Thank you, Keren, for mentioning alternatives to selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's) for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Specifically, "Rather than using drugs, other interventions include
cognitive =
behavioral strategies or deeper investigative work to find the origins =
of these behaviors. Some might also look at diet and sleep patterns and =
ways to enhance these activities.=20"
A good study of this was written several years ago, "Talking Back to
Prozac".  I forget the author's name.  It was a bestseller for a while. He
discussed the fact that Prozac, the first of these drugs, was rushed
through FDA approval without adequate testing.  Many people who have taken
SSRI's have manifested psychiatric symptoms that were then found to be
caused by the drug itself.  There have been episodes of violence, etc.
These drugs are not so different from cocaine, in that in both cases the
reuptake of a neurotransmitter is inhibited, and therefore the synapse is
awash in more of the "feel good" neurotransmitter.  Can we agree on a rule
of thumb that if we don't know how and whether or not these drugs affect
the nursing baby, (psych. drug toxicity symptoms may not be apparent during
infancy but only later) then safer, less invasive alternatives should be
sought, for the baby's sake and for mom's as well?
Colleen Huber

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