Posted by gardenergirl on March 26, 2004, at 11:08:31
This came in on a list serve I subscribe to via a psychologist named Ken Pope. I thought it was interesting.
gg
A study in the current issue of *Family Practice* (vol. 21, #2, pages
204-212) investigates patients' experiences with medications for
anxiety &
depression, how the meds affected them and their work life, how they
made
decisions about taking (or not taking) the meds, what they'd been told
about
the meds and what they would like to have been told in advance.Among the findings was that noncompliance was relatively widespread
because
some patients experienced side-effects, some patients believed that the
meds
weren't helping, the meds made some patients feel even worse, some
patients
were afraid of becoming dependent on the meds, and some patients
discontinued the meds once they started feeling better.The article noted that there is little information about how
medications
affect "working life. Psychotropic medicines impair performance on a
range
of laboratory measures, including attention, vigilance, memory, problem
solving and motor coordination. However, it is unclear how these
effects
translate to performance in the workplace." The study found that the
"side
effects of medication were described as being similar to the symptoms
of
anxiety and depression, including confusion, dizziness, nausea and
difficulties with decision making."The authors provide quotes from a variety of participants to illustrate
their experiences. A female university administrator, e.g., provided
this
description: "I just felt like I was behind a screen in my head all the
time, it sounds really weird, like there was a fog behind my eyes. I
felt
unsteady standing and my colleague told me that I'd got a slight speech
impediment as a result of taking them. I used to pronounce my 'esses'
more
than normal. Which made me self-conscious. I did try Prozac once and
it
made me so ill.... I turned green for a week and just had to be off
work."The findings suggested that "[p]atients felt ill informed about their
medication and would have welcomed more information." Unsurprisingly,
the
study found that when patients "were given accurate information, [they]
were
more likely to comply with the treatment regimen."Concluding their report, the authors made this statement: "The main
finding
to emerge from this study is that the reported initial side effects of
medication have as much negative impact on respondents' ability to work
as
the symptoms of anxiety and depression. This finding concurs with a
growing
body of evidence suggesting that even newer generation antidepressants
are
by no means free of side effects. Recent research has documented a
range of
side effects associated with serotonin-boosting medications, including
facial and whole-body tics, sexual dysfunction, insomnia, dizziness,
nausea,
dyspepsia and anxiety."The article -- "Patients' experiences of medication for anxiety and
depression: effects on working life" by Cheryl Haslam, Sue Brown, Sarah
Atkinson, & Roger Haslam -- is online at the Family Practice web site
(<http://fampract.oupjournals.org>;), but requires a subscription for
access.The author note says that reprint requests and other correspondence can
be
sent to the senior author at <Cheryl.Haslam@nottingham.ac.uk>.Please feel free to forward to other lists or individuals who might be
interested.
poster:gardenergirl
thread:328696
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040325/msgs/328696.html