Psychiatric Medication

[MaC]

option 3 for me, they can really mess up people.  They make it hard to sleep, or loose weight. 
They are really overperscribed, and it seems as if the only reason is so that drug companies can make money, whereas there are other, less dangerous ways to help out people.

[opebo]

I think they should be available over the counter.

That said, I've never taken one.  Does Valium count?

[Gabu]

Neutral.  They're good when they're actually needed, but very bad when misprescribed.

[J.R. Brown]

Neutral.  They're good when they're actually needed, but very bad when misprescribed.

Agreed.

[John Dibble]

In and of themselves, neutral - they are, like most things, just a tool that can be used for many purposes, including increasing the quality of our lives. However, my opinion of their modern day use is somewhat negative. Such drugs can have unintended side effects upon the recipients, such as increased aggression or suicidal tendencies, and because of that I dissaprove of the way doctors just seem to hand out prescriptions without consideration of other possible means of treatment. Changing delicate and not completely understood brain chemistry should not be the first option considered.

[David S]

I vote negative overall because I think they are way over prescribed, although they may have some beneficial uses.

[Democratic Hawk]

Positive - but it should go and in hand with counselling or psychotherapy

Dave

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Negative. It's poison.

[WalterMitty]

Negative. It's poison.

i actually agree with the bandit.

not only is it poison but it is the modern day saltpeter.

[Gabu]

Negative. It's poison.

It's not poison if you're like me and have a mild form of clinical depression.

[David S]

I think the number of people using these drugs is suprisingly high. When I was a kid, back in prehistoric times, these things were unheard of. Why has it become so common today? Are people subjected to more stress? Is it as one shrink said; when you only have a hammer everthing starts to look like a nail? Are the drug companies promoting it for the sake of increasing revenues? Any ideas?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I think the number of people using these drugs is suprisingly high. When I was a kid, back in prehistoric times, these things were unheard of. Why has it become so common today? Are people subjected to more stress? Is it as one shrink said; when you only have a hammer everthing starts to look like a nail? Are the drug companies promoting it for the sake of increasing revenues? Any ideas?

The reasons are simple:

1) Drug companies promote the stuff to make money.

and

2) Schools hate individuality. Anyone who disagrees with what a conservative school does is labeled forever.

[MaC]

I think they're only useful in extremely rare cases.  Many times they don't work, yet the side effects are very harmful and they can be very serious.

What makes me sick is the advertising.  You see a person that has a lousy day.  "Do you feel as if you don't fit in, or have anxiety?  Are you sad, and wish it would go away?"  Try (insert drug name here)."

I think in reality we've all had days where we've felt anxious or like we don't fit in, or we're depressed.  The next part of the commercial says "Ask your doctor about _____".  Okay, I'm supposed to waste my doctors time, and inquire about some "miracle drug" (or so they make it seems) that I probably won't ever need.

I don't know about bandit's analysis about schools brainwashing kids is completely accurate, but when I had to take antidepressants in high school, I felt like a f--kin' zombie, and they didn't do a damn thing to make things better for me, in fact, they probably made things worse.

[The Duke]

Negative, because they are over prescribed.  Ritalin especially.  We're now doping up millions of children, and the fastest growth is in children under five being doped up.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Ritalin isn't even approved for children under 5, but now it's commonly used anyway.

[J. J.]

Neutral.  I've known people that it helped and people that it hasn't.

[Citizen James]

Medication faqs

I consider the medications themselves a useful tool.  For people with mental illnesses, they can often make it possible to lead a normal or close to normal life. 

I have nothing against talk therapy, I think it should be the first treatment used.  But for some, medication can relieve symptoms enough to make therapy more effective, and continue to relieve symptoms in those who's problem has a biological component.

Other methods (Self medicating with alcohol or other drugs, leaving the illness untreated, suicide) tend to have far more negative outcomes.

I do have concerns about the direct to consumer marketing of medications though.  As preliminary studies have shown, consumers who specificly ask for meds seem to be more likely to get them.  The study was done only with generalists, who are not always all that knowledgable about diagnosing and treating mental illness - so whether or not results would be similar with psychiatrists is unknown.  In any case, I would consider it very irresponsible of them to prescribe if they are not sufficiently familiar with the curent research - it would be far smarter to refer to a specialist if the treatment falls outside their knowledge base, just as they would for any other treatment needing a specialist (dermatology, cardiology, etc.)  Why they don't would be a good follow up question (HMO pressure, social stigma, thinking they know more than they do?)

[??????????]

Option 3. Why should we be drugging our children at a whim?

[Hitchabrut]

Neutral. They should only be prescribed for severe cases.

[Storebought]

Positive: Anything that allows us to stop the Cat Lady from compulsively throwing any more cats is a good thing.

I wonder why there haven't been any drugs developed to inhibit sociopathy, the major reason why people become violent criminals in the first place.