Mood Swings

A psychiatrist surveys the mind and the wider world.

by Dr. Nassir Ghaemi

Suddenly I was just watching a movie

By Dr. Nassir Ghaemi on August 10, 2009 in Mood Swings

Recently, one of my patients commented, a few weeks after starting lithium: "One day I was watching a movie, and suddenly I was just watching a movie." Read More

Saviors

Submitted by David Petropoulos on August 10, 2009 - 2:21pm.

Beautiful work. Sincerely,David

reply
quote

right to the point!

Submitted by tony on August 11, 2009 - 2:40pm.

I know what this awakening is like first-hand. After a 15-year search, we finally came upon the medicine that freed me from schizoaffective disorder bipolar type. I found I could feel without questioning what I felt. It hasn't numbed me in the least, though many on the web accuse this medicine of just that. I simply feel things for what they are, good or bad. The bad aggravate me, the good lift me up. I can enjoy the little things in life which make up for the bad things in life. After 20 years of misery and a chaotic mind, I can live because of the medication.

Thanks for writing this, Dr. Ghaemi. There is too much ill about medicines on the web, and not enough about the restorative powers they can have when used appropriately.

reply
quote

Tony, that is great you have

Submitted by Anonymous on March 20, 2010 - 5:58am.

Tony, that is great you have had a good experience with meds but please don't minimize the experience of folks who have had a different one.

Also, keep in mind that while the med isn't currently numbing you, that could change over time. I know from personal experience.

Regarding the restorative powers of meds, show me a five year study that proves this and then report back.

Dr. Ghaemi, that is great about your patient. But what if he had reported that things were worse with all the meds he tried, then what?

Would you continue to insist he take meds come heck or high water?

reply
quote

I think that we need to see

Submitted by Nassir Ghaemi on March 22, 2010 - 7:30am.

I think that we need to see the whole picture: Sometimes medications work, and even cure, as in this case. Sometimes medications do not work or are not tolerated. Sometimes they are just not needed; sometimes they are essential. Good medical skill is all about determining when matters are one way or the other.

The extremism of viewing all medications as always harmful is wrong, as is the simple-minded view that they are all always benign and effective.

It is true though that there are not enough long-term studies for most drugs. There is at least one five year study with antidepressants showing depression episode relapse prevention. I have seen individuals on lithium who have been cured for 40 years with out any symptoms at all, in contrast to marked psychiatric illness before and after lithium. And lithium has now been around for almost 50 years, with numerous long term studies, including one Zurich follow up now for 40 years, which shows major mortality benefits.