Comments | helpimarock: If you or someone you know has taken anti-depressants, you might want to read this.

helpimarock

If you or someone you know has taken anti-depressants, you might want to read this.

Jun 25, 2008 14:10

I just saw the most disturbing thing on TV. It was a story from several years back about an otherwise good mother from an middle-to-upper-class area of Florida who flipped out one day and murdered her her five-year-old twins boys by shooting them in the head. Then there was and endless series of interviews with law enforcement and prosecutors that ( Read more... )

anti-depressants, psychiatry, western medicine, murder, mental illness, injustice, law

Comments 16

thiswaste June 25 2008, 23:17:52 UTC

Wow that's scary. But you're right about GPs not being psychiatrists. I hate that.

helpimarock June 27 2008, 06:33:10 UTC

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm not all anti-psychiatry like Tom Cruise, I just think there need to be a lot more precautions taken and moderation practiced. Barring general practitioners from meddling in psychiatric medicine would be a nice place to start.

blozor June 26 2008, 01:40:36 UTC

The rest of society is being conditioned to be idiots looking for the easiest way out. It only makes sense that even our brightest minds would be affected as well.

helpimarock June 27 2008, 06:33:33 UTC

This makes me think of Idiocracy. And shudder.

(The comment has been removed)

helpimarock June 27 2008, 06:43:34 UTC

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all psychiatric meds are bad. There are some good anti-depressants for example. The trick is to find a doctor you work very well with, take it slow, and have contact with other patients you can compare notes with if possible. Obviously LJ is one of many places that can be good for that. In short, meds are an avenue very much worth exploring, but if it feels like it's not working and those around you agree that there are warning flags, then you should stop. And if your doctor tries to cycle you through an endless series of various drugs in search of one that works, get a new doctor. And finally consider that the very first med you are prescribed could be the one that allows you to get your head above water and breathe and move forward.

antarcticlust June 26 2008, 02:39:08 UTC

YES, YES, YES, YES. Hear, hear. Personally, I think it is medically and morally wrong to prescribe antidepressents or other behavioral modification medication without simultaneous therapy. This system is so absolutely terrible.

helpimarock June 27 2008, 06:48:22 UTC

Yeah, I take meds without therapy, but I had to make a case with my psychiatrist as to why I do it that way. So at least someone is doing it relatively right.

schmecky June 26 2008, 17:53:04 UTC

I coud not agree more with everything you said.

AND... There are big lessons in cases like this about how little we still understand about the physiological effects of extreme emotional strain, and how much of that strain gets disproportionately piled on to women in a society that's half-assing its way from patriarchy to equality.

helpimarock June 27 2008, 06:59:48 UTC

Absolutely -- it would appear that extreme emotional strain is about as delicate on the brain as an acid trip. Clearly there's a lot going on there.

And I hear you about the extra pressure put on women. I often think back to the sexism of the 1950s and the early (read: unrefined) psychiatric drugs that were being passed out to housewives back then and I wonder why there weren't a whole rash of them who just totally flipped under the undue strain. I sure feel like I would be vulnerable to losing my mind under those conditions.

schmecky June 27 2008, 14:56:53 UTC

That's actually part of what gets talk about in that Marriage book we were talking about... How the family values crowd basically wants to take us back to the morally wonderful 50's, when family was what it should be and everyone was happy - but that it was a big fat lie at the time, especially for the women. (I don't remember if she talks specifically about the meds...)

helpimarock June 28 2008, 01:14:53 UTC

Believe me, I know. My whole family is from the Midwest and still lives there and they have such a hardon about 1950s family values as if it was the be-all end-all of the Pursuit of Happiness. Meanwhile my mom and her Baby Boomer friends (which include wives of Republican politicians which should give you an idea of where I come from) who all grew up in the 50's and 60's talk about how insanely fucked up their parents were. I've seen photographs from back then and they sure do show the classic portrait of homes with white picket fences and front lawns and garages and even happy families with 2.5 children having picnics, but I grew up listening to these people talk about what it was like and it's clear that the pictures are just sugar-coated moments that only scratch the surface ( ... )