We’ve all heard the litany of behaviors that are allegedly side effects of antidepressants (namely SSRIs and SNRIs): agitation, murder, anxiety, murder, violence, murder, paranoia, murder, etc. It seems there is almost no end that people will go to in blaming their behavior on something else.
So, the two new antidepressant side effects I recently discovered will no doubt be seized on by antidepressant abolitionists—
I was at the Starbucks the other day and came out to find the local sheriff and a young woman in a verbal exchange. It seems she (probably about 20-22 years old) had parked her orange Mazda in a handicap spot without a permit. The sheriff was citing her. And she says to the sheriff, “It’s not my fault. I just started taking antidepressants and I didn’t see the sign.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Evidently, she was taking legal strategy from the Christopher Pittman defense team (the kid who murdered his grandparents in South Carolina after family difficulties, but blamed it on a switch from GSK’s Paxil to Pfizer’s Zoloft). So add insensitivity, bitchiness and blindness to the list of antidepressant side effects.
The second antidepressant side effect comes from an e-mail I received two days ago from someone identifying themselves as Stacey Shire (I’m betting this is not her real name). Stacey wrote me (and probably other bloggers) about a very dangerous side effect of antidepressants – trans-sexualism and gender identity crisis. The individual claiming to be Stacey Shire indicated that he/she was originally born Stephen Shire, but began feeling “urges” at the age of 17, almost immediately after he/she began taking Pfizer’s Zoloft. Stacey wanted me to give her money to help her through the “transition.” So add trans-sexualism, begging and lack of self-respect to the list of antidepressant side effects.
I think we’ve reached the point with adverse events of prescription medications that some issues are real, and many others are clearly not. And the one’s that are not are overshadowing the ones that are real. Of the events that are real, there are many people claiming to have problems who really don’t (probably to get a payoff). I’m sure there were a handful of people with very real adverse events to Merck’s Vioxx. However, I highly doubt that millions of patients experienced these adverse events.
Abdicating responsibility for one’s actions and blaming some external force has existed for a long time. Blaming prescription drugs for an individuals’ bad decision is just one step down the road from Dan White’s Twinkies or "the devil made me do it."
So, the two new antidepressant side effects I recently discovered will no doubt be seized on by antidepressant abolitionists—
I was at the Starbucks the other day and came out to find the local sheriff and a young woman in a verbal exchange. It seems she (probably about 20-22 years old) had parked her orange Mazda in a handicap spot without a permit. The sheriff was citing her. And she says to the sheriff, “It’s not my fault. I just started taking antidepressants and I didn’t see the sign.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Evidently, she was taking legal strategy from the Christopher Pittman defense team (the kid who murdered his grandparents in South Carolina after family difficulties, but blamed it on a switch from GSK’s Paxil to Pfizer’s Zoloft). So add insensitivity, bitchiness and blindness to the list of antidepressant side effects.
The second antidepressant side effect comes from an e-mail I received two days ago from someone identifying themselves as Stacey Shire (I’m betting this is not her real name). Stacey wrote me (and probably other bloggers) about a very dangerous side effect of antidepressants – trans-sexualism and gender identity crisis. The individual claiming to be Stacey Shire indicated that he/she was originally born Stephen Shire, but began feeling “urges” at the age of 17, almost immediately after he/she began taking Pfizer’s Zoloft. Stacey wanted me to give her money to help her through the “transition.” So add trans-sexualism, begging and lack of self-respect to the list of antidepressant side effects.
I think we’ve reached the point with adverse events of prescription medications that some issues are real, and many others are clearly not. And the one’s that are not are overshadowing the ones that are real. Of the events that are real, there are many people claiming to have problems who really don’t (probably to get a payoff). I’m sure there were a handful of people with very real adverse events to Merck’s Vioxx. However, I highly doubt that millions of patients experienced these adverse events.
Abdicating responsibility for one’s actions and blaming some external force has existed for a long time. Blaming prescription drugs for an individuals’ bad decision is just one step down the road from Dan White’s Twinkies or "the devil made me do it."