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You are suggesting that depressed people may want to take LSD in lieu of SSRIs, which is horrendous advice that can, for example, trigger panic attacks in those

You are suggesting that depressed people may want to take LSD in lieu of SSRIs, which is horrendous advice that can, for example, trigger panic attacks in those with comorbid anxiety. Please don't.

Karrot_Kream 9y ago
Cannot agree enough. Thanks.
benevol 9y ago
You are saying that. Please don't.
fogzen 9y ago
What study shows LSD is more dangerous than SSRI’s? Antidepressants can also cause psychotic episodes, panic attacks, suicide, etc. Both drugs have mechanisms of action that we don’t fully understand and both affect the brains homeostasis. If it’s irresponsible to prescribe LSD for depression it’s irresponsible to prescribe SSRI’s as well
- Fnoord 9y ago
  > What study shows LSD is more dangerous than SSRI’s? Except that's not how it works. How it works is that SSRIs have been tested in trials, and are approved. LSD isn't. When someone says "try LSD" (or psilocybin which seems the newest rage these days) it means they'd illegally acquire the drug (who know for sure what drug they bought? [EDIT: and who knows the dosage/strength of active substance(s)?]), and administer it recreationally without the aid of a professional. SSRIs, in contrast, are clinically tested, legally acquired, and administered under the guidance of a professional. > Antidepressants can also cause psychotic episodes, panic attacks, suicide, etc. Yes, but these side effects are widely documented. There are more common side effects, btw. These are the extreme ones you mentioned, and also the most rare ones. Many side effects are temporary. And if you are suicidal, it is unlikely you get SSRIs prescribed. Unless you lie about that, of course, but if you lie to your MD you're on your own. My recommendation is simple: seek professional help. If you don't want to take SSRIs, fair enough; your MD won't force you. Heck, they might even be reluctant to prescribe them. But professional help is much more than drugs. Think about CBT, mindfulness, under the guidance of professionals; not self-medicating new age hippies.
  - fogzen 9y ago
    You keep saying "professional" as if that means anything here. The professionals that without any evidence promoted the low-serotonin theory of depression. Who, after over a decade of prescribing SSRI's finally admitted that low serotonin doesn't cause depression. Yeah, those professionals. They don't know what causes depression yet they're happy to keep prescribing drugs. But it's the "self-medicating new age hippies" that are irresponsible?
    - Fnoord 9y ago
      It means a lot, it means that the person who's responsible for your therapy (which might involve drugs) has studied for years (it takes a while until one's a psychiatrist!). It means they understand the fundamentals required for their title. Such credentials are worth a lot in our societies, hence the high wage. Perhaps not in the alternative medicine field where you're flocking around but realise you are the exception here; not the norm. Also, those professionals aren't necessarily the same people. Do you fault Linus Torvalds for a bug in the Windows NT kernel because he's a software developer? Science is constantly in motion and questioning itself. The drug usage in the past before drugs were illegal (pre-2nd part of 20th century) was more irresponsible, and its thanks to science and law this has reduced. And specifically, SSRIs are more safe than antidepressants used before SSRIs such as TCAs and MAOIs.
      - brookside 9y ago
        > Such credentials are worth a lot in our societies, hence the high wage. Lots of professionals with great titles and affiliations steer people down a totally incorrect path. An easy example of this is Harvard study published in the New England Journal of Medicine promoting dietary fat reduction, shaping what every credentialed person would advise for diet for the next 50 years: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074/50-years-ago-sugar-industry-quietly-paid-scientists-to-point-blame-at-fat https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074... Drug companies shoulder the rep of being cold evil capitalists. Psychiatrists also become extremely wealthy as part of this medical complex, and get to keep a positive reputation. It reminds me of ticketmaster essentially being paid to shoulder negative PR for excessive ticket fees which are often largely passed on to performers.
- DanBC 9y ago
  You get SSRIs under supervision of someone with a medical qualificationa and a professional registration and an indemnity insurance policy. That's not the case (currently) for LSD, which will be of unknown quantity and unknown purity. It might not even be LSD. LSD may be great, but telling people with a potentially fatal illness to just go try it is fantastically irresponsible.

You are suggesting that depressed people may want to take LSD in lieu of SSRIs, which is horrendous advice that can, for example, trigger panic attacks in those with comorbid anxiety. Please don't.

Karrot_Kream 9y ago

Cannot agree enough. Thanks.

benevol 9y ago

You are saying that. Please don't.

fogzen 9y ago

What study shows LSD is more dangerous than SSRI’s? Antidepressants can also cause psychotic episodes, panic attacks, suicide, etc. Both drugs have mechanisms of action that we don’t fully understand and both affect the brains homeostasis. If it’s irresponsible to prescribe LSD for depression it’s irresponsible to prescribe SSRI’s as well

Fnoord 9y ago
> What study shows LSD is more dangerous than SSRI’s? Except that's not how it works. How it works is that SSRIs have been tested in trials, and are approved. LSD isn't. When someone says "try LSD" (or psilocybin which seems the newest rage these days) it means they'd illegally acquire the drug (who know for sure what drug they bought? [EDIT: and who knows the dosage/strength of active substance(s)?]), and administer it recreationally without the aid of a professional. SSRIs, in contrast, are clinically tested, legally acquired, and administered under the guidance of a professional. > Antidepressants can also cause psychotic episodes, panic attacks, suicide, etc. Yes, but these side effects are widely documented. There are more common side effects, btw. These are the extreme ones you mentioned, and also the most rare ones. Many side effects are temporary. And if you are suicidal, it is unlikely you get SSRIs prescribed. Unless you lie about that, of course, but if you lie to your MD you're on your own. My recommendation is simple: seek professional help. If you don't want to take SSRIs, fair enough; your MD won't force you. Heck, they might even be reluctant to prescribe them. But professional help is much more than drugs. Think about CBT, mindfulness, under the guidance of professionals; not self-medicating new age hippies.
- fogzen 9y ago
  You keep saying "professional" as if that means anything here. The professionals that without any evidence promoted the low-serotonin theory of depression. Who, after over a decade of prescribing SSRI's finally admitted that low serotonin doesn't cause depression. Yeah, those professionals. They don't know what causes depression yet they're happy to keep prescribing drugs. But it's the "self-medicating new age hippies" that are irresponsible?
  - Fnoord 9y ago
    It means a lot, it means that the person who's responsible for your therapy (which might involve drugs) has studied for years (it takes a while until one's a psychiatrist!). It means they understand the fundamentals required for their title. Such credentials are worth a lot in our societies, hence the high wage. Perhaps not in the alternative medicine field where you're flocking around but realise you are the exception here; not the norm. Also, those professionals aren't necessarily the same people. Do you fault Linus Torvalds for a bug in the Windows NT kernel because he's a software developer? Science is constantly in motion and questioning itself. The drug usage in the past before drugs were illegal (pre-2nd part of 20th century) was more irresponsible, and its thanks to science and law this has reduced. And specifically, SSRIs are more safe than antidepressants used before SSRIs such as TCAs and MAOIs.
    - brookside 9y ago
      > Such credentials are worth a lot in our societies, hence the high wage. Lots of professionals with great titles and affiliations steer people down a totally incorrect path. An easy example of this is Harvard study published in the New England Journal of Medicine promoting dietary fat reduction, shaping what every credentialed person would advise for diet for the next 50 years: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074/50-years-ago-sugar-industry-quietly-paid-scientists-to-point-blame-at-fat https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074... Drug companies shoulder the rep of being cold evil capitalists. Psychiatrists also become extremely wealthy as part of this medical complex, and get to keep a positive reputation. It reminds me of ticketmaster essentially being paid to shoulder negative PR for excessive ticket fees which are often largely passed on to performers.
DanBC 9y ago
You get SSRIs under supervision of someone with a medical qualificationa and a professional registration and an indemnity insurance policy. That's not the case (currently) for LSD, which will be of unknown quantity and unknown purity. It might not even be LSD. LSD may be great, but telling people with a potentially fatal illness to just go try it is fantastically irresponsible.