Posted by SLS on April 3, 2010, at 23:25:53
In reply to Re: I think I just want control... » linkadge, posted by Justherself54 on April 3, 2010, at 22:28:03
> I wish there was a right answer. I too would like some control over my mood.
I have no doubt that the exposure to many antidepressants produces changes in brain structure and function that may be irreversible. One indication that this occurs is the observation that many drugs display the phenomenon of "poop-out". People often develop a refractoriness to the therapeutic effects of a drug once that drug is discontinued and later restarted. Something must be different.
I am not sure what better choices there are but to take a risk and try the psychiatric drugs that currently exist and hope that we respond to them in ways that are observed to reduce pain and suffering in a great many people.
Statistics have a habit of changing depending on who presents them. I have read that the rate of suicide in some countries has decreased since the advent of the SSRIs in 1987. It is suggested that the media attention paid to Prozac and the epidemiology of depression produced an increase in the number of people seeking treatment, and thus a decrease in the number of suicides. I guess the question worth asking is what the rate of suicide would be in the absence of antidepressant treatment. It had already been increasing prior to the inventions of phenelzine and imipramine. Thereafter, it remained static and later decreased.
I cherry-picked this one:
http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html#death-rates
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:941785
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100328/msgs/942110.html