Posted by PartlyCloudy on August 12, 2014, at 18:13:19
In reply to Re: Robin Williams death --) a proper response, posted by jrbecker76 on August 12, 2014, at 18:02:35
> Tragedies like Williams' death provide an extremely unfortunate but needed opportunity for the nation to revisit the shortcomings of mental health treatment in this day and age. This should serve as a rallying cry to us all to become more vocal advocates. Enhancing awareness, diagnosis, and non-psychiatric treatments are extremely integral to this endeavor. However, psychotropic medication will for many remain the primary means to treatment for most of us suffering from these disorders. With the abandonment of the psychiatric drug development sector by much of the private pharmaceutical industry in recent years, it is all the more important for government to enhance their funding streams to provide for more of the groundwork of research in these areas.
>
> Giving a voice to our suffering (especially those with refractory depression) is really what the public needs to hear to allow for of a lengthier discussion about solutions. For instance, it's largely unknown to most of the public that the failure to respond to, much less, achieve remission from treatments such as the SSRIs is evident for almost half of patients in some studies. Making the public more aware of the shortcomings of existing therapies will hopefully generate more pressure to accelerate the research towards better answers. I speak mostly to myself when I say that this is no doubt difficult given the stigma that comes with discussing these issues openly, but I really do believe that as sufferers we retain a lot of power as a lobbying entity and can actively impact this issue on a national scale.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>You absolutely speak the truth.
poster:PartlyCloudy
thread:1069571
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140717/msgs/1069654.html