We're (patients) going to get bills passed. You can help by submitting testimony to the Massachusetts legislature which is considering a bill that would protect patients from uninformed use of benzodiazepines:
That med combo is the borderline hug.
Pick one.
Press Ganey Syndrome.
Because every time they take that Depakotw it’s a reminder to recognize that all those times you punched your girlfriend was because you black out and go manic secondary to a source external of your volitional control — your chemical imbalance — and it’s your doctor’s responsibility to keep that under control and make sure the meds don’t “stop working.”
I was averaging it out in my head in the countries I remembered it having devastating effects. Been a while since I read about it, but I think it was UK and Germany where it took several years to ban it, and Spain was the laggard that waited decades. But yes, you're right about the FDA never having approved it. A problem with the perception of benzos I was pointing out is that they didn't have the same visibly shocking effects. Even today it can be hard to see, and tolerance/withdrawal can be attributed to the same conditions for which a person was originally prescribed them (which leads to their continued prescription). And since the first approval of Librium, benzodiazepines have only become more and more potent yet with each iteration advertised as less problematic than the last (Xanax was supposed to be a panacea because unlike Valium it didn't leave people "hungover" for days).
Yes some have said she saved me life finally getting “the right combination of medications.”
I work only with kids now, and I see this with plenty of parents too. They seem to think our treatments are so precise that one medication will target a certain set of symptoms only and nothing else, and then another med hits up another specific target. They worry a lot about the timing of meds too (ie which specific hour to take them), despite them taking days to weeks to have beneficial effects.
I think I'll join you.
I’m lucky enough to work part time and it still sucks. The medicalization of emotional/social dysfunction is killing me. Seeing people who struggle with poor social skills, lack of motivation, poor frustration tolerance who have been told they have a psychiatric problem typically bipolar disorder is the worst. I’m sure it makes life hard to have a crappy personality and deplorable role models but medications are not the answer. Then you even have ****ty therapists telling them to go ask for medications and apply for disability.
Yes. The therapist is afforded the protection from unpleasant interaction with the patient by collusion and kicking the can to us. At least when I say it’s a problem best addressed by therapy it’s actually true, but met with lots of resistance.
Obviously I can't answer as a doctor, but one potential problem with continuing long-term prescribing is that you as a provider will eventually not be that person's provider, either because you retire or move, etc. That leaves the patient in a situation where they may have to abruptly taper or, in some cases of uninformed physicians, go cold-turkey. I personally don't believe a person should be forced to taper, but I think giving a person all of the information including the fact that a future prescriber may do that is ideal. One of the reasons people decide to voluntarily taper is to do it in a way that they believe is safer and more comfortable versus potentially being forced in the future to do it in a way that induces more kindling of the brain and more intolerable side effects.
Mind if I ask why?
Cmon, man, these NPs are IMPROVING ACCESS to psychiatry! Everyone knows that all psychiatry really is about is just pushing pills on people, so as long as we have a Prescriber who can hand out a few prescriptions for controlled substances to every patient, we can pat ourselves on the back for having Done Something about the problem of a shortage of psychiatrists.
I honestly feel that in 90% of cases no care is superior to poor care
