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Mental Health Are there any doctors on bluelight Forum?

Boku_

Boku_

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
949
Location
Melbourne AU
What's it like to work as a psychiatrist? I have so many questions

Are there any head doctors on bluelight forums?

Is it more rewarding than general practice medicine at a suburban clinic? Is working at a public hospital acute mental health inpatient ward feel more like being a hotel concierge because of the constant pressure to free up beds and juggle the length of stay a mentally unstable patient can be treated verses properly accessing the validity of each person presenting to the ER department complaining of emotional problems when a common ploy by broke welfare recipients is to fake a nervous breakdown to milk the system for a week and a half to three weeks all expenses stay.

Not too mention the emotional disturbed-mentally ill drug induced psycosis patients police pass on to ambulance paramedics to transport to the high dependence wing of a public hospital acute mental health inpatient ward.

Is it fustrating treating schizophrenia patients, Manic depressives and PTSD survivors you know will require medication for the rest of their lives?

Do you get sick of weining Valium/Xanax addict's off benzos to only have them return months later just as strung out as when you first treated them?

Why do Psychiatrists not allow chronic insomniacs to take a nightly dose of Valium to aid sleep when many GPs do exactly that?

Is it true Valium never stops working, a patient just needs to increase the daily dose over time? Yes if the patient doesn't get their regular dose at bedtime they could have a seizure and die but some people don't care about that, it's just easier taking their dose than going through the process of weining themselves off Valium.

In Australia as far as I know the general consensus among the medical community is benzos medication is strictly prohibited from being prescribed long term in large amounts. If a person is addicted they have to accept withdrawal treatment at a hospital.

I remember seeing a middle aged woman who was a midwife at one of the most prestigious private hospital in Melbourne however she was a hopeless alcoholic and been taking Valium tablets to sleep every night for over a decade yelling "I don't want to come off Valium!"

I've also met a high school legal studies teacher and a 20 year old hospitality industry worker who both swore Valium was a better permanent daily choice as a sleeper medication than anti psychotics because Valium doesn't put weight on.

How challenging is dealing with attitudes like these as well as helping patients who's lives seem broken beyond possible recovery?

Is true some addict's function better and cope better under the influence of some kind of mind altering substances than sober? Whether that is methadone maintenance, benzos medication, Ritalin dysoxin or Adderall, Oxycodone Endone etc

Do any Psychiatrists wish soft/hard drugs were legal and you could prescribe for example medical grade diamorphine to heroin addicts and synthetic drugs such as MDMA/Methamphetamine/Ketamine were legally allowed to treat the very conditions recreational user's self-medicate with these substances in the first place?

Is there a legitimate argument for the legalisation of cocaine?

Everyone knows these narcotics are addictive but alcohol and tabacco related deaths kill more long term users globally hands down than all the illegal drug users/addicts who overdose accidentally- inadvertically-yet avoidablely due to the poor quality control of black market produced narcotics.

How do Psychiatrists weight up the social costs of prohibition against campaiging for a regulated recreational drug market?

Why does society stigmatize illegal drug users on every level but turns a blind eye to small time drug related crime.

As crazy as this sounds I've met a Chinese-Australian Psychiatrist who was a personal user of ice and recommended smoking Crystal methamphetamine over intravenous use of amphetamine powder as well as meeting a Saudi-Australian Psychiatrist who recommended smoking heroin to the point of being eligible for tax payer funded alcohol free biomode Forte methadone instead of drinking alcohol.

Or do I have it all wrong most doctors believe that the war on drugs is necessary for the well-being of addicts?

Sorry for the long post and rantings
 
I had a bad experience with a doctor who put me at risk of a permanent disability (sensory), and as a result of that I am not sure I can ever really trust a doc after that.

I may come around but it's going to take a long time.

The war on drugs had little to do with the medical profession and more to do with the temperance movements in the early 1900s. It started with opiates, and then moved to alcohol (which was later repealed) and then on to other drugs. I believe cannabis was outlawed due to the fact that hemp posed a threat of competition to paper manufacturing. It's a right fucking shame too because we know how environmentally destructive logging can be if it's old-growth forests and not plantation forests.

The world as it is, sad to say.
 
There is a physician that works with BL. I don't know if she is ever active on the forums though, she's here more for the research end of things.

Dr. Monica Barratt

Research Portal

Researchers - Please Start Here
www.bluelight.org www.bluelight.org



"Some of the services we can provide include:


  • A leadership team familiar with research methodology and protocols
  • A resident Ph.D. with expertise in drug related research: Dr Monica Barratt
  • Promotion of your research project, targeted at your population of interest through our regional forums and our focus forums (where specific drug types are discussions)
  • Staff who can promote your research through discussions within the community
  • We can curate an online space where you can engage in direct dialogue with your target group, for example, to pilot your study methodology, to engage in collaborative data analysis, and to publish and receive feedback on your findings
  • A proven track record of driving participant enrollment to exceed research goals"
 
Is there a legitimate argument for the legalisation of cocaine?
Yes there is and you don't need to be a doctor to understand it.
The reason why it should be legalized is that it being illegal causes harm in many countries. It causes gang wars and gives gangs capital to fund their activity. Drugs that come from Africa and Middle-East are used to fund terrorism.
Making people get pure drugs would lead to less deaths, since the quality wouldn't be flip flop. Problem users could get help and they wouldn't go to crime, jail, crime trap.
Tax revenue coming from drugs could be used to fund health services.
Legalizing all drugs and using the revenue to fund education, health services and other good things would be really smart thing to do.
 
Doctors are to scared to prescribe anything anymore. I still get a benzo but only because I have been on them 20 years and never increased my dose or abuse them.
I get them from my family doctor.
A psychiatrist wanted to replace them with an antidepressant and allergy pills and low dose antipsychotics. Wth?
That doesn't seem like do no harm to me, more like government guidelines
I'm lucky because nothing works for my anxiety only benzos
I feel bad for people suffering and instead of a benzo given antipsychotics and antidepressants
 
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