Better Living through Chemistry

You seem jump to chemical PILLS too early ....The pharamaceutical industry is too big a lobby group

besides the side effects from chemical PILLS only justify small number of certain GROUPS of generic variety of time tested medicines like all this newer antihistamines and lunesta are exorbitantly high whern new generation are not aware how cheaper it was to treat insomnia

Another important modality in Mental Illness is another non PILL one... COGNITIVE therapy

Re: # 10

Thanks for your feedback. You are correct that I should have included herbal treatments in my list of other treatment options alongwith yoga, exercise, etc. There are a couple of caveats: even though *some* herbal treatments have been shown to be effective in mental illness e.g. St.John`s Wort for depression, Valerian and Passionflower for insomnia, Gingko Biloba for memory problems, Omega 3 fatty acids for Bipolar disorder etc, the controlled studies on the efficacy of these compounds are mixed and at this time, they are not recommended (in the US at least) as first time/sole treatments for mental illness requiring the care of a professional.
In addition (again in the US), all these substances are classified as ``dietary supplements`` and not as ``medicines``. They are therefore not subject to the quality control that medications are subject to by the food and drug administration. It is therefore, the consumer`s responsibility to make sure they are taking a supplement that is potent enough and free of adulteration. Also, some can react with prescription medications so always tell your doctor.

Re: the role of religion in treatment of mental illness, I think a person`s strong religious beliefs can be a great help in recovery from any illness (they can also be a hindrance at times). I don`t think any reasonable person would recommend that someone not take any medicines or pursue any medical/surgical interventions at all and rely only on prayer to heal themselves whether they suffer from depression or diabetes. I did not discuss my religious beliefs in the article because I strongly believe a person`s relationship with his or her spirituality is their private business but, as always, everyone has a right to their opinion (as do I).

``Dig a little deeper and one can enter the slightly paranoid world of ‘antipsychiatry’. In fact the debate about ``

Many alternative medicine suggest herbal treatment and
what is the role of religion in treatment aspect....

even if you are irreligous you are the opinion of religion being `opium`` of mankind
so why cant this opium be effective in luling the effect of Atleast psychosis, bipolar if not depessive neurosis

Re: # 4

Thanks for your feedback. If more people took responsibility for their health, we`d all be in better shape. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of some rather sinister forces when it comes to health related issues. The whole issue of `direct to consumer` marketing of medicines is one such issues where people are being persuaded thru mass media of which medicines to ask their doctors for, usually the most expensive ones leading to escalating health care costs here in the US. There are other issues of course, which I will perhaps write about at some point.

Re: # 4

Thanks for your feedback. If more people took responsibility for their health, we`d all be in better shape. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of some rather sinister forces when it comes to health related issues. The whole issue of `direct to consumer` marketing of medicines is one such issues where people are being persuaded thru mass media of which medicines to ask their doctors for, usually the most expensive ones leading to escalating health care costs here in the US. There are other issues of course, which I will perhaps write about at some point.

Re: # 3

That`s very good, harimau. I like how you managed to weave G.W.Bush, Jinnah, Pakistan and Iraq into the same post! Usually, these topics are guaranteed to start a vigorous flame war immediately which usually involves Arjun, Echoboom, Urstruly, Hamidm, Mantolives etc and involves slinging various and sundry insults about one`s ancestors, country and/or religion at each other. Obviously, most of it quickly becomes irrelevant to the topic at hand but can sometimes be entertaining and I confess, I do lurk around at times going thru some of the posts.
However,I firmly believe one should write what one knows about tho` of course, everyone has a right to their opinion.
Thanks for the feedback.

Hi ALi Sb

Thanks for bringing this up. For discussions on medicine use issues in Pakistan, kindly join Medicines Pakistan and visit the website
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Medicines_Pakistan/

regards

Zaheer

Dr Hashmi

What can one say, except that one article like this can do more good than 95% of all other stuff on Chowk combined....

Thank you for the education. Hopefully, other knowledgeable people - there are many psychiatrists and psychologists among us here - will come and exchange their views, and further the good work you have started.

Dr Sahib, a wonderful public service by you. I believe that our public needs to be educated about not only mental health, but all health related matters. Self-management of one’s health goes a long way in promoting a healthy society. I take two medicines: Levothroxine for the past 5 or so years (and if I miss my dose for more than a couple of days, I know the side effects), the other is Vytorin, and it is keeping my cholesterol count under control. So yes, chemical intervention does help. My doc has also suggested that I take a baby aspirin with my Vytorin dosage. Because of an earlier (many years ago) misdiagnosis, some moron put me on Paxil, and it was this doc that I have been going for many years who fixed my dents and scratches. You used TV analogy, I think of my body as a wide-screen High Definition plasma.

Thanks for such an informative write-up.

Doesn`t Halcyon create homicidal tendencies in people who take it?

And wasn`t George Herbert Walker Bush on Halcyon when he started the Iraq war in 1991 to liberate Kuwait?

Now that I have at least brought Iraq into the discussions, hopefully a couple of hundred people will jump in and participate vigorously!

PS. How about Jinnah? Do you think the old man was suffering from depression after Ruttie died? Is that why he went on a murderous rampage to create Pakistan? Or do you think the real depression set in AFTER he got Pakistan?

Re: # 1

Thanks for your feedback. It doesn`t look like people are too interested in discussing this even though I tried to keep it simple.

Maybe I should have written something about Indian/Pakistani politics or religion. That`s usually guaranteed to start a flame war quickly and is usually good for a few hundred interacts!

Dr. Hashmi

Hopefully more people will come and discuss this issue.

The human brain - with its complex structures, processes, possibilities, and pathologies - is pretty much the control center of the world. And lay people like us know so little about it.