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"Something 'bout those little pills..."
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| barosoap |
"Unreal, the thrills, they yield, until they kill, a million braincells..."
Interesting article about antidepressants and ecstasy. Another example of how ridiculous it is that pharma$ are fine for recreational use while illicit drug use is heavily punished. I especially like how "luxury-minded patients" are excused.
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Are antidepressants good for a boost if you're already healthy?
POSTED: 11:52 a.m. EST, November 17, 2006
By Caleb Hellerman
(CNN) -- Troy Dayton pops a little white pill every morning. He's one of the 10 million Americans taking a daily antidepressant. But in his case, he says he was never depressed in the first place.
This 29-year-old political lobbyist is one of the happiest people you'll ever meet. He's constantly smiling, and says he wakes up belly-laughing two or three times a week. Dayton says he's an optimist by nature, and that his daily dose of Wellbutrin makes him feel even better.
"Wellbutrin makes me feel great," Dayton told CNN. "Wellbutrin made me feel clear-headed, much more able to focus. I don't think it means that I don't ever experience any sadness, but I think it makes me experience sadness in a very healthy way."
Dayton says a doctor first prescribed Wellbutrin for him 2 1/2 years ago, as an aid to quit smoking. Buproprion, the active drug in the antidepressant, helps smokers quit because it partially blocks the brain chemicals which keep them hooked. A recent study by UCLA researchers found that the drug may help break addiction to methamphetamine, too. Buproprion also increases the brain level of dopamine, a chemical linked to excitement, new experience and pleasure.
Psychiatrists tell CNN that Dayton's use of Wellbutrin as a lifestyle drug is potentially dangerous, although little is known about the long-term effects.
"These medicines are not harmless," said Dr. Peter Kramer, author of "Listening to Prozac." Kramer said some doctors think that if you stay on antidepressants long enough, you'll come to rely on them. Other doctors believe they might trigger manic-depressive illness in susceptible people, he said.
Most antidepressants -- though not Wellbutrin -- are in a group of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. They prevent the body from re-absorbing the naturally occurring chemical serotonin, thus increasing serotonin levels in the brain. It's like plugging up a drain to keep running water in the sink.
Serotonin, like dopamine, is linked to good feeling. Those chemicals and others are released during any pleasurable experience, like a kiss, or eating a bar of chocolate. The release of endorphins, another chemical, is linked to the "runner's high" experienced by some endurance athletes.
Chemically, there's little difference between good feelings induced by medication and those occurring naturally. But the use of antidepressants by those who don't need them raises, for many, not just medical concerns but ethical flags as well. The concerns grow larger when the subject turns to illegal drugs. Millions of Americans take them, but few are willing to admit it. Once again, Troy Dayton is a rare exception. He told CNN he takes Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, about once a year.
He likens the feeling it gives him to falling in love. "In certain moments, it's just this feeling of intensity. If your heart could jump out of your body and into the other person's, it would."
Dr. Julie Holland, a psychiatrist at New York University, says MDMA holds promise as an aid to psychotherapy for some patients, if taken under the guidance of a trained therapist under tightly controlled conditions. The federal government has approved early human trials
"Our understanding of the brain is still in its infancy," says Holland. "The SSRIs that I like to prescribe take really about two or three weeks before people start to feel them. The full effects won't kick in until about four to six weeks, or six to eight weeks."
By contrast, illicit drugs kick in almost immediately. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, says they produce pleasure - and often lead to addiction - using the same neural pathways that light up when people have sex or enjoy a good meal. She says these pathways also guide primal emotions like the satisfaction a mother gets from nurturing her infant.
"It's not that drugs create a new landscape in our brains," Volkow said. "Drugs hijack those landscapes that are there [already], that are extraordinarily important to motivate our behaviors."
Volkow says Ecstasy users are risking serious physical harm, including damaged neurons and deep depression. Government statistics show Ecstasy is linked to about 8,000 emergency room visits every year, mostly for overheating and dehydration.
Dayton is unrepentant about his drug use. "If we have the ability to have something better, then why not?" he asks. "However someone can sustain a certain level of happiness without hurting someone else, should be celebrated and not questioned."
Where antidepressants are concerned, Holland agrees. "I think it's sort of this puritanical mind set. You're supposed to sort of go it alone, and you don't need crutches unless your leg is broken," she said.
"[But] short of doing very advanced PET scans, where you're looking at receptors and neurotransmitters and things like this, it's hard to say who really deserves to take antidepressants and for whom it's a luxury. Having a private practice in New York City, I have a lot of luxury-minded patients who just know if they take something they'll feel a little bit better. And I'm okay with that." |
P.S. If you have trouble finishing this article. You've probably taken too many drugs :p |
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| danlaxx1 |
Damn, I take Wellbutrin as an antidepressant.
-Dan |
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| barosoap |
| quote: | Originally posted by danlaxx1
Damn, I take Wellbutrin as an antidepressant.
-Dan |
Long term effects are still unknown, but I think it's interesting Mr. Dayton admits he also uses MDMA once a year and still feels the effects. I know most people who are on anti-depressants usually don't. I guess it could be because Wellbutrin is not an SSRI like Prozac. |
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| EliPsE |
| i just recently came off ssri's and i wow that was a tough time of withdrawl, suicidial, more depressed and getting zaps in my body constantly was not fun. |
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| ravensyz |
i was just going to put:
barosoap, you look really pretty in your avatar.
and then i was going to put:
that's a lot to read, so i won't read it.
and then i saw what you did at the end, haha.
perhaps i have a mild case of add? hah. :)
will print it out and read it on the train. :) |
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| djquick83 |
| Another classic example of a TA finding scientific reasons to justify his crackiness. :p :D |
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| barosoap |
| quote: | Originally posted by EliPsE
i just recently came off ssri's and i wow that was a tough time of withdrawl, suicidial, more depressed and getting zaps in my body constantly was not fun. |
Sorry to hear that Gabe :( I do have a few friends that have been on and off them. It's never an easy thing to deal with for the person himself or those close to him. I hope you had positive support, and you always have people to talk with here. Sounds like you're doing better now though.
| quote: | Originally posted by ravensyz
i was just going to put:
barosoap, you look really pretty in your avatar.
and then i was going to put:
that's a lot to read, so i won't read it.
and then i saw what you did at the end, haha.
perhaps i have a mild case of add? hah. :)
will print it out and read it on the train. :) |
Hiya Jane, thanks for the compliment. Brian/vtec actually took that picture at Crobar, so thank you to him! I think that camera of his makes everyone look good.
The P.S. was just to mess with people =P I realize it's a lot to read especially on a Friday.
[EDIT]
| quote: | Originally posted by djquick83
Another classic example of a TA finding scientific reasons to justify his crackiness. :p :D |
lol my job consists of health research, so I'm naturally interested in these things. It never hurts to be informed if only for the sake of sharing it with friends. |
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| ReenTeenTeen |
| quote: | Originally posted by barosoap
The P.S. was just to mess with people =P I realize it's a lot to read especially on a Friday. |
More like Saturday and all cracked out with hangover in works. :toothless |
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| yankeeBaby |
| quote: | Originally posted by ravensyz
i was just going to put:
barosoap, you look really pretty in your avatar.
and then i was going to put:
that's a lot to read, so i won't read it.
and then i saw what you did at the end, haha.
perhaps i have a mild case of add? hah. :)
will print it out and read it on the train. :) |
:haha: :haha: :haha: I SWEAR I was gonna write the same thing but I didn't want to be the only one with ADHD on here....so I read the freakin thing....good article, tho, so I am glad barosoap "tricked" me into reading it! lol :stongue: :stongue: |
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| barosoap |
| quote: | Originally posted by yankeeBaby
:haha: :haha: :haha: I SWEAR I was gonna write the same thing but I didn't want to be the only one with ADHD on here....so I read the freakin thing....good article, tho, so I am glad barosoap "tricked" me into reading it! lol :stongue: :stongue: |
:tongue2 it took me a couple tries to get through the entire thing, so I was poking fun at myself too! I self-admittedly have adult ADD as well haha Maybe it'd be more appropriate if I find an article to post about that! |
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| pyro264jb |
| quote: | | Once again, Troy Dayton is a rare exception. He told CNN he takes Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, about once a year. |
Bull.....
That dudes deffintly popen at least once a month |
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| intelligent77 |
| quote: | Originally posted by pyro264jb
Bull.....
That dudes deffintly popen at least once a month |
AGREE! hmmmm i'm ADD and I read it all easily.. but hmmm.. i'm also thinking.. since good 'e' has been extremely scarce for a year.. why not just take some prescriptions..they last longer lol |
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