Do you think people should take psychiatric drugs? (1 Viewer)

[George_Washington]

This may not seem like a political issue at first but it is, really. It is somewhat of a hot and controversial topic nowadays. As you know, doctors and pharmaceutical companies are all for them but certain religious groups are against their use.

I am wondering what you guys think: Should people take psychiatric drugs? If so, do you think the use of psychiatric drugs would actually help to curb crime? If you are against these drugs, would you support legislation to curtail or even ban the distribution of them?

I am not so sure where I stand. I realize some people suffer from depression and such. If they want to take psychiatric drugs, that's fine. I wouldn't want to pass a law banning the drugs altogether. But then again, you hear about people having bad experiences with psychiatric drugs all the time. I know that the Church of Scientology and Tom Cruise, for example, oppose psychiatric drugs. I personally think I feel that people should try their best to get along without the drugs and look at other ways to make themselves happy, such as exercise, developing better interpersonal relationships, working, etc. But I don't have any problem with people taking the drugs if they like. I mean, I wouldn't look down upon anyone for taking them.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

I think there's a portion of the people currently on psychiatric medication-- less than 100%, but probably a solid majority-- who need their medications and should take them. However, I think that they are overprescribed and that too many mental health professionals practice "diagnosis by treatment"-- figuring out what's wrong with the patient by trying drugs until something works.

I also think that psychiatrists are way too quick to prescribe powerful psychiatric drugs to adolescents whose brains are still physically developing and whose personalities are not yet fully formed-- and I believe that this practice is causing a great deal of harm.

If you were to compare psychiatry to Scientology, though... I think the former does far more good and far less harm than the latter per person subjected to them.

 

[FallingPianos]

I think there's a portion of the people currently on psychiatric medication-- less than 100%, but probably a solid majority-- who need their medications and should take them. However, I think that they are overprescribed and that too many mental health professionals practice "diagnosis by treatment"-- figuring out what's wrong with the patient by trying drugs until something works.

I also think that psychiatrists are way too quick to prescribe powerful psychiatric drugs to adolescents whose brains are still physically developing and whose personalities are not yet fully formed-- and I believe that this practice is causing a great deal of harm.

:yt

yes, exactly...

 

[talloulou]

I didn't answer your poll 'cause it's too vague. Should people use psychiatric drugs?

In my opinion not as much as they do but obviously for some things they really work.

I'd never allow a psychiatrist to put my son on drugs cause he was hyper and made teachers work hard in school.....sadly I think this is happening to way too many boys across the country in the guise of a disease called ADD which I believe is more a personality thing than a mental illness. I believe back in the day it used to be called..."Boys will be boys," with a big sigh!

 

[steen]

I'd never allow a psychiatrist to put my son on drugs cause he was hyper and made teachers work hard in school.....sadly I think this is happening to way too many boys across the country in the guise of a disease called ADD which I believe is more a personality thing than a mental illness.

ADHD meds shoudl NEVER be prescribed as "crowd control." It would strictly be for the benefit of the child's ability to learn. If the grades are suffering due to inattention, then a medication might help on the grades. That would be the reason for prescribing the drugs. teachers not liking the behavior is not.

Unless it benefits the kid, it is not an issue for prescription.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

Personally, I don't mind adults using psychiatric medicines for performance enhancement. I've used stimulants-- legal stimulants-- for similar purposes for years.

It's just like steroids. Unless you're playing professional ball or you're in the Olympics, and I think you ought to have every right to use the juice, or HGH, or whatever else you feel appropriate.

I'm not some libertarian who thinks we have an inalienable right to get whacky on the junk, but I do think that as long as people are behaving in a generally orderly, responsible, and productive fashion, the State ought to treat them as adults.

 

[aps]

I'd never allow a psychiatrist to put my son on drugs cause he was hyper and made teachers work hard in school.....sadly I think this is happening to way too many boys across the country in the guise of a disease called ADD which I believe is more a personality thing than a mental illness. I believe back in the day it used to be called..."Boys will be boys," with a big sigh!

My nephew has ADHD. Prior to his going on medication, he had no friends because kids did not like to be around him. His teachers didn't like him because he would constantly act up during class, and his grades stunk. Now, he has lots of friends, his teachers love him, and his grades are excellent. When he is not on his medication, he is tough to be around because he is obnoxious, mean, and can't sit still. It's like Jeckyl and Hide. I feel for him because he has no control over himself when he is not on his meds.

 

[talloulou]

My nephew has ADHD. Prior to his going on medication, he had no friends because kids did not like to be around him. His teachers didn't like him because he would constantly act up during class, and his grades stunk. Now, he has lots of friends, his teachers love him, and his grades are excellent. When he is not on his medication, he is tough to be around because he is obnoxious, mean, and can't sit still. It's like Jeckyl and Hide. I feel for him because he has no control over himself when he is not on his meds.

I don't know your nephew so I understand that you are more equipped to say whether the meds are good for him or not.

However I will point out that Albert Einstein hated school, his grades were horrible, and he was evenutally expelled from High School.

Perhaps he could have been given medication that would have changed all that but what else would it have changed? Would he still have been a genius physicist?

He was considered to be an almost radical independent non-conformist thinker who contributed a great deal to physics. It's possible that medication would have made him even greater but it's also possible that medication would have turned him into just another sheep.

 

[steen]

It is fascinating how, the more right-wing one is, the more they feel it imp;ortant to interceede into medical decisions between physicians and their patients.

 

[George_Washington]

I don't know your nephew so I understand that you are more equipped to say whether the meds are good for him or not.

However I will point out that Albert Einstein hated school, his grades were horrible, and he was evenutally expelled from High School.

Perhaps he could have been given medication that would have changed all that but what else would it have changed? Would he still have been a genius physicist?

See, I think that those people might have been temporarily helped by psychiatric drugs but I don't think they probably would have helped them indefinitely. Because the human brain and humans in general are so complex, that we are only beginning to understand these entities.

Also, I think a lot of real successful and smart people would probably not want to take psychiatric drugs, just out of their own pride in themselves. For example, Howard Hughes suffered from depression, hallucinations, compulsive disorder, and paranoia. If he were alive today, probably a lot of people would recommend that he see a psychiatrist. However, knowing how, "energetic" and "ambitious" he was, he probably would have just tried to get through life without them. You know what I mean?

So no, I don't think psychiatric drugs can be given to everyone, despite their mental condition.

He was considered to be an almost radical independent non-conformist thinker who contributed a great deal to physics. It's possible that medication would have made him even greater but it's also possible that medication would have turned him into just another sheep.

Well, just to clarify...Einstein wasn't really that much of a, "non-conformist" as a lot of people have claimed over the years. People have made all kinds of accusations about him. But really, his political views were really pretty moderate and he had rejected quantum mechanics, which would have made him conservative by that viewpoint.

 

[George_Washington]

It is fascinating how, the more right-wing one is, the more they feel it imp;ortant to interceede into medical decisions between physicians and their patients.

Who, me? Dude, I just said in my starting thread that I wouldn't stop people from taking psychiatric drugs. I'm just trying to give my opinion on the whole issue, I'm not trying to rally a political movement against psychiatric drugs.

Actually, one could argue that people who are all for the drug companies and don't speak out against them are actually more, "right wing". I'm a Republican but I'm not blind towards these corporations.