24 March 2001
PMS? Perhaps Not!
I was watching television a few nights ago when a bizarre advertisement came on. Often, I go clicking away during television ads, because they usually annoy me. But this one was different. It began by asking if I was suffering from any of the conditions normally associated with PMS (I'll spare the details), but then, in dramatic Public-Service-Announcement fashion pointed out that, if so, *I* could be suffering from a MEDICAL CONDITION known as PMDD (I found it hard to believe myself)! Fortunately, the hard-working scientists at Lilly labs have come up with -- you guessed it! -- a drug to solve the problem, named SaraFem. Not only is there a pill that will help this heretofore unknown (or at least previously misdiagnosed) condition, but it even has a friendly ring to it. SARA - FEM. That kind of sounds like a packager of frozen cheesecake. Or a federal organization that will help one get a home loan.
Of course, the good folks at Lilly flashed up a website that promised more detail on this medical condition, so I had to visit. I was quite surprised to find out that SaraFem contains the same active ingredient as Prozac (which doesn't sound nearly as friendly). How lovely! Next time you ladies are suffering from the symptoms formerly associated with PMS, take comfort in the fact that the good folks at Lilly just want you to be happy! After all, PMDD is a medical condition, and so long as one has a medical condition, by all means it's okay to take antidepressants! Woo hoo!
Anyway, all of this was brought to mind tonight by our friends over at Trudy's Bitching Hats, who have been thinking about the condition formerly known as PMS.
* * * *
Since I cannot seem to get myself to the gym four days per week, the weight training schedule has gotten some gentle tweaking to make it more friendly to a 3-day schedule. Today's workout really took it out of me, but produced a high that I haven't been able to get in a quite a while. I might add, without the aid of SaraFem!
[Posted @ 09:17 PM CST]
COMMENTS
There you go, being sexist again! What do you know about how it is to be a woman!??! ;)
Seriously, I've heard of women having symptoms so severe -- like being depressed and sick 25% of the month -- that they are barely able to cope. I'd imagine that is who the drug is actually for.
The web site, though, is so vague and tra-la-la that it makes it sound like it's something I should take when I'm feeling a little cranky. I don't know why they don't emphasize the severity of the condition a little more.
Oh, wait, yes I do. Never mind.
[Posted by The Lovely Evelynne on 24 March 2001, 09:52 PM CST]
I just LOVE people with the self-confidence to stick adjectives in front of their name!
The PMDD commercial reminded me of that episode of Ally McBeal when the new therapist kept trying to prescribe Ally prozac for all of her ails. This was back when Ally McBeal was funny and a few people cared. :)
[Posted by The Arrogant Kev on 25 March 2001, 12:55 AM CST]
the "condition" is called "clinical pms". i suffer from it. i won't get into the gruesome details here. that said, those pmdd commercials are amusing. :)
[Posted by jonelin on 25 March 2001, 03:34 PM CST]
Okay... having a BA in psych and currently working toward my MD, I felt compelled to comment on the whole Prozac/Sarafem issue, since I might have a bit more background on the subject than most people do. Kev, I don't know if you were poking fun at the commercial (which admittedly I have not seen) and the marketing itself, at the "new" diagnosis of PMDD (there's always been a problem in psych circles over how to name various psychological problems without being politically incorrect!), at people who might take SaraFem but not Prozac, or at people who look to solve all their problems with a pill -- things that admittedly present themselves as targets -- and I could be reading this the wrong way, but do you doubt that there's a genuine biological reason for using antidepressants to treat PMS? If so, do be aware that there is most assuredly a biochemical cause for PMS and that it's NOT unreasonable to treat some cases of it with antidepressants. As far back as the late 1980s, there's been research suggesting that women with PMS have lower serotonin levels during the time periods that correspond to their symptoms, and that women who do not meet clinical criteria for major depressive disorder note improvement in their PMS symptoms when treated with antidepressants. There's a lot of reasons why this has not been more widely advertised -- among them, feminist fears and the stigma associated with psychoactive medication -- but lack of research is not one of them.
That being said, the same thing that's happening with SaraFem and Prozac happened with Wellbutrin and Zyban. The latter two are the same drug -- buproprion -- with the same clinical indications, but one is marketed for depression and one is marketed for the cessation of smoking. The really pathetic thing is that some insurance companies will only cover buproprion if it's prescribed as "Wellbutrin" and not as "Zyban"! (I am kid you not -- I've seen this happen with the patients I've cared for.) Frankly, what disgusts me is the way the pharmaceutical industry is capitalizing on and helping to perpetuate the stigma associated with mental illness. There are people who wouldn't take an "antidepressant," but who will take Zyban, to help them quit smoking, and I suspect the same is going to happen with SaraFem and Prozac -- and the industry makes money that they wouldn't have made otherwise. While people ultimately have to make up their own minds about what they think about treating illnesses that have a psychological component to them with medication, as a future doctor, it still makes me sick to see how the pharmaceutical industry feeds into the mental illness stigma to make a buck. Antidepressant medications aren't a panacea -- they're not designed to be used alone without also targeting the cognitive and behavioral aspects that contribute to mental illness, in addition to the biological aspects that the medication hits -- but there are people who legitimately need them, whether they have depression, severe PMS, whatever. When someone's messed up enough that they're in need of psychoactive medication, thinking reasonably is difficult, and the stigma associated with psychoactive medication is a big stumbling block for many people as far as seeking help goes. I hate to see such things become the target of jokes. :(
Okay... I'll step off the soapbox now... thanks for letting me use your website as a forum, Kev.. :)
[Posted by Camille on 26 March 2001, 07:35 PM CST]
I don't know if you were poking fun at the commercial (which admittedly I have not seen) and the marketing itself, at the "new" diagnosis of PMDD (there's always been a problem in psych circles over how to name various psychological problems without being politically incorrect!), at people who might take SaraFem but not Prozac, or at people who look to solve all their problems with a pill
Yes, Yes, No, Yes!
I'm a little amazed that this little afterthought of a journal entry -- even with what I consider to be some of my better off-the-cuff writing -- has generated so many responses! Makes me think I should ditch the political shit I slave over and adopt the deliberately provocative approach that Jaffo takes on occasion! Or not. :)
[Posted by The Arrogant Kev on 27 March 2001, 08:39 AM CST]
Frankly, I've been WAITING for someone to come along and yell at Kevin about this one. Unfortunately, everyone's being so rational. I like it, of course, but it's not the same as a flame war. :)
The thing that worries me most about commercials like this, or the idea of "Pop a pill and be happy", is my fear that people won't make the necessary efforts on the therapy end of things. Why do that, after all, if the medication takes care of it?
My goal, if I were on such medication, would be to change my way of thinking through cognitive/behavioral therapy (a herculean task, I know) so that I needed very little medication in the long term. I'm all about lifestyle changes over drugs, wherever it's possible.
It's not all theoretical for me on the physiological/mental connections here, either, since I've had troubles with anxiety in the past. See "Evelynne's Fishkill Nightmare" if you want details.
[Posted by Anxious Evelynne on 27 March 2001, 01:54 PM CST]
O Arrogant Kev, you shouldn't be so surprised at the outpouring of responses to your PMDD journal entry! Besides the fact that you've managed to bring up several topics in that entry that are typically inflammatory, you've also hit on something that other people actually have some knowledge of. I don't know enough political philosophy to effectively analyze your entries on that. But by damn, I do know a fair bit on things related to medicine, psychology, and women... and that means I can speak a damned sight better from my soapbox than I normally could! :) Seriously, though, I'd guess you don't get as much of a response on your serious political stuff because a lot of people, myself included, simply don't know enough to comment intelligently... make sense?
[Posted by Camille on 2 April 2001, 09:57 PM CST]
Because this entry has scrolled off the main screen, I have closed this topic and moved the discussion here
Cheers,
Your friendly host
[Posted by Kevin on 8 April 2001, 12:19 PM CST]
