Is psychiatry "science"?
December 18, 2005 11:06 AM Subscribe
Psychiatry is a guessing game. No one knows what drug is going to work or how much of it to prescribe. No one even knows what qualifies as "illness" anymore since so many people are hopped up on Ritalin or Prozac, etc. I'm thinking about writing an article about this and was wondering if other people's experience bore this out. If so, I'd love to hear your stories.
This post was deleted for the following reason: question needs to be rephrased to be any good
Lexapro is a variant of the SSRI Celexa. I was taking the latter; when the former debuted a few years ago, it was promised to have less side effects because the part of the molecule that causes the side effects isn't there, or the its the mirror image molecule, or something like that. I didn't really experienced very pronouced side effects, but still....
So I start taking it, and after a few days, I start to have headaches and feel pretty awful. It turns out, I MUST NOT BE HUMAN because this new improved Celexa has ZERO effect on me (what I was feeling was SSRI withdrawal symptoms). So I go back to Celexa, and everything is fine. Plus, Celexa is now generic. Plus, any side-effects there were have gone away.
posted by ParisParamus at 11:16 AM on December 18, 2005
So I start taking it, and after a few days, I start to have headaches and feel pretty awful. It turns out, I MUST NOT BE HUMAN because this new improved Celexa has ZERO effect on me (what I was feeling was SSRI withdrawal symptoms). So I go back to Celexa, and everything is fine. Plus, Celexa is now generic. Plus, any side-effects there were have gone away.
posted by ParisParamus at 11:16 AM on December 18, 2005
Response by poster: The question is: Do you find this to be true in your experience?
posted by It ain't over yet at 11:17 AM on December 18, 2005
posted by It ain't over yet at 11:17 AM on December 18, 2005
(ok, they went away in the sense that it was my now Ex- in whom I had lost interest...)
posted by ParisParamus at 11:18 AM on December 18, 2005
posted by ParisParamus at 11:18 AM on December 18, 2005
I think the big problem with the second part (no one knows what "illness" is) is that as we've expanded the notions of what mental illness is, we've come to realize that everything we refer to as mental illness is really a spectrum. There are physical causes of mental illness, so they are diseases, but... it's really fairly arbitrary where we draw the line between someone who has kind of a melancholy temperment and someone who has low-grade depression that we can treat with drugs.
There are basically three ways to deal with this: the most in line with the current thinking is to set up specific and generalized (though arbitrary) criteria. There's also the folks who just think psychiatry is a scam, or those who would set up much stricter criteria. And then there's the libertarian mindset that we should make prescription drugs available to everyone (under the argument that we control our own bodies) allowing individuals to do their own personal cost-benefit analysis rather than depending on their doctor's arbitrary criteria for the severity of their problems.
posted by dagnyscott at 11:33 AM on December 18, 2005
There are basically three ways to deal with this: the most in line with the current thinking is to set up specific and generalized (though arbitrary) criteria. There's also the folks who just think psychiatry is a scam, or those who would set up much stricter criteria. And then there's the libertarian mindset that we should make prescription drugs available to everyone (under the argument that we control our own bodies) allowing individuals to do their own personal cost-benefit analysis rather than depending on their doctor's arbitrary criteria for the severity of their problems.
posted by dagnyscott at 11:33 AM on December 18, 2005
Psychiatry is a guessing game.
No, it's not.
No one knows what drug is going to work or how much of it to prescribe.
No evidence of this; massive overgeneralization in any event.
No one even knows what qualifies as "illness" anymore
Again, massive overgeneralization.
since so many people are hopped up on Ritalin or Prozac,
"Hopped up"? Those who benefit from psych meds might be a tad offended by your characterization.
I'm thinking about writing an article about this
I'm sure it's going to be insightful, nuanced and thoughtful.
posted by docgonzo at 11:46 AM on December 18, 2005
No, it's not.
No one knows what drug is going to work or how much of it to prescribe.
No evidence of this; massive overgeneralization in any event.
No one even knows what qualifies as "illness" anymore
Again, massive overgeneralization.
since so many people are hopped up on Ritalin or Prozac,
"Hopped up"? Those who benefit from psych meds might be a tad offended by your characterization.
I'm thinking about writing an article about this
I'm sure it's going to be insightful, nuanced and thoughtful.
posted by docgonzo at 11:46 AM on December 18, 2005
you could say the same thing for oncology, endocrinology or any of numerous other medical specialties. that is, if your argument made any sense.
posted by judith at 11:48 AM on December 18, 2005
posted by judith at 11:48 AM on December 18, 2005
I still don't see a question in, "If your experience bears out my hypothesis, I'd love to hear your story." That is how you framed it, right? If what you're looking for is evidence for a one-sided polemic, please try not to overlook the fact that some folks benefit immediately and obviously from certain psychoactive medications, and that many doctors are honest with patients about the trial-and-error underlying treatment with psychoactive meds.
posted by mediareport at 11:49 AM on December 18, 2005
posted by mediareport at 11:49 AM on December 18, 2005
This is just a bad question. And if you want to interview me for an article, I'd rather not do it here.
posted by dhartung at 11:52 AM on December 18, 2005
posted by dhartung at 11:52 AM on December 18, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Jairus at 11:10 AM on December 18, 2005