🧱 SECTION C — Treatment Modalities (Green / Yellow / Red Audit)

✅ GREEN — Empirical, measurable, substrate‑anchored treatments#

These treatments have biological mechanisms, clinical trial evidence, and physiological substrates. They are not perfect, but they meet the scientific bar.

Psychotropic medications (as pharmacological agents)#

• Antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics
• Mechanisms partially known, effects measurable, tested in controlled trials
• Scientific substrate: pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, receptor binding

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)#

• One of the most empirically validated treatments for severe depression
• Clear physiological mechanism (seizure induction), measurable outcomes
• Scientific substrate: neurophysiology, seizure modulation

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)#

• Uses electromagnetic induction to modulate cortical activity
• Reproducible, measurable, FDA‑cleared for several indications
• Scientific substrate: electromagnetic stimulation of neural tissue

Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS)#

• Implanted device with measurable neural effects
• Scientific substrate: peripheral nerve modulation

Ketamine (and esketamine)#

• Rapid‑acting antidepressant effects demonstrated in trials
• Scientific substrate: NMDA receptor antagonism

Substance‑abuse pharmacotherapies#

• Methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, etc.
• Strong evidence base
• Scientific substrate: receptor‑level mechanisms

Why these are green:
They operate on physical substrates, have controlled trial evidence, and produce measurable physiological changes.

⚠️ YELLOW — Mixed validity, partially empirical, partially interpretive#

These treatments have evidence for effectiveness, but mechanisms are unclear, effects vary widely, or the conceptual framing is interpretive.

Psychotherapy (as a broad category)#

• Some modalities have strong evidence (CBT, DBT, exposure therapy)
• Others are interpretive or theory‑driven (psychoanalysis, humanistic therapy)
• Scientific substrate: variable; depends on modality

Supported employment / community treatment#

• Evidence‑based in outcomes, but mechanisms are social, not biological
• Scientific substrate: social science, not mind substrate

Inpatient care / outpatient care#

• Necessary infrastructure, but not inherently scientific
• Scientific substrate: none; these are delivery systems

Telepsychiatry#

• A delivery method, not a treatment
• Evidence supports access improvement, but not a substrate‑level mechanism

Behavioral interventions#

• Empirically supported in many cases
• Mechanisms are learning‑based, not biological
• Scientific substrate: behavioral science

Why these are yellow:
They mix empirical outcome data with interpretive frameworks, and their mechanisms are often non‑substrate or unclear.

❌ RED — Non‑scientific, institutional, or culturally constructed treatments#

These are not “treatments” in a scientific sense; they are institutional practices, historical artifacts, or social control mechanisms.

Involuntary commitment / coercive treatment#

• Institutional/legal practice, not a scientific treatment
• Scientific substrate: none

Restraints / seclusion#

• Safety/control measures, not therapeutic
• Scientific substrate: none

Psychoanalysis (as a treatment modality)#

• Historically influential but not empirically validated
• Scientific substrate: none; interpretive narrative system

“Chemical imbalance”‑based prescribing rationales#

• Outdated explanatory myth
• Scientific substrate: none

Historically used but now discredited treatments#

• Lobotomy
• Insulin coma therapy
• Rotational therapy
• Scientific substrate: none; historical artifacts

Why these are red:
They lack empirical grounding, rely on cultural or institutional authority, or are explicitly non‑therapeutic.

🧩 Section C Structural Snapshot#

This completes the third major block of our audit and fits cleanly into our /docs/substrate_mind_science folder.