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Put away the Prozac: Feeling Sad ISN'T an illness


cinephile

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Well, this may be something of a soft target considering it's the London Daily Mail, but I still found this article disheartening, considering the promising title. Yes, the message is great: antidepressants are massively over-prescribed and often pathologize normal human behavior. BUT, I found it really disappointing that ye olde chemical imbalance theory was alive and well in this article (pop goes the weasel in the tenth paragraph). It's also disappointing (depressing? Ha! I made a funny!) that the author gives ADs a comparatively free pass by merely calling them "happy pills," which I find problematic for two reasons:

 

A: They don't make you happy

B: Such a term trivializes the serious damage they can do

 

Yes, it's true The Daily Mail is far from a scientifically rigorous journal (well, it's not like even THOSE carry much weight these days), but it still never ceases to amaze me just how stubbornly this whole "chemical imbalance" theory sticks in the pop culture consciousness. IMO, as long as it's still widely accepted, we still have our work cut out for us. After all, these mass-media publications are read and absorbed by far more people than unbiased studies and books like ANATOMY OF AN EPIDEMIC (sigh).

 

LINK: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2012027/BEL-MOONEY-Put-away-Prozac-Feeling-sad-ISNT-illness.html

Been on SSRIs since 1998:

1998-2005: Paxil in varying doses

2005-present: Lexapro.

2006-early '08: Effexor AND Lexapro! Good thing I got off the Effexor rather quickly (within a year).

 

**PSYCHIATRY: TAKE YOUR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE AND CHOKE ON IT!

APA=FUBAR

FDA=SNAFU

NIMH=LMFAO

 

Currently tapering Lexapro ~10% every month:

 

STARTING: 15 mg

11/7/10: 13.5 mg

12/7/10: 12.2 mg

1/6/11: 10.9 mg

2/3/11: 9.8 mg

3/3/11: 8.8 mg

4/1/11: 7.8 mg

4/29/11: 7 mg

5/27/11: 6.4 mg

6/24/11: 5.7 mg

7/22/11: 5 mg

8/18/11: 4.5 mg

9/14/11: 4 mg

10/13/11: 3.6 mg

11/9/11: 3.2 mg

12/7/11: 2.6 mg

1/3/12: 2.1 mg

2/2/12: 1.8 mg

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A: They don't make you happy

 

 

They don't?? You mean I've been taking them all these years for nothing? :huh:

 

 

Charter Member 2011

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They don't?? You mean I've been taking them all these years for nothing? :huh:

LOL. Summer, I guess I have some bad news for you then. Are you sitting down?

Been on SSRIs since 1998:

1998-2005: Paxil in varying doses

2005-present: Lexapro.

2006-early '08: Effexor AND Lexapro! Good thing I got off the Effexor rather quickly (within a year).

 

**PSYCHIATRY: TAKE YOUR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE AND CHOKE ON IT!

APA=FUBAR

FDA=SNAFU

NIMH=LMFAO

 

Currently tapering Lexapro ~10% every month:

 

STARTING: 15 mg

11/7/10: 13.5 mg

12/7/10: 12.2 mg

1/6/11: 10.9 mg

2/3/11: 9.8 mg

3/3/11: 8.8 mg

4/1/11: 7.8 mg

4/29/11: 7 mg

5/27/11: 6.4 mg

6/24/11: 5.7 mg

7/22/11: 5 mg

8/18/11: 4.5 mg

9/14/11: 4 mg

10/13/11: 3.6 mg

11/9/11: 3.2 mg

12/7/11: 2.6 mg

1/3/12: 2.1 mg

2/2/12: 1.8 mg

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