There’s a lot of things in life that can drive a person “crazy.” Relationships, work, heck, even mental illness.
But in an article entitled, Psych meds drove my son crazy (also see Digg discussion), Ann Bauer makes the leap of logic into having the reader believe that, without a doubt, psychiatric medications led to his “crazy” behaviors. They absolutely may have, I agree with that.
But she puts none of his reactions or behaviors onto the fact that her son was depressed and suffering from the loss of a woman’s attention (his first date of his life). I’ve known people who’ve killed themselves over such things.
So yes, she went to see many doctors, even specialists, and they seemed to have misdiagnosed Bauer’s son. It happens every day and I think it’s sad, but it’s also completely understandable. Because mental illness isn’t something you draw blood for and then run some lab tests on (and, even if it was, doctors misdiagnose patients everyday for medical illnesses as well). It’s subjective and doctors build upon what’s in the chart, very rarely starting with a clean slate after a chart has been established on a patient.
Are doctors sometimes quick (too quick?) to reach for their prescription pads when confronted with a series of symptoms that suggest an appropriate psychiatric medication might be helpful to the person in pain who’s sitting in front of them? Maybe. But doctors rely on their experiences and education to form a professional opinion about the person’s likely diagnosis and prescribe an appropriate treatment — that’s what they do!
Should doctors be aware of and keep up with every new issue or research paper on the effects or side effects of every medication they prescribe? Yes, in an ideal world. Can they? Not a chance. Medical knowledge has long outstripped an individual’s ability to keep up with it about 50 years ago. Any doctor you see may or may not be up on the latest research for a medication he or she is prescribing.
Doctors aren’t infallible (and most never claimed to be in the first place) and they sometimes make mistakes in diagnosis. This story appears to be one such misdiagnosis. But for every story like this, I wish they’d also print the 1,000 or 10,000 stories about people who have been accurately diagnosed and prescribed a medication that positively changed their lives.
Because that is a far more common experience.
But I guess it’s also not “news.”
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6 Comments to
“Did Medications Drive Ann Bauer’s Son Crazy?”
In response to this article, I was reading this and when I got to the end, I said I am one of those people.
I was misdiagnosed with depression and took the wrong medication for 10 years before finding the right doctor with the right diagnosis of bipolar disorder and he prescribed the right medication for me and it has very very literally changed my life. I am now 7 years on that right medication and I am working part time and living a very full and promising life.
You are right my story is not news to any one but the people that I know and can see the wonderful transformation that the right medication has revealed.
so the measure of ‘the right diagnosis’ consists in their finding ‘the right medication’?
when placebo response is responsible for the majority of the improvement…
what then of ‘right’ diagnosis?
unfortunately, we are unable to rewind the clock to see whether improvement is caused by medication or whether improvement is caused by other circumstances correlated with medication.
the other studies are controversial.
surely the amount of funding that the drug companies and medical model receives is some indication that the success stories are taken seriously indeed. whether or not the interpretation of the success stories (that you advocate) is warranted…
Ms. Bauer’s article did not appear to be a diatribe against physicians who misdiagnose, but a much-needed warning to the individuals and parents facing similar situations, whether or not related to mental health issues, that misdiagnoses can happen. Not only can lives be devastated by error is diagnoses and prescribing medications, but patients and their families are often intimidated into believing that by questioning a medical provider they are endangering themselves or their loved ones. This is not an uncommon event, and unfortunately, the profitability of prescribing certain medications is a factor is some - but certainly not all - decisions by physicians in their choice of medications. This practice should be illegal, and our FDA should be safe-guarding the well-being of U.S. citizens, but until these safeguards are in place, the public needs to be equipped to make sound decisions during very confusing and stressful times and be informed advocates for themselves and their families. Any doctor who fails to hear their patients’ concerns and do the due diligence to make sure they are as informed as they need to be to “first do no harm” should not be practicing medicine. This said, the world of medicine is not an exact science, and it is not reasonable to assume that any misdiagnosis or inappropriate treatment is the result of malice or greed. Doctors and patients need to work cooperatively and with honest disclosure of the risks and limitations in current diagnostic practices, medications and technologies.
I understood clearly why Ann said that psych meds drove her son crazy. I’ve said the same thing about the “treatment” my autistic son received: “Psychiatric drugs made my son crazy violent”, there is no doubt in my mind. I did research. In medical books for 1st year students says clearly that some people react violently to not only street drugs and to alcohol but to prescription drugs, being tranquilizers or stimulants, which basically that’s what they are.
Painkillers, anti hypertensives, anti convulsants, Benzodiazepines, neuroleptics (typical and atypicals) all and each cause bizarre behaviours on susceptible individuals which the “autistic” are very much so.
I understand that doctors have to rely on education and experience but when prescibing narcotics they should make sure that the patient is in on-going counselling. Both my daughter and husband were prescibed powerful meds with no one to monitor how they were doing other than a blood test every now and then. It was devastating. I think doctors who prescribe meds like klonopin and valiums should at least monitor or make sure the patient is being monitored going forward.
Can I write to this author directly? It’s re an article in the Washington Post and my city’s local paper today. I can relate to the article and am not sure if the email I tried to send to her directly got sent properly. Thanks.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 21 May 2007
