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Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is promoting
Sarafem as a miracle pill for women suffering from PMDD, a
'mental disorder' not yet proved to exist. What's more, Eli
Lilly admits that Sarafem has the same
active ingredient as
Prozac, complete with the same
dangerous side effects.
This "mental disorder" - which
the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has not yet accepted,
but which is listed in the appendix of the APA's Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) - is called
premenstrual dysphoric disorder,
or PMDD.
It's a new-and-improved version of premenstrual
syndrome (PMS), which also has not made it to the hit parade
of the official APA list of mental illnesses. The fact that
PMDD is listed only in the diagnostic manual's appendix reflects
the APA's desire for further research before accepting it
as a full-fledged mental disorder.
According to the DSM-IV and the FDA, a
woman must experience five or more symptoms before the diagnosis
can be made.
The unofficial
mental disorder is said to be characterized by the following
symptoms:
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Markedly depressed
mood
Marked anxiety
Marked affectivity
Decreased interest
in activities
Feeling sad,
hopeless or self-deprecating
Feeling tense,
anxious or "on edge"
Persistent
irritability, anger and increased interpersonal conflicts
Feeling fatigued,
lethargic or lacking in energy
Marked changes
in appetite
A subjective
feeling of being overwhelmed or out of control
Physical symptoms
such as breast tenderness, swelling or bloating.
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Eli Lilly and
Co., the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company that makes
Sarafem, has been marketing the "new" treatment
with such gusto that there are jokes about the company exhibiting
obsessive-compulsive disorder. It seems there isn't a magazine
to be picked up or a channel to be surfed that isn't running
a Sarafem advertisement.
These ads show women expressing many things.
One TV spot depicts a woman trying to button her slacks and
looking angry and agitated. Another scene shows a woman snapping
at her husband, "Just leave me alone," while still
another involves a woman slumped on the couch sobbing. Then
there is the slogan: "Sarafem - More like the woman you
are."
Lilly reports in its ads that now, "Doctors
can treat PMDD with Sarafem - the first and only prescription
medication for PMDD." The ad further states that, "Sarafem
contains fluoxetine hydrochloride, the same active ingredient
found in Prozac."
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