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A Call for Caution on Antipsychotic Drugs
NY Times ^ | September 24, 2012 | RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D.

Posted on 09/24/2012 10:12:40 PM PDT by neverdem

You will never guess what the fifth and sixth best-selling prescription drugs are in the United States, so I’ll just tell you: Abilify and Seroquel, two powerful antipsychotics. In 2011 alone, they and other antipsychotic drugs were prescribed to 3.1 million Americans at a cost of $18.2 billion, a 13 percent increase over the previous year, according to the market research firm IMS Health.

Those drugs are used to treat such serious psychiatric disorders as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe major depression. But the rates of these disorders have been stable in the adult population for years. So how did these and other antipsychotics get to be so popular?

Antipsychotic drugs have been around for a long time, but until recently they were not widely used. Thorazine, the first real antipsychotic, was synthesized in the 1950s; not just sedating, it also targeted the core symptoms of schizophrenia,...

--snip--

Of course, physicians frequently use medications off label, and there is sometimes solid empirical evidence to support this practice. But presently there is little evidence that atypical antipsychotic drugs are effective outside of a small number of serious psychiatric disorders, namely schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and treatment-resistant depression.

Let’s be clear: The new atypical antipsychotic drugs are effective and safe. But even if these drugs prove effective for a variety of new psychiatric illnesses, there is still good reason for caution. Because they have potentially serious adverse effects, atypical antipsychotic drugs should be used when currently available treatments — with typically fewer side effects and lower costs — have failed.

Atypical antipsychotics can be lifesaving for people who have schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression. But patients should think twice — and then some — before using these drugs to deal with the low-grade unhappiness, anxiety and insomnia that comes with modern life.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News
KEYWORDS: abilify; antipsychoticdrugs; antipsychotics; bipolardisorder; depression; schizophrenia; seroquel
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Dr. Richard A. Friedman is a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan.
1 posted on 09/24/2012 10:12:49 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

If the ‘zombie apocalypse’ ever starts, the people coming off their meds will be interesting, to say the least. No malicious intent will be necessary for an army of people who are really messed up...


2 posted on 09/24/2012 10:19:48 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: neverdem

President 0bama has forced many to seek refuge in medications because currently there is no cure for his recklessness.


3 posted on 09/24/2012 10:20:48 PM PDT by Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America
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To: neverdem

These drugs often ironically cause psychotic behavior. Particularly if they are stopped to quick.


4 posted on 09/24/2012 10:26:10 PM PDT by Republican1795.
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To: Running On Empty

marking


5 posted on 09/24/2012 10:32:55 PM PDT by Running On Empty (The three sorriest words: "It's too late")
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To: Republican1795.

I was given this drug several years ago for a Lyme like condition, I only took a half a pill and literally hallucinated on and off for two days.

I have not seen a Dr. since, thank God.


6 posted on 09/24/2012 10:39:12 PM PDT by acapesket
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To: neverdem

Baby Boomers and their drug culture lifestyle coming home to roost.


7 posted on 09/24/2012 10:59:32 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: neverdem

Off-label, as a non-addicting PRN soporific, 50mg of Seroquel before bedtime is very effective, and a helluva lot safer than the so-called safe and non-addicting “Ambien” and its cousins.


8 posted on 09/24/2012 10:59:37 PM PDT by dadgum (Overjoyed to be the Pariah.)
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To: Republican1795.

I was doing research for a trivia book and found that a possible side effect of taking aspirin is headache.


9 posted on 09/24/2012 11:04:37 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: Republican1795.

And a possible side effect of an antidepressant is suicide.


10 posted on 09/24/2012 11:09:23 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: acapesket
I have not seen a Dr. since, thank God.

But if you saw God, thank your Dr.

<rimshot>

11 posted on 09/24/2012 11:11:05 PM PDT by FredZarguna (Haven't seen like that since right after my cataract operation.)
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To: FredZarguna

I will be thanking the Big Guy when I see him, I hope and pray.


12 posted on 09/24/2012 11:19:36 PM PDT by acapesket
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To: neverdem

I have an acquaintance that was prescribed Abilify. It gave what was left of the family their lives back.

It works.


13 posted on 09/24/2012 11:33:53 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: neverdem

Somebody should warn Hillary Clinton...she looks and sounds like a drugged up mental patient trying out for the part of US Secretary of State in the World Cuckoo’s Nest’s election year play.


14 posted on 09/25/2012 1:57:28 AM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: neverdem

My drug of choice is beer, and I ain’t giving it up anytime soon.


15 posted on 09/25/2012 1:58:54 AM PDT by Bullish (Barry's not fit to shine the shoes of a REAL President.)
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To: Smokin' Joe
If the ‘zombie apocalypse’ ever starts, the people coming off their meds will be interesting,

It was just such a scenario that helped ruin Asbury Park, NJ. In the late 60's, they closed the local mental hospital, and a lot of them were section 8'd into housing or just plain let out. They turned a seaside mecca into a Carnival of Souls -type empty shell.

Before:

After:

Obviously it's more than just the psychos - it was the druggies and the nearby downtown "civil unrest" of the 60's, let's just say. It's kind of like the pics you see of downtown Detroit.

16 posted on 09/25/2012 2:01:16 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Baby Boomers and their drug culture lifestyle coming home to roost.

Hey!...where are those flashbacks we were promised?

17 posted on 09/25/2012 2:06:32 AM PDT by Tainan (Cogito, ergo conservatus sum)
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To: Republican1795.

Well, then it’s not the drugs causing it, is it?


18 posted on 09/25/2012 2:53:29 AM PDT by Tublecane
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To: P.O.E.

Sandy, the fireworks are hailin’ over Little Eden tonight
Forcin’ a light into all those stony faces left stranded on this warm July
Down in the town, the Circuit’s full of switchblade lovers, so fast, so shiny, so sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers on the shore
Chasin’ all them silly New York virgins by the score

And Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy girl
My, my, baby

Now, the greasers, ah, they tramp the streets or get busted for sleeping on the beach all night
Them boys in their high heels, ah, Sandy, their skins are so white
And me, I just got tired of hangin’ in them dusty arcades, bangin’ them pleasure machines
Chasin’ the factory girls underneath the boardwalk where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And they kept me spinning, babe, didn’t think I’d ever get off

Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life on the water
Runnin’, laughin’ ‘neath the boardwalk, ah, with the boss’s daughter
I remember, Sandy, girl
Na, na, na, na, na, baby

Sandy, that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
I spoke with her last night, she said she won’t set herself on fire for me anymore
She worked that joint under the boardwalk, she was always the girl you saw boppin’ down the beach with the radio
The kids say last night she was dressed like a star in one of them cheap little seaside bars, and I saw her parked with lover boy out on the Kokomo
Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin’ fortunes better than they do
For me this boardwalk life is through, babe
You ought to quit this scene too

Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight and I promise I’ll love you forever
Oh, I mean it, Sandy, girl
My, my, my, my, my baby
Yeah, I promise, Sandy, girl
Sha, la, la, la, la, baby


19 posted on 09/25/2012 3:16:09 AM PDT by almcbean
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To: P.O.E.

It was the 1970s riot in Asbury Park that did it in (although parts of it have come back VERY strong. I’m a few minutes away.) Then some of the shore towns with large Victorian homes/hotels took in the Section 8s - literally taking them off the hands of more prosperous NJ towns. White flight ensued.

Part of the problem with the loonies in Asbury and Ocean Grove were that they WEREN’T taking their meds.

You should visit Asbury again. It’s doing pretty well. I’m not at all fond of the newly designed waterfront but it’s popular with visitors and residents alike.


20 posted on 09/25/2012 3:21:52 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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