Topside GF

response re: meds

We do use Haldol and Risperdal, though not much Haldol. Haldol is rough stuff and sedates most people to zombie-like states -- my understanding is that it's used mostly in hospitals and crisis / decompensation situations to stabilize. Risperdal is pretty common, though it also is pretty sedating, so not many people like taking it. And Lithium does give some people tremors. We've got two at the farm right now with lithium shakes.

I'm not surprised that there's debate about the drugs. No one who is honest with themselves and others can say that they really know what the drugs do or how they do it, exactly, and many of the drugs haven't been around long enough to know what else they do to a person's body and mind long-term. (It's just now coming to light that Clozaril does awful things to metabolism and bloodsugar long-term, so some people have a terrible choice in that -- either get diabetes or go psychotic...)Doctors really only take educated shots in the dark -- like they know what the room looks like in the daylight and then step into it in total darkness and shoot and hope they get the right thing. This is why I could never be a psychiatrist -- it's really more of an art than a science, it seems, with some pretty hefty consequences for mistakes and very little way of knowing what the mistakes are sometimes. But by the same token, I've seen so many people do so much better on meds that I would never want to not have them (or good psychiatrists) around.

I had the thought that Mummy Dearest might enjoy it, but I never followed up. I'll let her know and see if she's interested and invite her if she is. Good idea, KT. Oh, and welcome back to the world of winter and blogging.

posted by starpilgrim @ 8:02 PM