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Pharmaceutical Companies
- Thread starter Oats
- Start date
taromina2003
Member
Hello Oats! you often post very intelligent and thought provoking questions. I can't speak for mental illness, but as a typical American who has in the past wanted what I wanted and I want it right now LOL I can say that it is that kind of attitude that has the Pharmaceutical companies billions of dollars weathy and running alot of shows. We as Americans take a pill for every ache and pain and instead of finding joy through the Love of the Heavenly father we often times take a pill to get over depression and or anxieity, I personally have never taken anti depressants but honey I have taken just about every other drug out there including illicit drugs as well as alcohol.
Americans want quick fixes for everything is basically what I am saying. We are spoiled rotten in so many ways. Again I cannot speak for all but myself and IMO I think it is the "quick fix" attitude that keeps us slaves to the market.
Christ_empowered
Member
Pharmaceutical companies need to be understood for what they are: money-making enterprises. Their job is to take drugs--the newer drugs, mind you--and get as many people to take them as possible. So, on the one hand, I'd say take their claims with a grain of salt. However, they do sometimes produce some good products--I'd like to thank Big Pharma for my antipsychotic (its one of the newer ones, with fewer side effects than the old pills) and my (now generic) antidepressant.
Now, what I don't like is how we've not only been encouraged to take a pill-for-every-ill, the pills prescribed are almost always (big surprise here) the newest and most expensive ones available.
I think patients (and doctors, too) need to see that Big Pharma really is all about the money. Patients should try to solve their problems, whenever possible, without medical intervention, and doctors should try, whenever possible, to recommend non-drug options and/or prescribe lower cost, older medications. Its pretty simple, and its the kind of stuff groups such as Public Citizen have been advocating for years.
As for mental illness...I think there's mental illness, and then there's MENTAL ILLNESS. All too often, doctors diagnose what are really "problems in living" as some sort of mental illness and proceed to throw pills at the patient, I guess assuming that if they try enough meds, something will work. Then there's problems such as bipolar, schizophrenia, schizoaffective, psychotic depression, etc....these aren't just troubling or inconvenient; these are potentially incapacitating illnesses that demand prompt, safe, effective treatment.
I'm in a similar situation as you, Oats. I'm not the biggest fan of Big Pharma, but I don't want to take Lithium or Haldol, so I take the newer stuff, and it works reasonably well. I'd recommend that you take your medication as prescribed, unless its causing you some serious problems, and then you might want to see about switching it up a little. Antipsychotics--new and old--aren't miracle drugs, but they are the best thing going for psychotic disorders.
Now, what I don't like is how we've not only been encouraged to take a pill-for-every-ill, the pills prescribed are almost always (big surprise here) the newest and most expensive ones available.
I think patients (and doctors, too) need to see that Big Pharma really is all about the money. Patients should try to solve their problems, whenever possible, without medical intervention, and doctors should try, whenever possible, to recommend non-drug options and/or prescribe lower cost, older medications. Its pretty simple, and its the kind of stuff groups such as Public Citizen have been advocating for years.
As for mental illness...I think there's mental illness, and then there's MENTAL ILLNESS. All too often, doctors diagnose what are really "problems in living" as some sort of mental illness and proceed to throw pills at the patient, I guess assuming that if they try enough meds, something will work. Then there's problems such as bipolar, schizophrenia, schizoaffective, psychotic depression, etc....these aren't just troubling or inconvenient; these are potentially incapacitating illnesses that demand prompt, safe, effective treatment.
I'm in a similar situation as you, Oats. I'm not the biggest fan of Big Pharma, but I don't want to take Lithium or Haldol, so I take the newer stuff, and it works reasonably well. I'd recommend that you take your medication as prescribed, unless its causing you some serious problems, and then you might want to see about switching it up a little. Antipsychotics--new and old--aren't miracle drugs, but they are the best thing going for psychotic disorders.
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