'The myth of the chemical cure' |
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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Posted: 22 Jul 2009 at 10:29am |
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As someone who takes Prozac, due to OCD, this is of interest.
It does demonstrate how drug companies effectively push their products onto the public without a proper explantion of the mechanisms by which they work.
In my case I've never believed that OCD is caused by low levels of seratonin, merely that any boost in seratonin levels improves mood and therefore symptoms are lessened. Behaviour therapy is far more effective in terms of OCD than Prozac. Much research has demonstrated that brains of OCD sufferers are anatomically different to non sufferers. It's not chemical, it's anatomical.
For years drug companies and doctors have been convincing people they have some kind of defective Brain chemistry that need to be corrected by drugs, much like diabetes or hypothyroidism, however there is no real evidence that it's the case.
Rest of the article here...
Prior to the 1950s, the drugs that were used for mental health problems were thought of as psychoactive drugs, which produced mainly sedative effects. 'Informed choice' Views about psychiatric drugs changed over the course of the 1950s and 1960s. They gradually came to be seen as being specific treatments for specific diseases, or "magic bullets", and their psychoactive effects were forgotten.
However, this transformation was not based on any compelling evidence. |
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Magic Man
Chief Pilot Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Location: South Wales Points: 5336 |
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Yep, agree with you. We are always being told how little we actually know about how the brain functions and yet drug companies would seem to know exactly how complex behavioural and emotional problems work to be able to 'solve' such issues with the drugs they formulate. As you say, the function of many such drugs is to alter mood states and mask the symptoms rather than directly targetting the underlying issue which is probably still largely unknown. Your brain is probably square though... mine's an icosidodecahedron |
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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This is the telling bit...
although ideas like the serotonin theory of depression have been widely publicised, scientific research has not detected any reliable abnormalities of the serotonin system in people who are depressed.
So basically the theory is is poo, with no proof, but the doctors still tell patients [like my friend] that she must take them permanently because she is deficient in seratonin. Cobblers! Just a way for drug companies to ensure the sale of their product.
We know why doctors push certain drugs don't we. In the states, payments to doctors from drug companies are as high as $57 billion per year. Even bribing doctors with cars.
This is the states, so what happens here???
Multinational drug companies are targeting doctors in developing countries with dinners and lavish gifts, such as air conditioners, washing machines and down-payments on cars, as incentives to prescribe their drugs, a report reveals today.
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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And in the UK...
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