While everything said here has been true, it is also true that drugs can be very beneficial. My entire family suffers from some form of mental illness. I am not the least bit ashamed to say that. As a nurse, it becomes secondhand to discuss this kind of thing and one learns that mental illness is nothing more than that, an illness that is mental. My biologicial mother suffers in the way that she feels she must put baggies on anything that she touches. If the baggie is touched, by her or anyone else, she removes it and puts a new one in its place. All the door handles and kitchen cabinet handles have baggies on them. It is quite funny, in a way, if one was reading this or just watching her. My older sister and myself are both very obsessive compulsive. It manifests itself in different ways for different people. With me it makes me do silly things like counting to myself over and over again and reading the gauges in my car over and over again. And hypochondria. My goodness. I am dying of something different every single day. As far as depression, I suffer from that too but not as badly as some and only seem to have periods where it afflicts me very badly. I take Prozac. It keeps me from counting so much and keeps the depths from getting to me. Sure, all drugs have side effects but Prozac doesn't affect me adversely in that sense. I only take it three days a week, seems to keep me on an even keel, pretty much so. The doctor prescribed it every day but that dosage made me too aggressive, which is not good for someone who is naturally aggressive anyway. It is not addictive and easily excreted from the body. Writing of Lithium. My brother has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He went completely off of the deep end. Lithium has brought my brother back, the brother I remember from before the illness struck him. I am very thankful for it. Without it, he would be lost to us forever. The important thing to remember about drugs is that some do have very favorable benefits, if taken properly.
Mack ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 10:28 PM Subject: Re: Doctor's pills give you brand new ills (SJC) > Dear Colin, > It's so weird that I've been listening to this very song all day today while > working. I haven't pulled out my Turbulent Indigo CD for quite a while. It's > an absolutely fantastic CD. > > A friend's mother (who also became my friend) was prescribed Lithium back in > the 70's for her depression. I came over one day to visit her and was blown > away by the change in her personality. She was acting like she was living in > slow motion. I have suffered from depression all of my life, but after seeing > her and another ex-schoolmate on Thorazine, I swore that I would never take > any pills. Even back then, I felt that they would be extremely bad for me > personally. After reading your post, I now know that I was not wrong, at > least for myself. > > It's hard to fight depression cold turkey, but I've done it for many years. > One of the tricks I have recently learned is to drink a cup of coffee, > especially after a bad night. For some reason, the chemicals in the brain go > wacky and I have found that coffee helps my brain get back into gear. > > I've never admitted that I suffer from depression. I've seen how people are > treated in the workplace when they admit a vulnerability such as depression > or any type of dependency. They are treated like damaged goods and it is done > in such a sneaky way, it's hard to prove. Now that I am no longer in the > workplace, I can finally come to honest terms with what I have hidden for > years. You guys are the first people I've admitted this to because you are my > Jonilista family! > > Sherelle-NP Dave Koz-The Dance (Be Be Winans singing) > > In a message dated 10/17/2001 10:30:21 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] > writes: > > > > Getting off was hell. other drugs for my Bipolar have caused me liver > > trouble(cirrhosis) and heart probelms. Which is why I refuse to take > > meds now. Many drugs, especially the psych drugs, cause bad side > > effects-some casue brain damage and the damage can be permanent. I don't > > think people fulyy understand the eeffect of these drugs nor the > > suffering they cause to the person taking them. If they did, they might > > not clamour for people with mental health probs to take them. eevn the > > modern antui depressants like Prozac have serious side effects in some > > people.
