Do Psychiatric Drugs Reduce Lifespan?

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

I was just thinking that @joeylittle untreated ptsd is supposed to reduce life span. As are some other MH issues, so how can it determined its the meds not the condition.

Saying that I am very sceptical of antidepressants specifically but maybe thats because I've never found one that helped and I've had some bad reactions to some.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/12/psychiatric-drugs-more-harm-than-good-expert

That's just one dude though. But I don't trust big pharma to do unbiased drug trials. More research needs to be done.

 

[anthony]

There is a lot unknown about psychiatric based medications... they're really quite within their infancy compared to physical health meds, which obtain much faster results, especially those for longevity issues. It is not factual that meds reduce lifespan, but maybe contribute. Again, a lot is unknown. Is it actually the medication OR the increased stress on your body? The latter is known, the prior is still being tested.

It's like smoking... its taken hundreds of years before people finally realised that it was killing people much earlier than they should have died. I think medicine is getting faster and better, but that still means decades and a generation possibly, before they can factually make such statements versus interpret results that may not factor the stress on the persons body due to mental health symptoms.

My personal opinion... I don't like them and will stay the hell away from them as much as possible, because they introduce far too many nasties that never existed with me prior.

 

[ms spock]

Link Removed

It doesn't link @joeylittle.

 

[joeylittle]

thanks, @Ms Spock - should work now :)

 

[Justmehere]

Untreated, undertreated, and/or unmanaged, or uncontrolled mental health symptoms can reduce the lifespan in many ways. Many studies have shown this in a variety of ways. This study may not have been able to sort out what the cause of the shortened life span of the person who had a serious enough mental health condition to take medication for that condition.

I used to be thrown a pill for almost every PTSD symptom: I think some do need meds, some may benefit from them but may not need them, and that all of them come with lots of unknowns and risks.

I had a doctor push a medication on me that caused serotonin syndrome. I nearly died from it. He gave it to me for serious suicidal ideation. I'm no longer suicidal, but I know I could end up back there again. I know an antidepressant might help. However, I now prefer to have PTSD (or not being able to overcome suicidal thinking) possibly kill me, rather than a side effect of a med, but it's a tough choice to make. I am trying to dive into every other possible solution to handle these symptoms. I still occasionally go back and use anti-anxiety meds to get through medical procedures, but there are always drawbacks and risks.

 

[ms spock]

I had people put the fear of god into me about medications and so I didn't for a very long time - and I ended up not having a life. Even if it was true, it would have been worth me losing 25 years of my life rather than having the non-life that I have had. I have had a lifetime of other people's agendas shoved down my throat. To scare a young person out of taking medication which meant I could have finished school and not spent days lying on the floor from panic attacks is immoral to my mind - they wanted to be anti medication and they wanted to be alternative - good for them - but it took away significant choices from me and left to live a non life in public housing with violent men who beat and rape their girlfriends and ice addicts that threaten to rape and kill us because he is paranoid that we might have done something to his cat. This is not a life. Not taking medication meant I ended up missing out on having basic human rights and medical attention. It breaks my heart now because I tried too hard in the wrong places. I was hijacked and exploited by alternative psychologists who used me sexually and moved in with me. I had no emotional regulation or ability to say no. The medications might not have worked but at least I would have had a chance. Many of the young people I knew died, and you know the whole "Don't take medications because they are dangerous for you thing!" didn't work out for them either. But at least I am still alive, if you can call it that.

I don't want to be on medications now - but leaving my flat to exercise is literally dangerous I have a rapist/drug addict living across from me and two ice dealers living in the other building. We have six free range ice addicts, though one was removed a week ago. There are two ongoing domestic violence situations going on. We have had criminals out of jail warehoused with us - so the sex offender raped one of the women. (We have rung Housing, the police, DOCs and the local member.) So you can't leave your flat in a regular pattern or you are setting yourself up to be a potential rape victim. The debate could be shifted to why is there no safe housing and affordable accessible therapy for women fleeing from violence, sexual abuse and child abuse?

So yes knowing the potential side effects of drugs is important - but so is being alive and have choices not to live as one of the dregs of society. Having human rights matters, having choices matters, having the ability to get and choose some options and have enough to eat, somewhere safe to live matters.

If young people are alive and get stable on medications then other skills can be learnt to (hopefully) manage without them, but there are some conditions where people don't have options like bipolar and schizophrenia. I saw one young woman at university, talked out of taking her bipolar medications and it literally cost her life. The whole ongoing bogeyman thing with the medications is really annoying to me. I am really sick of seeing people dying of things that could be managed with medications. But for some people their agendas mean more than other people's lives.

Having said that I almost died (on several occasions) from medication changeovers in 2013, and I am working my butt off to wean off these last two tablets to be medication free but I don't see that happening whilst I am living where I am living at the moment.

 

[Weemie]

Mental illness in general reduces lifespan.

 

[Queen Boudica]

No-one is arguing not being on meds, but it is being informed of the risks. And having adequate support. Yes in your case @Ms Spock you needed meds, and so did my daughter, I was trying with psychological help alone and it just wasn't working, fuelled to some extent by ex H. She got put on zoloft which helped her and in the end she got the ADHD diagnosis, as did my other 2 kids and I was initially very frightened of meds, and there is an awful lot of misinformation and bullshit about ADHD and meds on the internet. But being aware of the risks of not putting her and the other kids on meds far outweigh, the meds themselves as far as I understand it and the research goes (no not going for a debate on this, this is my experience, so anti-medders and ADHD diagnosis, I can see the improvements in my kids and they are massive, and we were heading down a very dark path otherwise I think)

However, if antidepressants can cause long term health problems, I need to be informed of that. This will affect what path we take next, we need a plan to get her off when she is ready and support to do that. Also, diagnosing the ADHD earlier for my younger kids will mean they don't have to go through so much stress at school and develop neural connections that will hopefully mean mild ADHD and hopefully no meds as adults. taking that as it comes. They also need therapy in addition to meds to help with this.

This also affects my path. I was well aware that antidepressants cause weight gain. I could not afford that weight gain, it not only depresses me, it affects my back and being immobile and alone, really pulls you down. But the stress was also affecting my back. If I could lead as stress free life as possible I would not have needed meds I reckon. If I could have got away and started afresh and made the life I want. But I can't. I took up the masters, which I knew would be a challenge, (understatement) and also brings with it a whole load of confidence issues and triggers) So increases in stress, due to studying, plus situation with my ex, plus 3 ADHD kids, plus triggers etc. and having absolutely no family and very few friends for support and then final contribution to the perfect storm my back going. Wham I was close to being put in a mental ward. Couldn't risk that, (would have lost my kids) and ended up dead. And they would force you on any med they felt necessary, probably ones that cause weight gain, and affect sleep and concentration and whatever they overdose you on to get you out of hospital quickly and say they have saved your life. I was terrified of meds due to what happened to my sister, even more terrified of psychiatrists and mental hospitals. My psychologist had been trying to get me on meds for ages, I refused, but had to give in then. Unfortunately you don't have all that choice as someone with mental issues.

By giving in I got to research meds and insist they put me on one that is known to not cause weight gain (even though it is not PBS and I have to pay a fortune for it). I had that information. I decided I would try the best meds for me, not them push SSRI's on me as my GP was trying to do. It does help with the anxiety I think but no way the depression which has been caused by all the trauma and my life being completely smashed to pieces so I have to pick them up and actually re-evaluate just about everything I had believed. Plus the antichrist is still around and my kids are my first priority.

They are the best thing for me at the moment. But I need to be informed if there are health implications of long term usage. That means I will be pushing to come off sooner rather than later, and means I really need to get my life situation less stressful somehow.

The more information the better choices we can make. I guess. But also, I just cannot rely on meds alone, I need that extra support, as that will get me off them quicker anyway.

@Ms Spock if you had the right support plus meds, things would have been different perhaps, it is the combination, meds alone would not have helped in that environment from how you are explaining it??

 

[ms spock]

I could have gotten away @Lizio, that is the whole point if my post @Lizio but then again maybe not, but I would have had at least a chance to have enough emotional regulation to get away, to make different choices, to have other options to not continually be preyed on by predatory psychologists. My choices were taken from me, as I was told to deal with things naturally. Which I could not do, so I ended up somatising and so depressed that I could barely walk at times.

 

[Queen Boudica]

But the problem was how would we know how to emotionally regulate with the environment we were brought up in? I'm just realising at aged 50 that what I thought was right was mostly wrong. I had all these ideas about emotional regulation (and yes I wasn't like my mother, a complete raving lunatic) but my thinking was all wrong. I wanted to protect my ex and be the best for him and look after him and accept all the abuse and feel sorry, because I was trying to be different, and it was my fault. But that was wrong too. And I really needed the therapy to help with that, the CBT. I know I still don't think right. I was a walking victim. Meds would not have changed my thinking. I got out, I studied, went to Uni and fell flat on my face at the first hurdle by walking into the arms of another abuser and that was because I was so normalised to dysfunctional behaviour, I just couldn't recognise the danger and get out. Now I look back and see. I could function, I could walk, I didn't need antidepressants I needed help, therapy.

Add to that a loving supportive and caring family. I was alone. Completely so were you. We were young and vulnerable and damaged. Don't think any meds would have changed it. I wanted someone to love and love me. But I didn't know what that was.

 

[Queen Boudica]

And that pisses me off, I was hoping the next half century of my life would be better than the first, not wanting to have that cut short by results of taking meds.

 

[ms spock]

If I had been able to have the panic and anxiety dampened down, even a little bit, it would have helped immensely @Lizio. It could have been different. But I get your other points.