yytz:
Your turn for some re-education.
I am not the one who pushes medication for anything, and the judgment that it is required needs to be a professional, qualified balance between risks and benefits. You are correct that schizophrenia and other psychoses require medication. However, there are biochemical substrates to many other conditions. Not all depressions should be considered for medication. Someone whose depression is characterological, related to life events of losses and tragedies, etc. might well not even respond to anti-depressant medication. The professional evaluator should know the difference. In addition, today’s psychiatrists have only one part of their practice that is not shared with their non-medical colleagues in mental health – pharmacotherapy. Today’s psychiatrists specialize in using medications, not any version of talk therapy. People go for meds, not other forms of treatment. You have a point in the overuse of medication, but because psychiatrists only prescribe today, and because people tend to seek the quick fix. For these cases, medication is rarely effective. No pill enhances self esteem or makes people use better judgment. There is no “happy pill”.
Your meta-analysis studies – please provide a link or reference. I have reviewed many studies, and none of them resemble what you describe. Same goes for the rampant corruption you describe.
As for concentration problems, one would be wise to seek the evaluation and direction from only those psychiatrists who specialize in this area. The medication choices are better than in years past, but not every patient responds to the same medication. Unfortunately, too much prescribing in this area is done by those with mediocre (that’s overly generous) training and experience in attentional/concentration disorders. Many psychiatrists are not trained to work with children, and pediatricians have minimal psychiatric training in their background. Yet, our schools mandate medication before allowing a child with issues back into the school, as if the yeshiva staff have the expertise to evaluate, diagnose, and develop a treatment plan.
Bottom line – medication might not be a last resort. It is either required, or not. When not, it will not help and possibly harm. We just need to insure that proper evaluation is done to discern whether meds are a reasonable approach.