
Miltown: A game-changing drug (2017) - Hooke
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ondrugs/miltown-a-game-changing-drug-you-ve-probably-never-heard-of-1.4237946
======
joe_the_user
_" In April 1965, meprobamate was removed from the list of tranquilizers when
experts ruled that the drug was a sedative, instead. The U.S. Pharmacopoeia
published the ruling. At the same time, the Medical Letter disclosed that
meprobamate could be addictive at doses not much above recommended. In
December 1967, meprobamate was placed under abuse control amendments to the
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Records on production and distribution were
required to be kept. Limits were placed on prescription duration and
refills."_ [1]

I feel like the linked article mostly involve a standard and rather
disingenuous way of deflecting worry about psychiatric drugs such as this.

The first point is describing the worry about psychiatric drugs in terms of
their marketing - that the use of these drugs comes from marketing rather than
legitimate need. Then the article goes on to describe a drug that became
successful without marketing, which might, maybe, seem to deflect this
criticism.

I would say that the basic criticism of psychiatric drug isn't necessarily
simply that their use is spread by marketing but that portion of their use
happens in the fashion of illegal drugs - they're addictively mood enhancing.
Of course, aggressive sales would leverage this situation. But if you muddy
the waters in your initial discussion of the supposed problem, you avoid
having to deal with this particular combination of problems.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meprobamate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meprobamate)

~~~
tempguy9999
Having taken a couple of psychiatric drugs over a long period (antidepressents
- ADs), I',m not sure where your claim that "they're addictively mood
enhancing" comes from. IME ADs aren't. My brother has needed to take many more
(edit: diverse kinds, not just ADs). I don't think he found them addictive (or
even useful).

Why do you feel they are?

------
narnianal
Why is the idea to "just pop a pill" on a daily basis not wrong? It is. It
totally is. You should not need to drug yourself to get through the day.

~~~
smabie
Like caffeine or nicotine? And why not? Better living through chemistry,
what’s wrong with that?

Also everything is a drug. Food, water, whatever.

~~~
ganzuul
It becomes a way to endure difficulties which should not be there in the first
place.

~~~
tempguy9999
True, but "should not be there in the first place" is a moral judgement - no-
one should have to deal eg. with clinical depression or intense anxiety, or
psychosis. Or painful arthritis or the rest of the evils a biological entity
is prone to. But reality cares not for your or my opinion.

~~~
ganzuul
We create our own reality. In the EU we subsidize diary production so that
powdered milk is cheap and artifically kept at a stable price, which makes
food manufacturers use it as an addative in many traditional recipies which it
doesn't belong in. It makes a lot of people sick, inflaming the gut, which
leads to depression.

~~~
tempguy9999
> We create our own reality

Try living with long-term chronic pain, disability and flaky mental health.
Then tell me it's all in the mind.

~~~
smabie
I mean if a monk can light himself on fire and not make a noise or move at
all, then anything must be possible, right? People have the ability to will
themselves into almost any state, it’s just incredibly difficult. There’s been
a number of studies on the effect of meditation on chronic pain, and it’s
certainly more powerful (and healthy) than painkillers.

