Comments on: Movie review of Generation RX: Guest post by Christopher Trottier

By: isabella mori

isabella mori — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:57:33 +0000

"drugs are bad" is a bit too black and white for my taste, just as "homeopathy is bad" would be too one-sided. whatever works, works. and what works is rarely entirely clear with mental health issues. sometimes drugs will do the trick, sometimes complementary medicine, sometimes talk therapy, sometimes nutrition, exercise and/or meditation, and sometimes somtething else entirely - and when a person has a chronic condition, they often need to try them all out, in various forms, combinations and dosages, to figure out what will make their lives most liveable. going off a psych med cold turkey can be pretty dangerous. it's great that it helped your friend, Dman, but it's also killed people, or put their health in very serious jeopardy. isabella mori’s last blog post..beating ANA - one relationship at a time

By: Dman

Dman — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:35:20 +0000

I know many people have been helped by anti-depressants, but they also appear to be a smoking gun WRT many serious side-effects. Someone I know was prescribed something by her GP for a mild depression. These did not help and she got worse. After going thru several therapists, hospitalization, and too many different drugs, she went cold turkey. While not solving all her problems, getting off the drugs probably saved her life.

By: John

John — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:30:17 +0000

These drugs almost cost me mine. SSRI (Zoloft) caused me to have almost 24/7 panic attacks when I’d only ever had one before in my life. I had thoughts of violence. I thought I was losing it. I called the psychiatrist who said he could help by prescribing me tranquilizers. I hung up the phone. Getting off of that drug was the best decision of my life. Thank God it was only 2 weeks.

I am by the way doing fine now on no drugs whatsoever.

By: David

David — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:12:39 +0000

I can’t say that antidepressants saved my life. I feel that they did help me through a very rough patch in my life for about two years. I then spent the next two years (perhaps more) trying to cope with the after effects. Having described the physical withdraws involved to some people who have stopped taking other addictive substances, I think Heroin is about the only thing that’s more difficult to break away from. (yeah, a bit of an exaggeration, but not by as much as you might think)

I’ve since talked MANY people out of taking antidepressants. Sometimes life sucks. We need to realize that things are rarely perfect, and taking drugs that largely numb us to the things that aren’t ideal isn’t the way to go.

Having said that I do realize that they help many people, and it’s fair to say that some people really DO need them. But I’d bet that diagnoses that end with prescriptions have a lot more to do with simplicity and greed than they do anything else.

By: desjardins

desjardins — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:58:28 +0000

“Is psychiatric medication the magic cure-all for any and all problems?”

No responsible psychiatrist ever says this. I am on several different medications and my quality of life is MUCH higher than it was before I started taking them. But my life is not problem-free. The medication just reduces the obstacles to solving my problems. I still have to do the work.

By: dutchkabuki

dutchkabuki — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:10:02 +0000

Ritalin may cause a crytogenic effect in children suffering from ADHD.

from the link:
Conclusions
Because the findings published in 2005 by El-Zein and co-workers could not be replicated, the concern regarding a potential increase in the risk of developing cancer later in life after long-term MPH treatment is not supported.

LOL.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:02:54 +0000

These drugs saved my live.

By: Phaedra

Phaedra — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:37:21 +0000

I would love to see this film, As you know, I am not a huge fan of the big pharma companies. In my opinion, only a handful of those diagnosed with a DSM disorder require medication. Bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression are the only ones I feel that need medication. I believe that most people, especially children, are mis-diagnosed, causing drug reactions, interactions, and in some sad cases, death. A lot of the iemtional and mood complaints that people have can be controlled with proper diet, supplementation, and pyschotherapy. We are in a society that thinks that if we feel down, or our child won't sit still, then they should just pop a pill. just my two cents. Phaedra’s last blog post..Switzerland