Furious Seasons

October 10, 2005

A Reader Comments on Meds

Concering some of my recent comments on meds and their side effects, a reader commented:

"I'm just asking of you to not be so incredibly closed minded when it comes to psychiatric medication. Really."

Ok, she said some other things as well. But...I can assure you I am not closed-minded on meds. I take them now and always have...17 of them in all over the years. And I haven't gone on and off them randomly like some patients do. Also, I actually think meds are essential...a complicated issue for another post.

For the moment, let me just point out that psychiatry is a profession riven with dishonesty between doctors and patients, especially when it comes to meds, and the Pharma companies are worse. Several of them have tried to dodge negative effects of their meds.

Right now, I am just beginning to hear some honesty from some docs about meds. Patients are stepping up and being honest about this too, after years of silence.

Why does that matter? Because it can help give patients some power in the equation with Pharma companies, the FDA, other governmental agencies, researchers and docs. We need and deserve far more power in this equation than we currently have.

We simply have to grab it.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at October 10, 2005 08:45 PM

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Comments

That point you made -- that it's important for patients to be aware of side effects so they can advocate for better medication -- is VERY interesting. I had never thought about that before.

Really, now your positon on medication makes a lot more sense. For a long time I thought you were simply being rebellious, or trying to be a pain, or something like that. In fact, I was so unsure of why you were saying those things, inspite of your intellect, that I thought maybe you were somewhat delusional in some way. I really could not make any sense out of it.

But now it's so much more clear. You're not trying to be definant, you're simply trying to make for a better future. That's really rather lovely. I would still just be a little wary in how you go about doing it, but otherwise, it's phenomenal.

Thank you for sharing!

Posted by: Gwen Davis at October 10, 2005 09:53 PM