| This media story isn't 'in the tradition' of vocally disliking psychiatric medication. You could twist the headline to be, possibly. Have you read the article itself? Its the complete opposite. The headline is a bit attention grabby perhaps (and of course, that is what a headline must do), but I wouldn't even call it clickbait. It is even fairly accurate. Yes, they were likely off target with the specific neuroreceptors, no that doesn't mean the medication didn't work and of course, this is a positive development for designing better medication. This is classic storytelling, draw the reader in with some conflict and save the resolution for the end. We need to be able to discuss negatives and limitations associated with psychiatric medication in an honest and nuanced way. They often don't work well enough, there are costs associated and just giving somebody a pill and be done with it is hopelessly inadequate to the point of negligence. As someone who did experience uncontrolled psychosis myself, let me tell you the absolute taboo of discussing these matters made me way more uncomfortable than the side effects. Furthermore, psychiatry made me feel like a diseased animal at times, not to be taken very seriously and just put on drugs for life to be on the safe side. In hindsight I do appreciate how difficult that line of work is, doesn't change my experience. I am not against medication really, actually I think they are a must-have. I just think most anti-medication people are not really rallying against the side effects or at least not initially, but grew opposition out of bad experiences with treatment that focuses only on medication and was just very inadequate. Medication is what represents that. Additionally, medication can come to represent your loss of sanity and with that, you fundamental not-belonging to the group of 'normal people'. Thus the desire to not be on meds 'for life'. Haven't spoken to a single therapist or psychiatrist who made me feel that was a legitimate desire and who understood that. Maybe things have changed, this was a long time ago. To deal with the resentment against meds, I think it is way more effective to address those concerns directly and without fear, rather than putting down everything that might be interpreted as negative about medication. Like you say, without experience yourself, you have no idea how bad psychosis can get. It is a really complex thing and you will need much, much more than pills. And not only for the psychotic episodes, because these experiences tear at your identity as a human being. It isn't over when the psychosis is over. |