Posted by Iansf on November 26, 2004, at 17:14:04
In reply to Re: Depression ,Medication,Doctors and Drug Companies, posted by King Vultan on November 26, 2004, at 12:08:32
> I think there are pluses and minuses to the advertising for psychiatric meds. The big plus is that it does tend to reduce the stigma involved with mental illness. Unfortunately, I think the ads also induce many people to come to the conclusion that they or a loved one are in need of some of these meds, when in reality, there is insufficient justification in many cases.
>People who truly don't need psychiatric meds are very unlikely to stay on them very long because of the side effects. So even if they are sometimes, maybe frequently, inappropriately prescribed, in the end only people who need them will continue using them.
With the exception, that is, of meds that might be quickly addictive. But typically doctors are very cautious about prescribing scheduled drugs, and the careless ones may well misprescribe whether patients request particular meds or not. When it comes to addictive drugs, I think there are far more overcautious than undercautious MDs.
poster:Iansf
thread:418426
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041123/msgs/420591.html