Posted by yxibow on January 6, 2007, at 2:16:16
In reply to Re: How difficult is RX research anyway? » yxibow, posted by kelv on January 6, 2007, at 0:02:56
> > > I think MANY identify with you here.
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> > > I wish i had a simple, plain, put down on paper neurological disorder instead of (psychiatric):(. There are folks who take/stay on the same med for decades. I know of a Narcoleptic (Neurological) fellow in his 60's who has been on the same medication for over 40 years, and has been working since he's 18.
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> Yes dep/anx/ocd/thought/perceptual disorders move along a spectrum of suicidality-manic psychosis, thought disorders from normality to believing one is God.
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> But how nice it would be to have a single, mono-treatable condition?-alas we don't choose our disease.
>
> BTW-my Narcoleptic aquantaince has taken highest (~60-80mgs) doses of medically supervised, monitored, scripted Methamphetamine tabs(currently 16!! Desoxyn 5mg IR daily) for~45 years!!, since the late 50's i believe, and is not a burnt out 'speed freak', nor amazingly does he suffer any depression when he doesn't take his powerfull stimulant medicine, HE JUST SLEEPS ALOT!.-seems so simple to me, one disorder one treatment.
Didn't say that there aren't "cures" for people. Still, I do hate to say it but at any time, if he drops his 80mg of prescribed d-amphetamine, and he sleeps at an inconvenient time, like say crossing the street, its curtains. Why would you wish such a disorder on yourself ?I know of an individual who has MS now for 20 years -- a remissive kind, fortunately, but it is a fatal condition -- yes, it is a single condition, but there are only the beginnings of palleative medication for such a disorder.
Would you want, no matter if you're as smart as Steven Hawking, a degenerative disorder, even if you can "fix" it with an eye operated voicebox and a wheelchair ?
Okay, how about more "benign" conditions like Type I diabetes, prone among Hispanic and Pacific Island populations? Sure, you can take insulin. Monitor your blood sugar level with modern equipment from the pharmacy. What if you forget any of those on the way to somewhere else? Fainting spells and pulling over to the side of the road or getting off the train at best, if you can catch it in time and dial 911 or 112 if you even have that in your area and hope that the medics get to you.
I just can't see the argument of wishing something that you think is simple on yourself. On review, in may not be that so.
I don't wish my disorder on anyone else and I don't wish depression on anybody else, but we don't get to choose what we ail, if anything, from in life. Nobody is born perfect. We are lucky, if our parents, as stewards, if you wish to believe this argument, have done amniocentesis, commonly around the 70s, and have aborted what would have been us if we had severe retardation, phenylketonuria, haemophilia, and other chromosomal abnormalities.
Or maybe you don't believe in abortion -- that is your choice. If you want to bring a baby into the world who is severely handicapped to the point of round the clock care and could possibly die at any moment because of a preventable screening.
Yes, it is hard on the family, especially the mother to decide to end the pregnancy, but this may be for the political board, but why bring pain and agony into what is an inexplicable creation by itself, a human being, in the world. A person who can function with redundant organs and complicated neurotransmitter systems.
Do I believe that one should abort just because we discovered a way of detecting depression? I don't know -- that's up to the ethicists -- I probably would have more difficulty saying that or a number of other conditions that are not intrinsically fatal, extremely severely life limiting, or socially unworkable. Because no matter how hard or difficult it may be, there is some self-functionality that is possible.
There's no magic pill. Yes, its a hodgepodge of medications and therapy and wherever you may live, the healthcare system is probably broken -- broken for your friend too if they live in the US I can make any scenario about it. But if you want to wish a single pill-cure disorder on yourself, go ahead and get out the genie. Just remember, you only get one wish. We have a life cycle on this earth, and there's no predicting things. In the western world, we stand a high chance in this century of living to ages that only the most fortunate did in the past two millennia with unpredictable disorders. If you're a male, you will certainly have a 50% chance of some prostate disorder past the age of 60 or 70. Breast cancer, HIV, diseases of developing countries. I needn't go on, to say, there are no one pill cures for those. But there's hope.
And there's hope for depression too. Hope comes from within as well as from outside.
-- tidings
poster:yxibow
thread:715348
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070101/msgs/719755.html