I am not an expert on the chemicals used by psychiatrists, in fact, my knowledge of them is scant, but, I do have a few words to say on the topic. I have never been prescribed any behavior modifying drugs, although I sure there are those who would have thought it a good idea, but, I have had friends who were and, just to see what they were going through, I sampled them, minimally.
Ritalin is often given for Attention Deficit Disorder, hyperactivity. It is amphetamine-like, as is the current favorite, Adderall, but the effects are not exactly the same. On Ritalin I found that I had none of the speed rush, but I was jittery, like I had downed a pot of coffee in 15 minutes, and had a splitting headache. For sure, I could concentrate, but I had no control over what I was concentrating on. I set out to read a book but rapidly found myself fascinated by the patterns in my bedroom wall's plaster. I have known folks who benefitted greatly from Ritalin but, I have known others given the drug to have a dreadful time with it. I have known no kids who were given the drug but, I am told that often it is prescribed when not needed and I cannot imagine what that might do to a kid.
My Mom, as a side effect to a drug she took for Parkinson's Disease, suffered intense hallucinations. When she called and demanded that I come over and kill the golden lizards that were swarming all over her front porch, I called her doctor who prescribed Haldol, an anti-psychotic. It worked wonders. I never sampled that so I don't know what it feels like, but, it worked wonders for her.
On the other hand, I have had friends given Thorazine and after seeing them become zombie-like, I gave it a try, actually twice. I knew it was an anti-psychotic and had heard that it would bring you off an unpleasant acid trip. It does. Five hours in and having a bad time, I took 1 and in no time, I was completely straight and had no noticeable side effects. The other time, to see what my friend was going through, I took one and had a nightmarish experience. I felt dead, could not think and moved very, very slowly. Now, my friend was troubled and truly weird, but by no means were they psychotic, and the drug was doing nothing but numbing them. They stopped taking it, changed some of their habits and began functioning well, after they quit taking the drug.
Another friend suffered from depression and took Stellazine. It worked wonders. Of course, out of curiosity and with a demented interest in scientific exploration, I took one. Well, I wasn't depressed; I simply became numb and lost the ability to walk a straight line for awhile; again, a nightmarish experience.
Of course, these days there are a wonderland of drugs to treat hyperactivity, psychosis, depression, mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc. So, what is the meaning of all of my rambling anecdotes. Just this. Some people do have legitimate chemical imbalances and they are greatly helped by these drugs. there is no doubt of that.
At the same time, there are doctors who are prescription happy and all too willing to give these extremely powerful and dangerous drugs to anyone with a little problem. Feeling sad? Take this. Feeling too excited and happy? Take this. Can't concentrate? Take this.
If you go to a therapist or doctor and the first thing they do is whip out a prescription pad, run quickly from their office. If, on the other hand, they order a physical exam and full blood work, and mention the possibility of things like brain scans, and, if, when they have a full view of your physical state, in your body and brain, and they have spoken to you at length about your life, your habits and those you associate with, they then recommend a drug, trust them and do as advised. This is especially true if you are having your kids evaluated. Just because a kid is jumpy and acts up and doesn't do well in school, doesn't mean they have ADD. It might just be that they are doing what most kids do so well, being annoying and difficult. Find a doctor who will rule out every other possibility before you let him put your kid on a drug. Remember, these are powerful drugs, no one really knows exactly how they work, and a human brain is not fully formed until they are around 20.
Do not put anything in your brain that you a) don't understand and b) that is unneeded. If you have a good doctor, trust him. If not, find one. If you have horrible side effects, talk to the doctor. If he doesn't listen, find another. The drugs used by psychiatrist are useful, even vital for some folks and you should never feel ashamed or stigmatized if you need them. The chemistry of our brain is unbelievably complex and it does, here and there, get off balance. On the other hand, medicating yourself into oblivion for no valid reason is just as bad. Be careful.
No comments:
Post a Comment