Articles Worth Reading

[Finn]

I'm just going to create a single thread for articles I find about mental health issues on the various sites I check frequently, instead of opening a new one for each piece.

 

"If Primary Care Doctors Could Treat Mental Health Issues, More Americans May Get The Help They Need"

 

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/06/17/2165681/primary-care-doctors-mental-health/

 

Cuz this is exactly what the broken American mental health system needs.

 

This invariably means more prescriptions--more psychiatric medicine being given out by doctors who don't know anything about the ramifications. Is that really care?

[compsports]

The thought of primary care doctors handing out psych meds is terrifying.  Not that psychiatrists do it well but these folks are even worse at it.

 

And of course, more people will be misdiagnosed in this era of "rush rush" medicine because it is alot easier to throw a psych med at the problem vs. trying to diagnose someone accurately.

 

CS

[Finn]

"Rat Study Adds Antidepressants to Stress, Diet in Weight Gain Equation"

 

“Our study suggests that short-term exposure to stress and antidepressants, rather than a high-calorie, high-fat diet alone, leads to long-term body weight gain, accompanied with increased bone and spleen weights,” said study lead author Suhyun Lee of the Australian National University."

 

http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/06/19/rat-study-adds-antidepressants-to-stress-diet-in-weight-gain-equation/56245.html

[Altostrata]

!!!!!!!

[Aria]

Reading MORE Magazine May 2013 and it's article on "The boy who couldn't wake up". The mom wrote "each doctor had a different diagnosis depending on his specialty. The psychiatrist said it was stress, the neurologist said it was due to his brain and the immunologist said it was an auto immune illness".

 

Yes, it does depend on who you see. We don't need any more prescribers of psyche drugs''''''

[Finn]

^Also remember, if they can't find any obvious physical illness off the bat, whatever is wrong is mental and should be treated accordingly.

[Finn]

Not directly about psychotropic drugs but still important: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/06/24/2206411/generic-drug-companies-get-even-more-immunity-from-the-roberts-five/

 

Has anyone else noticed that the more things go wrong in the world, the more no one is to blame for it?

[Finn]

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-fda-antidepressant-hot-flashes-20130628,0,7638740.story

 

FDA approves an antidepressant for hot flashes

 

In March, the FDA's advisory committee on reproductive drugs found low-dose paroxetine's level of effectiveness in reducing hot flashes underwhelming, and voted to recommend against approval. Women taking a placebo medication reported a 40% to 48% reduction in hot flashes, so the panel was skeptical that the further reduction reported by women taking paroxetine was "clinically meaningful."

[Barbarannamated]

FDA approves an antidepressant for hot flashesIn March, the FDA's advisory committee on reproductive drugs found low-dose paroxetine's level of effectiveness in reducing hot flashes underwhelming, and voted to recommend against approval. Women taking a placebo medication reported a 40% to 48% reduction in hot flashes, so the panel was skeptical that the further reduction reported by women taking paroxetine was "clinically meaningful."

Paxil is reborn under a new name, Brisdell, and refreshed patent (I assume). Frightening. These drugs aren't going away.

[Finn]

This isn't exactly new news, but if it sinks into the treatment ethos, it might have some positive long-term effects. Alas, maybe there's hope...

 

http://www.madinamerica.com/2013/07/antipsychotic-reductiondiscontinuation-produces-higher-long-term-recovery/

 

Reduction/Discontinuation of Antipsychotics Produces Higher Long-Term Recovery

 

A study published today in the American Medical Association’s journal JAMA Psychiatry reports that patients whose antipsychotic treatment was reduced or discontinued (DR) experienced a recovery rate twice that of patients maintained on antipsychotics (MT). “To our knowledge, this study is the first to identify major advantages of a DR strategy over MT in patients with remission of FEP,” the authors write. “Benefits that were not evident in short-term evaluations, such as functional gains, only appeared during long-term monitoring.”

[Finn]

For those who don't check Mad in America, I want to share this blog post because I found it quite inspiring.

 

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.  The mind is everything.  What we think we become.”  — The Buddha

Our life and career trajectories are largely driven by our predominant thoughts.  If we are consumed by feelings of powerlessness and negativity our lives tend to manifest those feelings.  My belief in these statements leaves me with an uphill battle against the realities of the field I work in.  I am constantly around people who build their lives around negative beliefs.  More specifically, I am around people that build their lives around being “broken” because of something they identify as being a “brain disease.”

 

It breaks my heart to hear the way people view themselves.  In my advocacy class recently a man said that “once he accepted that he had brain damage his life became more manageable.”  I asked him if he had been in a car accident.  He said that his “mental illness” was his brain damage.  Brain damage?  That was a new one for me.  I was on an employment panel at a conference recently where someone said they could “not work full-time because they were bipolar.”  Responding to a question I posed, this person said they had never tried working full-time but they just knew it was impossible.  I saw a young woman’s “treatment plan” the other day and it said her goal in life was to “control her anger.”

 

These experiences are just a small sample of the heart wrenching tales I hear on a daily basis.  These concerning and erroneous beliefs have little to do with emotional experiences and a lot to do with the mental health system fostering “brokenness.”  If one is told and believes that part of who they are, will always to some extent negatively influence their life and that this negative influence is largely out of their control – they inevitably forfeit ambitions and dreams to complacency.  Once someone believes their suffering is a permanent pre-disposition to be wary of – and doesn’t entertain hope of suffering being a transient experience – they often surrender personal agency and resolve.

 

When someone receives a mental health label it is common for them to internalize and reinforce the  idea that it is in their best interest to lower their life expectations.  The accompanying advice is often to avoid stress and to seek federal disability assistance.  Many people have called me wanting to share their excitement about being given federal assistance.  Receiving government disability benefits has been distorted into a cause for celebration and a source of pride.  Getting entitlements is inappropriately seen as an end in itself, not a means to an end.  I simply cannot share their enthusiasm for getting on a program which statistics show is usually lifelong.

 

I wish I could believe that people being told to avoid stress and get on benefits was becoming a thing of the past.  That people being encouraged to frame their lives around being sick was also becoming a thing of the past. Sadly, these devastating lies are still being conveyed.  About eight months ago, I hired a man in his twenties named Greg Benson to work as a human rights advocate.  At the time I hired him he was working in a peer specialist role at a mental health provider.  He came to my attention because – well, frankly – he had a big mouth in meetings.  Greg had been an all-state athlete and a top student in high school. Upon graduation, he had his choice of elite colleges to attend.  During college he dealt with what he identifies as intense emotional experiences.  He spent some time in and out of psychiatric hospitals.  During this period he was told to avoid stress and to lower his life expectations.  He was told the goal should be to get on SSI.  He was also told that any efforts he made to be well that did not include medications would likely fail.

 

Fortunately, Greg did not listen – at least not for very long.  His presence in my office is a constant reminder of why I need to never stop fighting for change.  The young man who was told that he should aim for being on disability responded to the tragedy in Newtown with incredible passion and strength.  Not only did he excel in a high stress situation, his energy pushed the rest of our team.  I remember many days basically making him go home at night.  What if he had been “compliant” with his “treatment.”  Would he have been on a path that would have seen his life end at 53 – the average year of death for people accessing public mental health services?  Would he have the joy he now has with his family and friends?  Would he be free from medication “side effects” as he currently is?

I am deeply grateful to have people like Greg and many others in my life that inspire me to keep pushing the envelope in advocacy.  People whose mere presence demonstrates the failure of biological psychiatry.  In some ways the stories are a double-edge sword for me.  I am constantly inspired by the likes of Greg Benson.  But it also makes me hurt even more for the people that spend their days waiting for the next “episode.”  I think of the great things they could be doing with their lives.  I also think of all the people who died way too young believing that they were getting all they could out of life.

 

I wonder if acceptance of the idea that one cannot work full time because of a “brain disease” or that one should limit their exposure to stress, really ensures that one will maintain a “limited baseline stability” and never “relapse” into “acute” suffering?  Or does it exclusively ensure that one will never incorporate more rich texture or enjoyment into their life?  Why not try to build our lives around seeking fulfillment and joy instead of detaching from life and gradually accepting desensitization to dissatisfaction and a dulled spirit and sense of longing and yearning – as immutable components of reality.

 

Life can be hard and unpredictable.  Belief in one’s abilities and in the ability to manifest some of life’s outcomes does not guarantee an avoidance of suffering.  But for me, I do know that my years of negativity, lack of personal agency and embracing my diagnosis led to destruction.  I gave the world negativity and it gave it back.  I decided to try something else.

 

http://www.madinamerica.com/2013/07/avoiding-stress-after-diagnosis/

[compsports]

Hi Finn,

 

Can't remember if I posted this previously so forgive me if I have. This reminds me of a story of someone who reviewed the "Anatomy" book who was diagnosed with BP disorder. When she complained to her psychiatrist that the meds were interferring with her cognitive abilities in a well paid occupation, the idiot doctor said she had to lower her expectations. This woman instead decided to go off of the medications even though she continued to struggle greatly with symptoms. But she figured that was a better alternative vs. being poor and depending on a disability check.

 

CS

[Narcissus]

Thank you Finn, this kind of stuff makes me feel a little more hopeful about the psychology world.

[Finn]

http://blog.case.edu/think/2013/07/10/a_fundamental_problem_for_brain_mapping

 

Brain mapping experiments attempt to identify the cognitive functions associated with discrete cortical regions. They generally rely on a method known as “cognitive subtraction.” However, recent research reveals a basic assumption underlying this approach—that brain activation is due to the additional processes triggered by the experimental task—is wrong

 

Uh oh.

 

I love neuroscience and cognitive psychology, but there's a part of me that snickers whenever a mistake comes up because it's a strike against the medical model fundamentalists.

[Finn]

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/07/12/2293471/cook-county-jail-mental-health-provider/

 

"How Chicago’s Cook County Jail Became America’s Largest Mental Health Care Provider"

 

Cuts, stigma, more budget cuts and lack of concern. Also, cuts.

 

Basically, the state is forcing these people to go into withdrawal since they only give them weeks of medication...

 

Where's the path out of this?