UH, LET’S STOP AND THINK FIRST PEOPLE
I presented bStable as part of a session on computerized life management systems for the management of bipolar depression at the International Review of Bipolar Disorders May 8th, 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal with Dr. Andreas Erfurth, from the Department of General Medical Psychiatry, University of Vienna.
At the conference I was AMAZED at how many researchers were totally fixated on lithium research! All I heard was them chirping like birds: “lithium, lithium, lithium, lithium, lithium”. Then: “gold standard, gold standard, gold standard, gold standard”.
Wow. I’ve talked with A LOT of people with bipolar disorder and FEW TO NONE are on Lithium. It can make:
your hands shake uncontrollably, make you very thirsty, want to pee a lot, diarrhea, throw up, pack on the pounds, mess with your memory, impair your concentration, make you drowsy, make your muscles feel weak, HAIR LOSS, make you look like a teenager with ACNE and FAT due to decreased thyroid function.
Sound fun?
The researchers should read this article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120921092502.htm
and stop the knee-jerk reaction “oh, you have bipolar disorder, let me put you on lithium” and start to THINK first and realize every patient is different. Thoughts??
