there's an ad for a brand of tea here - the punchline is a brit tasting the tea and saying "only in canada? pity".
the recent discussions here about meds/treatment etc. in the u.s. make me think "only in america? good."
Well, not good for muricans, but good that it's not here yet.
Hmmmm - well, I have had the mean blues for the last few days - must be dem gettin' older blues - and I have tried all the remedies discussed here - just came in from the exercise bit. Guess cyclically dysthymic old me will just have to grin and bear it, until it goes away! Luckily some more friends are taking me out to dinner tonight - had a lovely one last night - oh - protein helps!
You know the thing I hate about the real blues, when I get 'em, is how I can't completely stop them from tainting the lovely time I oughta be having when I am doing really nice stuff - and I know the cognitive tricks! Grrrr!
You know, Beth, we were talking last night, as it happens, about Canaja - and what a deeply civilised country it is.
What you are just saying about depression and ADD resposes in your country are an example of that.
Here, although there are many dissenting voices, the ADD industry is in full swing - as is the depression industry - not so marked, yet, as in the USA, but rampant - and I could not agree more about the existence of the "underactive parent" - not that I am saying this is universal, or anything - but, just as when someone being considered for a diagnosis of functional (ie psychogenic) illness is willing to consider that possibility I immediately assume that they have a serious physical condition, when I meet parents of kids who have been diagnosed as having ADHD by one of our pill-pushing paediatricians, who are saying whoa now - what else should we consider, I become convinced that they are skilled parents!!! It is the parents just dying to pop pills down lttle Freddie's throat who worry me. (This is only partly tongue in cheek)
The ADD industry ignores issues like trauma, poor attachment, neglect, abuse etc which can lead to ADD like symptoms.
Your friend who wondered why they employed her reminds me of a psychologist I met who had worked for our hospital's fertility program. (Social workers were banned from employment in it for being too bolshie!)
Her role was to assess suitability for the program, psychologically. Now - bear in mind this was a private program - lots of biccies for the obs/gynae folk.
She initially wrote very full assessments - weeding out the nutters and such - and there were some doosies. Nothing ever came of this. She decided to experiment to see if they read her stuff.
She took to putting smilie faces only for folk she thought would cope well, and frownie faces only for the few she thought would cope badly. (No written report) Nobody noticed.
She left.
I don't know enough about the Canadian medical system to compare it in depth to ours, but one thing I've heard a few people here in the US say, when we talk about socialized medicine, is that "you can't get what you need, there."
I'm curious now about the cautious approach Beth describes in the prescribing of drugs by Canadian doctors -- maybe it isn't that you can't get what you need but can't get what you *want* (in the case of psychotropics, anyway) since all we have to do in the US is say that we're sad to get the drugs.
I wish the docs in the US would take note. I know the drugs are godsends for those who are so down and/or chemically depressed that they can't function properly. But I was prescribed them for "normal blues" and was told something like "Try it for a few months and see how you feel, and that may be all you need." What the docs don't mention is that the withdrawals from these drugs can be many times worse than the blues that they were prescribed for. In fact, there was a class-action lawsuit against the makers of Paxil (maybe others too?) because of that problem -- not sure the outcome.
I often wonder if this is at least some of the reason that homeopathic medicine is gaining in popularity here (the fact that it's quite easy to just docs, anymore what you need and get it)?
Sad to see that Oz is heading in that direction, too.
Interesting about the homeopathic remedies. They are also controlled more here than they are in the U.S. There are quite a few meds that don't 'make' it here because they haven't passed the Canadian drug testing protocols. Sometimes I think we're a bit too cautious, but then when I hear about people suffering from side effects of meds that never made it here, I'm pleased. Mildly pleased, but pleased. I think St. John's Wort might have been the last one that we kind of hung back on the approvals of.
I'd like to see the homeopathic remedies treated as they are in Germany - as medicine. For example, physicians prescribe valerian there. It's not an "oh, i'll just pick that up and give it a try" thing.
Now - I am sure I am not dreaming when I heard there had been a huge, proper double blind study of homoeopathy, which judged it no better than placebo. Dammit! I hear these things on a radio program called The Health Report, when I am driving, and I am unable to get details. I believe it contradicted the more positive results of a previous, less exacting study. Homoeopathy is quite well accepted n England - wonder what the homoeopathy community will do whith that one?
Not that the power of the placebo should be underestimated...
Valerian is herbal medicine, not homoeopathy, which operates (or doesn't) on quite different principles. Valerian has been clinically trialled, too, and shown to have a very mild effect.
St John's Wort contains the same substance, less refined, as Cipramil. People who will not take "nasty drugs" will happily take it! However, it interacts negatively with many medications for high blood pressure - as does gingko, which has also had clinical trials.
The herbs ARE medicines, indeed.
In the late 80's I was in a depressive funk whereby I stayed in bed for over a year, probably two, I'm not sure. I could muster the courage to get out of bed on Sunday mornings to go shopping - Sunday morning one sees the fewest people in the stores, and I would also treat myself to eating in a restaurant.
I was lucky enough to have money saved to live on. Today, I still go through ups and downs - accepting it! I have gone through several paradigmatic shifts occured such that the lowest of my previous lows were higher that my previous highs.
I strive to keep these advances and thank my Higher Power for withstanding the continuous onslaught of society and my mind. I do this without drugs and for that I am thankful. I have a number of friends who must take drugs, for they have tried without and the demons return.