This Teen Was Prescribed 10 Psychiatric Drugs. She’s Not Alone | Hacker News Reader

This Teen Was Prescribed 10 Psychiatric Drugs. She’s Not Alone

nytimes.com

I don't know how common this is among psychiatrists, but I started seeing a psych for major depression, ADHD, and OCD-type symptoms. I was badly depressed, getting no social interaction, or exercise, eating myself crazy, sleeping 12-20 hours at a time, no sunlight or time outside, and doing a lot of drugs (mainly opiates, which was probably the undiagnosed core of a lot of my issues). I was on 15 or so different anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, anti-epileptics from age 18-24. Much of the time I was on 3-5 at once, mostly different antidepressants and an antipsychotic or two, trying to "find a combination that worked." To treat a condition that's not treatable by psychiatric drugs. I was always 100% open and honest about all aspects and answered all questions. I wanted to get better. My psych appointments typically lasted 5-15 minutes and he was always in a rush.

As far as I can remember, there was never mention of things I should be doing differently - exercise, sleep hygeine, proper diet, sunlight exposure, socializing.

Worse yet, I found out from HN that one of the drugs I was taking permanently disables one of the serotonin pathways (of which there are 7 main types and each has subtypes) in rats, and apparently it's known that at least a couple different types of antipsychotics show reduced brain volume, with "not enough data" (not enough dead brains to study) to see their effects on humans.

> Macaque monkeys administered with the antipsychotics haloperidol and olanzapine over a 17–27 month period showed reduced brain volume. These results have not been observed in humans who also take the drug, due to the lack of available data.[24]

Anecdotally, I absolutely feel like a different person now. My wit, my creativity, my ability for great joy, my kindness, my problem solving and thinking abilities in general - all seem to be quite muted now, even though I'm now taking care of myself and arguably at a place in life where everything is finally good and stable. One drug had side effects, like being unable to talk without studdering and having any sense of urgency (if I had an important appointment, I couldn't force myself to get ready, so I just watched time go by) were reported to my doctor who said that I just needed to give it time and my body would adjust. That's the drug, called Fanapt, that I feel did the most damage.

24. https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fsj.npp.1300710

Counterpoint, N=1: I've been off and on many of the drugs listed in the article, I found a permutation that works for me, and my life is amazing.

What if someone’s permutation is cocaine? Would you consider that a valid treatment?

If you function well and are happy, why not?

Because production and trafficking kills tens of thousands of people every year and corrupts all nations from top to bottom? Because cocaine laboratories in South American jungles routinely dump hazardous waste in the soil and the rivers? Because rainforests are cleared to plant coca? Because local farmers are forced to plant coca instead of food crops?

Okay, so you shifted the goalpost of context from being about the effect of drugs on the brain to the greater societal effects of X drug needing Y things to happen to exist. Why not throw in animal testing in pharmaceuticals as well? Of course all of that about cocaine is true, but what the hell part of that is germane to this conversation?

Well, for starters, it is societally insane to outlaw some substances and allow others to be monopolized.

So since that is true of nearly every society on earth, does that make the world societally insane or sane?

It is only true due to the United Nations general convention on narcotics and other similar deals, which are in effect in an attempt to limit smuggling to the US, to increase the revenue of US pharmaceutical companies, and considering the 60’s-70’s political motivations of Nixon and Reagan, to reap huge profits off the now illicit drug trade.

Drugs were made illegal because ”they were thought to be dangerous to the establishment” in the form of African-American and civil liberties activists, both of which were easy to label stereotypical drug users with a bout of fictitious press.

Another political reason was the historically open international trade which did end up with the Opium Wars in China — but that precedent was used as a propaganda tool first and foremost, since the real reason for the war was not opium, but Great Britain’s heavy-handed imperialist approach to trade.

The irony is that these conventions are enforced with a similarly heavy hand and with equally imperialist policy behind it.

Sounds like the answer then is to legalize it from top to bottom. Regulate it like any other legitimate business.

What's Caesar's line in the series "Rome"? Something like "I don't approve of what you did, but I cannot punish you, because it would be unpopular with the men. And I cannot do nothing, because it would make me appear weak. Therefore, I must reward you."

Colombia is legalizing, should be interesting to see how that changes the market.

Sounds like an edge case. Very high rate of obesity, massive sugar consumption, and lack of outdoor exposure are probably doing a number on people.

I’d bet social media is doing even more damage than all those combined.

While social media is clearly doing a number on many aspects of individual life, the effects of massive sugar and lack of sun exposure on the body and brain have horrendous consequences, and are drivers of mental instability and physical disease.

I recently started a course of TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) for my treatment-resistant depression that’s been affecting me on and off since I was 13. Every weekday I go into the doctor’s office for twenty minutes and they zap my brain with a magnetic field. The course of treatment lasts 6-7 weeks, by week three my brain felt ten years younger and more energetic. I am still my same bs self with the same bs behavior, but now I don’t hate myself for every little failing. It’s amazing how you can solve your problems better when you stop beating yourself up for having them.

Virtually no side effects! The current standard protocol is annoying in its cost and the time commitment required, but this past year Stanford got a new protocol approved, called Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy, which is all done in the course of a week. There are people who’ve been depressed for decades who start feeling better on day one.

Huge possibilities with TMS protocols, especially accelerated ones like that!

One of the easiest research papers I did in uni was for my Psychology 101 about using St Johns Wort for depression. It was describable in Germany ATT with decent success rate for mild-moderate depression.

I wonder why it doesn't get prescribed / officially recommended here in USA?

More concerningly, seven at one time. For depression.

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