[HN Gopher] This Teen Was Prescribed 10 Psychiatric Drugs. She's...
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       This Teen Was Prescribed 10 Psychiatric Drugs. She's Not Alone
        
       Author : Michelangelo11
       Score  : 21 points
       Date   : 2022-08-28 19:04 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
        
       | Khelavaster wrote:
       | More concerningly, seven at one time. For depression.
        
       | mensetmanusman wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | diogenescynic wrote:
         | I'd bet social media is doing even more damage than all those
         | combined.
        
           | CommitSyn wrote:
           | 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.
        
       | CommitSyn wrote:
       | 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
        
       | throwaway9271 wrote:
       | 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.
        
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       (page generated 2022-08-28 23:02 UTC)