Posted by 49er on December 18, 2010, at 8:07:21
In reply to Re: 'chemo' brain, posted by emmanuel98 on December 17, 2010, at 19:05:29
> I don't find this to be true. I take three meds, plus one more for insomnia (caused by the other meds) and my brain hasn't atrophied at all. I feel fine. I have gone back to school and gotten all A's in a very difficult program, where most of the students are hanging by a thread to pass. This might be your experience, but it's certainly not everyone's experience.
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> Also, unlike mellow, I don't see myself as a loser or a "patient" just because I use psych meds. I do therapy every week with a DBT therapist and once a month with my p-doc, who I used to see every week. I have been able to cut back with him, because, having found the right combo of meds, I am no longer severely depressed.
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> The negativity about meds on this board is incredible. Some people do very well on psych meds. In fact, a lot of people do.
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Hi Emanuel,As one who used to take psych meds, I find your reaction interesting because that is exactly how I used to respond when I felt people were attacking psych meds. I am wondering if I reacted that way because I felt my judgment was being questioned with the implication I was doing something dangerous. Just wondering and I would love to hear input from people on this.
I agree that no one is a loser if they decide to take meds. By the way, dealing with some very difficult situations recently made me realize why people resort to psych meds and why I did in the past. Not that I would wish this on anyone but it was a great experience to have as a reminder of different strokes for different folks.
By the way, I initially felt meds made me smarter. But over time, I felt stupider and it definitely was not depression related. Hopefully, you won't have the same experience.
I honestly think we are never going to know exactly who does well and who doesn't on psych meds because doctors in general don't want to hear about side effects. Generally, complaints are falsely attributed to the person's mental illness.
I think this problem exists with all doctors and not just psychiatry. Google statin side effects and doctors as there was a survey that showed that they denied common side effects.
Also, if only 1 to 10% of all side effects are ever reported to the FDA, how can we really know who is doing well on meds and who isn't?
Anyway, that is great that your treatment is working.
49er
poster:49er
thread:973717
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101218/msgs/973839.html