And, if this is a matter of debate about experts, even an article by some other expert telling us this is the right way to understand the experts is problematic. I may be more willing to agree to the assessment of an expert who holds the position I favor, but how do I really evaluate the claims? This is particularly true when the evidence is a matter beyond any individual’s experience. My experience of one particular patient is not indicative of the experience of 10,000 patients.
I once was discussing this issue with a very well credentialed psychiatrist with decades of experience at a world renowned institution. He said, “We give people with depression anti-depressants, sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. We don’t know why.”