You do know that "antidepressive" and "antipsychotic" are make believe terms. They were coined/invented to mimic the word antibiotic. Bacteria and penicillin have logical, scientifically viewable results when mixed.
Depression and psychotic are totally unscientific and unmeasurable in a petri dish(unlike bacteria), so to dose out a drug in milligram fashion just like its affecting a bacteria is quackery. I wish regular doctors (that use science) would publicly distance themselves further from the "art" of psychiatry.

I recently ran into this "overmedication" issue again when I saw my new shrink at my new HMO (a very large facility in Southern California.) I was having trouble sleeping and in my refusal to take poision like Seroquel anymore, I asked for Lunesta to get me through the short bout of insomnia I was having. My new shrink told me that this HMO did not prescribe Lunesta because it was too expensive but wanted to increase my dose of Lamictal which was already at 200 mg. Now, I have been told that 200mg is a theraputic dose and I don't have a problem with depression to begin with. After my refusal to increase the Lamictal and my insistance for Lunesta, my sleep was back to normal within a few days. Thanks doc.

Right on, Philip, you really have hit the nail on the head as far as one of the biggest problems in psychiatric drug treatment today. For years treatment providers have assumed that if one got worse after treatment started it was still the "underlying disease" and therefore one needed more "treatment" not less. In fact, IMHO, if one gets worse, it probably has very little to do with the "disease" and a heck of a lot to do with the confounding effects of treatment and adverse reactions. Let's not forget that antidepressants can INDUCE mania and psychosis especially the larger the doses get. It is truly amazing that pharmaceutical companies could pull the wool over docs eyes about this for so long. (Let's remember the companies make more money the larger the doses.) When a dose of Prozac was making someone worse, increasing it was exactly the wrong thing to do. It should have been tapered to something smaller and probably a concomitant sedative (or tranquilizer) should have been prescribed for at least a short while. Thanks for sharing your story.

Your steadfastness in finding a treatment that works is amazing; thanks for writing this. It is a good example of never giving up no matter how hard it gets, and no matter how long it takes.

As far as antipsychotics go: I totally agree they are more aggressive meds, and in my opinion harder to remove. I saw first-hand how dangerous using double the standard doses of Zyprexa and Haldol could be to a person when used together in a treatment plan.

As consumers we really do not have many choices out there for treatment, and I find this completely intolerable and unacceptable. Our fate really is placed right now in Pharma's hands.At the expense of our health, minds, jobs, careers, and lives,the pharmaceutical industry is harming innocent people every day, and the doctors who prescribe these medications without caution, are not doing their job responsibly. The fact that we can get any psych medication from a general practioner without psychiatric follow-up is in my opinion endangerment of lives.

I, too, have been the victim of over-medication and I began my journey in the mid 80's, so had no access to any reliable information which would allow me to question my treatment. By the time I seriously started questioning my treatment I was on 200 mg of Zoloft, 50 mg of Seroquel, 6 mg of Risperal,(I'd been on as much as 11 mg before adding Seroquel) 3 mg of Klonopin and 400 mg of Lamictal. Before deciding drugs were making me sicker I tried various stimulants to wake me up out of my drug induced stupor.

Now I've been withdrawing from meds for about 3 years. I'm off Zoloft, off Seroquel and down to 7/8 mg of Risperdal. Have I seen even a hint of relapse...NO. I plan to continue my withdrawal all the way to zero. I'm using Breggins method of 5%-10% taper of current dose as soon as I feel okay again. Withdrawal is not easy. It must be done painfully slowly...there are withdrawal effects, but it's become clear to me that is what they are and not relapse. I supplement with healthy food and nutrients. I still have a journey ahead of me. I don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will make it to my goal, but it's looking likely to me right now. Learning how to cope and accept some pain and suffering as part of life seems like the way for me to go.

Good comments from the above posters.

The MHRA (The UK equivalent of the FDA) is under the same spell of cronyism and intellectual dishonesty that the FDA is in the US.

Its the same pharma companies, using the same diagnostic manuals, under the same auspices.

Are the newer drugs good for patients or good for profits?

Are there more disorders being diagnosed because the disorders are easier to diagnose, or because the criteria has been rewritten so that almost anyone can fall into the diagnostic criteria, and then be medicated? (see Dunner, David: bipolar studies).

The newer anti-psychotics have proven to be no better than the old ones, like lithium. Unlike the newer drugs, lithium has actually been shown to lower suicide rates.

The only study comparing Lithium to Zyprexa head on was of course paid and sponsored by Eli Lilly - Am J Psychiatry 2005;162:1281-1290.

I found your blog last week and have been enjoying the archives. I wanted to add a comment when I read Gianna's post.
Compounding the problem of forever increasing doses is the problem of always adding new drugs to the mix. As everyone here knows, once you're on one, the number is only going up. Whether or not you feel "better" and thus a treatment "works" is by comparison to the last med that made you feel awful, not how you felt before you started the med roller-coaster in the first place.

I had been over-medicated for 5 years before I finally got skeptical (I read "Mad in America"). I weaned off of zyprexa, klonopin, tegretol and lamictal very very gradually over the last 4 years. Once I got past the zyprexa withdrawal (the worst experience of my life--far worse then the problems that got me into meds in the first place--fortunately my withdrawal induced disabling movement disorder was not permanent), I've only gotten better and have been med-free since Nov 22nd. Given that there hasn't been a blip on the symptom radar screen in years, even during withdrawal, I'm cautiously optimistic. Hang in there Gianna--go slow, especially with the atypicals. For me, 5-10% at a time was sometimes too much.

I can't believe those sons of bitches fired you for that. Goddamnit.

Priscilla--School Districts play hardball.Often, if they do not call you on it directly such as being fired--they have indirect, and often unprovable(in court) 'blackball' techniques. Esp if you are in a position to be hired, or contract renewed ,your file can be red-flagged marked 'no hire', or if you are a substitute they place you on a 'blocked' list.

As is typical, your readers have posted many interesting comments. 80 mg's of Prozac. Dude, that's a LOT of the 'Zac! At some point, I should be posting more about the akasthisia associated with SSRIs and how Lilly, among others, has suppressed the data. The "blame the disease, not the drug" thing is standard copy for Big Pharma. Look at Zyprexa and diabetes -- Zyprexa does not cause diabetes, schizophrenia does. SSRIs don't cause dependence -- depression just happens to come back quickly to people who stop taking SSRIs. SSRI's don't cause suicide -- depression does. And so forth...

Sidenote: Re: insurance.

Growing up w/Kaiser: this insurance is awful. Patients fight to get into specialists, it is rediculous.

Current: Blue Cross.

I thought, oh wow, the company upgraded, this will be the end of my worries re: med bills. Instead, I have paid more out of pocket med expenses ever in ONE year. Just this week, I have had to manage my rocky stability every single day, even today--when finding bills in my mailbox, surpassing the 1200.00 mark in one week....over 'not paid by insurance.' Overlake Hospital in the Seattle area sent a bill to debt collectors before I received notice from them for a bill that was incurred over a year ago---for my daughter's suicidal assessment and ITA.(Involuntary Treatment Act, committment: because the doc and the psych hosp told me to do it, for lack of inpatient medical insurance coverage.)

Insurance and mental health are not good dance partners. Parity , equality in health coverage NOW.

This may sound kind of odd considering how much I (and my family) have paid out of pocket for me to receive mental health care, but I am concerned about parity in health coverage. What is the incentive for a psych hospital to ever release a patient if they are still going to be receiving compensation? Knowing that my insurance benefits had run out is what convinced the psych hospital I was well enough to be released. If parity existed I would most likely still be in some psych hospital doing mindless stupid tasks like coloring pictures or having to go to "group" and answer questions like: "If you were an animal in a circus, what kind of animal would you be?" Thank GOD parity did not exist and I got the hell out.

Lisa,
I understand what you are saying. Yet, having a lifetime cap on inpatient stays in a psych ward adds up to your entire lifetime. Depending on a person's age, the younger the person is when inpatient days run out --well it often leaves no option for care.
My daughter's lifetime cap ran out before she turned 18 yrs.old.
As an adult now, she has her entire life left without primary insurance coverage. If she needs psych hosp inpatient care in her 20's, 30's or 60's...she has no insurance. A lifetime to hope a person doesn't need inpatient care is a stressor right there.
This was very disheartening as a parent, to visit a child on "the non-insured" floor of the County hospital.
Just another perspective. I also agree, the mindless coloring and group sessions are challenging.(as entertainment and a way to pass time in a bad situation). What I observed though after many months, is that some patients need this. The one's that don't are more on the road to recovery.

I just had to emphasize a key point here re: health insurance. It ran out for inpatient psych ward hospital care. The phrase out-of-pocket---is why I no longer have cash reserves left to pay for care that is not covered by insurance. I paid a private hospital over 20,000.00 in just a few months in 1999 for my daughter's care. It's been a long road of negotating, juggling credit cards to pay balances due, and bills being paid for with uncompensated care and now medicaide/medical coupons that my daughter was able to aquire due to being a legal adult. There is still insurance coverage (that still leaves large out of pocket expenses due and large co-pays for my own meds)for my daughter.
This is what my point is that causes me to say parity and equality for mental health coverage. If my daughter had to go to the hospital for brain surgery or an MRI, the bill is covered by insurance.
What is the difference, if she was psychotic or has an operable brain malformation.
Both should be equally paid for, and covered by insurance.
If a person is out of cash, and inpatient insurance, which many Americans, sadly fall into this category--well this is an area that stretches into homeless living on the streets, and patients not adhering to treatment, for lack of ability to pay for it.

I am so thankful that I found this sote. I have been over medicated myself, with a doctor wanting me on 80mgs of Prozac, 150mgs of Wellbutrin, 600mgs of Neurontin, Xanaz as needed, 200mgs of Lamictal.....Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!