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| By Safe Call Now® President & Founder - Sean Riley |
Here’s something I see too often with #1stresponders that
call the Safe Call Now® crisis line.
Officers being over prescribed medication or prescribed medication that
may not be necessary for what they’re currently dealing with.
Let me give you an example; I generally see
when a #1stresponder experiences a traumatic event or multiple events they may
afterwards feel depressed, anxious and unable to sleep. They’re searching for answers to these
problems and visit their family doctor.
Too often they report that they are prescribed anti-depressants, sleep
aids and benzodiazepines (something like Xanax) to deal with these issues. I always say when you get this combination of
three drugs going, at some point we at Safe Call Now® will be dealing with you.
Are we medicating normal feelings to an abnormal
situation? In most cases I believe
so. What gives me the ability or
expertise to qualify this statement?
Through 23 years of addiction I was often prescribed these medications
and just about everything else known to mankind and experienced their side
effects and became dependent on some.
What do I see as the potential problem?
The health care industry is a complicated business and as I view it
driven by the almighty dollar. When I
went to the doctor it seemed that I spent less time with them as their volume
of seeing patients must increase to sometimes just break even when dealing with
insurance companies. Not their fault
it’s just the way the system is set up.
Safe Call Now®’s Dr. Alex Cahana advised me of a study where
the more time a doctor spent with a patient the better they got. Those doctors that spent less time with a
patient, their symptoms got worse.
Here’s the catch, the doctors that spent less time with their patients
made more money for their entity. Simple
economics. This is not to bash doctors
as they are put into a tough situation.
In regards to #1stresponders, who is a doctor going to trust the most
with medication and taking them responsibly?
You!!! Therefor you’ll probably
get prescribed whatever you want.
When dealing with the brain, it’s a crapshoot and I don’t
care what anybody says. What works for
one person may not work for another.
When you combine medications, constantly change the milligrams, titrate
up and down for weeks on end how do you know when you’re feeling the way you’re
supposed to or getting yourself back to normal?
I remember going to the doctor and he/she asking me how I felt. My response was always, “I don’t know how I’m
supposed to feel, that’s why I’m seeing you?”
Remember… when taking medications you are rewiring the
brain, throw just a little alcohol in there and now you’re messing with the
drugs. Just a horrible situation to be
in.
I am in no way advocating for not taking medication. When prescribed properly, used properly they
really help people and save lives. There
are many needs for medications and there are many times medication is not
necessary, do your homework. I can only
tell you about my experiences and other #1stresponders experiences as reported
to me. I am in no way a medical expert
but if you’re currently in this situation you can contact us at Safe Call Now®
and we can connect you with a professional in this field that can advise you
with just one call, it’s confidential and protected by law. Sometimes our problems are much smaller than
they seem and sometimes they are much greater than we think. We’re just a phone call away. Stay safe out there.
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