Am still reading Robert Whitaker's well-researched Anatomy of an Epidemic that talks about the partnership of the American Psychiatric Association, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), the NIMH (Natl Institute of Mental Health, academic psychiatrists and the drug companies. These powerhouses have managed to control what the public thinks about mental illness.
I, for one, bought it hook, line and stinker.
My credo was 'stay on your meds.' If they're not working, something else will.
Celeste called me two weeks ago. She wanted to start attending New Directions again. She was so ill, however, she couldn't make the meeting last week. I rarely call people back, but while reading Anatomy last nite, I thought, "My god, this is what Celeste is going thru. I've gotta tell her. Her medication is making her feel suicidal."
When I called her this morning she said she had thought about taking an entire bottle of Ambien last nite.
Her mind is so confused she can't think straight. She called her psychiatrist Dr X over the weekend who prescribed more meds. After talking to the doctor, Celeste said to her husband, "Dr X is an idiot."
Then why are you seeing her, I asked.
She said she didn't have anyone else to see. I'd given her a few names but they were too expensive.
I gave her more names today.
"You're worth it, Celeste," I said. "Your life depends on spending the money and seeing a good doctor."
She thought her husband and 3-year-old son would be better off w/o her.
But now I told her she's gotta see someone who will take her OFF these meds. Dr X is incompetent.
Truth is, tho, that some people in our support group are doing quite well on meds. Good! Let's not mess with that. Just the folks that are doing consistently poorly.
What might help them?
Coincidentally, my friend Stephen emailed me this post from the Huffington Post by psychiatrist Peter Breggin, who calls himself a 'reform psychiatrist.' That's just what we're looking for. Here's the article.
Breggin and his wife Ginger have started a new nonprofit from their home in Ithaca, New York, where he sees all manner of patients. I had even suggested to Celeste she call or email him (he lists his contact info) and have a paid phone consultation with him.
I am desperate to get help for this good woman.
Breggin espouses compassionate psychotherapy on his website. Yes! Psychotherapy by a psychiatrist.
Roll back the calendar folks. We're going back to the old days when schizophrenia and bipolar disorder resolved themselves w/o drugs. Sure, a person may have been delusional or hallucinating but if they were kept safe, the episode would pass and they would go into remission. The era of antipsychotics created a revolving door of needing more and more drugs b/c the brain's neurotransmitters became overloaded with drugs and couldn't recover.
Turns out it was not only antipsychotics that were loading up our brains which never had time to recover, but also the much-touted antidepressants (the new generation started in 1988 with the invention of Prozac which should NEVER have been approved) and also benzodiazepines.
So all these drugs have been ruining the minds of many of us.
Once upon a time, manic-depression, which is what I had, was RARE. Then due to the powerhouses the diagnostic criteria ballooned so that it appeared as if more cases were being seen. In fact, more people were swept up in the diagnostic net. At the same time, our society grew more harried. The pressures on people to succeed and to make money, to graduate from college in the 'expected time' did cause people to crack.
There are no easy answers.
On Sunday, I saw my therapy client "Evelyn." I hadn't seen her in months. She is severely impaired and refused to bathe. I told her I wouldn't see her unless she was clean. Call me, I said, after you bathe.
I met her at her favorite restaurant. She had ballooned to over 200 pounds. She looked awful. She never looked good, I'm sure due to all her psychiatric drugs. But she loves her meds and has complete faith in them.
She told me she was on a new drug....Zyprexa.
I exploded. Zyprexa, the worst drug of all. Her new young doctor at Creekwood prescribed it. Why? She doesn't hear voices (not yet anyway) or have manic episodes. She told him she needed something to help her sleep.
I told her the drug causes rapid weight gain, and leads to metabolic syndrome and diabetes.
She didn't believe me.
All you need to do is goggle Zyprexa and you'll find the proof.
To reiterate, a great many people in our group are doing just fine on their meds. See y'all later tonite.
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