First, chunk of the reason why SSRIs and to a lesser extent benzodiazepines are (perhaps) overprescribed is that they are safe, at least in the short term. In the bad old times antidepressants were dangerous, let alone antipsychotics and such.
There's some interesting literature pointing to lithium as the Stephen-Curry-mit-Keith-Jarrett standard for long-term management of treatment-resistent depression, but man, taking lithium sucks. If all I had was the garden variety blues I would sure opt for the Zitalocipraoamezaxx they advertise on TV.
Second, I think people are over-eager to blame pharma and not the doctors. These are tools, people, and power tools at that. Yes, some research released by pharma is biased in that they do not release the unfavorable studies, but there are plenty of blogs out there poring over the technicalia, as well as sharing experiences in real patient care.
Maybe some of these things are overprescribed to the gen pop but they're still useful to us.
Third, isn't funny that we're expected to be open-minded about recreational drugs and puritannical about pharmaceuticals? Effectively in many parts of the world now you can legally buy weed but cannot get Klonopin when needed unless you work through the system somehow.
This should go without saying, but fourth: the goal of psychiatric treatment is never to make you happy or realignm your chakras. A pdoc doesn't ask "are you happy, are you sad", he asks "are you functional?" Meaning first: am I able to work? (This is the first thing -- it's not good for someone mentally ill to be homeless). Next: am I able to maintain and grow my personal relationships? Is my sex life ok? Am I overall satisfied with my quality of life and my ability to take and handle new challenges? If I can't get an erection (meds sometimes impact that), that's something he can try and help. If I'm questioning the usefulness of being a knowledge worker in a society pumped by a bubble of BS? That's on me.
First, chunk of the reason why SSRIs and to a lesser extent benzodiazepines are (perhaps) overprescribed is that they are safe, at least in the short term. In the bad old times antidepressants were dangerous, let alone antipsychotics and such.
There's some interesting literature pointing to lithium as the Stephen-Curry-mit-Keith-Jarrett standard for long-term management of treatment-resistent depression, but man, taking lithium sucks. If all I had was the garden variety blues I would sure opt for the Zitalocipraoamezaxx they advertise on TV.
Second, I think people are over-eager to blame pharma and not the doctors. These are tools, people, and power tools at that. Yes, some research released by pharma is biased in that they do not release the unfavorable studies, but there are plenty of blogs out there poring over the technicalia, as well as sharing experiences in real patient care.
Maybe some of these things are overprescribed to the gen pop but they're still useful to us.
Third, isn't funny that we're expected to be open-minded about recreational drugs and puritannical about pharmaceuticals? Effectively in many parts of the world now you can legally buy weed but cannot get Klonopin when needed unless you work through the system somehow.
This should go without saying, but fourth: the goal of psychiatric treatment is never to make you happy or realignm your chakras. A pdoc doesn't ask "are you happy, are you sad", he asks "are you functional?" Meaning first: am I able to work? (This is the first thing -- it's not good for someone mentally ill to be homeless). Next: am I able to maintain and grow my personal relationships? Is my sex life ok? Am I overall satisfied with my quality of life and my ability to take and handle new challenges? If I can't get an erection (meds sometimes impact that), that's something he can try and help. If I'm questioning the usefulness of being a knowledge worker in a society pumped by a bubble of BS? That's on me.
Your goals as a human being are still up to you.