Taxes!

[Marlin]

I'm not going to argue that there is a problem with over-prescribing by docs going on, but a few things about your statement seem either inaccurate or exaggerated. Regardless of the type of bachelors degree associated with an undergraduate education, psychology is not an "art", it is a science, albeit a soft science, say in the way that economics is. Universities vary as to whether it is a BA or a BS, with some offering both options. But that is hardly the issue because prescribing of such medication is done by either a full doctor (often a psychiatrist), but not a psychologist. The former has a full medical degree not just a BA or BS.

As for fact vs theory, that pretty much describes science as a whole. Gravity is a theory. The Germ Theory of Disease is a theory. The question is if the theory is well supported and in the case of benzos or other psychiatric meds, are the chemical mechanisms known. You seem to be suggesting that they are not, that doctors stumbled across these chemicals and found that the produce X result much of the time without knowing how. This is just not true. The mechanisms for Xanax and the rest are quite well known. Might want to do some research before you say its quite well known.This is straight out of the xanax warning sheet, its several pages long, like anyone has ever read it....lol. I will provide the link if you'd like, but this is the opening paragraph "CNS agents of the 1,4 benzodiazepine class presumably exert their effects by binding at stereospecific receptors at several sites within the central nervous system. Their exact mechanism of action is unknown." C Which is not to say that they are not overprescribed, addictive, contain variable side effects, have varying efficacy for different individuals, and must be weened off to avoid a bad and dangerous chemical imbalance. They also have great value for quite a number of people.
The xanax site says it is designed for people who suffer from panic disorder. Unless you are inferring that 44 million people suffer from panic disorder, there are not just a few doctors prescribing these recreational meds.
I have also experienced exactly the opposite in terms of doctors willingness to prescribe much of anything. I suspect this may be a function of being on Tricare rather than having access to an actual military clinic now, but the last primary care doc my wife and I had was about as stingy with even the most basic prescriptions, and wreaked some havoc for us when we were trying to continue a course of treatment for allergies after moving to his area. I can't imagine what we would have had to do to get him to prescribe something like Xanax.

Pain medication is a funny thing. For many injuries, not having the pain med significantly interferes with the healing process due to an inability to relax the muscles around the effected area, sleep, or work through rehabilitation. I want to repeat that I believe you about overprescription for plenty of people, and abuse by even more, but pain treatment has become pretty demonized, and doctors specializing in it are getting harder to find as they become more afraid of being raided based on bad or manufactured evidence, and caught up in a politically charged overreaction by the government when all they are trying to do is manage real patient pain. Which brings us full circle.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/02/134143...abuse-epidemic

This is an epidemic across the nation. These meds are not obtained illegally, they are given to patients by their doctors. Doctors who are paid by the pharmacorp industry to perpetuate this addiction. Doctors that are supposed to be oath bound to help the patient, not addict them to a deadly drug. The more addicts, the more money. Much the same as cigarettes. As for the difficulty of getting meds, I agree, on base docs, almost impossible. Military docs can't get a kickback form the drug company. Unfortunately, most military docs only see active duty now, they farm out dependents to civilian drug dealers...I mean doctors. Those doctors that accept tricare do it a significant cost reduction compared to other insruance policies. That means in order to receive the same profit, they need to blow thorugh as many patients as possible, no time for treatment, write a script, bill tricare, cha-ching!!! I interviewed my wife's psych and recorded the one hour session, with her permission of course. She was a therapist and medicinal manager. That is her official title. Turns out, they do absolutely no therapy at those places. I asked what therapy they offered, her response was that they talk. She saw my wife 3 hours in a 9 month period, yet my wife had xanax, ambien, and sometimes lunesta as well, overlapping. This is on top of her vicodin topomax that was prescribed by other doctors. The doctors also went on to say that it was my responsibility to let the doctor know if she was abusing her meds. How am I supposed to know what meds she is on, or even who her doctor is?! An addict doesn't dime out her dealer. I only found it by going through my wife's purse while she was in rehab. The doctor also knew that I had two toddlers at home, yet she said it was not her problem if my wife was watching the kids while rolling on xanax/vicodin and ambien. NOT HER PROBLEM!!!! She is the one that prescribed it. This is not just one doc, this is 7 years of doctors in San Diego, Guam, Norfolk, Ohio, and Charleston. This is a string of civilian docs across the nation. This infers a pattern of drug dealing. 44 million xanax prescriptions last year alone. That is evidence enough that your situation is the exception, not the norm.
ANyway, you can see where this is going, it lead to disaster. One month in patient rehab, and a lifetime of pain. The doctor said it was no big deal to prescribe xanax over the phone, it was only 30 days at a time!
I pulled the string, started calling past doctors, same story. I inquired whether my wife was diagnosed with some type of panic disorder? Nope, they said (the lead Dr was present at my interview) that she indicated symptoms of stress and that xanax is often prescribed to mediate stress. Holy ****, stress, really? That is enough to get life altering highly addictive meds?
My wife was eventually sent to an addiction specialist psych. That guy tried ot give my wife ambien the first visit!!! Are you kidding?!
SO no, its not just a few docs, its an entire industry. The entire industry is a crock. Therapy is EXTREMELY time consuming, and therefore the insurance company will not pay for it, and the doc would be limited to only 3-5 patients per day. He isn't gonna make any money that way. 15 minutes, write a script, 20 patients a day, now thats how you make money.

Psychiatric disorders are not medical diseases. There are no lab tests, brain scans, X-rays or chemical imbalance tests that can verify any mental disorder is a physical condition. This is not to say that people do not get depressed, or that people can’t experience emotional or mental duress, but psychiatry has repackaged these emotions and behaviors as “disease” in order to sell drugs. This is a brilliant marketing campaign, but it is not science.
Psychiatry’s diagnostic criteria are literally voted into existence and inserted into the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM). What is voted in is a system of classification of symptoms that is drastically different from, and foreign to, anything in medicine. None of the diagnoses are supported by objective evidence of physical disease, illness, or
science.

Here is the link for the xanax info, straight off of the pfizer/xanax website
http://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=543