What about "Schizophrenics"?

Does anyone ever read the articles about antipsychotics being used for insomnia, anxiety, depression ever wonder about the people who suffer from severe psychosis or hallucinations, or hearing voices? do the drugs work for them?

I read a lot, and that is obvious when reading my posts. I've read and researched a lot about antipsychotics over the years because I have witnessed a loved one in a few extreme bouts of psychosis. The kind of psychosis that is dehibilating, scary for the person and scary for the people watching. I spoken with many patients over the years and they candidly told me the antipsychotics dull them down, and barely reduce the voices. I've met homeless people who told me they tried Seroquel and would rather do meth to squash their symptoms. I've witnessed all point restraints and forced injections in locked psych wards, and would see the results, which were ramped up and verbal adults become feet-dragging, drooling zombies. All loss of life and sparkles removed from their eyes.

I would think to myself, this isn't working. The patients would often be so verbal about certain meds (antipsychotics) that made them feel like crap that they would get a forced injection to silence them.

If the antipsychotics are not working for whom they are intended, then why are antipsychotics a top seller in America? who uses them? we read about soldiers being rx'ed Seroquel for insomnia and dying in their sleep. We read about children under age 10 being prescribed the powerful neuroleptics.

Who ever reads about a schizophrenic saying how great the drugs are? are they out there? from the people I've met and seen over the last decade I can tell you that I have seen the hand tremors, the lost soul eyes, the shaking and quivering lips. The weight gain, and the basic loss of quality of life on those drugs.

When drugs are mass marketed for other indications it tells me the drug isn't working for those original target market patients. It seems all of the new antipsychotics such as Saphris and Latuda are all eager for increased indications the same as Seroquel, which has turned into the most profitable cash cow for AstraZeneca anyone could imagine.

There's something wrong with this picture, because it seems that the people suffering with real psychosis and possible need of medication intervention are still suffering, and nothing is being done to find other ways to help. Other ways being different approaches to the treatment of psychosis, a reevaluation of how a person lives, the surrounding environment, and most of all, the most provocative throught of all, is how about allowing the person to exist as they are, accept them for who they are, psychosis included?

I accept my daughter for where she is at, and yes she has been trialed on most all antipsychotics and the ones that increased to the point of appearing to induce psychosis were Seroquel and Zyprexa in high doses prescribed inpatient by psychiatrists. It was horrible to watch and that was medicated psychosis.

Unmedicated, there is a glimpse that shows of the daughter I once knew. She laughs or giggles, and it seems she has interaction with something (stimuli people like to call the internal stimuli...)in her mind, and frankly it's endearing and she isn't hurting anyone by being this way.

Society wants to quell and squash psychosis, and the drug companies want to have more indications for their antipsychotics.

What about the people? the ones who are really at the root of this discussion?

Don't forget about them, there is still an unmet need in America, and that is proven by the full-house of inpatients in psych hospitals and units.

It's time for America to give some serious thought about how to offer people with psychosis a better way of living, and that is to question the medication based paradigm of care, and consider alternative living environments, which take the whole person in....