PART 2: ECSTASY, PROZAC, AND BRAIN SYSTEMS: |
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Exploring possible origins of “the urge to love” |
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| As is evidenced from the exploration of ecstasy, chemicals can have profound effects on behavior and one’s “urge to love.” An anonymous user of ecstasy conjured up the following poem about his experience: | |||
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| The poem is a nice introduction to this part of the project because it touches upon the notion that the “urge to love” can be obtained and “resolved chemically.” At the end of Part 2, I introduce the notion that there are actual brain areas which may be concerned with interpersonal relations and are stimulated by drugs such as ecstasy. Basically, I broaden out the framework of thinking about the influence of chemicals on the self by noting which part of the theory of their effect we can’t account for. Various contradictions to the prevailing theory of how ecstasy is though to effect the brain are examined in Ecstasy: The Chemical “urge to love” Reexamined. In the section on Depression and Prozac, another system in which chemical model does not suffice is examined. | |||
| The work in these sections is meant to serve as a conceptual structure in light of which I alternative hypothesis originally proposed by Peter Kramer in Listening to Prozac are examined. This is the notion that there are brain areas concerned with interpersonal relations. More importantly this leads to the implications that knowing chemicals and neurotransmitters is not enough…also it leads to quite a few other interesting implication! | |||
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