Wednesday, January 23, 2013

anti the anti anti-depressents

             
                                                                     Catharsis
Shifting the Blame
Res Ipsa Loquitor

Here's an interesting list for perusal. "Better Living Through Chemistry"?
Seems to me the assault should be on the drug companies not the 2nd amendment.
Click on the blue 'What' to access a story. Click on a red column heading to sort the index by that column.
Prozac WITHDRAWAL
2008-02-15
Illinois
** 6 Dead: 15 Wounded: Perpetrator Was in Withdrawal from Med & Acting Erratically
Prozac Antidepressant
2005-03-24
Minnesota
**10 Dead: 7 Wounded: Dosage Increased One Week before Rampage
Paxil [Seroxat] Antidepressant
2001-03-10
Pennsylvania
**14 Year Old GIRL Shoots & Wounds Classmate at Catholic School
Zoloft Antidepressant & ADHD Med
2011-07-11
Alabama
**14 Year Old Kills Fellow Middle School Student

Skyhawker Doug sent me this link to SSRI Stories Antidepressant Nightmares.  Included is the chart partially shown above.

"Seems to me the assault should be on the drug companies not the 2nd amendment."

Why?  All this shows is that some (very high) percentage of shooters are unstable (duh), and that some of them have a prescription for an antidepressant.  It does not show how many were prescribed after treatment by a psychiatrist, as should probably always be the case,  or were instead diagnosed by the family MD who gave antidepressants to patients with vague symptoms.  La la La. My guess is most of them the latter.

Back in the 90's Ralph Nader, and also the Church of Scientology,  used this same "Blame Game." They tried to have Prozac declared a dangerous substance by the FDA.  Ralph Nader's motive was to serve his  tort lawyer clientèle with a basis for class action lawsuits against pharmaceuticals.  The Church of Scientology saw, and sees, antidepressants as the  competition.  The move ultimately failed, and  it would not surprise me a bit to discover some of the same people are involved here.

In 1993 I was diagnosed (by a shrink) as suffering from severe clinical depression.  I had, like most people, equated "depression," or the earlier, broadly used melancholia, like,  you know. Depressed, as when the Redskins lost the Super Bowl and the Terps get  hammered by NC State—on the same day!  It is not the same thing.  A few shots of Jack Daniels will restore happiness there, but will likely aggravate Depression.

Res Ipsa LoquitorFor me it was, as best as I can describe it, like a dark curtain descending, and enveloping you in the blink of an eye. With no obvious trigger.  Darkness.  At its worst,  it lasted for days.  But not once did I find myself filled with rage.  Instead, I simply didn't give a shit.  Couldn't get excited about anything, and blamed myself for everything.  Didn't care about anything, but I knew it was important to show, somehow,  my family that I did care, because they were the only thing I knew that I wanted feelings for. 

This is a tough thing, when your employer is 100% dependent on your productivity to keep the ship afloat.  I fell unemployed.  The very short bottom line is that, for me, Zoloft did two things.  It allowed me to see sunshine, and it stabilized my mood so that there were no sudden swings into that darkness.  There was always some sun.  There is some downside;  like your days as a porn star are over (*wink wink*).  I've had trouble sustaining long term interest in a lot of things.  Where I once read three-four books a week, I now will have six books I've read partially lying about. But you learn to cope.

There have been constants through all this, and this one is germane.  I was before, during, and after a close observer of American politics, and spent most of my television time watching C-Span (or Mystery Science Theater on Saturday).  During all that time I had recognized that the Democrat Party's agenda was identical to the American Communist Party's.  They are massive liars, and survived only because big media are bodyguards of those lies.  There is not a chance in hell however that I would employ violence.  My upbringing (Catholic schools) left me with an ethos that forbids both suicide and wanton murder.   My greatest blessings have been my family; especially MoSup who has suffered without complaint and—wait!  I know her trick!  She wants to be canonized; and probably will be, with me as her first qualifying miracle.  Whoa!



7 comments:

gadfly said...

If you need to be shocked (pun intended), read this 13 page PDF entitled: "Anatomy of an Epidemic:
Psychiatric Drugs and the Astonishing
Rise of Mental Illness in America"

Jess said...

We've created a society where a constant jumble of input is the same as spending hours in flight from a predator. Something has to give and medications are the current relief. They work, although the result isn't always what was anticipated.

Anonymous said...

My brother the shrink noted two things about meds and kids{young people}.

One, The meds are in some cases NOT tested on younger people, with unexpected results in some cases... The dosage prescribed is sometimes a SWAG, as there are no 'guidelines' on the label.
Two, people who suddenly stop taking whatever they are prescribed can go whacko{scientific term}. Behavior may become very unstable. Reactions to normal occurrences may result in totally unexpected behavior.
His generic comment was that our brain is constantly bathed in a 'soup' of endocrine stuff, hormones, and things I cannot name. Adding or subtracting from the 'recipe' is like having too many cooks adding ingreedaments....
For credence, he noted the effects of one of the drugs he prescribed as 'filling a particular receptor' and thought to himself "This would make a good anti-smoking drug". It was later prescribed as such. He cares about his patients, and has never in 20+ years mentioned one name written or aloud.
tomw

Rodger the Real King of France said...

I cannot disagree. In my case I spent two + years of weekly evaluation (at $120 a pop). After first using Prozac, and later undergoing a 9 month blind test of Paxil, I finally settled with Zoloft. It was a long road, but I had my life restored, if not a reliable boner.

The point here is however, that the reason people wind up using these drugs in the first place is they have exhibited some instability-to someone- over an extended period of time. Would giving Charles Manson Prozac have changed anything? Who knows, but I doubt it.

By the by, the son of a lovely family in our community, a boy with straight As in school, and devoted to fitness and a non-smoker, took a hit off a joint at a party. It sent him into a place he never recovered from. He started running naked through the neighborhood, and other bizarre behavior. Has been closeted in various mental institutions for over 25 years. Go figure.

Anonymous said...

I had no idea Rog-I'm glad you're better dude.
MM

I had that same Catholic upbringing-St Lamberts/St George-and I gotta tell ya, I'd have not the slightest problem stringing up certain DC pols.

I mean that in a kite flying kind of stringing up of course

Anonymous said...

Been fighting the big D since I recognized it in me at 16. Dont take drugs so its an uphill battle. Deaths in the family is the worst time of all. Keep fighting it and you are right that family makes it all worthwhile.

from the deep pit x

Merrily said...

Going cold turkey off Cymbalta because I don't even remember who I am. We'll find out. *brain zap*

Post a Comment

Just type your name and post as anonymous if you don't have a Blogger profile.