A 23 year old women tells of her nightmarish experience with the psychiatric and addiction treatment system. She was prescribed 15 different drugs over a period of 5 years and, surprise, surprise, when treatment failed, she was blamed. The story ends with her being presumably correctly diagnosed and treated, but it's hard not to wonder if she has a chronic mentally illness at all.
Aside from the iatrogenic harm that professional hubris can cause, this story illustrates the hazards of a system that encourages rapid diagnosis.
1 comment:
I feel sorry for her that it took so long to figure this out, doctors don't listen to patients, my experience is shorter term but I bet she can handle anything life throws at her now!
Experience with Lexapro:
Lexapro is a permanent life long cure for any depression if you survive treatment. I was told by a marriage counselor to request drugs for my OCD symptoms (probably caused by my father’s suicide in 1981 while on imipramine and many other psych med’s) I went to a pcp who never met me before. He diagnosed me with depression, prescribed Lexapro & Rozerem since I had insomnia. Then decided kissing me and grabbing me in his office was a good idea. The Lexapro did such a good job getting me up & doing things. It also made me nervous raising my blood pressure from it’s usual 120/80 to 145/110. I was really up! I could drink twelve shots of liquor & still be walking around for hours. This was the busiest year of my life! 2 DUI’s, 4 drunk in publics & an involuntary commit for suicide. 2 rehab’s, a hypnotherapist, weekly ASAP programs. I worked full time the whole time! 3 psychiatrists 4 doctors & many counselors gave me more drugs Busbar, antibuse, campral. The side effects of all these-full body tremors and falling down. After the second DUI (I was also charged with a felony for pinching a police officers butt,)I decided maybe I should stop Lexapro b/c I had some obsession with alcohol was becoming delusional. While in jail I requested no more medication for and was able to stop although the depression side effects of the withdrawal lasted three months. I met other women in jail for DUI’s on Zoloft, Lexapro and Abilify & for shoplifting on Zanax. My depression is 100% cured. I never feel sad about my life. I never killed anyone driving drunk, didn’t kill myself. Didn’t get my kid taken away from me. I'm not in a mental institution, and don’t have a lethal diastolic blood pressure of 110. No matter what happens in my life now, I am hopeful, never depressed.
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