I think medications in this area of science are a short term fix to a long term problem in some or more of the severe cases. Psychiatrists don't expect a person to be on anti depressants, MAIOs, SSRIs, SNRIs, NaSSRAs forever. A lot of seriously ill people end up on morphine. It's a vicious cycle then. It's generally rinse and repeat and in america there's billions made from it.
A lot of people have to be on these types of psychatric medications. I think some people with these illnesses have to be monitored due to their ages and due to the side effects of these medications. Unfortunately, I think a lot of the medications which treat certain psychiatric disorders have serious side effects in the long term. Diabetes is very common with certain anti-psychotic drugs. A lot of them are monitored extensively in hospitals.
I think medications are overly approved for children to take in small dosages of the more common psychiatric medications. I think it's no surprise a lot of psychiatrists and doctors generally prefer a child or a teenager to not be on these drugs because they're very dangerous. Although, I think more so in certain statistics than many drugs which treat physical illnesses.
I personally feel there's more serious psychiatric disorders than ADD and ADHD but often there's more than one disorder the individual has which may go undiagnosed. Although, I think every illness should be taken seriously when there's medications involved.
A lot of the medications are used to treat multiple disorders and often doctors give out two or three different types of medications for one person to take in different doses. I think they can only go on what the person says to them, or what his/her traits are. A lot of the time there's a lot of misdiagnosis. I believe only the person suffering, or a family member around the individual would know what he or she is going through. So, there's often misdiagnosis in many cases and years later the individual ends up having other issues which may concern their physical or mental health even more.
I knew two people in one family who were diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. Both of them were on medications in their childhood to a minor extent. One is now in the army, and the other one is working in the police force. So, I do believe psychiatric medications can do their jobs but i also do believe ADD and ADHD are both curable without medication.
I think with all medications there's going to be trial and error and certain types of medications will give adverse side effects than another. I think there's a great deal of science involved with measuring the mind in psychometrics as opposed to psychiatry. I think there's a lot of science involved in psychiatry, psychology, behavioral psychology,...etc... but often a great deal of pseudoscience can be brought to the table and might overshadow some of the real scientific facts and measures concerning psychiatry, psychology, and psychiatric medications.
I think the chance of error of misdiagnosis is still very high in psychiatry. I think the medications are still very dangerous even after the increased tests and the improvements of psychiatric medicine over many years. I think BT, CT, CBT and other therapies are a safer alternative over medications. I don't believe there's a miracle pill which will fix the problem. I think a combination of medication and therapies over a prolonged period of time do work. I think medications for the short term and then therapy should always be offered and put in place for the person. Unfortunately, I think a lot of the therapies which should be on offer to the individual are not readily available as they should be.
The sad thing is many will fall under the radar and may need help but do not get it due to funding, lack of man power, or a poor system structure in certain areas of a country.
I don't think psychiatric medications should be eradicated and the system stopped because medications do help people quite drastically. Although, a lot of the medications have side effects which go with it. Increased weight gain, insomnia, fatigue, lathargia, akathisia, restlessness...etc... and the list can go on. I think there's dangers with any drug but the pros and cons of psychiatric medications are questionable. I think the cons can outweigh the pros with psychiatric medications.
I think the positives gained from psychiatric medications can be gained with a healthier lifestyle, diet, and a therapy course. I think exercise is very important for a person on these medications. I think releasing the needed chemicals for a person to function is vitally important in improvement of one's mental and physical health.
A lot of psychiatrists will tell you the statistics are very minimal when they mention a small percentage of people who may get diabetes as an example from a certain type of drug. Which can often be the case but the percentage is often much larger than they think given the scale of how the population is growing. A lot of the statistics they base the medications are very old and outdated.
Overall, I think ADHD and ADD can be treated with courses of different types of therapy over a prolonged period of time. I think lifestyle changes and exercise also play a big part.
I believe there is a lot of money to be made and has been made from the distribution of these medications in america specifically and many countries which import these medications from big pharmaceutical companies. But this has been a problem for years outside of the psychiatry industry. I do not believe a system can entirely change due to the size of the population. I think the funding could potentially be there but the work and time to do this may be the troubling issue.
I think the billion dollar industry is something which will never change. I don't think things will ever change. I think a lot of the time the emphasis is put onto the person to get better themselves with the help of medication but without any help from someone else. It essence it's almost a very selfish industry. Even though on the surface it seems more logical to put someone on medication without anything else involved. I think medications will only be a short term fix to possibly a long term problem.
