The last set of posts have brought stimulants and dopamine into the frame. In the 1960s and 1970s while stimulants were becoming controlled drugs it was nevertheless denied that they caused dependence. It is now clear that the closely related dopamine agonists, increasingly the first line treatment for Parkinson's Disease, cause a host of compulsive behaviors in addiction to … [Read more...] about Dopamine & Addiction: Junkies of the Third Age?
Antidepressants
Over The Top: Tackling Medical Power
Editorial Note: Laurie Oakley has recently brought out a book, Crazy And It Was, that gives many vivid illustrations of the problems of coping with healthcare systems, especially mental healthcare systems. Her account of what it's like to deal with a doctor who just isn't listening was particularly compelling. We asked her to give some hints of the kinds of problems covered in … [Read more...] about Over The Top: Tackling Medical Power
The Mysteries of Love
RxISK has had twenty-two stories and features on sex and drugs over the last two years - more than on any other topic. While we have a Sex Zone on the RxISK front page because we thought the topic might be of some interest, we didn't expect sex to take over quite like this. There are a few reasons sex may be so hot. Mysterious effects First a great deal of what is … [Read more...] about The Mysteries of Love
Massacre of Innocence
Paradise lost Any post about pregnancy pulls in more than the average amount of complexity. We had a series of posts on the risks of antidepressants in pregnancy at the end of last year The Dark is for Mushrooms, not for Women and Preventing Precaution and Mumsnet and a string of posts from Adam Urato - see Massacre of the Innocents - with another point of view from Philippa … [Read more...] about Massacre of Innocence
Massacre of the Innocents
Editorial Note: This post is by Adam Urato. There are other Adam Urato posts on RxISK (see Antidepressants and Autism and Autism Awareness Day) about the use of antidepressants in pregnancy and by women of child-bearing years. This post appeared first on Mad in America. The image is from an article by Gideon Koren that seriously proposes putting the image of a pregnant woman on … [Read more...] about Massacre of the Innocents
Better to Die RxISKing It
Editorial Note: This post continues from last week's Persecution of Heretics. It's about how only a Popular Movement with those suffering adverse effects on drugs speaking up can save us now. It adapts a talk given a month ago to the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry in Los Angeles. It loses something without its slides. But it was recorded and may be … [Read more...] about Better to Die RxISKing It
Rethink at Rethink?
Editorial Note: This post from James Bennett of RxISK's team explores the increasingly problematic area of sexual functioning on antidepressants and other drugs. The efforts to take down the Wikipedia page on Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD) suggest that the sexual side effects of antidepressants worry industry more than anything else. Why this should be is something that … [Read more...] about Rethink at Rethink?
The Tooth Fairy
Editorial note: While many people in the UK make it a point of honor to say they never read The Mail, when it comes to its health and femail pages The Mail can be quite astonishing. For some of us who have followed the stories on RxISK linking SSRI use to alcoholism, the Mail's pages feature an extraordinary parade of women crashing cars and killing others, or divorced by … [Read more...] about The Tooth Fairy
Asexuality: A Curious Parallel
Editorial Note: This post is by James Bennett who is organizing RxISK research on PSSD. In the last two decades there has been an explosion in the number of children being prescribed a range of drugs including antidepressants, antipsychotics and stimulants. There is also a dramatic increase in the number of children exposed to these drugs, especially antidepressants, before … [Read more...] about Asexuality: A Curious Parallel
Life on Drugs
Editorial Note: This extraordinary account of what it can be like to live on psychotropic drugs came by email out of the blue from Jim Seko. For the record, it looks from here that Jim cannot have had schizophrenia. His original problem almost has to be an acute and transient psychosis. The tragedy of these states is that they sometimes do lead to a life dulled by … [Read more...] about Life on Drugs