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Original poster

that 'chemical imbalance' myth

160 replies

Alameda · 26/06/2012 15:54

so nice to see this notion that has been used to oppress and repress women for decades finally discussed as a dangerous myth - chemical imbalances and other black unicorns

although I despair at how sort of prevalent it is, how regressive and how effective it is at distracting women from the cultural determinants of their unhappiness

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Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:41

wonder if it was mirtazapine? Anyway it is good that she is so well, I imagine my friends who lurk around these parts will be thinking that I am much better on lithium than off, I don't dispute the role these things have.

But that is quite dodgy isn't it, the softening thing and the upcoding. Why would people want it though? It's a nuisance in the UK with DVLA. Also still a bit stigmatising despite the sterling efforts of Jean Slater.

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EatsBrainsAndLeaves · 27/06/2012 10:40

Almeda - sorry I see what you mean now by there is no such thing as a mood stabiliser - you are right. Yes I know lithium does that. But the point is that you shouldn't feel any different if it works effectively - just be yourself but without manic or depressive episodes

Hullygully · 27/06/2012 10:36

just sv - she did take another medication alongside for a while to deal with sleeplessness, can't remember what, and she turned into a giant fat vegetable!

Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:34

(really pleased that it works so well for her)

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Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:34

they will never give me that now they know lithium works, unless or until I can't take it because of complications

I say 'now' but was first prescribed lithium about 12 years ago, although had a break when I converted my consultant by preaching the gospel of lamictal at him (it was shit) - does your friend take anything else or just SV?

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Hullygully · 27/06/2012 10:31
Hullygully · 27/06/2012 10:30

alameda - friend is very thin with lots of hair! And she used to be catatonic with depression and now just gets ordinary downs...

Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:29

it's because it slowly but surely ruins your kidneys and thyroid eats, and because the amount that is therapeutic is sometimes close to the amount that is toxic if that's what you mean by powerful? I don't know if it powerfully affects mood, I'm still the same as ever

all I knw about sodium valproate is that it is effective against mania but doesn't have any antidepressant properties (and it makes people fat and their hair sometimes falls out) - surely a true stabiliser would treat both?

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Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:26

Oh I like that article, see, TOLD YOU there is no such thing as a mood stabiliser!

As far as ever getting rid of own diagnosis though I think I'm screwed, too many episodes now - the worst of which would not have happened if had never been given SSRIs (or might have been SNRI, similar anyway)

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Hullygully · 27/06/2012 10:25

Alameda - a friend of mine with bipolar takes sodium valproate and finds it very effective as a stabiliser

EatsBrainsAndLeaves · 27/06/2012 10:24

Alameda - If you take lithium then you know you have to have regular blood tests to check liver function, etc. This is because it is a powerful drug.

Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:22

oh thanks

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Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:21

I would actually be quite pleased if there were drugs developed for bipolar. I don't think many people, like me, can have antidepressants if our mood is low because they make bipolar worse. There isn't anything that has been designed specifically for mania either. There's just lithium and drugs designed to treat schizophrenia and epilepsy. Oh and benzos, obviously quite like those ones.

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Hullygully · 27/06/2012 10:20

This wasn't the one I read, but it has the same information.

Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:19

I don't know about powerful, all it does is make me thirsty and sort of scabby. I suppose it is quite poisonous.

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Hullygully · 27/06/2012 10:18

There was a good article at the weekend about bipolar categories and drug devpt, of course I'll never find it now.

EatsBrainsAndLeaves · 27/06/2012 10:16

Hully - I do think the definition of bipolar is being widened to take in more and more people. IMO this is not helpful. WHO have a very lengthy assessment tool to diagnose bipolar that imo is much more helpful than some of the dianostic criteria now being used/proposed in UK.

Basically until very very recently it was difficult to get a diagnosis of bipolar and even after diagnosis as part of monitoring, decent psychiatrists would question the diagnosis - as it is easy to misdiagnose what is recurrent depression as bipolar. Mood stabilisers like lithium, although life savers literally for people with bipolar, are powerful drugs that should not be prescribed to those who don't need them

Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:12

I don't think the categories exist so drugs can be developed, they have yet to develop so much as one drug specifically for bipolar!

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Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:10

cycle length I mean

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Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:09

are there six categories? Is this to differentiate between cycles and mixed states and things? That's probably not a bad thing, look at how many sorts of schizophrenia there are!

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Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 10:08

I'm just wondering why it's not a diagnostic test for depression - do people who are not depressed sometimes have low serum serotonin levels? Of course we don't know which way round it goes, we don't know if the depression lowers serotonin or if low serotonin causes depression, we just know the two often happen together?

I'm a bit shocked that depression affects twice as many women as men, so this does mean it is more than women being more likely to seek help (I didn't, I had no idea I was depressed) - this is where I think it is incredibly unhelpful to have so much emphasis on chemistry. Is it true everywhere in the world? Or just in Europe/US?

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Hullygully · 27/06/2012 10:05

I think it's a miracle that more people struggling along in our uber competitive materialist society aren't seriously and permanently depressed...

I also think there are a myriad of causes and complex interreactions between environment and genetics that we are only beginning to understand.

Bipolar now has six categories (!), more and more are developed so that lovely new expensive drugs can be developed...so that has to be thrown into the mix too.

So you have genetic inheritance/predisposition + environment + vested interests + human desire to "fix" things and the belief in perfectability.

WicketyPitch · 27/06/2012 09:55

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WicketyPitch · 27/06/2012 09:53

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Original poster
Alameda · 27/06/2012 09:51

I remember having various blood tests but I think they were looking at thyroid function and I don't know what else, not measuring serotonin levels anyway. Why don't they do this if there is a connection between blood levels and mood?

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