Posted by med_empowered on February 20, 2007, at 2:07:04
In reply to Re: opiates for depression HELL NO, posted by Quintal on February 19, 2007, at 22:58:49
I think opiates can be a very, very good thing. High-doses for prolonged periods probably aren't fun, especially since chronic pain is often accompanied by mood and anxiety problems and psychosocial difficulties. Some more helpful docs give patients a stimulant (ritalin, provigil, an amphetamine) to help reduce lethargy. From what I've read (based on research done back when a doc could do this w/o fearing the DEA), such combos can work very, very well; the "speedball" combo tends to counteract sedation and depression and improve quality of life.
Anyway..that's beside the point...opiates have long been a solution, short- and long-term, to humankind's spells of misery and fits of despair. Based on my own experience, I hardly think any of these over-hyped miracle antidepressants will ever come close to matching the calming, soothing power of the opiates. And let's face it: the only reason these are considered "addictive drugs" is b/c no drug company has pushed through an overhyped med w/ opiate action for depression. The instant Pfizer or Eli Lilly or AstraZeneca take a break from pumping out "atypical" antipsychotics and offer up an opiate (one that, for 10-20 years, will be seen as "safe" and "less addictive" than cheaper drugs) for depression, p-docs all over will be spraying them on everyone for everything. And we'll all hear how terribly misinformed medicine was in the dark ages before they realized how beneficial opiates were, blah blah blah....
In the meantime, the best we can do is try to get docs to treat patients w/ mood issues with the same the same concern they're showing junkies. I think this really shows just how much the "mental patient" is disrespected and disregarded, even by the very profession that claims to serve us: drug addicts, a group traditionally seen as morally suspect, are entitled to better, more effective treatments than mental patients. Think about it.
((PS--I dont have a problem with people using/abusing drugs or those who wish to stop and end up labelled as "addicts" or "junkies"; my point is just that the "addict" has usually ranked pretty low on the social totem pole, and I think the way they are treated vs mental patients kind of shows that mental patients are still pretty much devalued and disregarded).
poster:med_empowered
thread:734151
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070219/msgs/734385.html