h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just had to put this here as well. It's just too ironic to not spread around:

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." George W. Bush, August 5, 2004

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/05/bush.ap/index.html

Ah, dearie me - it's lovely that no one needs to invent these, isn't it?

And at the signing of a $417 billion defense spending bill too, which ma... *double-take* HOW much?

I saw this last night... I pity his poor henchmen, having to look stony-faced, as though he said what he was supposed to say!

I expect some have seen this, as well:

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4921.shtml

(I know CL Zoomer has seen it since he posted it on another thread. But he's off digging diamonds, so . . .)

video of George (looking drugged) here, in Realplayer format: http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39927000/rm/_39927960_bush15_bush_vi.ram

That really is priceless! Very funny but, along with the other article, also very frightening.

When I was watching Fahrenheit 9/11 the other day I just couldn't understand how any American could believe a word that comes out of this guy's mouth. It was the first time I'd ever seen so much of Bush speaking (here on the news they usually do a voice-over in Spanish so you can only hear him slightly in the background).

And yes, he does look drugged. Not to mention just plain stupid.




az

I don't think George is stupid, despite the image he portrays. He just has a different viewpoint on life from slightly more than half the population of America and, as far as I can see, 100% of the population of Europe.

Can anyone really be sure what that viewpoint is, though, if he can't articulate it? Whenever he speaks, he seems to be going for the effects, rather than actually expressing something.

Voiceover on Spanish TV - I bet that's not exactly the most hotly contested job of the day in the Spanish TV newsrooms ("Oh, not again, I did it yesterday!" etc.). Translating something which makes little or no sense in the original must be difficult to say the least.

Or is that not what the voiceover does? What is the Spanish for "I cannot believe he just said that!"

I saw somewhere, that he is on SSRIs, and I pity anyone who has to be on them! (Even Georgie-boy). Of course, the drugs he's on might be something different...

I don't think George is stupid. And, I'm not sure that he didn't speak the truth when he "misspoke".

Uggggh.. why would you pity people who are on SSRIs?! They don't want your pity! They want to get better; that's why they're on them.. but if you give them your pity and not your support, you're pretty much defeating the purpose, now aren't you?

It's attitudes like that that make people not want to go on antidepressants in order to get better... because people will treat them differently and that's counterproductive to defeating whatever's necessitating the antidepressants.

I tried to post something last night, a lengthy piece on the difference between tranquilizers and antidepressants, such as the SSRIs but this thread crapped out on me. The others were working fine, but this one just would not work.

There seems to be a number of misconceptions abouut both SSRIs and tranquilizers.

Firts of all, tranquilizers, as their name suggest, are used to make one more tranquil.... in other words to calm someone experiencing anxiety. They are NOT anti-depressants.

Anti-depressants are, as their name suggests, to fight depression, quite the reverse of tranquilizers. They are not anti-anxiety medications, although they will, as a byproduct of their anti-depressant action, reduce anxiety.

Tranquilizers act quickly to counter anxiety, should be used only for the short term and as needed, and have a number of side-effects are:
Tiredness
Mental confusion
Lightheadedness
Slurred speech
Headache

They are also addictive and easily abused.

SSRIs (or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors), as their name suggests inhibit the reputake of Seratonin.

SSRIs work by altering two important brain chemicals: Serotonin (SSRIs) or Serotonin and Noradrenalin (SNRIs), which are important messengers for transmitting messages from one brain cell (neuron) to another. The SSRIs and SNRIs usually take longer to reduce anxiety compared to the benzodiazepines (tranquilizers), but have more long-term benefits.

When taken properly they often lead to a reduction or elimination of anxiety. This is less true of the tranquilizers. Although tranquilizers can produce an almost immediate reduction of anxiety, when they are used alone, but anxiety often returns when they are discontinued.

This is far less true with SSRIs and SNRIs. In addition, the SSRIs and SNRIs have fewer problems associated with addiction. However, SSRIs and SNRIs have their own problems. Many people experience unpleasant side effects to some of these medications and they are expensive.

Some SSRIs act on Seratonin and Noradrenalin, some only the Seratonin.

The usual side effects of SSRIs include:
Gastrointestinal problems
Headache
Dry mouth
Insomnia
Nervousness
Agitation
Difficulty reaching orgasm and other libido-related complaints (libido being not only sexual response, but feelings of wellbeing and emotion), usually corrected by the addition of Wellbutrin

Used properly and properly monitored, SSRIs enable one to feel completely normal. They level emotions allowing one to function.

Having experienced severe and chronic depression for years, I can tell you that SSRIs, properly used, allow one to function at a normal emotional level. If anything, they can, in some people make one feel a bit flat, not experiencing the subtle highs and lows, normal in emotion. However, for me, the addition of Wellbutrin balanced the flat-feeling and has enabled me to feel happier and more adjusted than I have in many, many years.

Unlike tranquilizers, which I have also taken for short-term relief of anxiety until the SSRI, in this case Zoloft, they do not "drug" one and act so slowly that one is hardly aware when they have finally "kicked in".

Like many sufferers of severe depression, I was given, over the years, a number of "anti-depressants" which, unlike the new forms, simply drugged the feeling out of one.

Also, like many sufferes of depression, I have faced people who thought that SSRIs meant that I was "taking drugs". My ex-husband, for instance derided me so much about taking "tranquilizers", despite my trying to educate him about the difference, that I went off the medication without consulting my doctor, with nearly fatal consequences.

This is one of the societal reactions to people with depression. If you are depressed, "you need to simply pull up your socks and get on with life". If you reach a point where you cannot continue, and have to rely on SSRIs or other anti-depressants, society deems you weak and mentally unbalanced. In fact, the average person who suffers from depression is perfectly normal mentally. They simply suffer from depression, which is often exacerbated by being put down and dismissed as "being a mental-case".

Overcoming the stigma associated with depression and recovery from depression is 2/3 of the battle with depression.

I've reached a point where I will not apologise for the fact that I suffer from depression. I don't apologise for the fact that I received no understanding or support for my depression for nearly 30 years. I look at it like people who have diabetes, haemophilia, or any other chronic medical problem. I have a medical problem which requires me to take medication so I don't become ill. People don't tell a diabetic to "forget about the medication and just pull up their socks and get on with their life" so why should they say the same to me?

Hear, Hear, Mudhooks! I agree that SSRIs are very effective when the right one is matched to the patient. The thing about the Bush case is that it is unclear what they're giving him.

And, did everybody see this? http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/040808/w080838.html

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I am , ...just another Prophet, I didn't express myself very well at all. I should have said I sympathise (because I do) or have empathy. I have been on anti-depressants myself, not SSRIs, which make me worried, because of what I have heard about bad side-effects from them.
Anyone with depression has my support, any way I can give it, believe me. There are family reasons why I am very aware of depression and its treatments, consequences and possible cures!
Regarding Dubya, sympathy for him goes against the grain, but if he *is* suffering, that's another matter...

Yeah, the side effects can be pretty bad.. In fact, I used to be on (not simultaneously, mind!) two of the more infamous SSRIs, Paxil and Effexor. They're both on the list of antidepressants that have been known to cause suicidal tendencies in teenagers.

And weaning off Paxil can be like heroin withdrawals. I honestly recommending dropping that one cold turkey; it's a lot easier. A couple of weeks of being bitchy, then you're done.

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That, to me, is the most worrying thing I've heard about them - and I remember that when Prozac was first popular, it was implicated in suicide and suicide/murder in adults.
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Heavy! Altogether, I think I'll avoid SSRIs if ever urged by medical personnel to take them...
Do you still require meds, just another Prophet? How are you doing? Well, I hope. It's been my experience that being *here* is very helpful for me - discussing world events and meeting people!

"Altogether, I think I'll avoid SSRIs if ever urged by medical personnel to take them..."
Well, some people do need them in order to pull off day-to-day life.. it sucks, I know, but if it helps you get through your day...

"Do you still require meds, just another Prophet? How are you doing? Well, I hope."
Actually, I'm fine. For a couple of weeks, my MSN nickname read, "I AM FINE NOW!" I was actually only on Paxil because I had panic disorder, then I was prescribed Effexor because the Paxil withdrawals were absolutely insane. I went off the Effexor between shows at the dinner theatre (weaning down, again.. bad withdrawals again, but nowhere near as bad as Paxil) and when the new show opened and the panic attacks didn't return.. well, I guess we can say I'm cured, can't we?

If I hadn't been given the SSRIs, I'd still need, pretty regularly, my Ativan prescription. Thanks to 'em, I've beaten it. The neurochemistry's back to normal and that's the whole point, innit?

I wouldn't recmmend dropping any of the SSRIs "cold turkey". I can tell you, I wasn't just "a little bitchy for a few weeks".

I went into a tailspin that I almost didn't recover from. Later, I watched a news program about SSRIs. Withdrawal from SSRIs, if not done properly and with the close supervision of a medical professional, almost invariably leads to serious problems.

If I thought I was depressed before I started taking Zoloft, it was nothing... and I MEAN nothing, compared to how I felt when I stopped taking the Zoloft.

Would I have preferred not to have started taking Zoloft in the first place? No. Nor would I have simply stopped cold-turkey, had I known exactly what the results would be.

I will however, when the time comes, be weaning my way off, as recommended, and with the full participation of a doctor (if I can ever find a doctor, since I cannot find a good one who is taking patients).