Posted by cubbybear on January 4, 2004, at 1:53:29
In reply to meds and healing, posted by ocdforyears on January 3, 2004, at 10:19:40
Jumping into the discussion late now, after a long weekend. . i'd like to put my 2 cents in about that book, "Prozac Backlash" by Glenmullen.
Last year I read it and thought rather highly of it until I realized how simplistic or unrealistic Glenmullen can be, while pushing for "talk therapy", rather than AD drug therapy.
I suffered for nearly 15 years with severe anxiety and/or depression up until '84 and could have been helped as early as 1970 by MAO Parnate (which came onto the scene in the 60s, I believe). Yet, I was somehow misdirected into seeing a psychologist, who could not prescribe drugs, rather than a psychiatrist. I stayed with this guy, who helped me attain a number of eye-opening insights, but it did nothing to help me attack the agonizing mental states as a "chemical imbalance"--an idea which I now fully subscribe to. Having been taking Parnate for about 20 years (and assuming I will be on it till my dying day), I can only make the strongest possible case for AD drug therapy (although I do have great reservations about the SSRIs meds).
Glenmullen's emphasis on utilizing only talk therapy for the majority of depressed patients is archaic, if not dangerous. Not only that, I was rather put off by his total failure to mention MAOI drugs in the book. Why are they omitted? These meds have meant the end of suffering for millions of people. When I tried to raise this question with him via his website, I found that the site was constructed to forestall such criticism, and I never received a reply from the E-mail I sent. That really bugs me.In my mind, "Prozac Backlash" is a good book, but it's definitely not the final word on the subject.
poster:cubbybear
thread:295371
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031231/msgs/296234.html