Posted by Bob on December 6, 2006, at 13:26:42
In reply to Re: Are benzos the only drugs that do anything? » yxibow, posted by Quintal on December 6, 2006, at 9:34:11
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> Well I've certainly responded to many treatments Jay. The problem has generally been lack of long term efficiency with most drugs besides benzos. It is a very common problem and not only to the people posting on this board. For example, I know of several people that live nearby who have had similar experiences to me. They don't post on websites because they have no access to computers and are not computer literate in any case. Most are middle aged or elderly and living alone.
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> They also have no access to the detailed information we discuss here and no interest in pursuing it. They're working alone in the dark and have no confidence to challenge their GP/pdoc and request alternative meds and treatments unlike most of the people here. In general they trust the medical profession to give them the best treatment and if the almighty Mr.pdoc says this drug works and they suspect it isn't helping them, then they tend to blame themselves - who are they to argue with medical science?
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> There's an old lady that lives a few doors down my street who has been on Prozac 20mg for about 10 years since her husband died. She admits it stopped working soon after she started taking it but is now afraid of talking to her GP about it after being chastised by a locum for requesting another medication. The locum made her feel guilty that she was taking medication at all and from that point she decided to try and make the best of whatever positive effects it still had.
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> She would no doubt be classified as a Prozac responder if her GP was required to produce a report on the efficiency of antidepressants in her patients (as I was bizarrely according to my medical notes, although I felt much worse for having taken it myself).
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> I think it is reasonable to assume there are many more people in a similar position all over the world who are being marked up as treatment responders simply because they are compliant and tell the GP/pdoc mostly what they want to hear.
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That is a very, germane and insightful post. I too sincerely believe there are countless numbers of people suffering while on meds, but remaining silent. There are many who are not computer savvy, or who do not have the energy and motivation to tell the world about what they're feeling. Yes, this is a select group of people with problems on this message board, but I honestly feel it represents the tip of an enormous iceberg of people behind the scenes.A good example would be my sister, who has suffered from depression, anger, and anxiety over the years. She went through a great deal of problems, with the worst times often being coming on and off meds. Then she finally had to go off. She's not working right now, but she doesn't seem to want to go back on them. In the long term, they often caused her serious problems.
As for me, I've tried well over 35 different med combos, with worse and worse results in the past 15 years or so. I can't believe the situation I'm in now, with not only a mental illness, but a litany of serious physical limitations. When healthy, I'm inclined to use computers and analyze my situation and treatment, but most people are probably not.
I was watching a TV show a few nights ago titled something like "I Should be Dead". It showcases little vignettes of people who got themselves into situations from which they miraculously escaped. In this particular case a couple had gone on a hike in the Amazon and got lost. Turns out the woman had been taking an SSRI (which one they didn't bother to reveal) and after about two days become physically ill and unusually suicidal. This is where the show disturbed me. They put forth the laymans' explanation about how someone who is depressed doesn't have enough serotonin and the drugs replace that serotonin. The over simplification was irritating enough to me but I'm used to that one by now. The scary thing was the realization of how withdrawal from a psycotropic is not only not understood, but there's basically no awareness of it in the general population. It was obvious to me that the girl had started to go through a withdrawal, but the show portrayed it has her depression acting up. IMO, it was possibly more of the former, than latter. Anyway, my ultimate point is that the public perception of these diseases as anything more than sadness which can be remedied with a "serotinin pill" that takes it way like aspirin with a headache is very deeply entrenched. Also, the meds I feel, are viewed as quite benign, being very easy to take and discontinue.
One other disturbing media encounter was from listening to news radio the other day. They had a mental health professional interview, to increase awareness I suppose, which is admirable. One statement she made irked me somewhat though: "we have very effective treatments for all these diagnosable diseases". I was quite surprised to hear that. On the one hand you don't want to scare people away from seeking treatment, but on the other, how are we ever going to recognize severe inadequacies in our current treatments?
poster:Bob
thread:710470
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061206/msgs/710902.html