Paxil Free

Wednesday, October 18th, 2000. Responding to something, though I don’t remember what:

Paxil should be an absolute last resort. Communicative therapy (a.k.a. talking) should be tried first. Then there are dietary changes that can make a difference to all kinds of anxiety. You can take vitamin supplements like B-complex to begin with. If you drink caffeine, stop now. Alcohol and cigarettes don’t help with anxiety either (but if you smoke, don’t try quitting while you’re trying to quit something else; trying to quit two things at once will wreck anyone). Making sure to get daily moderate exercise can make a difference. Try a herbal remedy. Listen to good music. Breathe fresh air. Get out in the sunshine.

Speaking from experience, these are basic things that can make a huge difference.

But it’s easier to pop a little pink pill than it is to actually make any real effort to take care of oneself (hence, we have close to two billion dollars in sales of Paxil last year).

It’s easier to take a pill than it is to actually face the fears underlying the social anxiety.

No offense to anyone suffering from panic disorder, but “social anxiety” sound like another made-up term by drug companies. I’ve been shy my whole life. I know what it’s like to be anxious around people and or large crowds. But that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me. I consider it a natural reaction to the madness of crowds.

Working to ease my shyness took some time, and although today I am aware that I do have this tendency to become anxious in social situation, it doesn’t bring everything I want to do with my life to a halt. I value all of my relationships and I am glad to be around the people I choose to be friends with, but I also know when I could use some time alone. I may have a certain shyness to my personality (although most people who know me socially would probably find that hard to believe), but there is nothing wrong with being this way as long as it doesn’t control my life. “Social anxiety” is a marketing slogan, a stigma that deliberately shames people into thinking they need these medications. It helps sell Paxil and other SSRIs.

If you experience “social anxiety,” it doesn’t mean you’re sick. All it means is that you’re sensitive. Big whoop. There is nothing wrong with being a sensitive person. Screw it — I’ll go as far to say it’s a good thing. My sensitivity has caused some anxiety at times, but it’s also given me a sensitivity to the feelings of other people in my friendships and close relationships which has enriched my life in ways that Paxil never has. I’m more of a one-on-one person; I’m not a group person. So what?

If Paxil is the last resort for you — I am in no way recommending Paxil — but if you decide to take the Paxil, remember that the more you take and the longer you take it, the harder it will be to get off it. If your doctor tells you something different, then your doctor can join the thousands of other doctors who are completely uninformed and misinformed as to the withdrawal effects of Paxil, and you’ll want to go see another doctor immediately. Paxil withdrawal is hell. For a substantial number of people who take it, Paxil is not an easy drug to get off of. That’s the first thing you should know.

The second thing is, if you do take the Paxil, don’t just rely on the Paxil. If it provides you with some kind of calm, take advantage of that calm and work on your anxiety. (I know plenty of people who take Paxil and then sit on their butts the whole time, never taking any action to actually deal with the anxiety or depression they had in the first place. All they do is take Paxil, and within months they begin to take on the look of a person who is medically sedated.) If you decide to take the Paxil, it would be beneficial to put yourself in situations where you can develop the coping skills (sometimes known as social skills) to ease the anxiety so that you can be relaxed and be yourself where before you used to feel anxious. If you don’t do this, and eventually you want to get off the Paxil (and seeing how hair loss and sexual dysfunction are common side effects of Paxil, you may not want to live with it forever) — when you try to get off the Paxil, all of the anxiety will come back, and on top of the effects of Paxil withdrawal, it’ll probably come back with a vengeance.

So if you do take the Paxil, do it right. And be informed.

Hope that helps.

Response:

I would like to tell a story which I think some may find more informative than your message.

While this drug may or may not help people, it does fall under a new classification of “life enhancing” drugs that has only really been around for the last 30 or so years. The aggressive marketing of this drug towards the general public is at best circumspect and possibly heinous in its design and implementation. In reading some of the legal documentation of the lawsuits currently in the courts, I noticed that Glaxo SmithKline refuses to accept the term “withdrawa” and instead uses only the term “relapse” in their dealings with plaintiffs. I know what I went through (and what most EVERYONE on this board is either going through or has been through) was a “withdrawa” from a drug.

Now the ethical question: Does the fact that a drug company knowingly refuses to use a proper term in order to protect themselves legally outweigh the use of a term of demeaning tone and inference, especially when it is used to describe the said product whose usage, after stopping, made me feel like “crap” (there are worse terms) for several months afterwards and most importantly: which use of language is more justified?

You see, it isn’t the situation that is the problem, but the language (and the fear of the language) that hides the problem.

P.S. (Sept. 2006): I seemed to have no problem giving advice in this post. I’ll be making some cuts if I find too much of that going on in future posts. I question how qualifed I am to give certain advice. Some people do have serious social disorders that require medication; otherwise, they couldn’t function. I wouldn’t want to be dismissive of that. My life is still affected by my so-called social anxiety. It does hold me back at times, and I’m not happy about it. But I’ve managed to live with it. It’s a part of who I am.