Would a shrink really do this?

I'm just thinking about the drugs prescribed by my old shrink. I've been losing faith in his judgement for quite some time, which is why I'm moving on to a new shrink. I've often wondered about a lot of my meds, if theyre actually all placebo (sugar pills), since I don't think the guy takes me very seriously. I know what you're thinking...hello. paranoid? So, perhaps I am. Goes to show you how much I DO trust him. But really, would a PDOC actually do this to a patient?

Hmmmm... I sure have known some who would...but I didn't think of them as very professional. Medical Doctors do this... and "shrinks" meaning psychiatrists ARE medical doctors... so I guess it could happen.

You can always find a compounding pharmacist and let them test one of your pills, to see... if it wasn't labled a way they could tell visually.

I have often told my MD, I don't care what you give me... I don't care if you think it won't work... as long as it helps, I don't care... don't tell me if it's a placebo if it helps... all I want is the relief... at any rate!

I can't believe that an MD would that, unless you were part of a clinical trial.

I agree with sky, if you have doubts you can have the medication tested. That might be something you should do, if only to give you piece of mind.

How long have you been going to this Pdoc?

Yes sometimes they do prescribe plecebos.

Sometimes they do it to see if the person is acting sicker then they really are, or faking the disorders when the symptoms the person is descibing doesn't fit the diagnosising criteria and symptoms of that disorder that the person claims to have.

So they give a placebo to see what the persons reaction is. The person does not know they are getting a placebo. Then at the next appointment they check in with the person. If the person has the "placebo effect" of- yea every thing is cool now the medication works great. The psychiatrist knows the person did not actually have the problem they were complaining about. If the person comes to the follow up appointment swith the same or worse symptoms they then "change the medication or dosage and give the perosn the real medicaton.

This happens alot with people claiming they are DID. Its one of the ways professionals can rule in or out the possibility having this disorder vs having schizophrenia.. Medication will not fix the symptoms associated with DID -hearing voices, time loss, spacing out, switching and so on. Sometimes they will prescribe medication for a person who had DID not to take care of the DID but to take care of depression and anxiety. But medication will clear up the voices, paranoia, and so on associated with schizophrenia because schizophrenia is a chemical imballance of the brain mental disorder.

It's probably good that you have a new shrink. I think he/she should be honest with you just as I suspect you are with him/her. If they did give a patient a placebo, I would hope it would be cheap. I'd hate to pay a high price for a sugar pill. If he/she didn't think a person needed a prescription, I would hope that he/she would say so. Then the person could try to find alternative ways of getting relief.

Well most of my meds come in prepacked boxes and foil packits...I don't think they would be phoney...

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Danialla said:
I can't believe that an MD would that, unless you were part of a clinical trial.

I agree with sky, if you have doubts you can have the medication tested. That might be something you should do, if only to give you piece of mind.

How long have you been going to this Pdoc?

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True Daniella but you couldn't be part of a clinical trial without informed consent, in which case, you would have to be told that there is a chance that you will be given a placebo.

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I have often told my MD, I don't care what you give me... I don't care if you think it won't work... as long as it helps, I don't care... don't tell me if it's a placebo if it helps... all I want is the relief... at any rate!

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Sky made a good point. Placebos often do work, and not because the pain or symptoms weren't real, but because the mind has healing powers and when somebody believes that they are going to get better, they often do. Some studies show, for example, that placebos and prescription antidepressants are both nearly equally effective. People even report side-effects while taking placebos. The mind is incredible, isn't it?

It is important to be able to trust your doctors. I don't know whether in actual practice doctors regularly prescribe placebos, but I guess the bottom line would be, is it working? If you get symptom relief without so much risk of potential harmful physical effects, isn't that good?

BTW, I'm never sure what actually works for me when I have tried things like SJW, light therapy, etc. - any of them might work due to placebo effect even though they are real treatments. But I guess it doesn't matter as long as it does work.

According to this AMA article
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<font size=+1> Is is not proper for clinicians to use placebo therapy in everyday practice without telling patients first, according to the American Medical Association's ethics council.

A report by the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) said that it is unethical for a physician to use a placebo in the guise of therapy without the "knowledge and cooperation of the patient."</font>

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This JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ETHICS article says placebo use doesn't always involve deception.

However, I agree with this AMA article , which states placebo use in routine clinical practice insufficiently engages the patient in the treatment plan, breaching the patient-physician relationship.

I agree. I think a placebo might give a person a sense of hope of getting relief. I know for me, just a sense of hope is enough to make things more tolerable. But, I wouldn't think it would help as much. I have read the statements that some studies found anti-depressants to be no more effective than an active placebo (one that has side effects.) However, I doubt that the result has been repeated enough to really know for sure. The person whose book I read it in (Dr David Burns' The Feeling Good Handbook) did recommend anti-depressants to some patients. So he supports the use ADs in conjuction with therapy. I think the act of dishonesty would severely hurt the client's ability to trust any doctor or mental health professional. Hence, I feel that it is counter to the ethical guidelines of the profession.