mental health and medication

i have been told anxiolytics are "just for physical stuff" and reassured that ssri's "will make it easier to deal with" the rest of the stuff that's happening. that medication is good in the short term to help you "through a rough patch" and that you "just have to find what's right for you."

for every drug you don't trust, there's a reassuring explanation for why it'll solve all life's problems. out comes the Rx pad.

but i feel instinctively that it doesn't lead down a good route. who wants to be dependent on a drug to lead a normal life? some adhd people feel that ritalin has actually brain damaged them. if you take one drug, you'll take several others to control its side effects. some anti-depressants increase suicidal thoughts. and what if there REALLY is no cure for autism (like most of the evidence says)?

discuss: drugs for mental health, yea or nay?

i would have been for it, but since pharmaceutical and HMO have basically turn human suffering into a pro-profit business instead of its original intent. i have lost all faith in any pill more than an aspirin.

i hope this tougher stance on business will make some real reform into this industry. if not, a POX on them!

Drugs can't cure autism since it has genetic roots as a disorder. Genetic engineering would have to be necessary.

And I distrust drugs every day, simply out of paranoia. Not to mention the creepy business pharmaceutical companies practice...

- hence why many of the autistic/aspergers community has a grave distrust of autismspeaks.org and "cure autism now."...

so far i have not been required to take anything. (except fish oil apparently.) but lots of people have been saying "oh it will be great! (come to the dark side)".

EDIT: and heronz - my fiance is (unfortunately) a sort of medical PR pawn of drug companies. his job requires him to selectively choose research that supports a particular drug and then write spin for it that drug companies can then use to market. i know he is not proud of it; even if he resigned, that is how the world works. scary stuff.

I don't think the mentality that popping a pill should always be the first quick and easy solution someone thinks of. However, they can help, and the benefits can outweigh the risks. Yes it does suck to depend on medicine to get you through every single day, but that is reality for some people living with certain illnesses. This is not a problem that only mental health patients have to deal with. There are people with hypertension who require medication for high blood pressure, diabetics who require diligent monitoring of their blood sugar and consequent titration with insulin, etc. etc. The positive difference these drugs can make in somebody's quality of life is phenomenal, and they have accepted the inconveniences of living with the disease.

For mental health, I know pretty much all of my psych profs emphasized psychotherapy over medication, which seems like the safe way to go. It's not as clean-cut as yay or nay. Some are effective in some patients and not others. If you feel that you don't require medication, and are getting along fine, then it shouldn't be something you need.

Yes, the pharmaceutical industry does need to reform, but that will also require much more pressure from the government since it certainly does not seem like it will want to reform itself. As to the person who trusts aspirin...well there are plenty of possible nasty side effects there too.

I don't think the mentality that popping a pill should always be the first quick and easy solution someone thinks of. However, they can help, and the benefits can outweigh the risks. Yes it does suck to depend on medicine to get you through every single day, but that is reality for some people living with certain illnesses. This is not a problem that only mental health patients have to deal with. There are people with hypertension who require medication for high blood pressure, diabetics who require diligent monitoring of their blood sugar and consequent titration with insulin, etc. etc. The positive difference these drugs can make in somebody's quality of life is phenomenal, and they have accepted the inconveniences of living with the disease.

For mental health, I know pretty much all of my psych profs emphasized psychotherapy over medication, which seems like the safe way to go. It's not as clean-cut as yay or nay. Some are effective in some patients and not others. If you feel that you don't require medication, and are getting along fine, then it shouldn't be something you need.

Yes, the pharmaceutical industry does need to reform, but that will also require much more pressure from the government since it certainly does not seem like it will want to reform itself. As to the person who trusts aspirin...well there are plenty of possible nasty side effects there too.

yeah i guess i am indoctrinated by psychology (4 years in undergraduate psychology will make you paranoid) too. i guess i have phrased my question specifically towards mental health because a pill or an injection is a physical thing. when we aren't even sure exactly what job a neurotransmitter does, why are we messing with it?

i mean, with a broken leg it's entirely physical. the problem is physical (maybe you have psychological flow-on effects), the solution is physical, and the test of functioning is physical. but for mental illnesses it's not physical. we're offering a physical solution to a problem which we don't know to be purely physical or not; and the test of how well it works, if it's a good test, is definitely not physical. (you're not going to test the effectiveness of an ssri by putting neurotransmitter probes into someone's neurons and detecting the level of serotonin.)

how can the discerning patient even begin to be convinced that medication is a completely safe option for mental health? the research isn't even conclusive for some of these things.

Um, the "Cure Autism" thing is about getting the funds to research a cure for it. Just like Susan G. Komen and getting a cure for Breast Cancer. There are things that a person can do to help with the effects of Asperger's ( I know this because my son has it ). There is therapy, social skills therapy, sports leagues, etc. My son takes medicine but only for the purposes of another issue he has going on not related to Autism. I think to each their own for the medication. Some people just need to learn that even if there are side effects, there are still tons of drugs out there that help with less/different side effects.

Plus, people need to stop stressing over all these side effects and putting this crap in their head that they are going to get all these problems. Medication plus therapy I think is the best way to go. Some people just need that little extra push and to be honest, there is nothing wrong with that.

Um, the "Cure Autism" thing is about getting the funds to research a cure for it. Just like Susan G. Komen and getting a cure for Breast Cancer. There are things that a person can do to help with the effects of Asperger's ( I know this because my son has it ). There is therapy, social skills therapy, sports leagues, etc. My son takes medicine but only for the purposes of another issue he has going on not related to Autism. I think to each their own for the medication. Some people just need to learn that even if there are side effects, there are still tons of drugs out there that help with less/different side effects.

Plus, people need to stop stressing over all these side effects and putting this crap in their head that they are going to get all these problems. Medication plus therapy I think is the best way to go. Some people just need that little extra push and to be honest, there is nothing wrong with that.

it must be agreed that AS people tend to be obsessive and perfectionistic. as a result they may have a biased judgment on certain issues, which is why i am personally maintaining a cautious (but paranoid) stance re: cure autism/autismspeaks. there are some aspies who support autismspeaks too.

i guess i get scared by these sorts of threads (warning, external non-MS forum): 1 2 3

My point of view here is that needing to have to consume these pills already have the side effect of "paranoia", but in the way that you feel bad to need to have them. Like "I have antidepressives because I'm down. But I'm down for a reason... Why would I be happy anyways?"

The human mind is a very delicate thing to try to control. Each mind is different, and all mental problems have different roots and solutions on each person. If you really can help someone, you need to get to the root of that particular person. Labeling all as the same thing is a huge error in my opinion.

how can the discerning patient even begin to be convinced that medication is a completely safe option for mental health? the research isn't even conclusive for some of these things.

I don't think you can ever be convinced that medication is a completely safe option. It is not 100% safe and the decision to start a medication is much more a balance of potential benefit over harm. Trying to convince someone a drug is 100% safe is a pointless exercise, since you cannot be assured it is 100% safe in all circumstances. You can only weigh the benefits versus the risks.

While no, you can't just insert probes into someone's brain to measure neurotransmitter levels, I do not think that is as good an indicator of drug effectiveness as an evaluation of the person on the whole. The real goal of drug therapy is not focused on quantities and levels, but on the resulting changes that occur in the person undergoing the therapy, and if these changes are indeed what you desire.

Yes, the pharmaceutical industry does need to reform, but that will also require much more pressure from the government since it certainly does not seem like it will want to reform itself. As to the person who trusts aspirin...well there are plenty of possible nasty side effects there too.

im aware of it. kidney failure, stomach and intestinal bleeding, tinnitus among a few symptoms. but tis been used for ages, and the risk mention above usually do not appear under normal circumstances.

what causes indigestion, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, kidney stones, flushing of the face, headache, spontaneously abortion, fatigue and disturbed sleep when overdose?
vitamin C

my fiance is ... scary stuff.

first, congrats on getting married. about your hubby occupation, there are no easy choices if we dig deep enough in anything. but we should be prepared to reap what was sown.

edit: lol, i meant to condense your post, not say ur fiance is a scary person.

Mental illness is just like any other illness. People don't understand that because there's no weird lesion on the skin to prove it. For example, a person might become severely depressed and refuse anti-depressants because they don't want to be "changed." Thing is, who they REALLY are is what was before the depression. The depressed state is the altered state. Yeah, such drugs need to be handled with care, but staying miserable and f88cked up because it's "natural" is not my idea of a good life. In the case of some mental illnesses, the situation is so severe that without proper medical attention you'll land in a mental hospital, where they'll pump you full of drugs anyway, and it'll be worse then.

Mental illness is just like any other illness. People don't understand that because there's no weird lesion on the skin to prove it. For example, a person might become severely depressed and refuse anti-depressants because they don't want to be "changed." Thing is, who they REALLY are is what was before the depression. The depressed state is the altered state. Yeah, such drugs need to be handled with care, but staying miserable and f88cked up because it's "natural" is not my idea of a good life. In the case of some mental illnesses, the situation is so severe that without proper medical attention you'll land in a mental hospital, where they'll pump you full of drugs anyway, and it'll be worse then.

my diagnosis is "mild" depression - a surprise diagnosis, actually. but suddenly my doctor wants to put me on ssri's? i wasn't expecting anxiety disorder either.

it's all a bit unreal if you know what i mean. i just wanted my difficulties to be recognised, not suddenly become a "rebellious patient who won't take medication."

coming from a psychology background, i am slightly uncomfortable about saying that mental illness is a "disease"...

my diagnosis is "mild" depression - a surprise diagnosis, actually. but suddenly my doctor wants to put me on ssri's? i wasn't expecting anxiety disorder either.

it's all a bit unreal if you know what i mean. i just wanted my difficulties to be recognised, not suddenly become a "rebellious patient who won't take medication."

coming from a psychology background, i am slightly uncomfortable about saying that mental illness is a "disease"...

A person running around the street naked, hearing voices in his head or seeing hallucinations is sick. He's not to blame for it, but he's got a disease and he needs medicine.

However, you are within your rights to refuse medication, though that would be a horrible idea for a lot of reasons. If you are skeptical about your doctor's diagnosis, get a second opinion. And don't use your school/university psychiatrist; I've heard from a lot of people that schools hire second-rate doctors, and you can't have second-rate when it comes to substances altering your mind.

A person running around the street naked, hearing voices in his head or seeing hallucinations is sick. He's not to blame for it, but he's got a disease and he needs medicine.

However, you are within your rights to refuse medication, though that would be a horrible idea for a lot of reasons. If you are skeptical about your doctor's diagnosis, get a second opinion. And don't use your school/university psychiatrist; I've heard from a lot of people that schools hire second-rate doctors, and you can't have second-rate when it comes to substances altering your mind.

mmm...
i don't know how true it is for mental illness --> i'm "sick" therefore i need "medicine"

your example: many psychotic people may not be at the extreme end of psychosis. haven't you ever thought you heard the phone ring, or heard the doorbell, but when you rushed out to check it wasn't there? or thought you heard someone call your name, but you look around and no one's there? i'm sure everyone has hallucinations sometimes i think a more realistic conceptualisation is just that some people have it more severely or more frequently than others. like a continuum from neurotypical to [psychotic/autistic/schizophrenic/name of mental illness], and everyone fits on the scale somewhere.

and depression? isn't everyone depressed once in a while? if you weren't depressed after your partner died, would that really represent mental health? and if after that we still conclude it's a disease, does that mean everyone has a disease (since everyone thinks about death if they're intelligent)? if there's a disease, cynics might say it's humanity...

good idea: get people medicated for their intractable humanity. if it solved it, that'd work lol

i guess my issue with medication also lies in the fact that if you give someone antipsychotics, does it actually do what it's supposed to? (the whole thing with overall improvement in quality of life... what's more fun, seeing a little girl running around that no one else does, or having your limbs shake uncontrollably?)

yeah, private psychiatrist. insanely expensive. medication? sure. problems with diagnosis though.

people are complex. i have friends who got misdiagnosed multiple times and kept finding different doctors til they got the diagnosis they knew they had. often no one knows more about yourself than you... and sometimes the best doctor is the one where you tell him what your diagnosis is.

Look, you wanted some advice/info, I gave it to you. My mom's a doctor, I know some stuff. If you want to disregard all of it, go ahead, but no need to get in my face about it.

Look, you wanted some advice/info, I gave it to you. My mom's a doctor, I know some stuff. If you want to disregard all of it, go ahead, but no need to get in my face about it.

o.o

sorry if you took it that way. i completely didn't mean to get "in your face" (i don't actually know what that means or how my post sounds that way). if you thought "you" was specifically you i meant like... you the "generic you" you know, like hypothetical you?

the topic was "discuss" x_X

just wanted to discuss it with someone :'( thought that was appropriate for rubik's cube?