Posted by Christ_empowered on March 21, 2022, at 12:10:03
In reply to Re: Pindolol may improve antidepressant action, posted by Jay2112 on March 13, 2022, at 14:13:14
ugh. "augmentation strategies..." what to make of the (often not so stellar) quality data?
amphetamines, for instance. benzedrine and the other uppers have been used since the 30s for various forms of low mood, ranging from fits of melancholy to deep, dark depression. sometimes it was just the occasional upper...other times, it was an amphetamine + -something- mix, as in Dexamyl or ThoraDex or...on and on. and yet...
data? not so much. thanks, psychiatry.
"california rocket fuel" was the -it- recommendation for...maybe 2 years? lol. data is (not surprisingly) limited and not terribly convincing. remeron+effexor might result in Parnate-ish results in a select group of people/patients...or not. lol.
blah blah blah...my overall -point- is that psych treatment can and usually should be guided by loose diagnoses (for example: those prone to psychosis should probably not be given amphetamines, even ritalin may be a no go...), but these are not "illnesses" in the same sense that one can go to a competent, licensed MD or DO and get treatment for hay fever or strep throat.
ideally, those who need psych drugs should be assessed and provided treatment that meets their/our needs and with informed consent, so the "patient" can steer treatment towards drugs with an acceptable risks vs benefits ratio. and yet...
I think -especially- in psych land, "treatment" is a sort of Pharma-cracy (to steal from Szasz, as always). Basically, we get the "pills we -deserve- ," just as voters supposedly get the "gov't we deserve." Clever one, that Szasz.
honestly, I think letting experienced talking treatment providers and nurse practitioners take over psych prescribing would do everyone a world of good.
oh, and...pindolol is sometimes regarded as potentially helpful, except when it's not. sort of like...low(ish) dose lithium augmentation, buspirone augmentation, ritalin, amphetamines, adding a TCA, switching to a TCA, adding a newer anticonvulsant...
on and on and on. in a better world, it'd be problems that can be dealt with thru the meds + personal preferences + adverse effects + informed consent = a less authoritarian, less dogmatic, less -frightening- approach to handling chronic mental illness (or...any intense distress that could respond to available treatments...).
probably...not a viable option, ever. -sigh-
oh well. :-(
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1118925
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20220128/msgs/1119065.html