National expert blames side effects of depression medication

The Great Falls Tribune ^ | 8/28/2002 | Kim Skornogoski

[CholeraJoe]

Jeanette Swanson was taking an antidepressant that can cause delusions and mania -- and is similar to the drug taken by Texas mom Andrea Yates, recently convicted of drowning her five children in a bathtub.

Swanson of Augusta is accused of shooting two of her children Monday.

[hobbes1]

The box isn't pink...

[wizr]

Hmmmmmmmmmm. I've been on Paxil, on a daily basis, for many years now.

Guess I'm one of the guinea pigs that lived.

Only ones I think about doing in are the idiots you find on the highways every day, and some of the corporate management where I used to work. But, we all have those ideas. Right?

[Cogadh na Sith]

Know how to steam a clam?

Make fun of his religion....

[Protagoras]

You cannot legitimately teach a subject to anyone unless you have a grasp of the subject itself. If someone who barely finished high school themselves expects to be able to instruct their 15 year old in Algebra, they are seriously deluded.

Are you aware of how that problem is solved by homeschoolers?

[wndycndy]

I know so many people on these meds and I take low dose (10mg.) Prozac myself. Serafem for PMS is just another name for Prozac. I asked my doctor about the whole murder/suicide connection to these drugs and she said it is because these folks have SERIOUS mental issues to start with and aren't taking their meds correctly or are mixing other drugs and alcohol with them.

I know if I drink too much (more than 3 glasses of wine or so) I end up with weird dreams and feeling spacey but otherwise I feel exactly the same as ever--just not quite as irritable.

By the way, I am the Mom of a 4 year old boy and an 18 year old daughter who has put me through hell recently. I never have the urge to physically harm my children or anyone I love for that matter. I'd still like to get alone with that murderer who killed Samantha Runnion though--I have serious fantasies of "taking care of" him ;)

[sparkydragon]

Ah, but what if you barely finished high school because your teacher didn't like your writing or didn't agree with your point of view, but you were excellent in math? Does experience tutoring students in college level classes count toward qualification?

sparky

[sparkydragon]

thanks for the ping

sparky

[sparkydragon]

Part of the problem you have here is that 10mg isn't exactly the same effective dose for everyone. Your weight and tolerance to the drug can make lower dosed effective, or create the need for higher doses. You have problems when you mix alcohol; others may have similar problems if their dosage is too high. It is quite easy for too high a dose to be given by your doctor if it is the lowest dosage available and your body just isn't up to using it all constructively. That's why Ritalin helps some kids really well and turns others into zombies. They will give an 8 yr old the same dose as a 6 yr old even though there are great differences in their stature.

Andrea Yates had such serious mental issues that she should have been, and had been, in a mental hospital. However, no one was expecting anything like what the Columbine boys did. I'm not saying that it causes homicidal tendencies, just that it may, and probably does exacerbate them. Everyone has thought "I wish I could just kill (person)," at some pointin their lives. These drug alter your brain chemistry and your control over your own emotions . . . that's why you take them. If they react badly, why can't they make you more likely to do something like this? I would like to emphasize that the drugs' entire purpose is to alter your emotions and perceptions.

sparky

[madfly]

ping

[flying Elvis]

When I tried the various meds I got the distinct impression that no one, at least my doctor, had no idea how each med would affect me. It was quite an experience. I remember one brand giving me side effects that were similar to LSD, flashing colors, etc. Others affected my sleep patterns in odd ways. The Wellbutrin was good for quitting tobacco, I had to tolerate nightfrights while I was taking it though.

[Carry_Okie]

I still believe that parents should have some sort of formal training in order to homeschool.

What, pray tell, is justified in your to demand to use police power to assure your interests in my kids? What qualification do your agents in government possess to make that judgment?

[CholeraJoe]

What, pray tell, is justified in your to demand to use police power to assure your interests in my kids? What qualification do your agents in government possess to make that judgment?

There's a Freemen colony up here in Montana that could use a few more folks with your deranged thinking.

[Carry_Okie]

Dodged the question by demonization, eh? That is a tactic worthy of a liberal.

I would like you to find me a public grade-school teacher capable of passing judgment on my nine-year-old. BTW, she has completed a her first year of algebra and self-taught course in high school geometry too. She tested at post high school levels in 14 of 18 categories. Her sister (who would now be starting third grade in a California school unless I had rescued her) tested at seventh grade last year.

You have demonstrated your ample lack of ability to pass judgment on my kids' education because you didn't even ask. So why should I trust an incompetent claque of "professionals" supposedly acting in your interests when they'll only take care of their own? How good a job have your preferred democratic socialist systems done at assuring that they do satisfactory work? Don't we have enough proof that they have failed?

[2Jedismom]

I still believe that parents should have some sort of formal training in order to homeschool.

What, like this guy's training? Read the whole article, it's short and as a homeschooling mom, I find it hysterically funny. I would not be amused if he taught one of my jedis, though.

[2Jedismom]

I've met a few good teachers, but I've found most supposedly "qualified" teachers to be dumber than stumps.

There's a lady in my Sunday School class at church...she does the announcements. She's a third grade teacher. When she does our announcements, she pretends she's speaking to her third grade class. Everyone thinks she's cute and giggles at her. I feel pity for the poor youngsters she teaches if she speaks to them like she does to us. She speaks like we are imbeciles.

I don't put much stock in qualifications. Any enterprising and determined parent can teach or find instruction for their child. And this kind of caring parent is far superior to any other person, qualified or not.

[agrace]

No, can't be - the commercial for Paxil shows happy, beautiful women running through sunny fields of flowers!

[SauronOfMordor]

I still believe that parents should have some sort of formal training in order to homeschool.

Speaking as a homeschooling parent, most of the homeschool parents I know DO have formal training. We have parents with degrees in Engineering, History, Liberal Arts, all sorts of subjects where you actually have to know things besides psycho-babble and edu-speak

Considering the fact that homeschoolers consistently have better test scores than public schoolers, I would counter that perhaps it would help matters if schoolteachers had formal training -- in their subject matter.

[general_re]

Scientologists?

Always a safe bet with this issue. List of known affiliates and front organizations of Scientology - interesting to see what all they've got their fingers into...

[technochick99]

Ditto to that. I am sooo tired of the victim mentality... "Those eeeevvviiilll drugs made me do it." People need to be aware of what they are taking and the possible side effects, and then take action if something is going wrong. I've never had a problem with either Prozac or Paxil, and I can definitely say they aren't "happy pills".