Dr Spleen on Prozac
13 March 2008 by Dr.Spleen
Its official, or at least past the balance of probabilities and even beyond all reasonable doubt – Prozac does make you smile !!
In fact I almost laughed when hearing the latest breaking news that Prozac is probably no more effective in treating mild and moderate depression than a glass of cherry aid (or something stronger).
This reminded me of a senior Consultant Physician at my local hospital who would always perform a medication review on patients under his care. Anyone taking anti depressant medication that had not been initiated by a consultant Psychiatrist was promptly stopped. Fascist or Prophet ? – this seems more debatable following these new revelations.
His belief was that people need to develop coping strategies at times of misery to prepare them better for further life events that they will have to deal with in the future. Medication is a short term fix only. My mind then wandered on to considering the implications of this philosophy on our beloved NHS. Overspent, under resourced and poorly managed or a pioneering health service envied throughout the world ? The main problem is not the service that we provide but rather the people that we serve – PATIENTS !!
How many times do we see someone in our G.P. surgeries or Hospital Clinics who presents with something that we would never dream of asking the local milkman to treat, let alone a Doctor ?
The issue is not about ignorance but rather over expectation. The non politically correct NHS, may have been less cuddly but was a damn site more effective. Saying “no” can be more effective in developing people’s common sense than a battery of negative test results which may encourage the distorted health beliefs of the worried well. What a waste of time and money ! “Being a pharmacist is a highly stressful job” sobbed a recent Patient of mine. “You don’t understand the pressure of dispensing accurately and the implications of making a mistake”. Declining Prozac, a request was made for counselling.
An understandable choice under the circumstances which we found ourselves, or was this decision now more evidence based ? Happily I agreed. After all, we need to encourage people to feel poorly – otherwise we could all be out of a job.
