Seriously, WTF?

[GothicSilencer]

there are cases where some people such as those with manic depressive problems who need the meds in order to live a semi stable life. i know a person who is on lithium, xanex, wellbutrin, and bupropion. this person needs their meds to stay emotionally stable around other people. they have a hard time dealing with stress. people should never suggest that people never take such meds or else there would be a lot more dead people.

Well... with China overcrowding... is more dead people a bad thing?

[shewolf1321]

i dont wish death on anyone anymore because the last time i did they really did die that night and even now 12 years later i still blame myself. my fiance' died because i got pissed off when he told he didnt want kids and instead of telling him that i was pregnant i said " if you feel that way you can eat sh*t and die. he died in a car accident 2 hours later in north carolina.

[Guest Megalicious]

Bottom line- some people need their drugs to have a better quality of life and some people don't. Either way new coping skills need to be applied.

In any kind of medication, mental health or not, it is my JOB (or future job) to know if the risks out weight the benefits, or vice versa, in each patient as an individual. This all depends on the severity of said diagnosis, Health HX, psychosocial aspects, HX of compliance ect.

The problem is today you just get people being lumped into one category or as Kat said "label" and everything is generalized. Or you get a provider that is use to using the prototype they were taught (when in reality prototypes are various from place to place, book to book and facility to facility). Drug information is changing so rapidly that they have now banded printed paper material on most units, and I know for a fact they have at the VA as I am doing current rounds there.

This all comes down to the idea of holistic care. In western medicine that is almost non existent or it is being slowly implemented- without the individualized care, without the idea that you cannot group one diagnosis together, there will be no change.

In all honesty Kat, you are a grown woman, you know very well what the pros and cons of taking (or not taking) your meds are. Only you can make that choice for you. Not a doctor, nor nurse, nor MSW (which despite not actual writing RX's, have a great deal to do with med recommendations for clients in an interdependent team of professional caring for the client) - that being said you also know in your right mind it is NEVER okay just to quit. <3

That being said, yes, med use it out of control. I see it, day after day in my field. Sometimes you can do something about it, and sometimes the provider is an ass that won't listen and will over medicate, pump a patient full blast with something that has a very narrow therapeutic index, and all sorts of other horrid things, all for the sake of ego.

[Guest Megalicious]

And also, I forgot to add. To say someone should "never" or "always" do anything is speaking in absolutes. And we all know who speaks in absolutes.

Edited September 10, 2011 by Megalicious

[FarrIL]

A former coworker of mine admitted to me that he had some serious ADD issues. He'd understand what he was reading but his mind was elsewhere. I stood next to him and watched as he uncontrollably shook and shivered like his sugar level was plummeting dangerously low, or he was violently cold. The manager on duty told him to order some food and eat it immediately.

Now, if that's how bad one of the side effects from this medication is, and he's familiar with this medication because he's used it before, they either need to adjust his dosage or give him something with less-violent side effects.

Chantix, the "quit smoking with a pill" medication causes nightmares, AND dont be too surprised if you feel like killing yourself. As if being crabby and pissy from nicotine withdrawal wasnt bad enough (this is just a witness's opinion... I dont smoke). And this was just an example.

I have bad habits, one of which is grinding my jaw when agitated. I think it's an anxiety thing, because I chew my cheek a lot when in some heightened state of emotion (excited, angry, distraught). Better to have a personality tick and do it to myself than hit someone when I'm pissed. To say that I have panic attacks or anxiety problems... if a doctor told me I'm prone to either or both, I'd tell them I never noticed. If it's something that's there, I must not have realized that's what it was, because I've been this way as long as I can remember and felt that this was a normal thing for me.

To say I need a pill to "stop" those jaw-grinding fits, or cheek-chewing.... no. I'll kindly turn down the medication because I'm accustomed to these ticks and would rather keep then than probably lose some part of my personality because I have drugs being pumped through me.

And I realize this sounds slightly hypocritical because I'm on birth control and almost every brand claims to not be surprised if you have mood swings, weight gain, nausea (some side effects of several psych meds). Mood swings? I've been on this brand of birth control since I was 21 and I dont get mood swings that I cant already attribute to PMS or a shitty day at work.

If you can shake the medication, or get a lower dosage, or even ween yourself off of it... do it.

[doggymonster]

Psych drugs make a lot of money for the makers of them. Advertisements are made to try to persuade people that they have problems with themselves and that these drugs are here to help them with these problems. Obviously problems can exist, but these drug companies are simply looking to take advantage of someone who is desperate enough to actually go see a psych and get psych drugs. It's the wrong solution. Popping the pills fries you and doesn't take away your problems but may just put you in a state that you don't notice them (or maybe most anything else).

[Simon Bar Sinister]

Psilocybin curing depression?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-395143/Magic-mushrooms-help-depression-say-scientists.html

[SaGa]

i think looking at all the studies done whould give much better information. BUT. we need to use the fair real scientific studies. Not the ones done with a conflict of interest. or downright fake studies... this has been proven and several scientists have been caught completely making up a study to get it past. and getting away with it. so we cant use every study either.

my opinion of psych meds are less. unless we have the data to support from a large scale. that these meds are working. is there a drop in depression, anxiety rates, a drop in suicide rates. or a rise.

on a side note. benzodiasapins are scary stuff. iv seen people take them and turn into complete assholes within the hour