Tag: polypharmacy

Alarming Overprescription Patterns for Older Adults on Antidepressants

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New study finds polypharmacy for 73% of older adults on antidepressants, with 56% at risk of harmful drug interactions.

What’s Missing from NAMI and Pro-Psychiatry: Lived Experience

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Since many psych patients become forced consumers, their advocates have a duty to be educated and concerned with adverse reactions.

David Healy – Polluting Our Internal Environments: The Perils of Polypharmacy

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On the MIA Podcast, Dr David Healy discusses World Tapering Day, antidepressant treatment and sensory neuropathy and the difficulties that can be encountered when trying to deprescribe.

I Made It Out Alive

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There is no replacing the near 30 years that psychiatry took from me and my family. I am now 70 years old and in failing health which I attribute to those damn drugs.

Polydrugged With 12 Different Drugs… For Insomnia

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Before my nightmare with psychiatric medication began, my life was full and happy. But since being prescribed 12 different psychiatric drugs in one year, I have become bedridden, ill and jobless.

Psychotherapy Is Safer and Less Expensive Than Drug Treatment

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In 1991, we conducted a study and found that psychotherapy saved money compared with drug treatment. We also found rampant overprescribing.

Internet Forum for Tapering Psychiatric Drugs Provides Novel Insights

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After 15 years, the founder of SurvivingAntidepressants.org, Adele Framer, shares what she has learned about the science of withdrawing from psychiatric drugs.

Reckless Psychiatric Treatment Spun Me Out of Control

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The mental health treatment I received between 2016-2019 was like an unreliable car that various mechanics had tinkered with. Yet each time I careened into a ditch, nobody looked at the car, just at me.

Increasing Numbers of Children Prescribed Multiple Psychiatric Medications

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According to researchers, children are being increasingly prescribed multiple different psychiatric medications.

Antipsychotics Associated with Severe COVID-19 and Fatal Outcomes

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A new study has found a strong association between antipsychotic drugs and higher rates of severe cases of COVID-19.

The Year I Lost Everything, Psychiatry Offered Nothing

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After a failed suicide attempt following my son's death, New York State incarcerated me in a mental institution for 21 days. The environment was degrading, stultifying, and downright depressing.

Neuropsychological Tests Reveal Consequences of Polypharmacy

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Neuropsychological assessments reveal the cognitive, occupational, and social impact of polypharmacy in psychiatry.

Antidepressant Use Continues to Climb Among Youth on Medicaid

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New study finds that Medicaid enrolled youth were 14 times more likely to be on an antidepressant in 2014 than in 1987.

Iatrogenic Domino: I Was Poisoned by Polypharmacy

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I did not suddenly develop some perverse form of mental illness out of thin air. I was a victim of repeated misdiagnoses, unrecognized adverse drug reactions/drug toxicity, and profound polypharmacy.

Pervasive Industry Influence in Healthcare Sector Harms Patients

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Experts across the globe point to the harms of drug companies’ influence on research, practice, and education in healthcare noting that it compromises patient care.

Researchers Address Dangers of Polypharmacy and Inappropriate Medication Use

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A new special issue brings together articles exploring the harmful effects of simultaneous multiple medication use.

Lindsay Church: Military Mental Health – Journey from the Brink to...

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US Navy Veteran Lindsay Church describes how a surgical procedure led to her being prescribed 16 medications in 18 months and ultimately to consider taking her life. Lindsay now focuses on supporting minority veterans through social engagement and community building.

Q&A: Is My Child Being Overdrugged?

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My eight-year-old daughter has diagnoses of ADHD, depression, anxiety, and ODD. She is taking four prescribed drugs, but she is still suffering and her behavior hasn’t changed much. Her doctor is suggesting adding yet another med. I’m wondering how many drugs are enough? I am starting to think she should go off some of them. I want to trust the psychiatrist, but I’m just not sure anymore.

Combining Mirtazapine with Existing SSRI or SNRI Does Not Improve Depressive...

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Study finds combining mirtazapine with an SSRI or SNRI is not clinically effective for improving depression in primary care patients who remained depressed after taking an SSRI or SNRI.

5 Steps to Personalize Deprescribing Practices

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Researchers identify simple ways for clinicians to begin deprescribing conversations.

Polypharmacy Associated with Cognitive Decline in Elderly Patients

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Study finds that elderly patients taking at least 5 medications were at increased risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

Researchers Push Back Against Recommendation to Combine Antidepressants for Suicide Prevention

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Researchers challenge the recommendation of starting two antidepressants simultaneously to increase preventative effects against suicide.

My Polypharmacy Predicament

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Ironically, my post-traumatic stress disorder no longer stems from the events that led to my hospitalizations, but from the maltreatment I received within the hospitals. Now, every time I take my medication late or miss a dose, I feel the unsettling presence of dissociation creeping in, the terrifying panic of losing my mental bearings and being rehospitalized. 

More Americans on Prescription Drugs That May Increase Depression Risk

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From the Tampa Bay Times: More than a third of American adults are taking prescription drugs, including hormones for contraception, blood pressure medications and medicines...

Polypharmacy is Compounding the Opioid Epidemic

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From The Lown Institute: The recent deaths of several beloved musicians, actors, and other public figures have brought to light the dangers of taking multiple, potentially fatal drugs. "In...