Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 470

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Why SSRIs for everything?

Posted by Jenne on August 31, 1998, at 13:05:40

When prozac had just come out, I went through a psychological
problem that I thought was depression. A university psychiatric resident
prescribed prozac. I had many of the bad side effects, but was
afraid to tell my doctor because I also had 'numbness' in that I knew
I was unhappy and panicking, but it was 'under the surface'-- I was afraid
that if they took me off the drug I would fall apart. When I finally
did stop seeing the dr and taking the drug, and began seeing
a counselor instead, I got better.

A while back I had a problem with anxiety. My counselor and her partner,
a psychiatrist, had previously diagnosed anxiety disorder. Neither my family
doctor nor the psychiatrist my health system sent me to were willing
to proscribe FDA-approved anti-anxiety meds, only SSRI's. (prozac, paxil, zoloft)
I was so afraid of my previous experience that the psychiatrist, after weeks of argument
(and a panic attack IN the office over the meds) finally gave me a prescription
for an anti-anxiety drug for a short time. By the time I was feeling better
and more able to cope (the acute problem had been triggered by environmental
stress), the psychiatrist was finally willing to prescribe anti-anxiety meds, but we
agreed that I no longer was in acute need of them.

I see lots of stuff in the literature about SSRI's for every mental health
complaint, and they are offered first thing when you see a dr. for a counseling
referral.

But what I also see in the literature is that many patients end up on three or four other meds to control
the side effects of the SSRI's, and while they aren't considered addicting, people
are being told to expect to stay on them for their whole lives.

Why are SSRI's considered the magic bullet-- the first and only resort-- these days?

 

Re: Why SSRIs for everything?

Posted by Paul on September 1, 1998, at 17:02:19

In reply to Why SSRIs for everything?, posted by Jenne on August 31, 1998, at 13:05:40

I can't really answer your question, but I can say that the SSRI's I have taken (Prozac, Zoloft) gave me virtually no side effects whatsoever, and of course there is also no real noticeable effect immediately following a single dose, so there is really no possiblity of addiction. To paraphrase Peter Kramer in Listening to Prozac, the effect is unrelated to the daily act of taking the drug, as opposed to addictive narcotics, which provide immediate gratification. When I took these meds, I might have as well been taking a vitamin as far as side effects were concerned. Obviously these drugs affect people differently, but their overall safety profile is probably a reason for their prevalence.

 

Re: Why SSRIs for everything?

Posted by Splat on September 5, 1998, at 19:11:18

In reply to Why SSRIs for everything?, posted by Jenne on August 31, 1998, at 13:05:40

I don't really know, but I also suspect Paul's answer
is the basically it. SSRI's are non-addicting,
very safe in overdose (compared to the older AD's),
and I think don't have interactions with too many
other drugs. It would (to my knowldedge) seem that
they are the safest psychotropic availible, so
it's easy to toss them at any psych. problem,
since since the risks are few. If a very safe
verison of thorazine had been invented, maybe
they'd be throwing that at everything.

-Splat


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