Why do doctors over prescribe drugs?

Great Debates
201

I completely changed my eating habits around last year. I cut way down on the processed foods and started to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, leaner proteins, and so forth. I also exercise regularly and do some relaxation exercises to reduce the stress. It helps my bipolar disorder because I have far more self-esteem now that I’m almost down to a healthy weight and don’t look like Tubby the Whale anymore. The exercise gives me that nice endorphin rush, and the relaxation helps me to, well, relax. Finally, I stopped smoking a few weeks ago, and that’s helped.

But I can’t give up my medication, and I know that. Lifestyle changes alone aren’t going to completely control my bipolar, and barring some major discovery, never will. Even if I did go off my medication, I can only control my moods for so long. It takes a lot of energy to do that, which is something I don’t always have a lot of.

I also tried counseling alone, which I found isn’t nearly as effective if I’m having mood swings. And, FTR, I don’t know about your problems, but the root cause of mine is a shitty set of genes and all the time in the world spent on counseling isn’t going to change that. My family has a very strong history of depression and bipolar disorder, so it’s no surprise that I have it, too.

When I take my medication, watch my diet, exercise, and take time to relax, I’m in fantastic shape. I’m funny, social, intelligent, responsible, and generally a well-functioning human being. When I don’t take my medication, I’m… not. It’s no wonder that I prefer to be on it than off.

My father is a pharmacist who has significant influence over the formulary decisions, and makes other purchasing decisions for the hospital where he works. Drug reps know this and kiss his ass wherever possible. Sadly, the ass-kissing was limited to pens, notepads, and other tchotchkes. And drug companies can’t even do that anymore, which is a shame because they gave out some nice pens and notepads. But he never got to go on vacation, and he never got money.

202

Yes, I’d agree with that.

No. Not every disease is related to diet and lifestyle.

203

If you re-read my post I believe I was referring to the previous poster regarding OCD…I think the only danger in having OCD and not treating it with medication or not using any alternative measures is possibly washing your hands till they are raw or checking to see if the light switch is off 20 times. Do you have any statistics or proof that people not treated for OCD with an antidepressant beat their wives and all the other uneducated assumptions you pointed out??

ANTIDEPRESSANTS ARE NOT ALWAYS THE ANSWER! Most of the time it is a band-aide or a crutch until we can get to the root of our issues. Now Clinical depression is different!

204

Thank you for this hilarious and clearly very well research observation about OCD.

People who have OCD are likely to have other problems, like drug addiction of depression.

Can you tell the difference?

205

You are (or were) on anti-depressants. You are on synthetic thyroid medication. Practice what you preach - throw away your crutches and heal thyself! Otherwise, you’re making hypocritical judgments about other people’s health issues about which you know exactly zero.

206

I DID see a psychiatrist, AND a therapist as well. And I learned ways to deal with it. I did not find it “easier and cheaper to pop a pill”. I did NOT find it a “choice” to have OCD. Quite the opposite. Do you honestly think people CHOOSE to be depressed?

I was not simply “washing my hands” or “checking to see if the light switch was off”. It was much, much more than that. I often ended up having panic attacks, AND it lead to depression as well.
Could you be anymore insulting? As for it being a “crutch”, yet again, it’s no more so than a man with one leg using a crutch to walk. Would you yank his crutch away from him?

Tell me, should I toss out my seizure meds too? After all, people in the past didn’t have them, so what did they do? Hmmm? Why, I’m sure I could manage them by diet and exercise.
Thank, Dr, for allowing me to see the light.

207

When your health care system is profit based, and access to resources is determined by your wealth, you quickly find yourself in a ‘pay to purchase’ situation.

If I have great insurance coverage (fat wallet), when I’m at the hospital and ask for body scan, they’ll do it, whether I need it or not, as it adds to the profit.

Advertising targets patients because in a ‘pay for purchase’ system that’s what’s driving demand.

In a universal coverage system, access to resources is determined by the doctor, based on need, not wealth. Everyone has the same coverage and the same access. There is no expectation of ‘pay to purchase’.

It’s a tiny perspective change, but it makes a huge difference, I think.

208

Of all the adjectives you could have chosen, I find it somewhat hilarious that you’re accusing me of being *uneducated *in the matter, since I actually hold a Master’s level (although not accredited degree) certification in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medicinal Herbalism AND I’m an RN. Y’know, both worlds of medicine, as you’ve chosen to divide them. And I ran an alternative medicine clinic (acupuncture, herbal medicine, bodywork, energy work) and college for nearly 10 years.

But, carry on. Clearly you know what you believe, and facts aren’t going to get in your way.

209

So will someone please tell me what good could possibly come from destroying someone’s 26 years of sobriety with throwing her into the cuckoo’s nest and forcing her to take anti-depresants for three days? How can that possibly be justified?

I would really, really like to have an answer.

210

There’s just no way that anyone here can give you a specific answer to such a personal question. Perhaps it was completely unjustified and abusive, or perhaps you weren’t in a position to fully appreciate why it might have been appropriate.

In the unlikely event that you might be asking if it’s ever justified generally, then my experience is yes it is. I did a rotation on an inpatient unit, and I’m reminded of one woman with whom the entirety of my sessions were spent listening to tirades about how I was a cog in the vast machinery of the abusive psychiatric system. I would then go and work in family sessions with her husband, who was a defeated shell of a guy, trying to cope with the fact that his wife had another manic episode, had disappeared for a week, and was found shacking up in a hotel room with a 19 year old guy, blowing through their money. He was trying to resolve his knowledge of the fact that his wife would otherwise not behave in that way, and that she really did love him, with the manifest behavior she was showing to the contrary.

A coworker of mine once told me about an experience of involuntary commitment that he had, where he was both physically resisting being hospitalized, while simultaneously a part of his mind was observing something like “wow, I’m really out of control here!”

Again, I’ve no idea what your experiences were, and I feel for you for undergoing a traumatic experience. For other people, involuntary commitment prevents them from ending their own life, engaging in behavior that they would not typically do that causes despair for others, or from directly hurting other people.

It seems a little off the path from the thread, however.

211

You know, people have no problem accepting that things go wrong with our bodies (diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, etc). So why is it so hard to believe that the same thing can’t happen to our brains? After all, the brain is an organ, just as the heart is. What makes the brain so special that it can’t somehow start to malfunction, like the kidneys, or pancreas?

And if diet and exercise are the answer to everything – why do athletes get cancer? Look at Mario Lemieux. One of the hockey players ever, an NHL legend, and yet throughout his career he suffered from various health issues, including back problems, atrial fibrillation, and Hodgkins lymphoma. You’d think that athletes, what with their training regimens would be extra healthy, but they’re not.

We know that brain tumors and injuries can affect people’s behavior. (And as for therapy and medication being “easier and cheaper”, the hell it is. Especially the idea that it’s “cheaper”. That’s a fucking joke.)

212

No one could possibly answer that without more information. Like why were you taken there to begin with? Without that knowledge no one can even guess at their reasoning.

Not that you have to say, but to expect us to offer you an explanation, without knowing that critical detail, seems misplaced.

213

So let me summarize. I was reading the study correctly and the authors failed to supply the single number that would actually provide some context to the numbers they are reporting. I also note that you haven’t supplied that number for all your claims of professional expertise.

214

Wow! Now you know better than the authors of the study what hypotheses they were testing!

You’re just not getting it! They were not reporting a population prevalence rate. There are other studies that do so. This one does not now and never will do what you insist that it should.

You’re not reading the study right. You’re refusing to try to understand what you are ignorant of. They are not reporting a population prevalence rate!

What number is it that I should be supplying regarding my professional expertise?

215

Does anyone actually read the posts?? I said you had a choice to take an antidepressant Not that you had a choice to have OCD. Good grief!

I am in the same boat as you with the whole OCD anxiety and depression! I am in no way judging you. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around it being natural to take a man made pill to feel better than to use the our god given planet and mind and body to help us feel better.

216

Facts according to whom? If you are educated in the matter, where are your studies and results? I have found that common sense carries more weight than book smarts!

217

My point in starting this thread was to ask why doctors over prescribe medicine. I am fully aware of diseases that require medicine and agree they are necessary. I think some issues we go to the doctor for can be helped or cured with alternative methods. I hear so much in the news about over use of antibiotics, it’s a little scary! Seriously if you have the common cold why are you prescribed and antibiotic. Just go home and eat some chicken noodle soup!

And if you actually read my post correctly (seems like no one ever does) I said popping a pill is cheaper than going to see a therapist twice a week!! URGH And yes it is a Fricking joke that popping a pill is cheaper than going to see a therapist!!

218

Not really, it’s cheaper to make pills than therapists.

219

We still haven’t any reason to believe that they are being overprescribed.

220

But having OCD and depression means there’s something wrong that prevents me from getting better. You sound like the whole, “snap out of it!” crowd. What do you suggest I do, by using my “mind and body and planet?”

Why does it make me a weakling to use medicine to treat an ailment, like OCD and depression? I did go to therapy. And I found ways to deal with it. However, I also use meds to treat the physical causes of it. Why, oh WHY is it somehow different to use a pill to treat a mental disorder than it is to use it a pill to treat a physical one, like epilepsy, or diabetes? What makes the brain any different?

No, meds aren’t “cheaper”, and I’d wish you’d quit suggesting that. You want to know how much it costs me a month to remain seizure-free?

As for the whole “natural” crap, “natural” doesn’t equal “good”. Snake venom and poison ivy are also “natural”.