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 Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:55 pm
So my friend isn't exactly neurotypical. She still lives with her parental units and depends on them for survival. Previous attempts at being employed led to severe depression and suicidal thoughts.
Her drug-giving psycho person(psychiatrist) prescribes her lots of drugs. SHe is going to see new people and they want to do the electro-therapy scaryness. In addition, the new people want her to slowly stop seeing her current talking-to-psycho person(psychologist), who is the only one she has ever really been comfortable with.
SHe doesn't like any of this. SHe is cool with her psycologist, but really doesn't want to be on the drugs and especially doesn't want to get the electro therapy. Part of the problem is that her parents are kinda pushing for all of this. She doesn't believe that they will let her ease up on any of it.
She has been skipping her pills, which I think is a very bad idea, but she doesn't think that her psychiatrist will let her go off of them. It seems like the whole shibang is just stressing her out more and making her less stable. I want her to be happy, but her current situation doesn't seem to be nurturing that outcome, nor does going cold turkey and lying to the psycho-folk.
I know that she isn't especially stable and that she does need some support to help her toward stable autonomous functioning, but both of us really believe that she needs to get out of the whole psychiatric web of what seems like just a bunch of big band-aids with extensive side-effects.
Thoughts, suggestions, escape plans...?
PLEASE.
Thank you.
Update: I guess she isn't taking her pills anymore. Very not suggested. She went off of them gradually, I guess, but it couldn't have been a very slow gradually. When she mentioned it to her psycho person, they said, as I did, that they strongly discouraged it, but that it is her body. She has been experiencing withdrawal symptoms and a wee bit of"emotional lability".
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:24 pm
Hi there:
Sad to hear about your friend. Unfortunately her predicament is a lot more common than people like to think.
I'm an RN in real life, just so you know where I'm coming from.
I have met several people in my career, on various psych drugs, including everything from anti depressants to lithium and I have yet to meet one who is happy on the drugs. Most people tollerate them as long as it seems to make them less sick (they never use the word "well", though...) but eventually they find the drugs have their own screw ups and they want off. The most common complaints are "I feel sick all the time." and "I want my self back."
The drugs work by changing the chemistry of the body and the brain and while they may address the symptoms, they are never fine tuned enough to leave everything else alone. Cure one problem and make another...
The other problem is they address the symptoms, such as depression, and don't address the causes. For example some people with schizophrenia, and others with depression, have found that they are actually sensitive to certain foods, or more usually, food additives, and getting them out of the diet, and maybe increasing their intake of some basic vitamins and minerals actually cures them. Note, I said "Some people", it's not a global cure all, but it is a place to start.
Unfortunately, due to inertia in the medical system, many doctors don't want to start there. Unholy, but very true. I've seen it.
So, if your friend wants off, she's probably right. But, her first problem is, if she's been certified by a psychiatrist she may not have the legal right to just quit. Where I work, the psychiatrists have the right to require a certified person to give them a blood sample to test for drug levels if they suspect the person is not taking their medications, and can send the police to make it so if the person says no. Her best bet there might be to find another doctor willing to take over her care, but I don't know how easily that can be done in her circumstances.
As for her psychologist, if he/she is connecting with her then he/she might be her best bet for a long term cure, but whereas psychiatrists are medical doctors with extra shrink training and the right to prescribe drugs, psychologist have the shrink training but are NOT medical doctors and CANNOT prescribe drugs. So, she'll have to be careful of who has priority in her care, as in who can have her hauled in if she's certified and they want to make trouble for her.
Finally, as to the drugs themselves, they create dependancy, and it is extremely dangerous to just stop. Whether she does it with or without a doctors supervision she needs to taper herself off slowly.
Of course, if she is NOT certified then she has a lot more freedom of choice. Also, at least where I am, if a certified person crosses a provincial border, the certification doesn't follow them and they are "sane" again as long as they stay out of the province they are certified in. I don't know how it works in other places, but it may be something to look into if she's really being harrassed.
Electroshock is scary in my personal opinion, and I would say don't do it. In layman's terms they electrocute the brain and there is always some residual damage even if it isn't apparent. And the literature (medical studies) are divided about how well it works, if at all. Still, some people seem to get better after a treatment, atleast for a short period. But it's like everything else, it has it's dark side, and I think in should be stayed away from. Again, my opinion.
Bottom line, your friend, or someone close to her needs to do some research so she can atleast follow what the doctor wants to do. Also, ask questions, lots of questions, and agree to nothing unless she understands what she's getting into and is willing to go along with it. There is such a thing as "Informed Consent", but it is usually the patient who has to insist on it. Same for her parents if she is a minor. Finally, it wouldn't be a bad idea if she could take a witness with her and never be alone with the doctor.
I hope this will give you some food for thought. It's hard to say much more without knowing the specifics, but I'm not asking you to tell me anything you don't really want to. Hope this helps a bit.
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