Posted by med_empowered on March 21, 2006, at 23:23:44
In reply to What's the deal with antipsychotics for depression, posted by jerrympls on March 21, 2006, at 23:03:33
If you look back to the 50s+60s, when the first antipsychotics rolled out, you see a kind of similar pattern. There was lots of money to be made, and the antipsychotics were psychiatry's true "wonder drugs"--they could tame the mad and calm the anxious. Plus, they were new and overpriced--just like todays antipsychotics. So, there was a lot of misuse of the APs--for aggressive kids, old people, anxious people, depressed people, what have you...and combo products, like Thora-Dex (thorazine and dexedrine) and Triavil (Elavil plus Trilafon).
It seems that the mind-numbing properties of the atypicals appeals to psychiatrists at some levels; in some papers they are referred to as "broad spectrum agents," which I think is pretty ridiculous. It seems that some people **do** respond well to AP+AD combos, at least in the short term; whats most disturbing is the amazing overuse of these drugs for...everything (they're even trying it now on ADHD which is strange..back in the days of Ritalin, ADHD was caused by too little dopamine; now I guess the idea is that its caused by too much?)
My guess is that this period of loving the atypicals will lead to some serious trouble down the road. These drugs still cause TD. And NMS. And they tend to cause diabetes, weight gain, and sometimes seizures. Plus...they're overpriced and not all that different from the old drugs. ALready, even the mainstream press has caught on--the NYT and others have done pieces on the over-hyping of the atypicals, and with all the $$$ insurers and state and federal agencies have pumped into these "wonder drugs," there's going to be some serious problems when these drugs don't pan out.
This was long and rambling but...I guess I think the whole AP thing is just a sign of arrogance, hypocrisy, and greed, which pretty much characterizes Big Pharma and many of the doctors who so gladly serve it at the expense of their patients.
poster:med_empowered
thread:623192
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060315/msgs/623204.html