A revolutionary thought?

[Alex Mercer]

What if the people who make antipsychotic medication actually injected it into themselves to see how bad the side effects are and then maybe they would think twice about releasing it to the public. I see a bunch of 90 year old men discussing on YouTube the medication I'm taking and all they have to say from their old wrinkly asses is how good it is for people and the comments and google reviews BY PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY TAKE IT SO UNDERSTAND have nothing but bad things to say. What's even a bigger joke is the way they diagnose psychosis which is basically by asking you a bunch of questions that you say yes or no to. A lot of room to just make mistakes and misdiagnose and next thing you know you got a perfectly fine human feeling like sedated zombie on antipsychotics.

I know people probably have good intentions when it comes to making these things (though I do here how drug industry are like everyone elSe and want to profit ) but how come can you aim to cure mental problems with things that seem to leave you even worse. You don't have to be some educated doctor to see that .

[Phi for All]

46 minutes ago, Alex Mercer said:

how come can you aim to cure mental problems with things that seem to leave you even worse. You don't have to be some educated doctor to see that .

I'm afraid that's EXACTLY what you have to be. An educated doctor has to balance efficacy with his patient's needs. The same meds might help two different people equally, but patient A is worried about an associated weight gain, even more so than his psychoses. Helping patient A's mental  state is the goal, and there are a ton of factors to consider.

Also, your definition of "worse" probably isn't a medical one. Is it worse to be zonked out on medications or lucid but violent? Doctors don't  always have the same criteria for what poses a "problem" that their patients do. 

All that said, money does have an impact on medicine that is decidedly non-medical. Ideally, healthcare shouldn't be a for-profit venture, since the capitalist models often conflict with what's best for a patient. But your idea for lab folks to take the medicines they make sounds like a rant. I suppose if they actually needed the meds it might work, but how do you know they aren't taking them already? Can you take antipsychotic medication safely if you don't need it, just to see how it makes you feel?

[swansont]

The fact that you suffer certain side-effects does not mean that other people experience the same side-effects.

[studiot]

1 hour ago, Alex Mercer said:

What's even a bigger joke is the way they diagnose psychosis which is basically by asking you a bunch of questions that you say yes or no to

 

Don't they also observe your actions, directly or indirectly ?

Aren't the drugs also more humane then ECT ?

I am sorry if you have suffered personally, I only have second hand experience of these treatments, but my observations are that matters have improved quite a bit in the last 40 years, although they have a long long way to go yet.

I do know of one medical Professor of the subject who refuses to diagnose initially, but says,

Let's start with the least intrusive (some tablets for depression) and if that 'cures' it then that is your diagnosis.
If not we can work up the scale.

One important consequence is that certain diagnoses incur certain legal and social restrictions so it is best not to have them.

 

[Alex Mercer]

Most antipsychotics have a list of common side effects that is given. And judging by all the negative reviews all over the internet on the medication I am using it seems like people are experiencing the same side effects. Though it does say on the official information page that other than common side effects there are side effects unique to each individual. Also kind of weird is that 'feeling like a sedated zombie" doesn't come under their list of common side effects but plenty of reviews online from actual users that say that is how they feel (doesn't list anything that is synonym for sedated).

 

[Phi for All]

50 minutes ago, Alex Mercer said:

Also kind of weird is that 'feeling like a sedated zombie" doesn't come under their list of common side effects but plenty of reviews online from actual users that say that is how they feel (doesn't list anything that is synonym for sedated).

I would question any judgement that only took one side of the equation into account. Again, if the alternative to "feeling like a sedated zombie" is "not being able to trust that I'm not a danger to myself and others", would that change how you feel about using the medication?