I wanted to add this post this morning since it covers a topic which I have been trying to highlight over recent weeks; namely, the highly contentious issue of drug prescribing for both mental and physical problems.
The fact of the matter is that we are becoming a nation of drug dependents and addicts.
Not only are many of us are being prescribed pills that we don't need, but we're also being given pills to combat the side effects and withdrawal problems created by the previously prescribed drugs!
In psychiatry the patient will very often be told that their symptoms are part of their disorder when in fact, they have been generated by the drugs themselves!
It really is a minefield for the poor patient!
Warning!
Before I go any further, I must warn people:
NOT TO GO COLD TURKEY OFF THEIR MEDICATIONS
This is especially important in the field of psychiatry - as I have found out to my detriment -since every psychiatric drug that I ever took gave me side effects, (before miraculously finding the thyroid treatment) and every drug gave me withdrawal problems too.
Just to reiterate the seriousness of this; one medication/treatment catapulted me into a psychiatric ward for three months, and one gave me such paralysing insomnia that it took me nearly a year to withdraw from a 'sub threshold' dose (that's a dose that's below the level of supposed effect!).
Then there's been the myriad of brain zaps (electric shock-like zaps in my brain), cold sweats, sleep paralysis, feeling like being in a washing machine, feeling like a zombie, feeling disconnected from my own thoughts, headaches... the list goes on and on...
So the message is:
BE CAREFUL when medicating the brain with anything and be especially cautious when withdrawing!
NHS wasting 568M on pointless pills
Due to the fact that I have shingles and am meant to be convalescing, as well as the fact that this is a highly contentious area (and I am trying to remain stress-free!) I am going to let the article do the talking and add a snapshot of it below.
The article begins:
The NHS is wasting up to £568million a year on pills that patients do not need and can leave them with dangerous addictions, a study shows.
Doctors in England are dishing out habit-forming drugs such as opioids, antidepressants, benzodiazepines and sleeping pills to hundreds of thousands of people who should not be on them.
When they try to quit, many suffer severe withdrawal symptoms such as abdominal cramps, blurred vision and loss of appetite.
Below is a snapshot of a section of the article
And we wonder why there's no money to improve the dire state of mental health services in this country?
If you would like more information on this story then please click here.
Thanks for reading,
Speak to you soon,
TR
