More on Psychiatry: What Comes Next?
As I read further in "Anatomy of an Epidemic" I wonder: How can our fucked up mental health system be fixed?
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When Valium was being prescribed millions of times back several decades ago and messing up so many lives (including First Lady Betty Ford), there were other drugs for society to turn to so that the psychiatrists could pretend that their professional lives were not a waste and the drug companies could continue to turn billion dollar profits. But now that it seems clear that NONE of the psych meds do any general good, that none of them lead to good outcomes versus never having taking the medications in the first place, and they, in fact, irreparably damage millions of lives, we come to this point: How does America get out of this rabbit hole?
It would be impossible to expect the psychiatrists to come out publicly and say, "Our profession does more harm than good" because they're too busy paying for medical school bills, then that million dollar house in the suburbs and raising a family, then saving for retirement and that condo in Boca. For the medical establishment to admit the emperor has no clothes seems a bit much to ask for: they would all have to go into another field of employment and admit that their life's work has damaged so many.
To ask the drug companies to somehow admit that their concoctions are literally killing off hundreds of thousands of folks via diabetes, obesity, and heart disease and ruining millions of lives through side effects and the "Rebound Effect" caused by withdrawal is even more improbable. With health care such a vital part of our economy and so many billions of dollars tied up in this mess, that will never happen voluntarily. Indeed there is plenty of evidence that the drug manufacturers are the new millenium's answer to the tobacco companies of the last century: Deny that your product does incredible harm until enough people say, "No! You are wrong! Here's the proof."
It seems lawsuits by countless victims of this trillion dollar scam are our nation's only hope for real change. That is how the tobacco companies were put in line, and also why so many people decided to give up smoking: The bad publicity led to many millions to question their own behavior. The court system seems the only likely answer, as all other parties have too much invested to come clean.
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Yes, the drug manufacturers are the modern day tobacco companies. How long until the country sees this and says, "No more harmful psych meds. No more needlessly ruined lives."
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When Valium was being prescribed millions of times back several decades ago and messing up so many lives (including First Lady Betty Ford), there were other drugs for society to turn to so that the psychiatrists could pretend that their professional lives were not a waste and the drug companies could continue to turn billion dollar profits. But now that it seems clear that NONE of the psych meds do any general good, that none of them lead to good outcomes versus never having taking the medications in the first place, and they, in fact, irreparably damage millions of lives, we come to this point: How does America get out of this rabbit hole?
It would be impossible to expect the psychiatrists to come out publicly and say, "Our profession does more harm than good" because they're too busy paying for medical school bills, then that million dollar house in the suburbs and raising a family, then saving for retirement and that condo in Boca. For the medical establishment to admit the emperor has no clothes seems a bit much to ask for: they would all have to go into another field of employment and admit that their life's work has damaged so many.
To ask the drug companies to somehow admit that their concoctions are literally killing off hundreds of thousands of folks via diabetes, obesity, and heart disease and ruining millions of lives through side effects and the "Rebound Effect" caused by withdrawal is even more improbable. With health care such a vital part of our economy and so many billions of dollars tied up in this mess, that will never happen voluntarily. Indeed there is plenty of evidence that the drug manufacturers are the new millenium's answer to the tobacco companies of the last century: Deny that your product does incredible harm until enough people say, "No! You are wrong! Here's the proof."
It seems lawsuits by countless victims of this trillion dollar scam are our nation's only hope for real change. That is how the tobacco companies were put in line, and also why so many people decided to give up smoking: The bad publicity led to many millions to question their own behavior. The court system seems the only likely answer, as all other parties have too much invested to come clean.
-------------
Yes, the drug manufacturers are the modern day tobacco companies. How long until the country sees this and says, "No more harmful psych meds. No more needlessly ruined lives."
posted by joe sweeney at 9:02 AM
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