Blind spots and Medical Paternalism in Modern Medicine with Dr. Marty Makary

Sep 18, 2024

2,504 views • Sep 18, 2024

In this eye-opening episode, Dr. Marty Makary and I dive deep into chapters from Dr. Makary's newly published book ‘Blind Spots’ . The book sheds light on how misguided medical advice has shaped public health while exploring the profound errors and outdated practices that have shaped our healthcare system, from misguided low-fat diet recommendations to the controversial advice on peanut allergies for infants. Dr. Makary's insights into the influence of the hubris within the medical establishment reveal why questioning medical dogma is crucial. Whether you're a healthcare professional or a patient seeking to make informed decisions, this conversation highlights the importance of challenging assumptions and staying proactive in your health journey. Tune in to uncover the hidden truths and push for a more open-minded approach to medicine Find Marty's Book 'Blindspots' here - https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Me... Receive Exclusive Episodes & Q&A Content by joining our Substack Community: https://www.illusionconsensus.com/

See You On The Other Side (Ep. 2442) - 03/14/2025

Aristotle (384 B.C.E.—322 B.C.E.)

ARISTOTLE (384 B.C.E. - 322 B.C.E)

Aristotle is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, who made important contributions to logic, criticism, rhetoric, physics, biology, psychology, mathematics, metaphysics, ethics, and politics. He was a student of Plato for twenty years but is famous for rejecting Plato’s theory of forms. He was more empirically minded than both Plato and Plato’s teacher, Socrates.
A prolific writer, lecturer, and polymath, Aristotle radically transformed most of the topics he investigated. In his lifetime, he wrote dialogues and as many as 200 treatises, of which only 31 survive. These works are in the form of lecture notes and draft manuscripts never intended for general readership. Nevertheless, they are the earliest complete philosophical treatises we still possess.
As the father of western logic, Aristotle was the first to develop a formal system for reasoning. He observed that the deductive validity of any argument can be determined by its structure rather than its content, for example, in the syllogism: All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal. Even if the content of the argument were changed from being about Socrates to being about someone else, because of its structure, as long as the premises are true, then the conclusion must also be true. Aristotelian logic dominated until the rise of modern propositional logic and predicate logic 2000 years later.
The emphasis on good reasoning serves as the backdrop for Aristotle’s other investigations. In his natural philosophy, Aristotle combines logic with observation to make general, causal claims. For example, in his biology, Aristotle uses the concept of species to make empirical claims about the functions and behavior of individual animals. However, as revealed in his psychological works, Aristotle is no reductive materialist. Instead, he thinks of the body as the matter, and the psyche as the form of each living animal.
Though his natural scientific work is firmly based on observation, Aristotle also recognizes the possibility of knowledge that is not empirical. In his metaphysics, he claims that there must be a separate and unchanging being that is the source of all other beings. In his ethics, he holds that it is only by becoming excellent that one could achieve eudaimonia, a sort of happiness or blessedness that constitutes the best kind of human life.
Aristotle was the founder of the Lyceum, a school based in Athens, Greece; and he was the first of the Peripatetics, his followers from the Lyceum. Aristotle’s works, exerted tremendous influence on ancient and medieval thought and continue to inspire philosophers to this day.

Aristotle

 

Stimulants Reduce Narcissistic Personality Traits, Increase Empathy In ADHD Adults:

ADHD & Symptom Tests

• Mental Health & ADHD Comorbidities

Personality Disorders

Stimulants Reduce Narcissistic Personality Traits, Increase Empathy In ADHD Adults: Study

ADHD RESEARCH
Stimulants Increase Empathy

The small study also found that stimulant medication reduced narcissistic personality traits in adults with ADHD. | Read more »

Stimulant medication may improve deficits in empathy, as well as narcissistic personality traits, in adults with ADHD, according to new research.

February 11, 2025.     Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in narcissistic personality traits and empathy deficits in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after pharmacotherapy, focusing on psychostimulant treatment. Understanding these comorbidities is crucial for optimizing treatment and improving therapeutic outcomes.

Narcissistic personality traits are curbed, and empathy improved, by the use of stimulant medication in adults who have ADHD, according to a small study published in Alpha Psychiatry.¹ The study is the first to explore the impact of ADHD medication on narcissistic personality traits and empathy in adult patients with ADHD, building on past research that established a high prevalence of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) in this population.

The study involved 75 participants (54% male, 46% female). Of those, 44% received extended-release methylphenidate, 50% received short-acting methylphenidate, and 6% received atomoxetine for three months. Levels of ADHD symptoms, empathy, and pathological narcissism — both grandiose and vulnerable/covert subtypes — were assessed before and after three months of treatment. Researchers found significant changes in three areas among patients taking stimulant medication: reductions in narcissistic traits, increases in empathy levels, and improvements in ADHD symptoms.

Pathological narcissism is marked by impairment in self-esteem regulation; intense shame, anger, or envy leads individuals to employ maladaptive strategies to restore self-esteem in situations where it is perceived as threatened.² The subtype of grandiose narcissism is marked by exhibitionism, aggression, and self-assurance; the subtype of vulnerable narcissism is marked by distrustfulness, fear of rejection, introversion, and negative emotionality.

Deficits in empathy are central to narcissism and can lead to myriad challenges over the lifespan including problems with communication and interpersonal relationships. While previous research, including a systematic review published in 2021, found that treatment with methylphenidate increased empathy in children with ADHD, research focusing on adults had been scarce.^3, 4 As such, the study helps to fill in a gap in the research landscape.

Narcissistic Personality Traits Linked to Hyperactivity and Impulsivity

This research comes just months after another small study, published in Journal of Psychiatric Research, explored the link between pathological narcissism and ADHD by gathering data on a group of 164 adults with ADHD.⁵ The study’s findings confirmed previous research that demonstrated a significantly increased prevalence of narcissistic traits among adults with ADHD; it found that narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) occurs in 25% of adults with ADHD⁶ compared to 6% of all adults.

The article offered further insight into the link between ADHD and narcissism, revealing that narcissistic traits tied to both grandiose and vulnerable subtypes were associated with symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity, but not with inattention.

In addition, narcissistic traits in ADHD adults were linked to higher levels of anxiety and depression. Traits of vulnerable narcissism, specifically, were associated with more significant emotion dysregulation and a history of hospitalization, suicide attempts, and non-suicidal self-injury, even after adjusting for the presence of borderline personality disorder. The study’s findings “suggest that narcissistic vulnerability has a unique impact on the clinical severity of ADHD,” write the study’s authors.

Narcissistic Personality Traits Lower Adherence to ADHD Treatment

Multiple studies have demonstrated that people with ADHD and comorbid personality disorders, including NPD, have lower adherence rates to ADHD treatment than do people with ADHD alone, making treatment for these individuals both variable and challenging.^8, 9

“An omission in the consideration of [narcissistic] traits may be the reason for inadequate improvement in areas [of ADHD] such as social interaction, social functioning, and interpretation of events. This, in turn, may lead to sub-optimal treatment of ADHD,” write the authors of the Alpha Psychiatry study. “New approaches are needed to mitigate comorbid personality traits in order to enhance treatment adherence and response rates.”

Limitations of both studies include the small sample size, lack of longitudinal follow-up, and potential confounding factors. The authors of both studies call for further research.

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