Posted by med_empowered on November 17, 2005, at 1:54:51
In reply to Re: Article in NYT RE: Self-Prescribing/Medicating, posted by Iansf on November 17, 2005, at 1:36:03
hey! I am very sorry that my post (which completely violated psycho-babble rules+regulations) was the **only** post from this excellent website that was posted. At the same time...I'm kind of disturbed that this whole article focused on self-prescribing while ignoring what psycho-babble and many other wesbites are *really* about--patient information and empowerment, with the goal of working towards a more equal doctor-patient collaboration, rather than the traditional mode in which a patient is "worked on" or "treated by" a certain physician. I'm also alarmed that the author alleges there is some sort of trend towards self-prescribing without offering up any sort of hard evidence (numbers, quanititative data)...everything seems to be based on a few interviews which, as one poster stated earlier, seem to have been hand-picked to fit the author's "theme".
Its taken so long for patients, particularly in psychiatry, to give a voice and be able to assume an active role in their treatment. The concept of "patient-centered therapy" is pretty new, which seems ridiculous when you realize that it is, in fact, the patient whose very LIFE is being affected by whatever treatment is offered. I can't help but feel that this article has portrayed many of us as being misinformed, uninformed, or simply drug-seeking. Much of this article strikes me as being poorly supported, highly biased, and ultimately damaging to well-informed patients seeking the very best possible treatment for themselves and those they care about. That said...I *am* sorry that my post (again, sorry I broke babble rules with that) was the **only one** selected from this site.
poster:med_empowered
thread:579280
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051112/msgs/579536.html