Posted by Jane on November 25, 1999, at 0:48:30
In reply to Psychiatric drugs: Poison or panacea?, posted by Ali on November 24, 1999, at 23:55:49
ive been to the antipsychiatry site, and i think they represent an extremist point of view. i do believe that all things can be used to do good as well as abused to do harm, and with medications affecting our mind - it gets a little tricky because of how complicated our mind is. when we have an infection we take an antibiotic to treat it. that is obviously "organic" in nature because we can pinpoint the bacteria in most cases that is making us ill. the brain is also a biological organ and i believe is not exempt from having something wrong with it. however because the drugs may not specifically "pinpoint" the problem, it makes way for possible abuse and mis-use (even when the intention of the doctor was good). my pdoc told me once that often the best way to find out what is wrong is by looking at what medication worked and didn't work. for me, mood stabilizers that traditionally would help those with bipolar disorder did nothing for me and actually pushed me to deeper depression (i was misdiagnosed with bp originally). then i tried wellbutrin which was too activating for me and i experienced some panic. finally with prozac i was helped in terms of depression (therefore the correct diagnosis should have been depression the first time so i didnt have to go through 3 different medication therapies). now while my depression is "in remission" (and hpefully cured although....), i wished i'd have studied the different antidepressants available so i would have made a more educated choice rather than choosing prozac because it was most famous and familiar and synonymous with depression. now i still have the weight gain and sexual function even after i'm off the prozac although my sleep disturbance is gone since i went off the drug. my point is, research all your options because you can choose to feel better with the least risks to your quality of life.
jane
poster:Jane
thread:15754
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991123/msgs/15765.html