I just can't see any ethical reason for them to be used for anything orher than serious psychosis, hysteria, or extreme sucidal depression. As for me, they just make me feel even more depressed if I'm already depressed, and kills all happiness when I'm in a more manic state.
But then my "Manic-depression" is more of a personality-trait than a serious disease. I don't really see my mania as a problem, I just see it as being happy and lively and how I always want to feel. The problem is more that it has given me such high standards for how I should feel. Maybe I naturally produce a very high level of endorphins/dopamine or feel-good chemicals, so when the level drops off, as it can't be sustained 24 hours every day, I feel dissatisfied.
Apart from that, the only real problems that come from my mania are hyper-activity, hyper-productivity, and hyper-expressiveness, due to my high energy-levels and high state of mind which makes me enjoy everything (like a natural high). This is great for some things, like writing and other work I enjoy, but can be a bit much for others to have to endure.
But as a child I was virtually in a permanent state of mania and would talk every hour of the day and fit as many words into an hour as humanly possible. Even at 11 months I could say 11 words, or the ones that were the most important to me, like the names of loved relatives. So the tendency seems to have been there since birth.
No ADHD, though, concentration and focus has always been high.
That's not full-blown mania, man. It's hypomania or hyperthymia, whatever you want to call it. When the word "mania" is used in a medical context, people are usually referring to "full-blown mania", which is a psychotic state that not only affects your mood. E.g. the talking lots and lots usually gets to a point where noone will understand a single word anymore. Delusions and hallucinations are usually present as well. Not too easy to spot a delusion yourself though, unless you are exceptionally well-reflected.
Depending on how old you are, you might very well have your first manic episode still ahead. With a cyclothymic personality you are under an increased risk of having bipolar disorder. Btw only bp1 presents full-blown mania.
Also when I was in full-blown mania, not even olanzapine was able to kill my good mood. It took months for me to level back out which isn't that unusual, depending on how long the episode has lasted and how severe it was.
All of it makes so little sense and there's so little intelligence (or maybe too much hidden intelligence) in the whole system it's fucking scary.
I mean, just the fact that someone with NO real knowledge of how a drug works can be in charge to prescribing it to untold numbers of people shouldn't even be a possibiliy or something that could legally happen.
I suspect this whole class of drugs were first invented to use on seriously ill people in institutions (who had previously been subjected to actual lobotomies or electro-shocks) to sedate them and make them easier to deal with without giving them anything that could provide them with some comfort or well-being (or any kind of pleasure) like benzos.
When in this situation I think benzos would actually be the best choice. They are hopeless cases, anyway, and things can't get much worse. And at least it would both calm them down and give them some sense of contentment or actual emotional healing.
But what's really worrying is that they are prescribing these to people outside of psychiatric institutions. And even with very little evaluation, just because traditional anti-depressants aren't effective, or whatever. In my view they have no legitimate use apart from actual psychosis where someone are liable to do harm to themselves and others.
It really shows that you do not have too much experience with acutely psychotic patients. Your reasoning is the type of wishful, highly theoretical thinking that is all too common among those who have never come in touch with serious psychotic illness.
Neuroleptics work and not only do they save lives, they can save families. And no, it's not just our attitude that needs to change towards mental illness. You will agree once a dear friend, partner or family member is turning batshit crazy to the point that he cannot form comprehensible sentences anymore.
My best friend would be dead (3 times over) if it wasn't for neuroleptics to get him back in check. Chances are my daughter wouldn't have a dad anymore if I hadn't given myself into the hands of professional psychiatrists who took their work and their patients very seriously and know damn well what they are prescribing. The very best of them have went out of their way to try said medications for themselves, too, eventhough this is not part of the medical education they receive. Maybe you should volunteer for becoming a doctor and show us how shit is done!
Regarding the "little evaluation"... I don't know where you live, but I got 2-3 hours per week one on one with my psychiatrist and I'm forever in his debt for taking me seriously and listening (!) to me when noone else would. Not my best friends, not my parents, fucking nobody. Cause nobody is educated about these states and most are inable to cope due to being so socially and emotionally involved. Most psychiatrists know damn well that these are primitive medications that will see a lot of improvement in the future. They aren't cures, but they WORK. This isn't saying that there aren't any shitty psychiatrists out there. In fact There are a whole lot of those.
Also, please think about who are you calling "lost cases" here. Again you are talking about actual people with actual lives, families, friends etc. Pharmaceutical treatment is advancing, albeit very slowly.
There's a lot of really wicked shit happening in the pharmaceutical industry, I give you that. We could talk for hours about what is wrong with big pharma, but it doesn't change the fact that neuroleptics are the number one treatment option for acutely psychotic patients and often times save these peoples' existence.
. My god man just eat the damn pills it's not worth ruining your veins for a fucking anti-histamine.
