Women manipulated to plead to their doctors for a Cymbalta prescription

[SadnessAddicted]

Over ten years ago, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that patients suffering from depression who received both medication and cognitive behavioral therapy recovered from depression much more frequently and avoided relapse for longer periods of time than those patients just treated with medication.

 

Unfortunately this holistic approach does not meet big Pharma's big Tobacco approach to increasing the consumption of antidepressants by the American public. Big Pharma wants patients on medication for life like big Tobacco wants to get people hooked on cigarettes for life. Cymbalta is an addictive antidepressant that fits big Pharma's need to predictive quarterly revenues. Big Pharma marketing calls "addiction" "discontinuation syndrome". To understand either term, just Google and read patient testimonials of the poor souls trying to get off Cymbalta or Effexor.

 

Here is a case study of how women are duped into pleading with their doctors for a prescription to a a potent and addictive drug called Cymbalta with many side effects. These medications are too potent to be taken like a once a day vitamin.

 

Imagine that one day a woman is not feeling as happy as she might. She uses her computer and go to the venerable and trusted woman's website iVillage and clicks on Health and Diet. One would think this to be a good place to find unbiased information.

 

 

What could be simpler? And she gets what you she expected a search box into which she adds the catch all term that she has heard repeatedly on TV for all these unhappy feeling "Depression"

 

iVillage responds with its links, barely differentiating the "sponsored links" that advertisers paid to list first from the most popular results based on web popularity. If she is not paying careful attention she would confuse the sponsored links with those ranked based on popularity. Look at this and look at a page of Google search results and you will notice how this page is deceptive.

 

 

She does what most people do, clicks on the first link - its not unbiased information. It is an advertisement carefully crafted to lead women to want to self diagnose herself as depressed, request a free sample of Cymbalta and ask her doctor for a prescription. Note the dark and unhappy mood below designed to amplify the reader's low feelings.

 

 

The reader is further drawn in to find out ways to ask their doctor for Cymbalta. Nowhere is the reader provided insight or help in her selection of a doctor qualified to diagnose depression. Why should the doctor interfere with the sale of medication after the patient has diagnosed herself? Note the "free sample". Shouldn't the FDA limit pharmaceutical companies from giving away medication that causes patients significant discomfort due to discontinuation syndrome? Most developed countries prohibit the advertisement of this kind of medication.

 

Normal people fit this description of the feelings behind these words during some days and some periods in their lives. It is normal and normal people overcome these bad feelings and learn to feel good. Overcoming sadness and depression builds resilience against future bouts of depression and sadness. Cymbalta and other medications don't always work and they don't help people learn to overcome their sadness. The intent of the advertisement is to use these dark words with the dark mood of the picture to compel the reader onward to the conclusion of the advertisement and ask their doctor to prescribe Cymbalta.

 

 

Has the reader taken the bait? "How does your depression make you feel?" if you click through you have diagnosed yourself as depressed, now there is only one last step, to ask your doctor to prescribe Cymbalta. The exercise is complete. Using the depression impact tool the reader is prepared with the vocabulary of sure fire words that will convince her doctor to write a prescription for Cymbalta.

 

 

The reader has agreed that they are depressed and clicked through and is rewarded with a smiling face and can feel good because they have accepted (been manipulated by) the advertisement and will "Take Your First Steps" on a very personal lonely journey based on a decision made with a computer rather than in the company of family, friends and a doctor that understands depression. No mention that cognitive behavioral therapy with medication produces better outcomes.

 

Finally, a light atmosphere is set that you have agreed to talk to your health care provider, defined as anyone who can write a prescription and you have agreed to focus on your depression rather than live your life.

 

 

Its not that medication is bad. It is bad to commit to potent addictive medication based upon temporarily feeling bad or sad or depressed. Medication should be take as part of a treatment plan where it is a stabilizer to allow the person to learn to cope with the issues that made them depressed or gave them anxiety. There should be an approximate period of time for the patient to be on medication and then stop taking it. There are so many side effects and so many unknowns that one should not take SSNRI and SSRI medications like they are vitamins.

 

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