The FDA doesn't require any drug ad mention what specific "class" it is in. So if you watch a regular Abilify commercial for bipolar disorder (which you can do on YouTube), you also won't hear the words "atypical antipsychotic" mentioned.

Not sure if the ad in question specifically says, "Abilify is an antidepressant..." but I'd be very surprised if it did. If, instead, the ad mentions adding Abilify to existing antidepressants (which it's approved for), then that seems like an appropriate and not all that surprising ad.

The labels "antipsychotics" and "antidepressants" are simply marketing ploys anyway and I think you are actually dignifying them too much by getting into this discussion on semantics. Both so called antipsychotics and so called antidepressants are not really truly indicated for either psychosis or depression. They work by sedation or stimulation and darn serious sedation or stimulation. Let's not dignify them by implying they are actually a "cure" for either psychosis or depression. All they do is knock you for a real loop so you don't even remember what your condition really was. If you want to read more on this way of viewing these medications read Joanna Moncrieff who has written an excellent book about the very great importance of calling a spade a spade -- The Myth of the Chemical Cure. Let's stop calling these drugs anti-anything and call them by what they really do -- either a stimulant or a sedative.

That's the same address and number (and nice person) I spoke to when I called to report Lamictal withdrawal side effects.

It all goes to the same dump bin.

I used the email function. I probably won't get a reply. I don't expect a reply. Okay, honestly? I don't care if I get a reply. I am just tired of seeing that junk advertising on TV.

If/when they take the Abilify commercial off TV, can they take Smilin' Bob and his junk (pun intended) off too?

The reality is that antipsychotics are not anti-depressants, pure and simple.

Not so pure and surely not so simple, really. Don't get hung up on the original label or class a particular medication is filed under. It is an antidepressant if it works as one, and if it's found to be useful for people with schizophrenia, it can also act as an antipsychotic. What's the big deal?

No one is forcing you to take a medication if you don't want to take it.

Dear Philip:

Now why the FDA would respond to any question or inquires from the public is beyond me; just because they are supposed to work for us (each and every Citizen). That would go against everything they stand for as a bought and paid for agency; like being in the pockets of Big Pharmaceutical, and under the influence of any corrupt Politian that happens to throw a bone their way.
Drug ads are absolutely ridiculous, dangerous, propaganda taken to its outer limits, and should be banned; but then Big Pharmaceutical Companies and Medical Corporations would just go under the table and directly market these drugs and treatments to doctors anywise. Isn’t it nice they can have it both ways, they can actually get Mr. Joe uninformed public to walk into a doctor’s office and ask to be poisoned.
This is beyond marketing genius and a power grab; it's the pinnacle of all business dreams and aspirations. When you have the government in your pocket, no one can touch you, and you’re free of all ethics, morals, boundaries, and conscious.
Isn’t uncontrolled greed just grand?

Yours truly,
Stan

Don't wait for reply.
They will never reply! But they need to know that people care about it.
They will never reply!
But they need to know that people care!

These ads put a psych-drug side by side with Coke and a toothpaste.
It's obscene.

For me, the issue isn't whether Abilify is "really" an antidepressant versus an antipsychotic, but that it is far more dangerous and expensive than other antidepressants. I'm always glad to hear about something that helps relieve suffering. But Abilify is way, way down my list of medications to consider for (non-psychotic) depression.

Choosing psychiatric medications based on their marketing materials -- now that's crazy.

"No one is forcing you to take a medication if you don't want to take it."
--'a believer'

Well, 'a believer'; there are people every single day in locked down psych wards and outpatient treatment care who suffer forced injections, forced ECT (Ray Sandford)and people who innocently trust doctors....then try and go off the meds and suffer withdrawals not acknowledged by the FDA, doctors and especially the pharma companies.

I would like to say one thing: fuck off.

People are not forced to take psych-drugs but they are told that:

- you'll feel fine;
- side effects are mild and disappear with time;
- the drugs are not addictive;
and many informations that conceal what is really at stake taking an anti-depressant or anti-pyschotic.

Now we are being told that the difference between an anti-depressant and an anti-psychotic is not relevant and the use off-label is normal.
If this is scientific I don't know.
All I known is that it's getting harder and harder to believe that psychiatrist really know what they are doing.
It's appalling that side effects are seen as diseases; diagnoses change during the treatment; little is known about the origin of diseases; withdrawal is not a concern; people fell long-term damage after quitting drugs...

Actually Ana, some people ARE forced to take drugs against their will. In my state they can force you to be on meds for up to five years, renewable as many times as the powers that be deem "necessary". I have met people in this situation and it's some scary.

Sherry,
I was trying to stress that by not telling about side effects and withdrawal problems - I've tapered Effexor for 19 months and after 3 months off the drug I had to take it again - is not a honest way to prescribe this drug.
I'll be forced to take Seroquel, Effexor and Rivotril for life due to withdrawal problems.
Nobody told me that these drugs are addictive. I have been on many psychiatrists blah blah blah...
I've seen lots of treatments being imposed to people.
There's a discussion on ECT going on here.

People ARE forced to take psych meds in group homes and outpatient in their own homes if on a court order, which in Washington state for example, is called an LRO (least restrictive order) and it can be a 90 day, or 180 day order. IF the person is not med-compliant they can end up back in a locked down psych ward, where the LRO was part of discharge plan.

My daughter was on an LRO to get out of the psych ward when I fought in court. It was either that 90 day court order or the state institution locked up forever.,

She is off the order now.