The Most Beautiful Thoughts Are Always Beside the Darkest
“It is essential to understand that in psychiatry there is no such thing as ‘diagnosis.’”
— Dr. Sami Timimi
Never have I ever had a friend who isn’t psychotropic-ly medicated. I’m joking, kind of. But not really. When I think of the people close to me, in my age range, they’re all either medicated, have been medicated, or have been encouraged to be medicated. Most popular are the SSRIs: Lexapro, Prozac, Celexa. I’m on an SNRI, which I like to think is fancier, but it’s really just newer, which makes imagining the potential long-term effects extra terrifying. I’ve heard rave reviews about Wellbutrin, an NDRI. My bipolar friends take Lithium or Seroquel. My ADD friends, Adderall or Vyvanse; the insomniacs, Ambien or Lunesta. I’ve had a Benzo prescription for panic since I was 14, and a good friend once assured me he’ll take Klonopin “every day for the rest of his life.”
Thousands of Americans are diagnosed with a mental illness each day. In the past few decades, antipsychotics have replaced cholesterol-lowering medications as the top-selling drugs in the U.S. But many wonder: Is our current trend of rampant diagnosis and loose…
