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• Thursday, May 17, 2007 07:40 PM

  What to say?

  What can be said to such a story? I have worked with the severely mentally ill for many years. I know what "crazy" is like, and I've seen the anguish of the families who watch their loved ones become strangers to them. I have sat in the offices of psychiatrists and seen drug company reps -- young ladies with high heels and short skirts carrying samples and everything from pads of paper to wall clocks advertising their wares -- strut in like peacocks, oblivious to the suffering people sitting around them. I have talked to people who were put on medications that caused their conditions to worsen, who were not believed by whoever was providing their care until it was almost too late.

  And yet. And yet. I have met some incredibly brilliant, dedicated, and kind psychiatrists who choose to work for far less money than their specialization is worth because they want to help the poor. I have met dozens and dozens of clients whose lives have been made infinitely better and sometimes even saved by the psychotropic medications they take, including the ones mentioned in this article.

  So what to make of a story like this one? Here's what I would suggest:

  1. Be an advocate for yourself. Do not go into a doctor's office (any doctor!) and blindly accept his or her diagnosis or prognosis or prescription. Research, but be careful not to believe everything you read on either side of the issue, especially on the internet. For every horror story, there are many many more in between.

  2. If you are not pleased with the way your medication is working for you, either get your doctor to help you change or eliminate it, or get a new doctor.

  But BUT 3. If you are suffering or your family member is suffering from depression or psychosis or any of the other innumerable psychiatric ailments that can destroy lives, DON'T read this article and conclude that medications are all or always the wrong choice, because sometimes they save lives.

  I'm expecting that this thread is going to include a number of posts trashing all medications, especially antidepressants, as unnecessary in the least and harmful at the worst. And there are stories like this one to demonstrate aptly that they are clearly no panacea and should not be taken lightly. However, there are equally harrowing anecdotes I could tell about what happens when families in denial refuse to allow their mentally ill charges to take the medications they need to stop a worsening depression or treat a psychosis spiraling out of control. So I worry every time Salon publishes an article on this topic -- how many people read these articles and read our understandably angry responses and continue in the hell of mental illness because they take an anecdote to be proof positive that there is no help for them?

  —DonaQuixote Read DonaQuixote's other letters
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