Trust me … I’m a Nurse ..with added Oxytocin

So we’re about to cure social phobia. Or at least that’s the aim behind the latest trials for Oxytocin - a wonder drug that helps us to trust more.

Nicknamed the “cuddle chemical”, oxytocin is a naturally produced hormone, which has been shown to play a role in social relations, maternal bonding, and also in sex

Ok, so it’s not actually a ‘wonder drug’ but a naturally occuring brain chemical. All they’re trying to do is to add some synthesised natural chemicals, and make the brain work unnaturally. Where’s the harm?

The reality is, from what I can gather, is it doesn’t help you to trust ‘better’ - it simply removes your ability to mistrust. In short, it impairs your judgment.

They found that people who inhaled the “love hormone” oxytocin continued to trust strangers with their money - even after they were betrayed.

If this sounds a lot like what GHB was used for - it’s because it is virtually the same thing.

Although the chemical construct is not the same as the other popular Rohypnol, the effects are more or less the same. They all work as a mild anaesthetic, enhancing action on the GABA thingy in the brain that usually permits us to feel things like fear and anxiety. Interfering like this with this bit of the brain - we become disinhibited.

Sounds a lot like alcohol to me….

Alcohol affects the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors, to produce a depressant (neurochemical inhibitory) effect. Other psychoactives affecting the GABA receptor include gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, barbiturates and benzodiazepines. “GABA has been implicated, both directly and indirectly, in the pathogenesis of Huntington’s disease, Parkinsonism, epilepsy, schizophrenia, tardive dyskinesias, and senile dementia, as well as several other behavioral disorders.”

So if these drugs were known to work in similar ways - and to produce similar effects - why are we producing another compound to do the very same thing? Moreover, why are we developing a drug that may essentially, at best, turn us dumb and gullible and, at worst, induce schizophrenia, epilepsy and degenerative diseases?

I thought I’d find the answers for you (cos I’m good like that); but only ended up asking myself “Why is this new ‘news’ appearing now when it was ‘news’ back in 2005?”

What is even more odd is - why was this other rather stigmatising article appearing only 3 weeks before the latest article which contains the cure?

An interesting article - from a media studies and social engineering point of view - with all the hallmarks. It includes a picture of Princess Diana - possibly some allusion that even she had social phobia - and that she perhaps used heaps of make up to cover her embarrassment.

Walking down a busy high street with your cheeks painted like a clown isn’t normal behaviour for most people. But it’s precisely what is being prescribed for one group of people who desperately want to feel more normal.

People suffering from acute social embarrassment are encouraged to wear ridiculous amounts of blusher in public as part of their treatment at one hospital. It’s an unlikely cure for a condition called social phobia.

I’d like to know which hospital this is exactly.

This method is part of a CBT programme specifically designed at Maudsley Hospital in London for people with social phobia.

Oh my giddy Gawd. Can someone ask Sainsburys if they have the RCT reviews completed yet? What is the NICE guideline on “ridiculous amounts of blusher” please? (If you have trialled this - please PLEASE contact me).

The problem was first recognised as a mental health condition in 1980 and some professionals believe it’s one of the most under-recognised and under-treated mental health problems of the modern age.

Hmm.. is anyone else seeing the big sell coming along here?

Yeah, come to think of it, I remember the huge amounts of make up in the 80’s - everyone wore thick make up and heaps of blusher! Even me. Boy George wasn’t really gay just extremely socially phobic?

Indeed, there is a huge paradoxical intent in this next paragraph. See if the smart ones can spot any… (I’ve highlighted a few just in case you’ve OD’ed on Oxytocin and don’t believe the BBC could do such a thing)…

The drug companies argue that playing down the disease and its impact does a huge disservice to patients and their families.

Randomised control trials show that while both anti-depressants and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can help people with social phobia, therapy is more effective than medication in the longer term.

Which is why treatments such as going out looking like a clown have been developed.

Proving to these people they are not constantly being watched, no matter how ridiculous they look, is a powerful way of helping them to feel less self-conscious.

For them such methods may be embarrassing but it’s a small price to pay if it helps them to overcome a phobia which, to date, has made their life a misery.

Is it paranoia.. or am I really getting another PROZAC FEELING?!

And of course, no fear Zarathustra, the article does not forget to mention the children. A picture of a 4-5 year old boy hiding his face with the phrase “Children can have social phobia”.

It’s called “SHYNESS” and it’s natural. It’s what stops him getting his head kicked in the first day of school you morons.

So it looks like Big Pharma’s next drug-pushing scam has already picked it’s target audience.

Or am I just lacking in Oxytocin and trust no-one anymore?