Here is a link to an article on today's BBC news website.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17940070
The headline is 'Antipsychotic drugs made me want to kill myself'. And yet the article goes on to make the claim that despite the terrible side-effects of these medications, taking them is still a good thing. This annoys me rather - it is lazy, one-sided reporting. I could do better!
The article cites somebody from the Institute of Psychiatry who claims that it is better to take medication than not to. Nothing is suggested to the contrary, although there are plenty of studies to show that people recover better without medication (like the ones that Dr Alison Brabban recently pointed me to, that I cited on here).
Then on the 'informational' bar on the side of the article, the Royal College of Psychiatry is quoted, saying that the 'new' antipsychotics are better than the 'old' ones. Says who? I have heard a lot of evidence that there is not a lot to choose between the side effects of any of them.
What bothers me is that a major piece like that on a reputable site (I love the BBC) purporting to 'prove' something, gives totally the wrong impression. It will have huge repercussions; people will think that information is gospel now, because a BBC reporter has cited 'The latest research'. What happened to balanced reporting - you argue one side of the story, then you put the other, and you leave the reader to decide.
Grrr!
I read that article too and was left feeling angry at it too - it is completely one-sided and most importantly, not open for comments like a lot of those sorts of articles are. I believe that the majority of people with similar diagnosis' will be on 'our' side and believing the article to be a load of [insert appropriate four letter word]. Anti-psychotics DO work for some people but I highly doubt they are as good as helping 4 out of 5 people. I was on 5 different anti-psychotics at various times. Surely one would have helped me if they all had 80% success rate?
ReplyDeleteunbelievably one-sided. The writer of this article should be directed to the "Mad in America"website
ReplyDeleteA patient victim speaks.
ReplyDeleteThe saga of the so called *atypical antipsychotics* is one of incredible profit.Eli Lilly made $65 BILLION on Zyprexa franchise.
Described as *the most successful drug in the history of neuroscience* the drugs at $12 pill are used by states to medicate deinstitutionalized mental patients to keep them out of the $500 day hospitals (*Viva Zyprexa* Lilly sales rep slogan).
There is a whole underclass block of our society,including children in foster care that are the market for these drugs,but have little voice of protest if harmed by them.I am an exception,I got diabetes from Zyprexa as an off-label treatment for PTSD and I am not a mentally challenged victim so I post.
Google-Haszard Zyprexa
--Daniel Haszard - FMI www.zyprexa-victims.com
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete