Posted by Squiggles on June 7, 2007, at 15:43:28
In reply to Re: The right to non-compliance » Squiggles, posted by Quintal on June 7, 2007, at 14:55:57
.......
> >I think that statistics paint a grim picture.
>
> I haven't looked at the statistics and as a rule I'm not inclined to accept them as infallible truth at face value. What agency was the source of those statistics, and what are their politics in this issue?Not infallible, especially since the discontinuation syndrome is another football in the pro and anti-psychiatry field. Here are some
i found (gad there are so many on this topic from so many sources):http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/55/8/886
http://pb.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/25/5/183#TBL1
>of course there are many more-- i hope you don't mind doing the search yourself;
> >I'll tell you why:
> >because when my "counterfeit, or botched or old" lithium supply made me feel wonderful for the first few months, and then drove me to a psychotic state, in which only suicide seemed an escape, i realized that at >6months it could not have been withdrawal, but bipolar relapse. I reinstated and got stable, burning a few neurons in the course. That's why.
>
> What drugs exactly were you taking when you had this psychotic episode, and how did you discover that your lithium was "counterfeit, or botched or old"? Did you ever find out what it actually contained?Synthroid, clonazepam and lithium. The lithium seemed weak from the beginning and was purchased from another pharmacy-- a different make. At that time there was a warning of bad lithium batches (below therapeutic level). I felt very light and had less side effects, but in progression the old bipolar symptoms came back. I called my dr. for my old perscription and upon reinstatement of that, i was lifted out of psychomotor agitation and suidicidal depression-- which btw, came suddenly, so i must have hit a therapeutic index point.
>
> I'm not sure how often the diagnosis is 'wrong', but one thing that concerns me about modern American psychiatry is the huge rise in diagnosis (and liberal medication of) 'grey area' illnesses like soft bipolar, adult ADHD etc and the fashion for broadening diagnostic criteria almost to the point of pathologizing aspects of normal life. I think much of what is now being diagnosed as mental illness is more likely to be emotional disturbance or maladjustment, and the assumption that these 'illnesses' will require life long medication (to correct some biological deficit) is inappropriate and in some cases damaging. It's a growing concern that as a consequence many Americans are being overmedicated. Too much medication will cause chemical imbalances and make people unwell so the whole process can be counterproductive in these cases, unless of course you're the one making money from it.
>Yes, i have discussed this too, and there are a lots of consipracy theories about the drug companies wanting to make more money etc. On the other hand, when you look at the state the world is in, perhaps pathologizing the present human condition is not such a hyperbole.
Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:761591
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070604/msgs/761666.html