Just a general rant. It's been a while since I let off some steam.
I'm sat listening to music via earplugs hooked up to my laptop, different genres. Music lifts me, sends me to places where there's no suicides of kids (and adults) to contend with, no attorneys fighting the corner of big pharma (when they know full well that their client is guilty as sin)
I guess this rant is about the change in opinion about antidepressants, mental illnesses, pharmaceutical companies, psychiatrists and medicine regulators. I rarely rant about all of them together.
I've been writing this blog for over 9 years (10 years next April) and I've made many friends, some I've met, others I've kept in touch with via emails, Skype etc.
I've seen blogs appear, then disappear, or lay dormant. I can't blame those bloggers for giving up, I've thought about it myself many times but, after "time out" I always come back. I feel it would be difficult to not write about pharma, their misdemeanors and those they harm with their drugs are, like it or not, part of my life.
I was asked last night if I get scared, given that I am going up against such an unscrupulous foe. My answer was 'no'. I don't think the likes of GlaxoSmithKline (whom take up more space on this blog than any other pharmaceutical company) would ever wish or cause harm to a blogger who is critical of their business. If they did, then they'd look like bigger criminals than they already are (if that's possible)
I'm fully aware how powerful GSK are, fully aware that they can, in litigation, dangle carrots in front of their victims (or families of victims). They make out they are settling to avoid cost of litigation but, in truth, we all know they are settling because it will keep the plaintiff quiet and avoid further litigation against them.
Have I seen a change in GSK during the 9 years I've been writing this blog? Not really, in fact over the last nine years their sordid history has become more evident, partly because of the record breaking fine of $3 billion handed down to them by the Department of Justice.
Admittedly, GSK has a better smell about it now Andrew Witty is in charge. His predecessor, JP Garnier, left behind strategically placed turds along the corridors of GSK Headquarters across the globe. Witty, in the main, has been scooping the poop left behind from the Frenchman.
The MHRA
I've had much correspondence with the British drug regulator over the years. There was a stage where I actually thought we could work together, particularly with regard to their yellow card reporting system. I met with their media guy a couple of times, then later with the media guy's manager. Both have now left the MHRA. I even met with MHRA CEO, Kent Woods, he too left the MHRA.
The current CEO is Dr Ian Hudson. He is the former World Safety Officer for SmithKline Beecham, who later became GSK. I have no intention of ever meeting him - it would be one of those meetings that would be vomit inducing considering Hudson's defence of Seroxat.
The MHRA haven't really changed - but public opinion of them has. They still profess that they regulate drugs and look out for signs of danger in the drugs you and I take - It's difficult to say that they are doing a good job... because they're not.
Psychiatry
In general psychiatry has been in the spotlight quite a lot during the years I've been writing this blog. I think the public perception of psychiatrists has changed and I think many psychiatrists have actually questioned the illnesses they treat and the drugs they prescribe to treat those illnesses. There's still a lot of psychiatrists out there who like to think that they are God, it's a delusion that has grown on individuals - it rides on their coat-tails of denial and their reluctance to acknowledge that the person sitting in front of them, be they man, woman or child, are actually human beings and not trial guinea pigs. I'm not really fond of psychiatrists, well not the ones who refuse to believe antidepressants can induce horrific withdrawal, suicide and homicide,
It is, however, good to see the public perception of psychiatrists change.
It would be great if I could report that since the conception of this blog antidepressant use had fallen, sadly it's the reverse. Antidepressant use has increased - in other words, during the last nine years or so there are more people with mental illnesses. Hardly surprising when you look at some of the newer brain diseases that have emerged (backed with no science and all based on theory). A list of these apparent disorders can be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Mental disorders such as Adolescent antisocial behavior, Avoidant personality disorder, Borderline intellectual functioning and Celebrity worship syndrome. Yup, that last one is actually a mental disease folks - back in my day it was known as infatuation.
Here's what the 'experts' say about it...
In research published in the British Journal of Psychology, psychologists established a "sliding scale" of celebrity worship -- one in which the devoted fan becomes increasingly hooked into the object of their attention, until their feelings begin to resemble addiction.
In another study with more than 600 people, psychologists found that about a third qualified for a condition they coined "celebrity worship syndrome" -- a condition wherein, at its most severe, the object of our worship becomes the central figure in our lives.
That's me buggered then!
So, it appears being a fan of a music artist, movie star or sports star can now, in some cases, be deemed as a mental disorder. All those teen girls with boy band posters on their bedroom walls are, if you believe in the word of psychiatry, suffering from Celebrity worship syndrome.
Um, aren't they just being kids going through a phase, just as we all did when we were young?
Okay, there are some adults obsessed, I've seen them fairly recently. AC/DC are on tour and there are many thousands following them around Europe for all of their shows. If I had the money I'd probably be with them (even though the Wembley gig was a disappointment)
Music, sport and movies are a chance for us mere mortals to switch off from the outside world and, it appears, if we believe in the word of some of these white-coated buffons, that watching too much of one particular star equates to us having a brain disease.
Doncha just love these morons!
I wonder what the celebrities think about this?
I'll let you all know when Shania gets back from Bingo.
Bob Fiddaman
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