Posted by LostBoyinNCBecksDark on October 23, 2007, at 22:17:38
In reply to Psychopharmacology Pros and Cons, posted by AJeffriesXIX on October 23, 2007, at 21:35:33
> What are some of the pros and cons of using psychopharmacology (medications) for patients?
I would say a pro is that you do have a chance of being normal again. However, to get there you will probably have to go through many medication trials.
STAR*D claims the remission rate overall of the study was a whopping 67%, but that is ONLY after four layered sequence, each more complicated and involved than the last.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17074942
"RESULTS: The QIDS-SR(16) remission rates were 36.8%, 30.6%, 13.7%, and 13.0% for the first, second, third, and fourth acute treatment steps, respectively. The overall cumulative remission rate was 67%."So, you have about a two thirds chance of being normal again IF you go through many complicated drug trials. By the time this is over, youve probably lost your job and health insurance, maybe your spouse left you if you were married when it started and unless you were wealthy to start out with or your family is extremely sympathetic, you might even be homeless out on the streets before you can complete this kind of extended, very involved medication sequence.
Cons to psychopharmacology is that you have a full one third chance of NEVER attaining remission if you rely only upon psychopharmacology and psychotherapy and nothing else.
For psychotic depression and bipolar, remission rates are well under the reported 67% in STAR*D. ECT has a much higher remission rate for severe mood disorders than psychopharmacology.
Eric
poster:LostBoyinNCBecksDark
thread:790996
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071019/msgs/791013.html