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Here's a radical idea: except for drugs with a high abuse-liability, all psychoactive medications could be allowed "behind the counter" like pseudoephedrine. The psychiatrist's role becomes strictly advisory (coupled with medical malpractice waivers), and the patient is free to experiment with whatever substance they like so as to find their best fit. People already "self-medicate" for focus and arousal with xanthines in coffee and chocolate, and for anxiety with anxiolytics like gabanergic ethanol in alcohol and partial serotonin agonist cannabidiol in cannabis. This is just opening the floodgates a bit more for those who aren't afraid to learn about psychopharmacology and work closely with their doctor in managing their mood and attention.

If this sounds crazy or spurious, then you'll probably agree that fixing abnormal psychology is actually as complicated as debugging the world's most complex software system.



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