Posted by metazone on October 9, 2007, at 15:45:29
In reply to Re: Are these symptoms due to meds or the disorder?, posted by Phillipa on October 9, 2007, at 12:44:17
Thanks for the responses so far. I'm not aware of any studies that show long-term brain and neurotransmitter problems from SSRIs and SNRIs. There's the standard downregulation where the brain dynamically adjusts its receptors but when the meds are stopped, the receptors come back. One pharmacist told me about some observations of neural branching for SSRIs but I didn't find anything on the web on this and she said that whether or not this was benign, beneficial, or problematic was not known.
Now, on the other hand, there are various clinically-proven non-pharmacological techniques for various disorders. Dr. Lehrer (at Robert Wood Johnson, NJ) has, in small study groups, proven the effectiveness of resonant breathing techniques (that he and others are researching) for depression and panic (it takes 3 months of twice-daily 20-minute breathing exercises and has resulted, albeit in small studies, in complete remission of depression). According to the professional book, 'A Guide to Treatments That Work', CBT with ERP is as effective as meds for panic and OCD. However, the latter requires a well-trained therapist. Many SAY they do CBT with ERP but they don't. If they aren't fully aware and use Dr. Barlow's or Dr. Beck's techniques, then they do not know CBT w/ ERP.
Again, thanks --
poster:metazone
thread:788054
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071009/msgs/788105.html