Posted by med_empowered on September 27, 2005, at 18:09:19
In reply to Re: Triple Reuptake Inhibitors - Race to Market, posted by SLS on September 27, 2005, at 17:22:15
Psychiatry is rife with contradictions...one the one hand, shrinks give 11 year olds amphetamines...then people who are afraid to leave their houses pop in, and they might be given antipsychotics and pat on the back, when benzos could do the job much better (and more safely). But...they're "abusable". **Sigh**. In other parts of medicine...in the US at least, the DEA is cracking down on anybody and everybody who dares to cross their line of what's acceptable. Pain docs who seem to overprescribe--even if their "excessive prescribing" helps the vast majority of patients--are coming under fire. Even in the hospice/palliative care area of medicine, the DEA is putting "drug abuse prevention" above the needs and comfort of patients..and doctors, instead of following their oaths to serve the **patient**, have largely rolled over and allowed this to happen. Its a shame, really. Anyway, that whole anti-drug, anti-fun mentality carries over into psychiatry--how else can you explain the tremendous success of antipsychotics (quite possibly the most anti-fun, anti-pleasure drugs imaginable) for off-label uses? Look at amineptine (Survector). Effective--very effective. Yes, there were some problems with liver issues (mostly in those who overused it). But...this is also true of Depakote, Lithium, and many cholesterol lowering drugs; those drugs, of course, are still on the market. But..since amineptine made people feel good and some people overused it, it was pulled. What does that say about our mentality towards psychiatric drugs? Drugs shouldn't make you feel good--they should quiet voice, calm anxiety, get you to work and school on time, but they should never, ever, make you feel *good* ? Its ridiculous..and punitive. It seems that often psychiatry isn't about *treating* problems; its about reducing your level of suffering so you can participate in the economy without causing undue problems or killing yourself. *sigh* Anyway, I hope somebody develops worthwhile antidepressants with fewer side effects..and I hope this time around shrinks demand more and better data before spraying these new drugs around and blaming patients when they fail (b/c with the SSRIs, it was always the patient's "failure to respond" not the medication's "failure to do SOMETHING")
poster:med_empowered
thread:560146
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050927/msgs/560324.html