Scientists Say Lithium Should Be Added to Drinking Water to Prevent Suicide

[Cherubjudas 75]

 

1 hour ago, Rio said:

It's not common at all. It's common for manic episodes, bipolar and mania. As for depression, not too much. Maybe in severer forms. I work in a pharmacy and I don't think I've ever seen lithium prescribed for depression patients, unless they have mania or bipolar. 
 

Lithium does not need adding to water. It's just unnecessarily drugging the masses, meaning no one will have a choice or say - including people who don't have depression, and it could have various long-term effects on people. Just like fluoride (i.e a toxic element) can, in certain amounts. I don't drink tap water anymore now, but if they added lithium, there's no way I'm even letting my kids go near it. It's unnecessary. Depression does not need to be treated with drugs unless warranted - the root cause needs considering. Usually lifestyle and psychosocial factors. Enhanced community funding for mental health services is what's needed internationally - they need to push CBT more, better clinical prescribing practices for actual antidepressants, like SSRIs. Anyone who knows what lithium is knows that it is not a drug that is prescribed freely, lightly or commonly. There's reasons for that.

I'm a psychiatrist,you cant post your opinions like a fact.

[Glamourpuss 29,080]

I'd prefer to not be drugged against my will. 

[Sunny 12,758]

You already ingest 10 times more lithium through bottled mineral water and food (mainly seafood and vegetables). The dosage that is mainly prescribed is around 200mg, while it's been indicated that dosages as low as 400μg have a calming effect. 

The mean lithium levels found in the drinking water (from the study) range from 3.8 μg/L to 46.3 μg/L. Most people drink 1-1.5 liters. Bottled mineral water is around 10 μg/L, while "normal" tap water is around 2μg/L.

As others have said, there are other factors to take in consideration: socioeconomic status, prevalence of mental disorders, even how much people spend on foot. There is still research to be done with lithium in bottled water and in food. No one is doing randomized studies by putting more lithium in tap water, and no one is planning to.

Don't exclude the possibility of lithium helping in preventing suicide. Other minerals have helped us live a healthy life, and maybe lithium will save millions of lives. To be noted, it shouldn't be the main and only solution to preventing suicide; going to the therapist, new methods, new drugs and being open about mental health and problems needs to be normalized.

sources: https://www.sciencealert.com/first-meta-review-of-its-kind-confirms-link-between-lithium-in-drinking-water-and-suicide-rates

[KillerMonster 2,361]

Interesting. However we can lower the numbers more if psychologist/psychiatrist didn’t charge an arm and a leg, and medications weren’t so expensive.

[Runway 27,876]

Well i would drink that ****

[Doot 2]

This is why people don't believe scientists. 

[anonanon 932]

2 hours ago, PoetsTryinWrite said:

Christ almighty would mainstream “scientists” just **** off already. 

what's a mainstream scientist?

[PoetsTryinWrite 1,262]

3 hours ago, Meruk Holland said:

 

Lithium is actually a common antidepressant used in medicine. It's not, like, psuedoscience or holistic.

I’m aware. A psychiatrist forced a family member of mine onto it despite her not needing it. She has since gained weight and feels even worse about herself. 

Morphine is common. Are we going to start putting dangerous medications into people’s water just because it’s common?

[flyaway 15,350]

Well, wouldn't it be better to treat mental health as an actual issue? 

[Meruk Holland 2,444]

4 minutes ago, PoetsTryinWrite said:

I’m aware. A psychiatrist forced a family member of mine onto it despite her not needing it. She has since gained weight and feels even worse about herself. 

Morphine is common. Are we going to start putting dangerous medications into people’s water just because it’s common?

Or you could take your personal feelings out of it and look at it from an objective point of view. Scientists found a correlation and want to find out if its directly the cause of a population's decrease in suicides. Just because one person doesn't respond well doesn't discount the entire idea. They could just be an outlier who needs other means to manage their mental health

[Rio 5,088]

5 hours ago, uo111 said:

The reason lithium isn’t more commonly used is that high levels can be dangerous. Low amounts aren’t dangerous, and apparently could be beneficial to many. Also lithium can be used as salvage therapy for depression, but honestly in that case it was probably misdiagnosed. Bipolar 2 is commonly misdiagnosed as MDD.

Considering the reasons lithium works aren’t fully understood, and lithium is generally referred to as a “mood stabilizer”, it’s not as wild an idea as you might think. Certainly adding a naturally occurring mineral is safer than most things.

We don't need lithium in our water. How many more toxic elements do we need shoved in to our bodies through faucets and taps 😂🤦🏻‍♂️ Not too bothered how low the levels are, **** can build up in the body, especially fluoride. Fluorosis is one example of this. Not sure about lithium, but I seriously don't think we need it in water. Why can't we just have... clean, unmodified, untampered water? I'm not one to throw around the government is poisoning us theories, but... 👀 nahhhh x

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Rio said:

Lithium is kind of a toxic or dangerous thing to use, sorry. It's normally used for mania and bipolar. Sorry, but depression is unrelated to those things, in actuality.

It doesn't sound like a good idea, and it's just another potentially toxic element to be added to water. Fluoride is toxic enough overtime - we don't need this too. We need better mental health funding and community programs. I mean, they don't even fully comprehend how lithium actually affects the body, and how it achieves some of its effects. That lack of research, to me, means if shouldn't be added in to something as vital as drinking water. It's hardly prescribed for depression.

I've also heard that you CANNOT have alcohol if you're taking lithium?

[ShayCristoforo 10,607]

4 hours ago, Runway said:

Well i would drink that ****

Same. I don't agree with it being forced into drinking water, but...

 

Spoiler

... a cute little bottle for sale? I might sip 

 

[Prada 1,200]

6 hours ago, Rio said:

It's not common at all. It's common for manic episodes, bipolar and mania. As for depression, not too much. Maybe in severer forms. I work in a pharmacy and I don't think I've ever seen lithium prescribed for depression patients, unless they have mania or bipolar. 
 

Lithium does not need adding to water. It's just unnecessarily drugging the masses, meaning no one will have a choice or say - including people who don't have depression, and it could have various long-term effects on people. Just like fluoride (i.e a toxic element) can, in certain amounts. I don't drink tap water anymore now, but if they added lithium, there's no way I'm even letting my kids go near it. It's unnecessary. Depression does not need to be treated with drugs unless warranted - the root cause needs considering. Usually lifestyle and psychosocial factors. Enhanced community funding for mental health services is what's needed internationally - they need to push CBT more, better clinical prescribing practices for actual antidepressants, like SSRIs. Anyone who knows what lithium is knows that it is not a drug that is prescribed freely, lightly or commonly. There's reasons for that.

Lithium-valproic acid and many other mood stabilizers are used in depression-anxiety related issues.

Nowadays, many psychiatrists use it even though its not FDA approved.

Actually, lithium can be life-saver when it comes to impulse control or emotionally drained state of depression, even though it is not induced by bipolar. 

Society can change and governments can provide better services. However, human beings are animals and with good ''power-up'' and providing them with good chemicals, they can endure so much without committing suicide. Chemicals change our personality, so world infront of us change too. We are our blood.

I think this news article is related to this. With right chemical in blood, mental or physical issues can be MUCH MORE endurable.  That is why we use types of antidepressants to handle our issues. Cure our issues or stand strong against them while we live and try not to commit suicide.

World is a messy place, but those little chemicals sometimes help us live the full duration of our fate. 

[MonsterPug 494]

Lithium is given to people who suffer from bi polar disorder. So I’m not surprised by this.