Tag: medication

Posted in Mental health, Uncategorized

Friends Like Mine: Mr. Wonderful

Posted on by Rose

A friend is what the heart needs all the time. – Henry Van Dyke

Now that you have been formally introduced to Zac it is fitting to get a bit of his origin story.

During the late 1960’s doctors were working on different treatments for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). One particularly thing that continued to come up was a decrease of  Serotonin levels in patients. 

Serotonin has many functions and jobs, one being a neurotransmitter (messenger). As we all know messengers in many cases are very important, (please refrain from shooting), Serotonin is that messenger which communicates anything from, mood, eating, sleeping and digestion. Which sounds like a lot of opportunity for things to go left. 

Imagine your body and nerves like the pony express. There are various riders at a particular checkpoint to get messages to its final destination, i.e a message to the brain to put you in a good mood. Well what happens if one of your riders or many riders gets lost or stuck ? Your brain won’t be getting the message bye bye good mood.

In the case of patients having a down mood as well as low levels of serotonin what could happen if that level was increased? 

This is where Zac comes in. The extra force needed to unblock the dammed river. or be the increase of needed riders to deliver to deliver happy messages to the brain. On the flip side unblocking a dam can cause a major increase of messengers/serotonin flowing in and that has its own set of  problems.  

“Dam Destroyer”
By 1987 a concentrated form of Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI ) [1] would be approved by the USFDA.

Zac hit the market and was quickly seen as a “wonder drug”

Zac was introduced at a time where the pharmaceutical industry was shifting how they market their products. Previously pharmaceuticals usually went to doctors and health providers to market their products in hope of getting more doctors to use their products for prescription and treatment. The 1980s saw a change to Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) advertising. Now potential patients were seeing what products could be made available to them instead of solely relying on their doctor for treatment options. 🚩

The introduction of Prozac into the mass market also opened up opportunity for people to speak publicly  on mental illness especially in regards to depression or anxiety. In some respects Zac became “trendy” (he had a book and movie deal talk about a Hollywood star.”) Because Prozac was believed to work so well patients as well as the public put a lot of faith into the drug to easily cure these issues. With such rave reviews pretty hard to imagine any downsides to something so wonderful.


Esherick, Joan. (2007). Prozac: North American Culture and the Wonder Drug. Mason Crest Publishers Inc

Posted in Mental health, Uncategorized

Friends Like Mine: The Introduction of Zac and the S.S.R.I. crew

Posted on by Rose

Because of you I laugh a little harder, cry a little less and smile a little more. -unknown

Smile more

For many suffering from some form of mental illness it’s not surprising that laughing and smiling more while crying less would be a goal to shoot for. 

But how does one go about finding that thing or things that will bring on the smiles and laughter while wiping the tears.

Is it family, friends, exercise, diet?

Well just like you, I too ask myself the same question while seeking out what will best assist me in evading the psychiatric rabbit hole I often find myself in.

With that said I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine Zac. I’m sure you have heard of him, maybe you have even met him or even requested him in order to gain a bit of his magic. Maybe you guys hit if off or maybe despite all his efforts you both weren’t able to stay close despite his efforts.

Now for a little guy ,weighing in about 40 milligrams and sometimes in either green, blue or orange bottoms, he was quite the heavyweight its like depression never stood a chance .

Just a single encounter and boom you have the strength and tools to easily knock down the dam blocking the serotonin river gaining that happiness which you never thought you feel again.

When he first burst onto the seen he was described as being a miracle he was all the craze and everyone wanted a piece. 

And rightfully so who wouldn’t want to just have one dose of Zac and instantly be happy again. 

Like i said unfortunately I have to be honest with you he means well but he’s not always able to deliver. Not all rivers flow the same and sometimes it takes Zac with some additional reinforcements for the river to flow once more.

And honestly why should he? That’s a lot of pressure on him obviously ,and we all know happiness  takes a bit more work.

And this is not to take anything away from Zac just because he’s not perfect doesn’t mean he’s not a good friend. He is very much still there to assist if you should need him. He still provides a lot of the relief, and continues to be that extra assistance people needs. He is still very much popular and still very much a heavy hitter in the mental illness battle. He was responsible for changing the game in the field of psychology as well as how we go about recovery bringing on new laws, requirement and insight to the field of mental health. Because of his presence , he created a path for his associates whom would follow.

People now have much more access to information and many more choices in how they fight this battle or unblock the dam. It then just becomes the mission of finding and selecting the right tools.

Happy Pills


  1. Esherick, Joan. (2007). Prozac: North American Culture and the Wonder Drug. Mason Crest Publishers Inc.