Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimjam
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
I've been doing a lot of reading recently on the social, cultural and political forces which influence psychiatric diagnosis (and whether psychiatric diagnosis is even useful). Super interesting and a lot of good points raised, although I do find some of the arguments against it either aren't well formulated or well expressed (or can equally be applied to alternatives or general medical / scientific practice).
|
I’ve never been a big fan of psychiatry. I will never stop suggesting to clients to try counseling and cognitive/behavioral changes first because there are no side effects to these. I will never stop reminding parents that we still to this day don’t completely understand the complete effects of mental health meds on a child’s developing brain
However
It also to some degree depends on the category. Antipsychotics when used on-label can work amazingly well and keep someone with a severe psychotic disorder stable and able to function and even maintain careers/relationships. Whereas without the meds the person would either be actively hallucinating and delusional all day….or dead
Benzos also work amazingly well for their intended function to temporarily tranquilize the nervous system. Assuming they are used responsibility and rarely
Antidepressants and mood stabilizer’s benefits are far more opaque. Some mood stabilizers work well for someone with a bi-polar diagnosis, but mood stabilizers and other medical meds like seizure meds or beta blockers are sometimes used to treat various other things
Stimulants to control childhood and adult ADHD also don’t seem to be as sure of a science. Stimulants of all meds have had some of the most disastrous widespread problems during the adderall and Ritalin days