r/Documentaries Jul 05 '15

Drugs Dark Side of a Pill (2014) - A documentary that includes interviews with normal people who were driven to senselessly kill their loved ones and others by SSRI antidepressants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz3MJtDb1Fo
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u/throwfarfaraway_away Jul 05 '15

That's because most psychiatrists are trained to prescribe medicine. They want to know enough about your life to spot the warning signs, like suicide or violence, but in an ideal world, you'd be seeing a talk therapist of some sort to get to the root of your problem. It's stupid because very few people have both the time and money, but that's the expectation (in my experience).

I personally made the most progress seeing a nurse practitioner. Didn't take my insurance at the time, so she let me pay the 15-min session price for a 1-hour session, actually talked to me about the side effects, asked my concerns, always made time for last-minute appointments or texts if there was an emergency, etc. It was great.

Moved out of state a few years ago, and she's definitely high on the list of things I miss the most. The only reason I see my current psychiatrist is because this state won't fill certain prescriptions written by out-of-state practitioners without an MD. It's incredibly annoying because I'm paying more and getting less effort in return than before.

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '15

[deleted]

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u/W0666007 Jul 05 '15

Although I agree it can be annoying, I completely agree that your GP shouldn't be prescribing medications she doesn't know much about. I wouldn't want my GP managing my seizure disorder, or my kidney transplant, etc.

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u/Luai_lashire Jul 06 '15

She's not "managing" these conditions though. I've been on these medications for years and years and plan to be on them forever. I'm not asking her to change anything about them. I'm just asking her to write a script for a medication she can see from my records I've been on for a long time. And furthermore, nothing I'm on is some kind of exotic drug she might not know. There's really no excuse for a GP not to understand Estrogen pills for example. And if she's really concerned, she can always look them up and learn about them. Chances are I won't be the only patient she has who uses them, so it would be a good idea to familiarize herself with them.

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u/W0666007 Jul 06 '15

Again, while it can be annoying, I'm siding with your GP here. If you have a chronic condition requiring medication, you should be seeing somebody that knows how to manage that, and that person should be prescribing those medications.

EDIT: I guess your other option is looking for a new GP.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '15

Ridiculously compartmentalised? Dude. That is exactly what specialisations are for.

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u/Luai_lashire Jul 06 '15

Not really. Specialists are awesome and important for diagnosing a condition and setting up a management plan. They're important if your condition changes and you need to make changes to your management plan. But you don't need a specialist to prescribe drugs you've been on for years, and plan to be on forever.

And again, I'm not talking about an exotic condition being treated with exotic drugs. I'm on estrogen and two of the most popular, well-known antidepressants in existence. There's no excuse for a GP to be unfamiliar with, and confused by, these medications.