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For the information of anyone who cares, seroquel, like a lot of the anti psychotics will be used at a much higher level to manage active psychosis, and I've had clients taking up to 1100 mg. At the lower doses, it's used, often in combination with other types of drugs to stablize moods. Therefore, 150 mg could be considered maxed out, and if that's what the body is used to, doubling that can certainly knock you on your derriere.
Viking77, I quoted that statement because I consider it to be an absolute gem. For the record, I think you're a nice guy with a good heart, but for homework I'd like you to stare at your quote until you truely understand it.
Also for the record, my information does not come from the internet. (well, I subscribe to Medscape and occassionally look at The Lancet online) I have a DSM IV TR in my office just like you wife does, and also a somewhat outdated CPS. I work in a multi disciplinary setting with psychiatrists, addiction specialists, and sundry other types.
Was it DSM II or DSM I that listed homosexuality as a mental illness?
I loved a line from an activist that said that the American Psychiatric Association had cured millions of gays overnight by removing the definition.
It would have been in the DSM I and II. The III was published I think around 1980, so it would have been gone by then. I think there was still some problematic language around gender identity remaining though. I'm not at work right now, so I can't look up the current one. I seldom use the thing, occassionally I'll leaf through it for clarification on terminology or to look up family members.
It also still uses extremely offensive terms like "retardation" to describe people like my intellectually challenged son. But hey they are the professionals so I should trust their work.
I think you're right, Oldgoat. It still lists some sexual/gender-type conditions as disorders, but a lot of people experience them that way I suppose. For example, "fetishism" is listed in the DSM-IV, but so is paedophilia.
I have some respect for the antipsychiatry movement, btw. I comes from a variety of perspectives however and some are more noble than others. For example, patients often experience (as is in evidence here) the process as dehumanising and inhumane, and far too many units look like mini-prisons. At least among psychs I know, a great attempt is being made to view mental health from a more wholistic/holistic perspective i.e. social, spiritual, etc.
Some psych units are disgusting, and I would not put cattle in some of them. They are designed for the protection of the public -and the doctors - though so restraint is part and parcel, and some are so violent that it would be unethical NOT to restrain them. I had to have my ex-fiance locked up about 10 years ago for a night after she tried to stab me in the face, and had huge problems with it, but I saw the hospital and it was actually a really nice, clean place. Unusually. She made a fast recovery and although she is bipolar she has been perfectly balanced for the last decade and is a practicing GP.
Often, medical insurance companies will not look at mental health at all (not sure about in Canada though), which is ironically also the view of the antipsychiatry movement.
Other critics assume that psychs are tools of Big Pharma, although they generally would be very stupid to give a particularly company's medication out just because they got a free meal from them! The European companies are a bit more ethical when it comes to this than the American ones though, they can be more pushy.
The other angle though is that patients nearly always blame their doctors for their problems, it's part of the process, and often families jump on the bandwagon too, and are way to ready to blame or try to sue somebody when their relative tries to attack, kill or otherwise lash out at the person helping them.
The angle I object to most, however, is that that says if only we lived in an egalitarian society and all loved each other and there were no corporations or wars or poverty then there'd be no mental illness, which seems utopian at best. This approach fits in a bit too neatly with other utopian worldviews and ignores some glaring realities. This was my sole objection on this thread as I thought I had read (I may have MISread) that opinion into some statements.
Thanks for posting that, Oldgoat. My prescribed medication is 80 mg Geodon and 150 mg Seroquel (max). By mid-morning, I had taken 240 of the Geodon and God knows how many Seroquel. I had panic attacks and restless leg syndrome and hadn't slept for 48 hours. My mother was here. My friend was here. The police were here and they advised that they have attended this residence 12 times in 2010. I think there seems to be kind of a problem with my meds, don't you? My AHTP advised me to cool it and try the *recommended* dosage before rejecting meds altogether and moving on to ECT (as an out patient). I emailed my doctor "Now would be a good time to call 9-1-1." The police offered to drive me to the hospital but I've done that 11 times this year -- and the hospital is not interested. There are no beds and the current beds are being diminished, one ward at a time. I'm not just angry about the Olympics -- I see Gord-O as Hitler and rather than shoving us into gas chambers our premier is going to starve us to death. I have privileges: my parents are wealthy and I am on good terms with them; I have a wide circle of support; I have a roof over my head with warmth and running water. In short, I've got it made. So did David Foster Wallace, though!!! If you're in BC and you're living on the street, don't approach me -- because if you do I'll write you a cheque for $650.
I'm failing to see the irony. Medical insurance companies and anti-psychiatry both approach the problem from a Szaszian perspective (although Szasz loathes the antipsychiatrists too). The term "mental illness" is a Category Mistake. If it were neurological, it would just be called "illness." We don't need a Mental Health Act -- there is no Diabetes Act. The analogy (SSRIs are just like insulin) falls down under the wispiest, briefest scrutiny.
ETA: In Alice in Wonderland, Carroll invents The Mad Hatter. As modern readers, we know that he is mad because he is suffering from heavy metal poisoning. That's not a mental illness! He's not mad!
It's not an "assumption"; the phenomenon is well-documented. Even Post-It notes and pens sway a doctor's opinion. See Jerome Groopman's hilarious and brilliant "How Doctors Think." If you want the straight goods, ask a pharmacist. They don't give a shit which company makes what drug. In that way, they're just like neurologists when it comes to psychiatry.
ETA: Speaking of neurologists, one just advised me that Geodon failed to prove its efficacy in clinical trials. I know this woman well and value her opinion greatly. In her opinion, it doesn't matter how much of I take (ditto with Seroquel) because what I'm experiencing is placebo response (low dose) or toxicity (overdose). She doesn't think much of ECT in the long run, either. I wish this woman was *my* doctor but she's American and I can't afford to hire her.
ETAETA: Geodon and Zeldox are the same drug. Made by Pfizer. Not available through Royal Jubilee Hospital's formulary (meaning MSP won't cover it) even though I'm automatically eligible because I fled from Zyprexa as I was becoming diabetic. The only way for me to get Zeldox is freebies through Big Pharma reps. I've come full circle and now I'm a corporate schill. I feel so dirty (but healthy!).
I doubt that I could even get a referral to a neurologist in the current political climate in British Columbia. We're cutting funding
to health care in order to hold the Olympics in February. Our current premier, Gordon Campbell, is slightly to the right of Adolf Hitler.
How much do you charge for a consult? My parents and I need to know. The deal I made with the devil is 80 mg Zeldox/Geodon and Seroquel prn
up to 120 mg rather than ECT. My pharmacist is alarmed at this combo and won't dispense the Geodon. Doc says don't worry about it. I
worry about it, [name redacted]. My sister died at my age of an MI (obesity). I have to be careful -- I'm becoming diabetic.
long thread.