Medications that change who we are • Hacker News Board

Re: Medications that change who we are

#31

Post by LeonM » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 12:46 PM UTC

This is basically the story of my mother.

About 15 years ago she was suffering from a panic disorder. Instead of trying to help her, her doctor prescribed a fairly high dose of benzodiazepines and be done with it.

These 'medicine' only made matters worse and changed her behavior radically. She became very closed up, never wanting to do anything, never leaving the house and always finding excuses not having to do anything. The stuff is also terrible for her memory, so she can't really remember anything since she has been taken these pills.

The worst part is that these medicine are highly addictive, and we have now passed to point where we had to accept that my mother will be on these pills for the rest of her life.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#32

Post by aphextron » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 12:56 PM UTC

>"It turns out many ordinary medications don’t just affect our bodies – they affect our brains."

I feel like perpetuating this mindset is the ultimate sin of modern psychiatry and the entire industry of psychiatric pharmaceuticals - your brain is your body. It's not some special thing that sits apart from it. It is an integral part of the whole, no different than your kidneys or liver. People think they can take an antidepressant and it just "works" on their brain somehow. It affects absolutely everything.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#33

Post by complex1314 » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 12:56 PM UTC

LeonM wrote: post #31

This is basically the story of my mother. About 15 years ago she was suffering from a panic disorder. Instead of trying to help her, her doctor prescribed a fairly high dose of benzodiazepines and be done with it. These 'medicine' only made matters worse and changed her behavior radically. She became very closed up, never wanting to do anything, never leaving the house and always finding excuses not having to do anyt…

Highly recommend not giving up on getting off it. My grandmother thought she needed it to sleep for many years. But finally, after pressure from the family (several who are health care professionals), the doctor took her off it. She became so much better, even her sleep improved! Having worked as a health care professional myself, the rule was maximum 3 weeks, only for temporary treatment, long term need to find other solutions. Always some exceptions but then everything else had (or should have) been tried.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#34

Post by Horseshoe » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 12:58 PM UTC

I've been on high-dose statins since 1995. I still feed birds and squirrels in my yard, and most of my so-called neighbors are still alive and seemingly well. I must be doing something wrong :-)

Re: Medications that change who we are

#35

Post by DailyHN » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:00 PM UTC

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #18

The world is in the midst of a crisis of over-medication, with the US alone buying up 49,000 tonnes of paracetamol every year – equivalent to about 298 paracetamol tablets per person Shocking, I knew it was bad but this is madness.

This Common Painkiller Does Some Interesting Things To Your Mind - VICE https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gymgx7/tylenol-can-have-s...

Re: Medications that change who we are

#36

Post by kerkeslager » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:10 PM UTC

aphextron wrote: post #32

>"It turns out many ordinary medications don’t just affect our bodies – they affect our brains." I feel like perpetuating this mindset is the ultimate sin of modern psychiatry and the entire industry of psychiatric pharmaceuticals - your brain is your body. It's not some special thing that sits apart from it. It is an integral part of the whole, no different than your kidneys or liver. People think they can take an a…

I think the problem goes at least as far back as Plato and the allegory of the cave. Plato spread this concept that there was a difference between the body and mind or soul, and Western culture has never really recovered from the stupidity of that idea.

There's really no evidence or justification for it. Your mind and your body are the same thing.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#37

Post by bsenftner » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:12 PM UTC

Yeah, if you trust our "institutions" - still - you are in need of a serious, unsettling wake up. The 60's slogan of "Question authority" is needed more than ever. Our "institutions" are predators and we are all its prey. Your mindset is the most valued, because one they have that they can feed you anything: any foods, any drugs, any laws and any shitty orange politician they want.

I go out of my way to not take any medications, as well as maintain my body with healthy foods and regular exercise. This is a responsibility we need to respect to maintain clear heads in this psychological war period we live.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#38

Post by tapland » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:13 PM UTC

DailyHN wrote: post #24

Zeratoss wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.livescience.com/55754-does-sugar-make-kids-hyper... There seem to be a bunch of studies indicating that it is not the sugar that affects the behavior

That link does little to disprove that sugar isn't the culprit. And anecdotally, both my partner and I can recognize adverse psychological effects in myself after I consume too many high-glycemic carbs (ie, sugar).

I was pretty sure that the kids + sugar behavior change was debunked and all up to expectations from the parents.

Now, this is not a study but covers what I thought was the case since years back:

>The sugar-hyperactivity myth is based on a single study from the mid 1970's in which a doctor removed the sugar from one child's diet and that child's behavior improved. Since then, over a dozen larger studies have been conducted and not one of them has found that sugar causes hyperactivity. Interestingly enough, researchers have found that parents are more likely to say that their kids are overly active when they think they've consumed sugar.

https://www.eatright.org/food/nutrition/dietary-guidelines-a...

Re: Medications that change who we are

#39

Post by WilliamEdward » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:15 PM UTC

aphextron wrote: post #32

>"It turns out many ordinary medications don’t just affect our bodies – they affect our brains." I feel like perpetuating this mindset is the ultimate sin of modern psychiatry and the entire industry of psychiatric pharmaceuticals - your brain is your body. It's not some special thing that sits apart from it. It is an integral part of the whole, no different than your kidneys or liver. People think they can take an a…

True, and the rest of the body (particularly the gut and genitals) produces chemicals that function within your brain.

The brain and body inform eachother.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#40

Post by sugarkjube » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:15 PM UTC

Definitely 100% true, first hand experience here.

I had mild medication prescribed for regulating blood pressure. Supposedly without psychological side effects. I found out a year later that it dramatically affected my personality. More or less like in the article, but in the opposite way.

The frightening thing is, I didn't know !!!

I found out a year later when temporarily stopping the medication, my kids started to make remarks, alluding on my changed behaviour. Only that moment I started to realize what happened.

Also affected my profesional live: I heard years later that people / collegues had noticed (but never mentioned it). I'm pretty sure it impacted my career. All without me knowing. For medication without any known psychological effects.

I took this medication for a year without realizing anything was wrong, that will probably also be the case for other people, and I'm pretty sure in many cases psychological side effects won't show up in clinical trials.

I'm pretty sure if you take anything like anti anxiety / depressants, psycho-pharmaceuticals, or just anything with known side effects, the impact must be dramatic.

When I found out, discussed it with (several) docters : one said "impossible", another "interesting, tell me more". It assume most doctors are clueless here. When you break a leg, they can set it and it heals. When you have a headache, they look in their book to see if there is a pill. But anything out of the ordinary, it may be hard to find good medical help.