Psychiatrist calls for lithium to be added to water

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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 74582.html

Now, who trusts psychiatrists? And do you drink the tap water?

Bad idea my grandpa almost died from long term use of lithium.

As far the article goes....Instead of poisoning people against their will, the government should look for ways to improve the community and to give hope to young people during an economic crisis. Young people are depressed because they still live at home or in poverty with poor life quality, and no jobs. Why is that not the big issue?

Last edited by Angel_ryan on 08 Dec 2011, 9:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

That's dangerous!

I read somewhere that people are generally *deficient* in lithium..? But not in water, no..

I don't even like drinking filtered tap water...I think I would prefer water that does not have things added to it.

UK should change it's name to "Fitter-Happierland"

Lithium in the water supply to go with the fluride.

ruveyn

Artist calls for psychiatrist to be added to water

And of course other health effects of sustained dosing with lithium are, to say the least, depressing...

I suppose he owns stock in companies that manufacture synthetic thyroid hormone????

I think I'd rather be depressed. That at least I can learn to cope with.

Yes. Let's not solve the problems. Medicate the symptoms until we all sit in front of the telly and smile...

Since the frequency of ASDs in the general population might be as high as 1 in 38, let's slip some antipsychotics and tranquilizers in the water supply too! About the time the society b*****s can't stay awake and find themselves in too much pain to move their lower jaws, the f**ktards might start singing a different tune...

"A gramme is better than a damn..." --Aldous Huxley, "Brave New World"

Lithium Flouride (LiF) in the water? It would likely precipitate from the solution, especially on cold, winter days.


Intense or continued but not chronic exposure to LiF could cause temporary incapacitation or possible residual injury.

Many cities add fluride ot the water to prevent tooth decay.

ruveyn

Again, there's a Wikipedia article on Water Flouridation. It lists three fluoride salts used to fluoridate water. They are:

• Sodium Fluoride was the first compound used and is the reference standard. It is a white, odorless powder or crystal; the crystalline form is preferred if manual handling is used, as it minimizes dust. It is more expensive than the other compounds, but is easily handled and is usually used by smaller utility companies.
  
• Fluorosilicic Acid is an inexpensive liquid by-product of phosphate fertilizer manufacture. It comes in varying strengths, typically 23–25%; because it contains so much water, shipping can be expensive. It is also known as hexafluorosilicic, hexafluosilicic, hydrofluosilicic, and silicofluoric acid.
  
• Sodium Fluorosilicate is a powder or very fine crystal that is easier to ship than fluorosilicic acid. It is also known as sodium silicofluoride.

Lithium Fluoride is not one of these.

I am for fluoride in toothpaste where it is topically applied. I am not for fluoridation of water however, but I don't worry about it. The amount of drugs and hormones passed through our bodies and flushed away into the waters of the world are a much larger concern to me.

I am less than comfortable with this type of approach.

At therapeutic dosages lithium comes with a package of issues. The concentration of lithium has to be sufficiently high to have a therapeutic effect, but not so high that it has a toxic effect. This therapeutic/toxic range is fairly narrow, and this is exacerbated by one of lithiums side effects, thirst and increased urine output. This can affect the sodium concentration, which decreases the toxicity margin for lithium. Generally speaking lithium therapy must be accompanied by careful monitoring of kidney and thyroid function, as well as blood chemistry.

Now, obviously this proposal is talking about trace dosages rather than therapeutic amounts--but if intake exceeds clearance by the kidneys, then concentrations will rise. Obviously clearance rises with concentration, but the trick is finding the limit point. Intuitively, I am concerned that it might cause more health problems in the general population than it solves in preventable suicides.

Fluoride to help prevent tooth decay is one thing, but adding a psychotropic drug to water is nuts. Lithium has historically been used to treat bipolar disorder, type I (the most severe form), and it's therapeutic index is low (the difference between an effective dose and a toxic dose is small).

Well, maybe the gov't should focus on fixing the economy and look at improved access to mental health services, rather than doping up the entire population. IIRC, Li can also mess with the thyroid, in addition causing tremor, slurred speech, and flat-out toxicity if you get dehydrated while on it.

I agree with the "Brave New World" comment, above. This is a bad idea, and an example of the path to Hell being paved with good intentions.

I've glanced at the paper in B J Psych and subsequent correspondence and it's not very convincing.

But it says something about the mentality of the psychiatrist that they would even consider covertly mass drugging the population and have no ethical problems with it at all. But coercive and political psychiatry is hardly new.