I think all the problems with involving EA with causes that require political changes (increase gov funding for mental health...even all Gates’ billions wouldn’t go very far if he tried to directly fund a substantial slice of the mental health healthcare expenditures for first world) apply to changing gov funding and many of the issues are even harder because they derive from hard to shift societal attitudes. These make even direct funding of many types of research difficult.
For instance, a big problem (imo) with the way depression drugs are researched is that it sets as it’s goal finding a drug that makes depressed people feel better without improving the mood of non-depressed individuals (is we impose a higher standard in terms of safety and risk of abuse for these drugs than similarly serious conditions). Yes, I agree that depression involves a cluster of symptoms but you could say the same about the disorders that result from the failure to produce various growth hormones but it doesn’t follow that the treatment of such conditions should be possible using medications that wouldn’t make normal people grow larger or produce more muscle or whatever.
Sure, those drugs will likely have side effects when taken at high levels (mania has lots of drawbacks even when without the depressive part) and concerns about abuse aren’t unfounded but if we were willing to treat the loss of QALYs from depression as seriously as we take those from a heart attack there would be no question we would risk it. As is, however, we have a culture in which doctors which treat mental health are more responsible to the families of those suffering (who may sue if their loved one uses medication to commit suicide...but more importantly will be seen as having failed their patient in the way the oncologist whose patient dies because of well-judged risks they took wouldn’t be).
Unfortunately, I think the combination of general discomfort with anything that sounds transhumanist (would it be so bad if some ppl were a bit unnaturally happier) plus the fact that the majority of society is more interested in what makes them feel good (lack of guilt and keeping that friend or family member around) than in making the depressed feel better when that involves risk.
And I’m afraid this is a broader issue in EA for mental health. Too often the real limitations are hard to change social attitudes and hard to fix with charitable donations.
Thank you for your comment. I would like to address your first point. While gov. funds do need a political push, and that societal change is trickier than thought, general innovation in Mental Health that could benefit society does not require any grand political change or push. There is meaningful innovation already both in non-profit and for-profit sectors. And your example of Gates’ funds that if he tries to directly fund health in general he will run out of money, it’s obviously true. But that doesn’t mean that careful capital couldn’t be allocated to promising health innovations for-profit and non-profit, similarly to many other fields.
I think all the problems with involving EA with causes that require political changes (increase gov funding for mental health...even all Gates’ billions wouldn’t go very far if he tried to directly fund a substantial slice of the mental health healthcare expenditures for first world) apply to changing gov funding and many of the issues are even harder because they derive from hard to shift societal attitudes. These make even direct funding of many types of research difficult.
For instance, a big problem (imo) with the way depression drugs are researched is that it sets as it’s goal finding a drug that makes depressed people feel better without improving the mood of non-depressed individuals (is we impose a higher standard in terms of safety and risk of abuse for these drugs than similarly serious conditions). Yes, I agree that depression involves a cluster of symptoms but you could say the same about the disorders that result from the failure to produce various growth hormones but it doesn’t follow that the treatment of such conditions should be possible using medications that wouldn’t make normal people grow larger or produce more muscle or whatever.
Sure, those drugs will likely have side effects when taken at high levels (mania has lots of drawbacks even when without the depressive part) and concerns about abuse aren’t unfounded but if we were willing to treat the loss of QALYs from depression as seriously as we take those from a heart attack there would be no question we would risk it. As is, however, we have a culture in which doctors which treat mental health are more responsible to the families of those suffering (who may sue if their loved one uses medication to commit suicide...but more importantly will be seen as having failed their patient in the way the oncologist whose patient dies because of well-judged risks they took wouldn’t be).
Unfortunately, I think the combination of general discomfort with anything that sounds transhumanist (would it be so bad if some ppl were a bit unnaturally happier) plus the fact that the majority of society is more interested in what makes them feel good (lack of guilt and keeping that friend or family member around) than in making the depressed feel better when that involves risk.
And I’m afraid this is a broader issue in EA for mental health. Too often the real limitations are hard to change social attitudes and hard to fix with charitable donations.
Thank you for your comment. I would like to address your first point. While gov. funds do need a political push, and that societal change is trickier than thought, general innovation in Mental Health that could benefit society does not require any grand political change or push. There is meaningful innovation already both in non-profit and for-profit sectors. And your example of Gates’ funds that if he tries to directly fund health in general he will run out of money, it’s obviously true. But that doesn’t mean that careful capital couldn’t be allocated to promising health innovations for-profit and non-profit, similarly to many other fields.