Posted by yxibow on December 6, 2006, at 18:06:32
In reply to Sudden Med Deprivation » Bob, posted by Quintal on December 6, 2006, at 14:28:50
> > 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.
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> That's something that always worried me about being on meds - what would happen if I was in a plane crash or something and stranded out in the wilderness, trying to survive at the same time as suffering benzo withdrawal? Or even worse, being stranded, having to live off the land and still follow the MAOI diet for 14 days..................
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> QIts why I always take extra supplies of medication when I go out the door. Maybe its irrational, maybe its my past fears of 9/11, but I agree with you, I wouldn't want to suffer from withdrawal from my medications. Its also the same reason why I have come to a common ground generally on my prescriptions with my doctor to have a certain prudent number of refills if god forbid anything happened to him and I would have to start explaining everything all over again.
poster:yxibow
thread:710470
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061206/msgs/710974.html