No reply is an admission of not having something to contribute.
Or bad faith.
Not answering does look to me Bad Faith Silent Ones.
I do not authorize psychological nor psychiatric formulations, interpretations nor diagnosis, etc. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, not medical advice nor advice of any kind.
From Wikipedia:
Bad faith (Latin: mala fides) is a sustained form of deception which consists of entertaining or pretending to entertain one set of feelings while acting as if influenced by another. It is associated with hypocrisy, breach of contract, affectation, and lip service.It may involve intentional deceit of others, or self-deception.
Bad Faith: The malicious intention to be dishonest or to violate the law, as in negotiations over a contract. A malicious motive by a party in a lawsuit. This has an effect on the ability to maintain causes of action and obtain legal remedies. Intent to deceive or mislead another to gain some advantage; dishonesty or fraud in a transaction (such as knowingly misrepresenting the quality of something that is being bought or sold). [I would add even just offered, as lip service, among others]
Lip Service: Verbal expression of agreement or allegiance, unsupported by real conviction or action; hypocritical respect [as for Rationality, Science and its Methods]. Empty talk; words absent of action or intention. Cunnilingus[!?], the act of using the mouth and tongue to stimulate the female genitals, especially the clitoris and labium. (Sometimes also referred to as giving lip.).
Lip service as in I really don´t believe in dialogue, discourse, debate, informing the populace, rationality nor Science.
I have a series of so far answered comments, there are more, this is just a sample, mildly edited to put links on them and correct Miss Pellings:
lee
14 feb
Guys, you don’t need to read articles on how to become substack famous. Just do the exact opposite of whatever it is I’m doing. Trust me, I’ve been stuck at less than 25 subs for months.
Federico Soto del Alba:
That´s a funny one, one problem might be there are a lot of ways of doing the opposite, not literally, but metaphorically.
One thing I might have done and in a similar situation and you probably didn´t do is present information normally causing cognitive dissonance across the spectrum…
Accurate info, from valid sources.
Repeatedly and well Fundamented…
But these are not normal times across the spectrum… like people deliberatively don´t want to pay attention, instead of not being able to for long enough… not being easily distracted for example…
My writings are Structured after All…
I even have a Guide to All of Them and a Guide to all My Mental Writings, so structured it is…
Like the spectrum is unwilling to pay attention, not unable or incapable to.
Like a mix of things very common nowadays…
Don´t worry, I have 21 subscribers and only 2 and ½ and me receiving and opening Substack emails with my writings, so it might be worse!.
:)
Maxine Wren
6 feb
If you think a cis boy can make the medical decision to get top surgery for gynecomastia but a trans boy can’t you’re not “protecting children”, you’re being transphobic. These situations are not different.
Federico Soto del Alba:
Medical Amputations, excisions, etc., are not the same thing as mutilations.
As a crass and gross, but illustrative example:
Following such rhetoric a Physician removing the Healthy Leg of a Diabetic Patient by error, negligence, Religion, Belief, Ideology, etc., should not be a Problem.
The breast of a trans boy is Healthy, so is the Removed Leg in my hypothetical.
Removing a breast from a male for being too big does not treat the cause: it is a Cosmetic Procedure.
Using Cosmetic Surgery on Anything has not lead to good outcomes Socially except in Reconstructive Surgery after Trauma, you quote perhaps another example but I don´t know its benefits vs harms as a Cosmetic Procedure for Male Gynecomastia in Teens.
I am not an expert in Cosmetic Surgery?, are you?.
Cosmetic Surgery for some Personally has been devastating and mutilating, disfiguring, is that the way for Transgender Medicine?:
Calling people transphobic based on irrationality might be a sign of Radicalization:
Hey my Haters Hear me Out. [On a sort of Oral History of Jihadist Radicalization relevant, uncannily parallel to current Ideologies]
Then there is the issue if Trans Surgeries for Teens are or will be Cosmetic, if then their status as minors is Problematic at least when it comes to Informed Consent.
Similar to female breast implants for female teens, I guess, with the caveat breast complete excisions are irreversible. They can be addressed with breast implants if regretfully (sic) but then I´ve read doubts about how frequent does that happen, and it probably is not really well researched.
So, a Surgeon has no Data to Inform any patient to ask for an informed consent, for example. And a Teen nonetheless…
That is a problem when non experts talk publicly about complex issues as Medical [corrected] Ones: they have no relevant knowledge, way too incomplete knowledge, no experience, no training and display identity [corrected] supplanting behaviors: talking as if they were Physicians, for example. Or lawyers…
This post of mine covers that, among other things related to writing from non expertise:
Talking about any Disease requires expertise in Anatomy, Histology, General Pathology, Special Pathology [… Physiopathology and so many things that only a very few People can and should talk about Diseases for the General Public. Talking about treating diseases on top of that requires skill and expertise in Therapy, not psychotherapy and not just Pharmacotherapy.]
It seems easy to follow someone else´s rhetoric as if it was Logical while ignoring what one should know before making claims.
That is known as not knowing one does not know.
Another:
The new administration has stated that there are only two genders, but I’m glad that the American Psychological Association has spoken up to clarify the science. [Science!, oh my gathers!]
"There is extensive scientific research that supports the complexity of sex and gender beyond binary classifications," American Psychological Association CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., Ph.D., told ABC News in a statement.
"The new restrictive definition of sex ignores decades of science, increasing harm to youth and families, while undermining critical mental health outcomes."
The American Psychological Association is not a Medical Body of Experts. The CEO is speaking as a non Expert in Medicine.
Mr Arthur C. Evans Jr. is not an MD, it is a classical Fallacy of Non Expertise in the Field of Medicine.
Psychology is not a Science, it´s a Humanity. [Mr Arthur C. Evans Jr might be speaking as a non Scientist, not an expert in Science, and taking his claims as Scientific, as such is clearly Pseudoscientific]
Federico Soto del Alba:
You are quoting misleadingly [from CNN]:
´The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of HHS' agencies, defines sex as "an individual's biological status as male, female, or something else. Sex is assigned at birth and associated with physical attributes, such as anatomy and chromosomes."´
The CDC's website defines gender as "the cultural roles, behaviors, activities and attributes expected of people based on their sex."´
´After Trump took office, the administration ordered the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration to remove certain public health websites, including the CDC's page with more gender-inclusive definitions, which were then taken offline. A judge granted a temporary restraining order to restore the pages after organizations filed lawsuits.´
´A banner at the top of the CDC page currently states: "Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 14, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female."´
A non Physician talking Publicly about " difference of sex development" is outrageous, mr Evans, the CEO of the APA is not a Physician.
The rest of the Medical Bodies are not really saying much, The CDC has already spoken after a Court Order, such is Radicalization on Gender Issues:
Amber Groomes,Ph.D. (she/her)
19 feb
If antidepressants were addictive, I would not need to constantly remind my patients to take them.
Federico Soto del Alba
22 feb
They cause dependence, not addiction, that´s an ill-willed equivocation.
Amber Groomes,Ph.D. (she/her)
22 feb
These words have precise meanings, and describing them accurately is important. As the wife of an alcoholic in early recovery, I take addiction very seriously. Ironically, antidepressants are a part of recovery for many addicts, because they are often self-medicating real mental health problems with actual addictive substances. Antidepressants are a lifesaving tool, but like many things in medicine, they are imperfect.
[As an added comment such baroque and irrelevant personal sympathy inducing comments remind me of My Esteemed Al Gore: “I am prochoice, my opponent is not”. Just reminds me, I am not claiming beyond it]
Federico Soto del Alba
22 feb
Do antidepressants cause dependence or not? [so far unaswered despite the parroted: “These words have precise meanings, and describing them accurately is important”]
Federico Soto del Alba:
And more astonishing: did your wife, husband authorize you to disclaim he or she is an alcoholic in early recovery?
Did you asked him or her for her or his permission to make such personal, intimate information Public?.
[As an added comment: how does one go about asking for such permission to use such personal, intimate information for uses that look a lot like Propaganda?]
Still on Ms Groomes´ Substack Note: “If antidepressants were addictive, I would not need to constantly remind my patients to take them.”
Federico Soto del Alba
12m
Maybe they don´t only cause dependency, not addiction, genital anesthesia, mania/hypomania and orgasmic/sexual dysfunction, but more grievously they cause amnesia?
Have you thought and researched about it?, there was this thing called La Belle Indifference…
Federico Soto del Alba:
Then there is the comparison:
Diabetic, Hypertensive people do forget to take their meds too, and in those cases the medications having no visible, tangible, objective beneficial effect on them, not even in the long run, does contribute to the forgetting to take their meds.
They are called silent killers for several reasons, and the treatment for those conditions gives one more yr of life to around 1 in hundred or more patients. [Talk to your Qualified, Good Spirited and Good Willed Physician to know the benefits and the need for treatment or withdrawal of any and all your Meds]
So antidepressants might, at least for some maybe the great majority, have “no visible, tangible, objective beneficial effect on them, not even in the long run”.
The needed to treat number is somewhat large, and smaller than the number needed to harm: more people are harmed by antidepressants than have a benefit from them.
So much so, that Treatment Resistant Depression is a thing since several years ago, and pretending to treat it does not help either….
One reasonable unbiased assumption is that antidepressants made depression treatment Resistant, considering depression in more than 80 to 90% of people was a self limiting condition before Pharma and [the] DSM were as prominent as they are now against it. [At least against its widely known before self limiting character]
Then, because of at least dependency, not addiction, antidepressants cannot be stopped abruptly nor too suddenly.
So, not being addicts some people using them are hooked unwillingly and unknowingly on them.
Or am I wrong on this?.
Amber Groomes,Ph.D. (she/her)
13 feb
I think that the big push to teach “coping skills” has inadvertently given the message that emotions are a problem to be fixed rather than an experience to be felt.
Federico Soto del Alba:
Don´t take it as harassment from me, maybe poor humor:
How do you feel about it?
Enough for now of quotes and my replies gone unanswered.
To show seeing some Ideologies as Radicalized Fundamentalist ones is on the spot I will predict the following, with the caveat, at least, most Substack Notes and Posts go unread for the majority of them, so it affects me regardless of my correctness.
1.- My work will have no impact, at least on Substack readers.
2.- Many Radicalized will avoid reading my work, at least in Substack.
3.- Mrs Groomes, Maxine Wren, among others sharing their beliefs and the supporters of such Ideologies, as Radicalized Individuals won´t be willing nor able to backtrack, at least to save face and perhaps by the prospect of income loss.
4.- Even if there were People here at Substack willing to change their thinking reading my writings, hopefully not just on that, they won´t promote my work for the same reasons: not willing nor able to backtrack, to save face, and not loose Readers nor Income. And not facing the hatred so widespread in Modern, Current Discourse.
5.- Fundamentalist Radicalization on Gender, ADHD, Autism, Trans and at least Patriarchy Belief will cause further loss of the Rights and its Recognition already won in Abortion, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, Feminism and Sexual Freedom. It has both predictive and explanatory power: The conservatives and right wingers will use the Irrationality and against Reality and Science and its Methods character of such Ideologies to erase ALL previous wins if allowed to do so. So far, still and counting…
Christian Conservatism already has validity as an accepted Ideology: it does not need to justify Christian Beliefs on Science nor Reality.
That was a mistake of Creationists: it was not needed to preserve Christian Belief from an assault by Religion Haters. As book banning, it is not needed when acceptance of Freedom of Belief and Freedom of Conscience is already in the Law Books of many Jurisdictions, of many Countries and of Many States.
All that was needed was to Separate, Again, Religion from Science in mutual respect.
Those Mental Ideologies are making it easier to use Religion in the Classroom and to Ban Books: Deal with your own contribution to such Catastrophe.
At least try to see the Big Picture relevant to those issues. I am adding to such Wider View of Ideologies as are Today. I already did my work, it´s your turn to accept Reality, and if you choose do something to change it, specially before it is too late. I can´t do anything more, I need help myself, probably more than you yourselves need.
And the fervent, rabid, dogmatic irrationality of Religion Haters contributed to such Radicalization by Christian Believers by promoting the erroneous belief Philosophy and Science instead of the Law had anything to contribute to preventing and stopping harm by Religious Practices, not by Religious Belief.
They fought a set of Ideologies with another, not with Science and Rationality which do not Apply to Beliefs, Philosophical or Religious.
They fomented Ideological Wars, like the now Mentally Radicalized are doing.
6.- Nothing good will come from that: Repeating failed Social Natural Experiments hoping this time it will be different is a classical Sign of Einstenian Stupidity…
I have another post to show experiences might not be explained by mere sexual orientation. They might not be explained by a single characteristic of a single Human Being. And in its second part I show why Psychologic and Psychiatric Beliefs cannot only help anyone, they should not even attempt to “help” anyone.
Since I already wrote a lot:
My own Writings Reading List on Anything Mental, A guide to All my writings in Substack, showing I, like many Humans are not Unidimensional.
Suggesting we might be happier accepting we have more qualities as Humans than we were made to Believe.
7.- When Silence will be absent I will get more Hatred, more inane irrelevant comments, more beyond or besides the point irrelevant comments, more fallacious rhetoric like Straw person, Red Herring, Magical Thinking, Confusions of Intersubjectivity with Objectiveness and asks for my solutions to the big mental suffering of other people, etc.
Like if someone could have one just because People suffer for reasons Millenia into looking for an explanation and remedy for it.
And with the same tools as before: Belief, Ideology, Irrationality, Philosophy, Lies, Deceit, Deception, Bad Faith and Ill-Will.
Like this one. More of the same if anything more than Silence. Or claiming Psychology as a humanity is a Good Thing, when it has had atrocious consequences already.
And more inane childish behavior as commenting buffoonery just to block me later. Like if I cared, but I, I can work with inane buffoonery, this post shows I, I, can.
Grow up Petty Incompetent and Impotent pseudo intellectuals with a cause to fight…
Said, lovingly and appreciatively, at least this Post of mine, this tangible, material product of my intellectual original work is a tribute to your lameness. No need to thank me, reading me and promoting my work might be more than enough.
And if you actually can and will, consider me not your enemy nor your hater but your Loyal Opposition: What I wrote and write is what you will need to address so that your Legal Aspirations are granted by Law Makers, Executives and Public Officials, if not by a Larger Society.
They should not give you something your Legal Aspirations cannot achieve, that would be wrongdoing by at least Law Makers, Executives and Public Officials, if not by a larger Society.
I do not encourage, promote nor condone violence against anyone, including against myself.
And if at some point someone is convinced they were deceived by the Discourse, Influencers, Personalities, Actors, Actresses, Singers, Dancers, PseudoScientists, Quacks, Psychologists and Psychiatrists blame them, not you, not me, and do not harm yourself, please.
An Appendix of Quotes and References on Transitioning and/or Gender Dysphoria/Incongruence Treatments showing there is no empirical evidence of enough Quality [referred as “High Quality” in the cited articles, specially considering it is and will be applied against minors] to Guide any Medical Recommendation of such treatments by any Physician:
https://www.rcgp.org.uk/policy/rcgp-policy-areas/transgender-care
https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/
https://adc.bmj.com/pages/gender-identity-service-series
Specially this one in the last link above, containing Systematic Reviews showing lack of evidence guiding treatment recommendations:
Impact of social transition in relation to gender for children and adolescents: a systematic review
Some quotes from the mere Abstracts:
“Conclusions It is difficult to assess the impact of social transition on children/adolescents due to the small volume and low quality of research in this area. Importantly, there are no prospective longitudinal studies with appropriate comparator groups assessing the impact of social transition on mental health or gender-related outcomes for children/adolescents. Professionals working in the area of gender identity and those seeking support should be aware of the absence of robust evidence of the benefits or harms of social transition for children and adolescents.” [Translated means caring competent Physicians should not initiate such treatments outside Clinical Research Trials, at least because they cannot ask nor get an informed consent on at least lack of evidence for benefit AND harms in everyday Clinical Practice, it would be irresponsible, negligent, Quackery, etc., otherwise].
“Conclusions The small number of low-quality studies limits conclusions about the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for children/adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria/incongruence. Clarity on the intervention approach as well as the core outcomes would support the future aggregation of evidence. More robust methodology and reporting is required.” [Translated means no psychosocial intervention has evidence for its use “…for children/adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria/incongruence” and as such there is no basis to use them in Modern Medical Practice as it stands Today]
“Conclusions There is a lack of high-quality research assessing puberty suppression in adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria/incongruence. No conclusions can be drawn about the impact on gender dysphoria, mental and psychosocial health or cognitive development. Bone health and height may be compromised during treatment. More recent studies published since April 2022 until January 2024 also support the conclusions of this review.” [Translated: puberty suppression has no evidence of enough quality to draw a conclusion about it´s impact on what it pretends to address: “…gender dysphoria, mental and psychosocial health or cognitive development”]
“Conclusions There is a lack of high-quality research assessing the use of hormones in adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria/incongruence. Moderate-quality evidence suggests mental health may be improved during treatment, but robust study is still required. For other outcomes, no conclusions can be drawn. More recent studies published since April 2022 until January 2024 also support the conclusions of this review.” [The claim of Mental Health improving lacks causality to the improvement, since “… robust study is still required”, as such it would be at best an experimental remedy or treatment of “mental health” issues associated with gender dysphoria/incongruence, not necessarily caused by it, vide infra, see below. Hence at least, among other reasons, the need for more robust study, because of causality and as stated in other Systematic Reviews lack of Outcomes data to guide Medical Recommendations].
From the last article, in the section What this Study Adds: “There is moderate-quality evidence from mainly pre–post studies that hormone treatment may in the short-term improve psychological health.”
My last comment might look not that relevant, but there is a trivial observation known to most skilled Physicians: Providing a previously denied or difficult to get treatment does cause improvement, beyond the placebo effect. That´s why placebos when accepted as valid medical treatments were sometimes applied with expansive language: it is very powerful, sometimes it tingles, you might get dizzy, but it is short lived, you will feel better.
Skilled Physicians can see the relief when a Patient finally reaches its room in the Hospital after hours, days or weeks in an Emergency Room Stretcher, or on the floor, and or the Specialist Consultation they need. That´s not a Placebo nor an accepted form of Medical Treatment, but the redress to an injustice…
The beyond placebo effect is in the perception of Denial of Treatment or getting redress on perceived grievances, like receiving medical treatment not needed but perceived as needed but denied, not in receiving in time, way and manners a treatment accepted as such.
The last is the Placebo Effect present in Modern Accepted Medical Treatments, and relevant to Modern Medical Empiricism. The History of Placebos might not be relevant in such restricted context.
Having a Legal outcome validating one´s legal aspirations is not a Placebo, as another example.
There is no Placebo in winning a prize, the placebo effect does not explain that, as an analogy.
Respectfully, a crass analogy, not entirely relevant, but illustrative of why perhaps people feel better when recognized as someone they want to be recognized as.
Illustrating acceptance is an issue beyond Medicine, and perhaps Damn Right Outside it, at least sometimes if not most of the times:
Some People feel good, even exuberantly ecstatic when recognized as Outlaws, as Criminals, as people living against Societal Norms. Specially if they have an axe to grind… even as mere Mavericks…
I am not saying Trans Persons are outlaws, that they are outcasts or promoting illegal behavior, or that they should be. I am saying people feel good and better just for being accepted as they want, even when their acceptance is against Science, Law, Morality, Religion and Social Norms.
So feeling good when being accepted might be a thing outside Medicine to begin with.
And therefore outside Medical Treatment, and that cannot be addressed by any large study or a bunch of them with all the controls considered relevant and applied which do not consider Acceptance as a Phenomenon by itself transcending Trans Issues.
There can´t be valid empiricism on Trans Issues without addressing first the Concept, the Idea and Process of Acceptance in a Broader Context, and realizing most of it is in fact, in Reality, Outside Medicine.
Such broader context issues need to be known to be controlled in Clinical Trials even if on first glance they might be dismissed as obviously wrong, inappropriate or irrelevant.
And as individual acceptance issues large enough studies will be impossible to do since Acceptance is influenced by a lot of things, and in ways most likely not clear enough to do experiments on Humans about it.
That is poor Empiricism prevalent, recalcitrant and stubbornly present in All Things Mental.
As a proposal, not a recommendation, people needing and/or wanting acceptance for whatever issue: read about acceptance in its broader context. And you will see it is mostly outside of Science and Its Methods. And therefore Outside Modern Medicine.
—”And for Physicians acceptance without conceding…”
For Writers wanting to contribute to the many strands of Acceptance in the Current Discourse I propose for you to read and write about Acceptance in its larger context.
I´ve done my part, I think…
Thanks.
Federico Soto del Alba.