In our ongoing debate about psych meds, Joe writes:

The paradox is that "medication management" may be the only "care" persons seeking outpatient services can access. It is the perfect storm - an underfunded, under-resourced mental health system attempting to cope with an ever increasing service population where complex human issues are addressed by medication alone. The situation is made worse when consumer expectations including expected outcomes are largely driven by false representations. Services are often claimed to be available on demand, comprehensive, culturally competent, effective, evidenced based and predicated on the principles of wellness and recovery. One merely need reach out for help and all will be provided, not.

Medication is simply a tool which is neither appropriate nor effective for everyone. (See both the CATIE and STAR*D studies.) Moreover, strict reliance on medication is antithetical to representations of consumer empowerment and consumer choice. There are too many personal issues and needs that can't be medicated away. There has yet to be a medication that cures loneliness, provides a hug when one is sorely needed, houses the homeless, resolves family, workplace or social issues, raises self esteem, fosters a sense of self worth, and so forth.

[Image of a real vintage Thorazine ad from Deco Dog's Ephemera. In the first panel, the guy is in the hospital. In the second panel, he's so frickin' happy to be home on Thorazine, he's willing to hold yarn for the woman he lives with -- probably his mom.]