There's a humorous post over at Shrink Rap about using patients online communication style (specifically emoticons) to determine what treatment plan to follow. Here is a partial list:
:-)stable. cont prozac 40mg. f/u 3 mos.
:-))reduce prozac to 20mg. f/u 1mo.
:-))))d/c prozac. add lithium 300 tid. check TSH, creat. f/u 1wk.
:-Dadd depakote. check lithium level, LFTs, CBC. f/u 1wk.
:-|stable. cont prozac 40 mg. f/u 1mo.
:-(increase prozac to 60mg. f/u 2wk.
:'-(add wellbutrin SR 150mg. f/u 1wk.
X-(call 911. send to ER. check for OD.
More like this
I've got an article in the Boston Globe Ideas section on the new science of depression:
Prozac (aka fluoxetine) is one of the most successful drugs of all time. Since its introduction as an antidepressant more than 20 years ago, Prozac has been prescribed to more than 80 million people around the world.
Lots of attention has been paid to the latest review/meta-analysis demonstrating that popular antidepressant medications don't seem to be that much more effective than placebos.
Personally I prefer the Shiny Happy Hair Scale.
That Shiny Happy Hair Scale has lots of marketing tie-in potential, too. @:-)
cool