patient is a teacher, so I spend many hours in the “classroom” every week.
To me the most important knowledge is where science meets practical day to day reality. The best medication in the world is irrelevant if it’s not available or it’s unaffordable. Making the best possible treatments happen or getting as close as we can is part of the art of medicine.
As I try to answer questions for my patients, as well as those that inquire on my website, I draw on many sources of information. My facts will almost always be right. Some of my ideas, assumptions, and beliefs may turn out to be wrong, but looking back at the the things I’ve written over the years I’ve found most of it is still right on target using the current scientific data and my own clinical observations!
I believe that the foundation of medicine/psychiatry is empiric science. That means we gather information and observations, and then develop hypotheses…and ultimately theories to explain them. One thing that characterizes scientific ideas is that they can be proven wrong. We are constantly modifying our understanding of how things work.
When we look back 100, 200 years at what philosophers/scientists thought, we think, “are you kidding me?” Well, guess what? …one hundred years from now we are not going to look so bright. Unfortunately, the more we learn, the more we realize we don’t know. An example within the last century is that we have gone from the solar system, to the galaxy, to billions of galaxies – each with greater and greater complexity and mystery. As we have expanded outwardly we have explored the seemingly infinite micro-diversity of each cell and atom. To paraphrase Socrates, what I know best is there are a lot of things I don’t know.
I see my job as educating patients about the pros and cons of each option and then let them make the decisions that effect their personal lives. Time will tell if we are going the right direction, and we will expect to make adjustments along the way. As circumstances change, new insights are developed, new studies are conducted, and new options are available we will be better able to meet the needs of each individual patient. This should be very encouraging for those that are struggling to function well, feel good, and live better lives.
3 thoughts on ““REPORTS OF MY DEMISE HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXXAGERATED!” (Mark Twain) by Dr. Wayne Jones”
Just decided to look you up. I will start reading the articles. You managed my “mind-racing” so well that I can still manage it myself. I’ve kept Klonopin through the years but more recently discovered that Ibuprofen works the same way. I’m careful because I don’t like depending on any drug at all. Suddenly it may be that there’s a connection between pain and “mind-racing” because suddenly I realize it both happens at the same time. “mind-racing” can be exhausting too. Being aware of it is very important. I also found 4 Maccabees, Chapter 1 to be 21st century thinking for me.
In addition, I’ll never forget my visit with you and my Maryland daughter (I’m back in Leisure World of Maryland now) and her husband about her problem. Out of nowhere, she mentioned something I never knew. She couldn’t do the “monkey bars” in phys ed in elementary school. That was incredible revelation to me and you seriously said “testosterone”. Since I had HRT since then and also as a result breast cancer, I now think the whole Earth folks need an EPT data base. Estrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone. I also enjoy the way you lectured to an audience of bi-polars so many years ago.
Glad to see you back Dr. Jones.
I thought you had forgotten about your website.
I always enjoy your articles and always use them as reference when I need to remember something about medications, side effects, etc.
Roberto
Thank you for following the website. The sad fact is new medications for all of the psychiatric disorders are very slow to come down the “pipeline”. This is due to many reasons, such as the restrictions of the FDA, the millions and millions of dollars the pharmaceutical companies have to “gamble” on research of new medications, and the lack of education the general public has that would be beneficial in putting more pressure on the government to allow research to be funded and followed through to fruition. Right now, pharmaceutical companies just mainly developed “me too” drugs. That means if they see a drug that is profitable in one category, they will make one like it and put their name on it and sell it.