HadIt.com Elder allan Posted September 1, 2011 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) Questions Mount About Military and VA Use of Mental Health Drugs http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/08/22/questions-mount-about-militarysvas-use-of-mental-health-drugs/ Edited September 1, 2011 by allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder john999 Posted September 1, 2011 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted September 1, 2011 VA mental health care is a joke. They don't do psychotherapy and they don't do effective drug therapy. How can you moniter drug therapy when you only see a patient for 15 minutes every three months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangerwaldo Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 The woman I see is nice enough but john999 hit it on the head. The program they're running at my vamc is a joke! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justrluk Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I only see the psychiatrist at the VAMC. I use an external psychologist - the VA provided psychologist I started with was great, but left a few years into treatment. The replacement was awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exitflagger Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) I use SSRIs not anti-psychotics. I'm guessing the VA docs are partially using them as mood stabilizers--off label treatment--since a lot of young guys have serious anger issues. A lot of times these drug treatments require a few months of experimenting to find the right drug or combination of them and the proper dose. Everyone is a bit different, some respond well to SSRIs others don't and so docs try the anti-psychotics. My doc in Seattle--a guy I trust--said he's seen success with some veterans using them but its not his first line of treatment. Slightly off topic, I started at the Seattle VA hospital Mental Health Center/PTSD clinic; for four years the treatment and people involved were excellent. I moved to Portland, OR and used their VAMC recently. Primary care is great. I've found their MHC trying like hell to get you to utilize anyone else--Vet Centers, pro-bono Veterans Project counselors--but them. They seem overwhelmed and short-staffed. I found it kind of disconcerting really. Edited September 2, 2011 by exitflagger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder john999 Posted September 2, 2011 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted September 2, 2011 Did they tell you that SSRI's have the unfortunate side effect in both men and woman of sexual dysfunction? It is a very common side effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exitflagger Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Did they tell you that SSRI's have the unfortunate side effect in both men and woman of sexual dysfunction? It is a very common side effect. In my case not only did they tell me I researched it before taking the drug. A combo with Welbutrin decreases or eliminates that as does your body's acclimatization to the meds which generally takes several weeks, at least in my experience. That's the sort of insight a psy-MD has that a GP/internal medicine MD might not give you. I'm also of the opinion that one should educate themselves as well on their meds, not weird internet sites but places like the Mayo Clinic, WebMD and that sort of thing. One side effect of untreated depression can be a carefully placed bullet through one's own noggin, so there's a trade off of sorts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
allan
Questions Mount About Military and VA Use of Mental Health Drugs
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/08/22/questions-mount-about-militarysvas-use-of-mental-health-drugs/
Edited by allanLink to comment
Share on other sites
Top Posters For This Question
2
2
1
1
Popular Days
Sep 1
4
Sep 2
3
Top Posters For This Question
john999 2 posts
exitflagger 2 posts
allan 1 post
Rangerwaldo 1 post
Popular Days
Sep 1 2011
4 posts
Sep 2 2011
3 posts
6 answers to this question
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now