June 30, 2006

The Brilliance Of Spikol

I've meant to link to this post of Liz Spikol's for a couple of days, because it says much of what I've tried to get at on this blog for the last 9 months only Liz does it with 10 times the eloquence and none of the bullshit. She's responding to queries from the anti-psychiatry crowd (whom she and I both respect) and laying out her own thinking (with which I largely agree). Better late than never, I quote from some of it and link to the rest:

"It would be ridiculous to "worship" any field of medicine. It's not a question of emotion. I take pragmatic advantage of the medical services available to me—in every context. I treat my asthma the same way I treat my psychiatric illness: When I have a problem, I address it with a trained professional. I haven't been schooled in how to treat lung disease, so I rely on my doctor. If my medication is causing unacceptable side effects (my old inhaler gave me oral thrush), I go for a medical consultation and we adjust the treatment. I approach psychiatry in exactly the same way.

In my experience—and I've only been doing the journalism thing for seven years, so I still have a lot to learn—I have literally never met a person with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder who was able to be medication-free for a lifetime and still maintain the kind of life that worked for them and for others. I have seen many people who were medication-free but still plagued by demons, or at least compromised in some way by the illness. This isn't to say there's no other way. It's to say that's been my experience as a journalist, patient, friend and family member."

Oh, and Spikol has also begun a book club and if you are interested in such matters go here.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at June 30, 2006 12:04 AM
StumbleUpon Toolbar del.icio.us Digg it reddit

pic1.jpg

Patient Blogs. Sites.
Doctor Blogs. Sites.
Activists. News.
Social Networking. Forums.
Science. Big Pharma. Ethics.
Current Affairs
Seattle Stuff
Smoking. Stuff.

Info
About Furious Seasons
Email
Other Articles
ZYPREXA Documents
Alt ZYPREXA Documents Source
Blakemore-Brown Transcript

 Subscribe in a reader

Recent Entries
George Carlin
Doctor Calls For Loosening Of DSM Criteria For Adult ADD
Lilly Releases Zyprexa Long-Term Injectable Data
When I'll Be Posting
Cymbalta For Knee Pain?
When Do You Read?
FDA Didn't Get Paxil Risk Documents
Feds Probing Glaxo Over Hidden Paxil Suicidality Data
Neuroscientist Slams The Bipolar Child Paradigm
Thirteen Percent Of Pregnant Moms Using Anti-Depressants
Suicide Down In 2006
Congressmen Call For End To Chantix Tests On Vets
Depression Linked To Absolutely Everything, Solutions Elusive
Paxil On Trial
Military Vets Used As Research Guinea Pigs
Recent Comments
Archives
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
Resources
Mental Health America
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
National Institute of Mental Health
McMan Web
Search


Powered by
Movable Type 3.2