Depression – A Dangerous Practice In Treatment

In 1998, Brynn Hartman shot and killed her husband, the comedian and actor Phil Hartman while he slept. The Hartman’s are the poster children of the poor medical practices in depression treatment. Hartman’s wife, Brynn was given antidepressants by a psychiatrist. It is reported she received no physical, had no blood work done and was not under a regular supervised care program from the therapist. Brynn shot her sleeping husband while her children slept in their rooms. Later that morning she was able to follow up by committing suicide. Eventually, future lawsuits would be awarded to their children due to negligence. I would imagine they would have rather continued life with living their parents.

Speaking from experience

I, too know first hand what can happen when antidepressants are doled out to a patient without proper work up or supervision. This form of treatment is widely practiced and many of the complications go unreported or even worse ignored. Recently, while participating in forums concerning depression I have encountered several people who received or are with someone who received this drive thru style of depression treatment. If you were spitting up blood would you take Pepcid AC and go about your business? Not if you were smart. Why treat a disease like depression that casually?

The cover up treatment

Prescription antidepressants treat symptoms. They do not treat causes. A person taking drugs to treat their symptoms when the cause could be biological in nature are just not getting any better. They only think they are because they no longer feel the symptoms. It is no different than getting high on crack to achieve enlightenment. Only person being fooled is himself or herself. Many times because they have not sought the correct medical attention, they place the blame for their depression on other things and other people. Nobody wins except the drug companies. Their bank accounts get fatter.

Shared blame

Drug companies are not alone with culpability. The medical care system and insurance companies share in the blame. Many health insurance plans limit or do not cover mental health care treatment by psychiatry. Depression sufferers are left with the primary care physician as their only recourse. The physicians in turn work along the guidelines of what the insurance coverage will allow. The patient is the one who continues to pay to price through loss of work time and faltering personal relationships.

For every solution there is a problem

The cost of healthcare is prohibitive. The cost of health insurance is keeping pace. Everyday hundreds of Americans become uninsured due to the spiraling policies. What is worse is many policies are a form of “pay into” plan. If you are out of work for an extended time, you lose your coverage. This is no protection for a person suffering a serious or life threatening illness. If you cannot pay into the plan, it lapses. You do not receive credit for the time you paid into the plan and did not need to use it. It doesn’t matter if you are new or paid into it for years all that matters are the current payments.

For depression the sick have become the unwanted stepchild of the healthcare industry. Pills affect different people in different ways. Some medications intensify conditions instead of alleviating them. Side effects can lead to swing moods, suicide and more. The solution is monitoring and therapy. The problem is cost and lack of coverage. The reality is more Americans are being improperly treated for depression. The outcome is scaring off others that need to seek treatment. In all cases, the conditions persist or grow with the effect of feeding into the false mythos of depression. So it is, society has created an self-perpetuating paradigm.

The results

The actual cause of the condition goes unchecked and worsens. Complicated situations arise and disorders begin to form. The patient and doctor become cavalier about phoning in prescriptions and picking them up at the drug store drive thru. As the conditions persist and the drug side effects prevail, jobs are lost, marriages dissolve and people take and lose lives. The false mythology of depression and its resulting paradigms are left to thrive while the innocent suffer helplessly. The cycle continues on unchecked.

What you can do.

If you or loved one suffers from depression, fight for your right for full medical and mental check up and treatment. Do not accept take a pill and call me if you need anything else diagnosis. Demand to know the facts about your depression and your treatment. 80% of all depression is curable if fully treated in the early stages. It doe not have to be a life sentence. Depression hurts everyone. Just ask the Hartman children, they would know best.