How common is this: person complains for months of being run-down, lethargic, lacking energy. Goes to a GP, gets a physical & blood tests & everything checks out “OK.” Doc figures it’s MH-related, prescribes an antidepressant for a “jump” or anti-anxiety med to quell negative symptoms.
Few wks go by, patient can lift their head off their desk more often, play more often w their kids, more expressive w their spouse. “Success” to all involved. Rinse, wash, repeat.
The above happens so often, the latest #s show 1/6 ppl in the US are on psychiatric drugs.
As kids, we get sick, go to the fam doc, take a strep test/lungs listened to, are given a magic pill (antibiotic), sleep more, & are “healed” in a few days.
Bc that’s how we learn to handle being sick, & bc we don’t teach MH education in schools, can you fault anyone for thinking a magic pill is a cure to their MH complications?
Back to the patient above, they’re happy they feel better, but bc they’re no longer suffering, we don’t question why their improvement only went from 75% of their MH baseline to 80%. We don’t question all the cases where the dip happens again, worse, they go to a psychiatrist now believing another med will be their new cure, they’re prescribed a “booster” & told the 1st drug isn’t working “enough.”
I’m NOT fervently anti meds. When used early on enough, I believe they can be great symptom management tools. For cases of bipolar, schizophrenia, they can be miracles. What I AM is anti drugs being communicated as CURES, especially by those business that benefit from this fallacy.
Healing from MH complications takes purposeful work & practices to heal our damaged CNS. Meanwhile, the current system causes us to lose many work hrs, many hrs of personal enjoyment, & worst of all, many lives.
We are living through a time where talking about unification is less popular and more risky than talking about divison