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Thursday, September 28, 2006
Methodone And Anti-Depressants, Called A "Classical" Combination, Said To Be Cause Of Death For Anna Nicole Smith's Son "Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son died from a "classical" combination of methadone and two antidepressant drugs, according to Cyril Wecht, a U.S. pathologist who conducted a private autopsy. Daniel Smith had methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro in his system, which produced a lethal "cumulative effect on the central nervous system," leading to his death on Sept. 10, said Wecht." According to the Boston Herald, "Smith had reportedly been suffering depression related to a breakup with a girlfriend when he went to visit his mother and newborn half-sister in Nassau. Zoloft and Lexapro, which a U.S. doctor had prescribed, are antidepressants commonly used to treat anxiety and panic disorders." An unfortunate sign of the times, very sad. Many people close to me have struggled with or are currently struggling with mental illness. I, myself, have struggled with depression through the years. Naturally, this subject has been a research interest of mine for decades. I have never tried the medications, though I know many people who have through the years. I've never seen much success with the medications. My faith lies in the cognitive approach. It's worked, and worked well, for me. The standard, according to the primary psychiatric associations, is that medication should not be given separately from talk therapy. These are meant to be used together and I find it appalling and dangerous that family practitioners can write prescriptions for anti-depressants. Even for children and teens, for whom recent research has demonstrated that these medications can be harmful. It would be more accurate, however, to say recently released research, as this information was available more than a decade ago. A cognitive approach to such situations, in the most basic form, teaches coping skills and thinking patterns that enable one to gain control of the mind and develop thinking habits that promote the enjoyable and healthy inner life necessary to functioning productively and happily in the outer life. One classic means is disrupting negative inner dialogue, replacing it with something more positive and productive. In terms of addictions, often those are the result of not having the inner tools to deal with negative emotions, such as pain, hurt, and anger. Cognitive therapies have value here as well. All too often, in today's society, we do not teach the ways to work through many of life's natural and inevitable experiences, such as those early break-ups and other disappointments and struggles. We do not provide the means, the inner resources, to work through negative emotions. Rather than provide tools, we offer the quick fix... medications. This is a part of the overall culture of instant gratification, although there are numerous other cultural factors at play. Sometimes, medication is necessary. But, it should not come before skill development and should certainly be used within the established guidelines of effectiveness -- in combination with regular talk therapy, which should include cognitive therapies that seek to enable the patient to eventually leave the medications behind, in all but the most severe types of cases. I feel sorry that the young man passed in such a way. It could so easily, and may even yet be, the fate of more than one person close to me. And, alas, it would not be the first time I've seen one of my own destroyed, killed, by depression and anxiety. It is such a waste. Teach the tools. Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by Sharon Secor at 2:21 PM |
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1 Comments:
What is still missing from the news is why these drugs in combination had this effect.
Methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro all take the same route for metabolism. All 3 drugs are also designed to block the route. This is what allows them to reach a steady state.
Between 7 to 15% of the population will have a genetic variation that makes this route slow to begin with.
Instead of a drug clearing our body in 14 hours it may take 36 hours to clear. And this is just with one drug being used.
If Daniel were taking any herbs as well, it would have compounded this because most Chinesse Herbs use and block this same route.
I am the author of The Road Back - How to Get Off Drugs Safely www.theroadback.org and deal with people daily that are prescribed a combo of medications like Daniel was taking and all begin suffering symptoms much worse than thet symptoms being treat at the beginning.
Terrell Owens nearly died this week while taking a pain killer hydrocodone. Hydrocodone uses the same route to metabolize as the drugs Daniel was taking.
Physicians' need to be more aware or educated on what these drugs are really doing within our body.
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