I think people should return to their old haunts and, well, haunt them BACK
for a while.
That'll teach those damned ghosts!
Best,
Andrew Straw
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert E. Bowd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Judi Kessler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: J. Walter Plinge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Lerner, Sally
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2000 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: The Wide Wide World O Prozac
> Judi:
>
> I know a little bit about the "black dog" of clinical depression, of which
you speak, and about
> the prozac/post prozac SSRIs, yet I still question your enthusiasm
["godsend"] for their
> availability and pervasiveness. Pharmaceutical management in a society
that gives shortshrift
> to community connectedness and compassion seems like a displacement of the
problem to me. I
> observe your medical background [RN]. Am I correct in inferring your
embrace of the medical
> model and the unholy corporate alliance [IMHO] between medicine and the
pharmaceutical
> companies, in preference to alternative therapies? As a practitioner, I
am wondering if you
> would care to comment upon the recent resurgence of using electrotherapy
to treat clincical
> depression? Secondly, can you offer an opinion on the viewpoint that drug
therapies may be
> seen to be more cost effective, to cost-cutting governments, rather than
the more costly,
> labour intensive, talk therapies, or, ideally, as suggested by most
psychiatrists, combination
> of the two?
>
> Incidentally, I did check in on a message board relating to one of the
post-prozac drugs
> [Celexa], and I did not get the impression that most of the folks who were
posting there shared
> your enthusiasm for the drugs, as users. Comments identified complaints
such as sexual
> dysfunction, zombie-like behaviour, lack of motivation, anxiety,
headaches, as common
> side-effects leading to refusal of the drug. One poster said they would
only continue to use
> the drug because their physician said he/she would not continue to treat
them if they did not
> take their meds. They also said they were being strongarmed by an
insurance company to take
> the anti-depressant. I also noticed that one regular poster was a doctor
who seemed to be
> acting as a foil, for the naysayers, on behalf of the drug company,
including losing his temper
> when challenged by someone knowledgeable about alternative therapies.
>
> Depression is something I have thought a great deal about, and observed
firsthand, but I still
> harbour reservations about the direction in which medical "science" is
going, in response to a
> clinical problem which is on the increase.
>
> Regards,
> Bob Bowd
>
> Judi Kessler wrote:
>
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > As someone who works with clinically depressed individuals, I take
offense
> > at your post below. The SSRIs (Prozac and Prozac-like drugs) are a
> > God-send for many folks with major depression. Clearly you have not had
> > the experience of interacting with a family member, friend, or patient
> > living the hell of major depression.
> >
> > *************************************
> > Judi A. Kessler RN, PhD
> > Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies
> > University of California, San Diego
> > 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept. 0510
> > La Jolla, CA 92093-0510 USA
> > (858) 534-4147 or (858) 534-4503
> > *************************************
> >
> > On Mon, 21 Aug 2000, J. Walter Plinge wrote:
> >
> > > News Update
> > > The Wide Wide World O Prozac
> > >
> > > Dear Diary, 8/11/00
> > > The BBC Radio's World Buiness Report told the , ahhh. World, today
about how Prozac
> > > is about to lose its patent protection and a mass of cheap generics
will soon be
> > > let loose on an unsuspecting world. It's is a topic worth pondering.
Could it
> > > be, wondered the
> > > announcer to a cohort at Lehman Brothers, that Prozac is actually a
major player
> > > in this so called endless economic boom the US has been claiming
since, what.
> > > 1912? (Yeah;
> > > 1929 was just a market adjustment.)
> > >
> > > The Lehman Sister, not brother, as claimed, on the other end of the
line was
> > > stoned enough
> > > to maintain a semblance of lucidity but obviously not so stoned that
she would
> > > agree to
> > > such a logical observation. "People don't take Prozac to become overly
happy,"
> > > she said,
> > > "they take it so they can continue to function normally."
> > >
> > > Of course. That's just the point, isn't it? The GM people, asked to
fire 10,000 people
> > > including themselves might have become an unruly mob if not for legal
chemicals.
> > > The Bell
> > > Tel people who were asked to ax 40,000 jobs might have had a use for a
legal
> > > chemical that
> > > would allow them to continue their sado-masochistic activities while
seeming to "function
> > > normally." Can it be coincidental that the star of Prozac was
ascending at the
> > > same time as
> > > the star of "structural adjustment programs" at the IMF? Our Lehman
Sister
> > > disagreed; she
> > > appeared to be functioning normally.
> > >
> > > Makes you wonder though, doesn't it? Was Maggie Thatcher on drugs when
she proclaimed
> > > Pinochet was "Brittain's Friend?" Or is she that way normally? And
what about
> > > Pinochet? If
> > > Prozac was available for distribution in 1973 could he not have pushed
the
> > > slaughter rate
> > > from the low thousands into the low millions? If Proazac was available
then,
> > > would we not
> > > have a Pinochet Day in the US, just like Christmes? Oh, the missed
opportunities!
> > >
> > > We have already seen in the 60s what people on LSD, mushrooms and pot
do. They
> > > take to the
> > > streets and stop wars. They kick dictators out of office. So what can
we expect
> > > when the
> > > price of Prozac drops from $1 to 10� a hit? If Nike workers can afford
Prozac
> > > will they ask
> > > for a wage cut? Will China and India open their currency to the Wall
Street
> > > Casino? Will the
> > > Brazilians start giving away the last of their trees just to get rid
of them? My
> > > guess is:
> > > YES INDEED!
> > >
> > > I think the economic boom is just starting. I think we are going to
see
> > > legislation in a
> > > coupla years that will put Prozac into the drinking water of
"chronicly
> > > depressed" nations.
> > > I think that the human central nervous system is mis-wired and there
is a CURE
> > > at hand. The
> > > financial collapse of 2001 is just going to be a minor adjustment.
> > >
> > > Happy Dreams and take your medication,
> > > JWP
> > >
> > >
>
>
