
The Psychopharmacology of Everyday Life - prostoalex
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/11/19/the-psychopharmacology-of-everyday-life/
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tcj_phx
This is a good article, if a little long. I mostly skimmed the sections on
specific classes of medications.

There are two quotes that I especially want to 'bookmark' with a comment here.
This was on medicating "schizophrenics" with tranquilizers:

"[...] from what I have learned, we are trading more humane treatments for a
solution that superficially seems effective, but on closer examination is not
helping patients in any long-term way and may actually be killing them."

Robert Whitaker discusses the old "humane" treatments for the mentally ill in
his book, Mad in America [0]. The Quakers had "asylums" where patients were
kept safe and provided 4 meals a day. Most patients recovered well enough to
leave the asylum after a while.

[0]
[https://books.google.com/books?id=Cw6MlCXhN5MC](https://books.google.com/books?id=Cw6MlCXhN5MC)

This quote alludes to the corruption of the psychiatric diagnostic manual
(DSM) to justify the modern mental health industry's medication-centered
practices:

"Modern psychopharmacology goes hand in hand with a psychiatric diagnostic
system that has, over time, been redefined _to rely on medicating symptoms
away_ rather than looking at the structure of the mind and its complex
permutations in order to work with a patient in a deeply engaged way over the
long haul."

(emphasis added). My recent comment [1] discussed medication strategies that
address causes rather than treat symptoms. Very few patients get such rational
medication strategies, they just get patent medicines that are FDA-approved to
treat their symptoms.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18525361](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18525361)

The author's fixation on Freud's body of work is interesting. Certainly there
are more current insights that [s]he could have drawn upon.

(edit1: minor edits & changed book link)

------
Fnoord
"Moving from induced mania to depression, it’s been twenty-four years since
Prozac Nation was published; I never read it but practically everyone I know
has been on a modern antidepressant Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor
(SSRI) like Prozac at one point or another. Do antidepressants help with
depression? It’s a touchy subject; they have clearly helped many through
periods of depression, saving the lives of some who have struggled with
suicidal feelings. One thing I will say is that I prefer my patients not to be
on them if possible, or eventually to get off them. True, the lows aren’t as
low, but neither are the highs high, and pleasure is limited to some medial
zone."

Well, what if the truth is that all these drugs allow us human beings to
function better according to how society expects us to (being financially
independent for starters)?

I don't use Prozac as anti depression aid. I use Prozac because I have autism,
and it makes me less sensitive. I get triggered less therefore it allows me to
function better as someone who has autism. I didn't make this assessment
myself; people around me told me that I am easier ever since I use it.

Yet in statistics I will count as "SSRI user" and "Prozac user" and
"antidepressant user".

I'm very curious how common such off the record subscriptions actually are.
Heck, there might even be people who are undiagnosed on the spectrum yet
successfully use Prozac (or an other drug).

FWIW, what I very much like about the drug is its high half life. If I forget
to take it in the morning, I only start to notion that in the afternoon (and I
am sensitive to drugs). The drug has its downsides, for example gotta be
careful with alcohol. Then again, only need very little alcohol to notice an
effect. It also lowers the fear for needles I have, and therefore I might be
able to not use oxazepam if I require a needle injection.

~~~
hestefisk
Agree, this article reads, whilst historically interesting from perspective of
the breakthroughs in psychopharmacology, much like a grand conspiracy theory
about the industry itself. SSRI (and its descendants, ie SNRI) is an
incredibly effective class of drugs that has helped a lot of people function
well. Without it, many of them would likely have resorted to drugs or alcohol.
Doctors don’t prescribe it because they are evil; they do it because it is
proven to work and helps the majority of people that take it.

