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Medications that change who we are

bbc.com

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Re: Medications that change who we are

#61

Post by rantwasp »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #55
rantwasp wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i believe this is taking a little bit too far. it’s about actually measuring/quantifying the effects. when this is hard/really expensive to do I’m sure the decision not to pursue it is made at several levels. in research (and especially in cutting edge research) you don’t get to explore everything and you have to carefully pick and choose what you do if you want to be around more than a few years.

The tests are done to look for such things. To deny them when presented is indefensible.

i believe we are talking about different things. my point is certain markers are easier to test for and more objective than others.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#62

Post by jdietrich »

infradig wrote: post #44
sugarkjube wrote: post #40

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…

Can I ask what medication it was?

I'll wager it was a beta blocker.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_blocker#Anxiety

Re: Medications that change who we are

#63

Post by kirstenbirgit »

sugarkjube wrote: post #40

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…

Re: blood pressure meds; this is common knowledge. Look at beta blockers; they're commonly used for people with presentation anxiety for e.g. exams. Some people can barely speak without taking them.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#64

Post by jryan49 »

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…

I used the Ashton Manual to get off benzos. https://www.benzoinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ashton-... It's probably best to find a doctor too who specializes in getting people off the stuff. It's worth trying, and it may take years to do it, but it's worth it in the long term.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#66

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

Some of these examples given in the article are actually quite known. For example, many anti-asthma drugs available today have a leaflet informing the patient about possible side-effects, such as increased anxiety, nightmares, changes of mood and behavior, and even suicidal thoughts. Knowing this is extremely helpful as it allows the patient to distance oneself from these symptoms in case they occur.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#67

Post by maxerickson »

spodek wrote: post #51

Let's also consider the other direction -- how fresh vegetables and fruit, plus whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and herbs improve mood, behavior, resilience. Throw in some vigorous exercise, and for most people, drugs can't do better, without the drugs' side effects and cost. For many people, switching from a standard American diet to largely those ingredients would register as changing who they are. I just finishe…

Let's also consider the other direction -- how fresh vegetables and fruit, plus whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and herbs improve mood, behavior, resilience. Throw in some vigorous exercise, and for most people, drugs can't do better, without the drugs' side effects and cost.

If you look at health outcomes, this is sort of obviously not true. I don't mean the health benefits of the things you mention, I mean the "for most people" part.

Of course I realize that you are engaged in advocacy. I think it probably isn't good advocacy, people should be thinking about (and talking to their doctor about) the best way to approach their current health status, not imagining that they are going to eat well and get lots of vigorous exercise.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#68

Post by xiphias2 »

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…

Even if the brain is not apart from the rest of the body, there is a special thing between the two: the blood-brain barrier, which is actually quite hard to cross with medications, and poses a real challange in curing brain diseases.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#69

Post by jotm »

kerkeslager wrote: post #36
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.

I believe the mind, or soul, is indeed in the brain. But it's also separate. It's more like software controlling the hardware.

Take self control and attention. How many people struggle with it, procrastinating? You want to do something, you know you have to do it, you like doing it... But you don't.

Because your brain doesn't listen to your mind. Because the brain is mostly a primitive autonomous system and needs to be constantly motivated, coerced, trained to do things that it technically doesn't need to (why do anything besides eat, survive, reproduce?)

Take away what we call the mind/soul, and we're just a basic animal, running reactively on instinct and reflexes.

Re: Medications that change who we are

#70

Post by bpizzi »

sugarkjube wrote: post #40

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…

> I took this medication for a year without realizing anything was wrong

Looks like you were also maybe not really paying attention to your behavior back in those times, as it looks like you would caught such a behavioral change sooner if you were to take medication again, don't you think?

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