Comment · Tue, October 27, 2020 · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
What has happened to this sub?
What they were answering
csponge87 · 3 points
But these drugs have hundreds of thousands of people who use/ have used them, which is a lot of empirical evidence. We don't have to how they work to know if they work effectively. Hell we don't have to know how they work to know the side effects of these drugs. The professionals have a lot more data to work with, and know how to dose properly compared to a person who is using an understudied nootropic compound that they're dosing themselves with. I'd take the chance with the pros personally
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
That's an argument ad populum, and is just as bad as other fallacies. You can point to the clinical trials as evidence, but not to the popularity as evidence of efficacy. Just look how Purdue Pharma pushed Oxycontin to be used by more people. It worked! Tons of people got hooked on opiates. Does that mean Oxycontin is better, or does it just mean that Purdue was better at marketing it and breaking the rules to get people hooked? Popularity of pharmaceuticals in the US is based on many more factors than efficacy.
When you say the professionals have a lot more data to work with, what are you referring to? Also, which professionals are you referring to? Certainly not the GPs prescribing them, or the whole Oxycontin opiate epidemic wouldn't have happened. Do you mean the drug reps that work for Merck that have a vested interest in pushing Remeron? Which professionals have more data, and what does that data consist of? Also, people like to think that quality control is better with pharma, but that's not always the case.
FDA announces US recall of mirtazapine tablets due to mislabelled strength
Opps, your mirtazapine had double the dose you thought. Sorry! Trust the professionals, though. They are looking our for you.
Let's also look back at SSRIs, which still are the most widely prescribed class of antidepressant.
If antidepressants don't work well, why are they so popular?
Antidepressants and the Placebo Effect
So the science is not as clear as people want to believe. Everyone likes to point to pharmaceutical drugs as being this absolute truth in efficacy, and supplements/nootropics as completely unstudied broscience. However, they are a lot closer than many people want to admit. This is not a fight between a sure thing and a hail mary. It's more like a fight between an entrenched $1.3 TRILLION industry that wants you to think things are more sure than they really are, and a much smaller industry questioning if the status quo is really the best way for everyone, or if there might just be a middle ground that helps the average person more. I am not saying to reject professional advice to go off on a blind experimentation journey of your own. Far from it. We have to rely on professionals where it makes sense. However, blindly trusting anyone or anything without evidence is not a good strategy. Nobody out there is really looking out for you, other than you. We like to placate ourselves with that notion to make ourselves feel better, but the reality of the situation is that the pharma industry is trying to make money off you. Your doctor is just trying to survive and build their business... and yes, a doctor's office is a business like any other. Even the really dedicated good doctors have to exist in a system that is not really structured to be best for the patient. The system is pretty broken as it is, and the good people in it can only fight so long before they either burn out, or succumb to it. I don't think anyone can honestly say the healthcare system in the US is working, and doesn't need any change. Blindly trusting the professionals that exist in that broken system is like blindly trusting anyone without evidence. It's an appeal to authority and argument ad populum. The only actual person out there looking out for you, is you. Read the available science. Question your doctors, and try to get a feel for if they really understand what they are prescribing you. Learn about what they are suggesting. Don't reject science and the professionals, but certainly question them. Don't blindly trust anything without at least trying to understand it. Nobody is perfect, and we should be striving for people to try and research more themselves, and to understand the science behind what they are putting into their bodies. We should not discourage it, and promote blindly trusting perceived authorities without evidence. Leverage the knowledge of authorities where it makes sense, but always know you are the one most responsible for finding what works best for you.