Happy Pills

[Ecthy]

Your life already is perfect, Lori. You're just mentally ill with no reason.

I, on the contrary, have a reason at least.

[Lorizael]

Perfect? People shouldn't use that word so often...

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Park Avenue
Yeah, you know enough about neurochemistry to get you an £11k job doing filing and admin duties.

I'll earn £220 this week.

I earn £12.4k, and I earn more that £220 every week

[Ecthy]

ok. überperfekt. it's certainly better than mine and I'm not clinical depressed, just have my phases.

enough of them to convince my doc to put me on 75mg Effexor, which is like half or quarter of recommended dose. and clearly enough to post mental nonsense in happy pills thread now and again.

[Provost Harrison]

For my perception, you see these 'perfect' people who everything goes right for...for me, I seem to have made all the right decisions yet ended up flat on my face.

[Ecthy]

yeah, Lori does seem to be one of 'the others', PH knows of what I speak, and while I can't say I blame them, I will get angry at them now and again. it does call for dose doubling anyway

[Jac de Molay]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Have you ever had to live with an anxiety disorder JdM?

I've been through 5 shrinks and 2 rehabs. I've been put on Paxil and Xanax, both of which made my head feel like a cannonball. All of this before I realized what a scam industry both "recovery" and "psychiatry" was.

I'm not a recovering X or a sufferer of Y. I simply manage my life the best way I can. I try to be mindful of depression and anxiety when it arises, and deal with it thru meditation and intense exercise. That's the key, in my opinion- mindfulness, meditation, and exercise.

People want a quick fix. They think they can develop a new perception of life as quickly as they buy a new SUV. As much as they throw themselves in working and acquiring things, they can't make the time to invest in their headspace.

I don't doubt some people need these drugs. But these are powerful, mind-altering substances, and they're dispensed like candy nowadays.

[Ecthy]

I'd rather swallow a pill than see shrink

[Elok]

Especially if the shrink you see isn't actually there?

[Ecthy]

I have seen the light... and it sucks

[Provost Harrison]

I've been to counselling for several sessions, and although what they says makes perfect sense, it is putting it into practice...now that is another question. Believe me, I would have liked to have sorted out my 'headspace' without any medical assistance, but you know what? I tried for nearly 8 long years and got nowhere...and now I feel like there may just be a light at the end of the end of that tunnel...I hope it doesn't suck as much as Ecthy points out

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Jac de Molay
Please...get over yourself

I'm not talking about the people who have genuine need for these drugs.

Great! Well I'll tell you what- you define when people need it or not, then make sure everybody knows about it.

Problem solved. I'm amazed nobody thought of asking you years ago.

[Jac de Molay]

Great! Well I'll tell you what- you define when people need it or not, then make sure everybody knows about it.

Funny, I never made that claim. Im simply looking at the numbers, which say that SSRIs are among the top prescribed drugs.

These were drugs that were only used in the most severe cases. So, two things happened. Either a whole bunch of people have developed severe, recalcitrant depression over the past decade. Or the drugs are being overprescribed by doctors, with big pharmaceutical companies laughing all the way to bank. Care to venture which of the two happened?

Funny how such powerful drugs are being prescribed for everything from shyness,any varying degree of anxiety, compulsive shopping, etc. You would think people would exhaust every possible alternative before turning to a brain-chemistry altering drug.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Jac de Molay
I've been through 5 shrinks and 2 rehabs. I've been put on Paxil and Xanax, both of which made my head feel like a cannonball. All of this before I realized what a scam industry both "recovery" and "psychiatry" was.

Not every drug works for everyone. Zoloft worked quite well for me (my god, I was actually happy and excited about my life), but I couldn't stand the side effects.

People want a quick fix.

Actually, by the time most people get to the drugs, they want any fix.

====

I'm starting on St. John's wort today. We'll see how this works.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Jac de Molay
Funny, I never made that claim. Im simply looking at the numbers, which say that SSRIs are among the top prescribed drugs.

These were drugs that were only used in the most severe cases. So, two things happened. Either a whole bunch of people have developed severe, recalcitrant depression over the past decade. Or the drugs are being overprescribed by doctors, with big pharmaceutical companies laughing all the way to bank. Care to venture which of the two happened?

You neglected a possibility.

3. New drugs were developed that had much less severe side effects. The first anti-depressent had the nasty side-effect of causing jaundice. Up until recently, most anti-depressents knocked you out. So while you may not have been depressed, you'd be a zombie or asleep all the time. So yeah, these older drugs were used only in the most severe cases.

Then came Wellbutrin, but it had some problems at first. Then came Prozac. While there are side effects to Prozac, and they are sometimes severe, they are nothing like what people once had to go through. So now, all those people whose depression wasn't so bad as to cause them to see dead bodies or cause them to kill themselves can now have medication. Guess what, there are a hell of a lot of us.