If you are a person who is thinking about going to a hospital or a clinic to receive a treatment for anxiety as well as other type of mental disorders, there are two main methods in which a doctor may use. Psycho-therapeutic treatment and pharmacological treatment. As with most other illnesses, it is the doctor who normally makes the decision as to which method of treatment should be used. Sometimes, a combination of both methods may be prescribed. Recently, the pharmacological treatment seems to be increasingly preferred by more and more doctors despite warnings by many studies and reports that psychiatric medications can cause harmful side-effects. This is the reason why I am writing this article. It is to inform you about the risks involved in using pharmacological treatment.
Pharmacological treatment involves the use of prescribed medications to adjust the level of some chemicals inside a patient’s brain. The logic behind this is based on a claim made by pharmaceutical companies that chemical imbalance is the cause of mental illness. However, it may surprise you to learn that there is no convincing evidence to support such a claim at all. As a matter of fact, there is no test available today that doctor or scientist can use to assess the chemical status of a living person’s brain. This is the reason why you will never have to give a blood or any other kind of samples when you go to a clinic or a hospital for the treatment of mental disorder. Amazingly, some doctors are able to determine the level of chemicals inside your brain just by observing and talking to you.
On the other hand, numerous pieces of evidence suggesting harmful effects of these medications continue to emerge. For example, on March 22, 2004, the FDA issued a Public Health Advisory that children and adults taking antidepressants can become suicidal and that physicians should watch patients closely when first giving the drugs or changing dosages. Again, on December 8, 2005, the FDA issued a Public Health Advisory based on U.S. and Swedish studies showing that exposure to certain antidepressants in the first trimester of pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of heart birth defects. Then, on July 19, 2006, the FDA issued another Public Health Advisory for SSRIs(Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors) including many popular psychiatric medications such as Celexa (citalopram), Fluvoxamine, Lexapro (escitalopram), Prozac (fluoxetine), Symbyax (olanzapine and fluoxetine) and Zoloft (sertraline) based on a study that suggests there may be additional risks of SSRI medications during pregnancy. While the above examples only include warnings issued by the FDA, many independent studies conducted by some well known organizations have also suggested other type of risks involved. Until now, psychiatric medications are believed to carry many harmful side-effects. In fact, there are so many potential hazards involved in taking these medications that no doctor is capable of memorizing all of them. As a patient, you should be aware of this information before committing yourself to receive a pharmacological treatment. After all, it is you, not the doctor, who will be directly affected by the outcome of the treatment.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dorothy_E_Smith