Mental Illness

[otters~1]

Don't have enough experience with this to give anything but anecdotal evidence. But I do have a close friend who supposedly has ADHD and some other hyperactive things going on, so he takes pills. When he's off his pills he's huge fun to be around; when he's on them he sleeps through class and fails large swaths of high school.

Sometime in March he told his doctor where he could get off and tried pot instead. Didn't help.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

If I remember correctly, my Psych 101 textbook in high school made mention of an experiment conducted on a group of psych wards, themselves. Each ward was given a number of patients, most of whom were perfectly mentally sound; it was only assumed by the wards they were being sent to that there was anything wrong with them to begin with. Each ward's staff of psychologists were told to diagnose the patients they were being given.
Despite the fact that the majority of the "patients" being sent to the wards had no diagnosable problems, only a very small percentage of the incoming patients were turned away for it. For all of the others, the psychologists were looking for problems that they assumed must have existed, and ended up finding ample reason to treat every other mentally healthy person.

I think the entire field of Psychology needs to start quantifying ~everything they talk about before they're considered a "real" science.

[scythe]

I'd wager at least a third of addy/oxy/xanny sales go to recreational users at the end of the day. I figure pharmaceutical companies and doctors realize this, too.

[otters~1]

I'd wager at least a third of addy/oxy/xanny sales go to recreational users at the end of the day. I figure pharmaceutical companies and doctors realize this, too.

... and don't particularly care, you're saying. I agree.

[noops]

The vibe I'm getting from you people is that people who are diagnosed with ADD and other behavioral disorders don't really need them, and that they're generally myths. Which I don't think is entirely true.

For instance, I know this kid who has ADHD, and it's pretty severe. When he's on his meds, he's really fun to be around, and he's not just... Well, hyper-active. Judging from what you guys seem to be saying, people don't actually need Xanax and whatnot, that, as scythe said, they all just go to drug-addicts and stuff. I believe that it's true, in part, because there are always going to be people who try and exploit such things. But you can't deny the fact that there are actual people with real disorders who need these medications.

[Tanner]

Judging from what you guys seem to be saying, people don't actually need Xanax and whatnot, that, as scythe said, they all just go to drug-addicts and stuff.

Instead of relying on your own interpretation of what's been said in this thread, you should go back and read through it until you can say "what you guys are saying" instead of "what you guys seem to be saying" because you obviously haven't understood what's been said here yet.

[noops]

Judging from what you guys seem to be saying, people don't actually need Xanax and whatnot, that, as scythe said, they all just go to drug-addicts and stuff.

Instead of relying on your own interpretation of what's been said in this thread, you should go back and read through it until you can say "what you guys are saying" instead of "what you guys seem to be saying" because you obviously haven't understood what's been said here yet.

Er, hmm. I'd like to chalk it up to me being tired or something, but I feel as if that excuse is becoming overused.

In light of this, I'm going to say that I agree with scythe on that aspect.

But it still seems to me that the four people other people in this thread largely disagree with the diagnosing of behavioral disorders.

[Tanner]

But it still seems to me that the four people other people in this thread largely disagree with the diagnosing of behavioral disorders.

They are but nobody's made the sweeping generalizations that you've accused them of.

[otters~1]

But it still seems to me that the four people other people in this thread largely disagree with the diagnosing of behavioral disorders.

They are but nobody's made the sweeping generalizations that you've accused them of.

Certainly not. I, for one, just tossed out a personal example, because that's the limit of my experience with medications etc. I can go read Wikipedia articles or medical journals til my eyes bleed and I still won't have any educated opinion on this.

[Vyacheslav]

Half the girls from my high school were on Zoloft or Ritalin not because they were actually depressed or had ADD, rather, they used them to make sure they don't "become fat."
Fucking body image and psychology... huge problem with American girls today. My 7 year old cousin told me the other day she doesn't "want to eat a cookie cause I'll get fat" even though she's perfectly normal and athletic for her age. And of course, psychologists will try to find ANY mental illnesses or disorders in any patient as a means to create more money.

[Tanner]

There we go. Pavel made a post with some sweeping generalizations in it. You can pile on that one if you'd like, spoon.

[Luminaflare]

It's an unfortunately true generalization though.

Also ADD is commonly misdiagnosed with Asperger's (which is now just autism) a long with a lot of other mental... um... traits (Autism is not an illness you fuck-wits). Also the sheer amount of "Oh hey I read about this Asperger's thing on the internet I must have it" I see seriously pisses me off.

[scythe]

Half the girls from my high school were on Zoloft or Ritalin not because they were actually depressed or had ADD, rather, they used them to make sure they don't "become fat."

SSRIs make you gain weight (though Zoloft does so much less than others). I assume you're thinking of Adderall.

One of my best friends supposedly has an anxiety disorder. He has been prescribed xanax, but he doesn't usually take it.

Don't worry: if he keeps taking xanax, he'll have an anxiety disorder soon enough. As said by the guy I respect the most on the subject

Huge, terrible, and obvious downsides.
GABA supplementation/agonists build tolerance very quickly, and rebound effects are severe. While initially increased GABA levels lead to increased growth hormone
production, your brain quickly compensates for this. Unless supplementation is continued and increased at an exponential level, your tolerance will exceed your ability to dose.
Then you hit the wall. Insomnia, anxiety, and drastically reduced GH production. And it lasts.
Classic GABA agonists include alcohol and benzodiazepines (ie Xanax). It's a road you do not want to go down - in short, the rebound effects are too severe and long lasting, and will destroy any short terms gains you've made.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_o ... 06b3d3aa8e

[SlappyMcGee]

Oh no; Sabrina has an anxiety disorder and takes crazy pills; will she too become reboundcrazy?

[otters~1]

Oh no; Sabrina has an anxiety disorder and takes crazy pills; will she too become reboundcrazy?

I don't know; but you've become coloncrazy; yourself.

[Tanner]

When Nicole went off her anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, she cried uncontrollably at random times for a week and felt ill for two. It's strange to use this language but it was just like a junkie going cold turkey. She's fine now though.

[SlappyMcGee]

Oh no; Sabrina has an anxiety disorder and takes crazy pills; will she too become reboundcrazy?

I don't know; but you've become coloncrazy; yourself.

only half colon crazy


(this is a pun. live it)

[scythe]

Oh no; Sabrina has an anxiety disorder and takes crazy pills; will she too become reboundcrazy?

It depends...
- on the type of pill. Benzos (Valium, Xanax) have serious withdrawls, atypical antipsychotics (Seroquel) do not. SSRIs (Zoloft) are somewhere in between. There are definitely people who benefit from benzodiazepines, but they shouldn't be used by those who don't.
- whether you use it recreationally. Xanax taken as prescribed, consistently, is usually well-tolerated; if you try to get high off benzos regularly, you will almost always regret it.

When Nicole went off her anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, she cried uncontrollably at random times for a week and felt ill for two.

Sounds about right.