[heavyweightheart]

i love that passage from feminist theory so much bc i invest a lot in consciousness-raising work, especially in person and in groups, and it never feels like enough. like, it feels politically inadequate to do this work with small groups of individuals, since the change we need is so total. but while it’s true that consciousness raising isn’t enough to create that change, it is a necessary step, and it also bears really good fruit that might justify the work in itself. i also have to remember that i’m one woman, a sick woman, and trust that if i give what i have to give in the area and ways i have to give it, others will do the same in the ways that they can and that will at some point be enough, whatever enough means

[heavyweightheart]

please don’t judge me but i’m watching parenthood the show like a 47 year old rich lady in 2011 and i just need to share two terrible things about it (these are NOT the only things): this show is a how-to of the worst possible approaches to parenting an autistic child, and literally (i mean literally) an infomercial for autism speaks; and, it’s over-the-top antisemitic, like. i am appalled 

[heavyweightheart]

[shrinkrants]

ANTIDEPRESSANTS PRESCRIBED FOR MORE AND MORE PROBLEMS, EVEN AS THE DATA SUPPORTING THEIR EFFECTIVENESS IS SERIOUSLY CHALLENGED

A recent article in Scientific American describes how antidepressants are being prescribed for a widening array of “off label” uses. 

Doctors commonly use antidepressants to treat many maladies they are not approved for. In fact, studies show that between 25 and 60 percent of prescribed antidepressants are actually used to treat nonpsychological conditions. The most common and well-supported off-label uses of SSRIs include:

Abuse and dependence

ADHD (in children and adolescents)

Anxiety disorders

Autism (in children)

Bipolar disorder

Eating disorders

Fibromyalgia

Neuropathic pain

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

This is anything but “evidence based medicine,” especially when we consider that as researchers get access to previously-suppressed studies, the effectiveness of antidepressants is proven to be less and less. This paper, based on meta-analyses of NIMH data, shows that antidepressants were only effective for very severe depression, and that their effect even there was small.

These data suggest that antidepressants may be less effective than their wide marketing suggests. Short-term benefits are small and long-term balance of benefits and harms is understudied. I discuss how the use of many small randomized trials with clinically non-relevant outcomes, improper interpretation of statistical significance, manipulated study design, biased selection of study populations, short follow-up, and selective and distorted reporting of results has built and nourished a seemingly evidence-based myth on antidepressant effectiveness