Posted by kalyb on June 17, 2003, at 4:41:21
In reply to Re: filling prescriptions, posted by paxvox on June 11, 2003, at 19:29:24
> now-a-days there are so many TV and print advertisements for AD meds, that I think the "people" have become immune to that previous mind-set about medication as "necessary" to keep us "crazy people" functional.
Interesting, Pax!
Where I live, drugs are not advertised at all, only OTC medicines. No shiny happy AD ads on TV or in magazines here.
(Funny though, I do remember seeing a commercial on TV for Effexor when I was in the US last year. Little did I know I'd be taking it a year later).
So.... I think you might be right. If you're seeing commercials for AD meds on TV every day, even the most sceptical person must realise eventually there's a LOT of people out there taking them. Unless you're ultra cynical and think the drug mfrs are pushing them on people who don't need them.... Just how do people view these commercials? Do they lodge in people's minds any more than, say, the endless array of personal finance advertisements?
BUT if you live in a country like mine, where the only drug advertisement you'll ever see is a brand-name written on your doctor's pen or notepad, you will have no idea what these drugs are named, what they do, or what kind of people take them, unless you or a friend or relative has been prescribed them.
So on one hand, we here automatically have some degree of anonymity (except to the dispensers at the pharmacy) but at the same time, the absence of drug adverts does tend to preserve the prejudice among the populace that AD meds are a thing to be feared, kept quiet about, and only crazy people need them.
Kalyb xx
poster:kalyb
thread:233132
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030617/msgs/234503.html