A New Chapter In The Drugging Of Mental Illness?

[chibam]

I'm curious to hear others' thoughts on this:

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/australia-approves-radical-medical-treatments-to-aid-mental-hea... 

I may be late to the party on this one. I suspect that others have probably known this was in the pipeline for some time now, but this is the first I've heard of it.

[NatureLover]

Hi @chibam , I'm wary of this myself and wouldn't take it, but then I recognise that I'm lucky in that my psych meds work well for me.

I think if they didn't, or if I had the treatment-resistant version of severe depression, I might consider it. 

[chibam]

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@NatureLover wrote:

Hi @chibam , I'm wary of this myself and wouldn't take it, but then I recognise that I'm lucky in that my psych meds work well for me. 

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I'd be interested to hear more about what your journey to medication was like, @NatureLover (if you feel comfortable sharing, of course 🙂), since you seem to have found them productive. Was there a gap between when you first reached out for help and the therapist(s) deciding that meds might be worth trying? Did they attempt other remedies beforehand? Or were you essentially medicated from the very beginning?

[NatureLover]

Hi @chibam , I think I ought to have been medicated since age 16 which was my first suicide attempt, but wasn't medicated till 21 which were my 2nd and 3rd suicide attempts.

This was the same GP I had for 35 years. She didn't suggest a psychologist, just put me on meds. I was on those off and on till I had a severe nervous breakdown 17 years ago, stayed in bed for 3 years intensely suicidal. Wound up at the hospital, was referred to a psychiatrist who immediately put me on a stronger antidepressant at a high dose. That saved my life and I am still on that med at the high dose. But now I also see a psychologist and psychiatrist. I'm 51 now and relatively stable despite my 6 MIs.

I like the med as it gives me back my life - no terrible SI at last, nothing for the last 14 years since I started it. I can get up and function, not stay in bed all day. I'm aware you're not in favour of meds, and don't worry, I know meds don't work for everyone. I count myself very fortunate that they work for me, especially after reading so many stories here on the forums about treatment-resistant depression and other MIs. 😞

I think that my GP (who has since retired) should definitely have recommended a psychologist and a psychiatrist too, since age 16. 

[chibam]

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@NatureLover wrote:

I'm aware you're not in favour of meds, and don't worry, I know meds don't work for everyone. I count myself very fortunate that they work for me, especially after reading so many stories here on the forums about treatment-resistant depression and other MIs. 😞

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It's not that I'm not in favor of meds. I've read enough stories like yours that have convinced me that they do indeed have a legitimate place in the mental health field.

My concern is with their misuse by therapists; specifically, in this context, with them being rashly perscribed before more obvious solutions are offered. I think there's a culture within the mental health system that believes "the right pill can solve anything", and so that's become the first (and sometimes only) remedy many therapists considder.

In the interview included in that article mentions these new drugs being made available with hopes that they will relieve the strain on the mental health system. That, to me sounds very ominous. How many patients who walk through a therapist's door today will be immediately handed a script for one of these new drugs, before the therapist has even listened to what the patient wants? It's yet another quick fix for therapists who just want to get their patients in and out as fast as they can, so they can clear their overwhelming backlog.

The interview as much as clarifies that these drugs haven't been cleared to make patients' lives better; they've first and foremost been cleared to make the mental health system's life easier.

I'm not saying that these drugs don't have a valid place at the table. But from what I read & watched in that article, I expect this initiative will be a massive balls-up, with thousands of cases of these drugs being mis-perscribed, dwarfing the number of legitimate cases where they actually were warranted and productive.

[NatureLover]

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@chibam wrote:

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How many patients who walk through a therapist's door today will be immediately handed a script for one of these new drugs, before the therapist has even listened to what the patient wants? 

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I fear you might be right, @chibam 😞

I wonder too about possible misuse by patients.

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@chibam wrote:

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It's not that I'm not in favor of meds. I've read enough stories like yours that have convinced me that they do indeed have a legitimate place in the mental health field.

My concern is with their misuse by therapists; specifically, in this context, with them being rashly perscribed before more obvious solutions are offered. 

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Thanks for clarifying 👍

[justanotherguy]

@chibam 

Yes, saw this story and was quite surprised. After decades of war on drugs and being told to not self medicate, it turns out these 'illicit' drugs might actually be useful after all. It begs so many questions - why are they better than any pharmaceutical drugs available? How will you manufacture and control them? What does this say about the mental health industry in general?

@NatureLover 

It is good to hear of a positive story with medication, but in my case I should not have been put on anything, the meds caused me more and more problems over time and when I read into them more I realised I had to try and get off them. I actually told the psych nurse I would continue with medication if they could give me something without the horrible side effects. For years I have not been myself, just some kind of robot that only existed to make everyone else happy and all the best years of my life have gone and I'm slowly trying to rebuild something with what years I have left. But, if magic mushrooms work for some people then why not?