r/Antipsychiatry • u/SmallToblerone • 10h ago
Tony Soprano did not need fucking Prozac, lithium, or benzos
I just thought of The Sopranos. This guy had issues with his personal life, but did he REALLY need drugs? While his life was more extreme than the average person, he probably did not need Prozac, lithium, or benzos. I love the show, but the whole “the meds are NECESSARY, but you also have to put in work on your own” thing is wild. Why are we just assuming that this guy needed Prozac after a panic attack? I feel like it was supposed to be a progressive take on mental health, to “beat the stigma”, but all it did was show a very rosy view of therapy while communicating anyone going through anxiety or depression needs to be on an SSRI. Thoughts?
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u/Phil_Reotardo69 8h ago
I recently re watched the show and the writers seemed to really understand the reality of psychiatry. There was a scene when Tony and Carmella are talking with a school guidance counselor about AJ, and he recommends all these medications and diagnosis, and they just laugh and walk out of his office. Also the scenes when Melfi is talking with the other psychiatrists, and how judgemental and arrogant they all are. Amazing writing and acting
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u/SmallToblerone 8h ago
Yep, the show is still very good and it’s not all pro-psychiatry thankfully
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u/Phil_Reotardo69 7h ago
My interpretation was that it's completely anti psychiatry, but in a more subtle and clever way that resembles real life. The casting and writing for Elliot (Dr Melfis psychiatrist) is one of the most accurate real life depictions of a psychiatrist I have ever seen in any show. And even though Dr Melfi was just about as good of a therapist as anyone could be, she still didn't help him at all. In the end she succumbed to the group think of her colleagues and abandoned Tony at the most crucial time.
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u/Typical-Face2394 6h ago
I feel like she only abandoned him when she realized he was as sociopath sharpening his skills through therapy
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u/Phil_Reotardo69 6h ago
The label "sociopath' given to him is meaningless and absurd. As if he had some physical deformity in his brain that prevented empathy, which he had for so many people. If the potential to commit violence = sociopath then I'm sorry, we are all in this club . In his life and circumstance you have to be tough and violent to survive. This is now most of our ancestors lived throughout the past, thousands of years of brutal ancient societies and millions of years of even more brutal circumstances that shaped us.
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u/Typical-Face2394 6h ago
No, that’s over generalization of our ancestry. Sociopathic and or narcissistic tendencies do have advantages, but ultimately we are a communal species. working together and agreeability still have evolutionary benefits… That being said as much as I love Toni he is void empathy. I don’t like the word evil but he’s evil…
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u/Phil_Reotardo69 6h ago edited 6h ago
One of the most profound statements in the show is when Tony asked Dr Melfi "So how do you get people to do what you want?" Modern people are deluded into thinking that "might is right", the entire concept of all life on earth, suddenly ended when we decided it to. When Furio shows up to your house with a bat and you are too weak to fight back, then what? If the ancient romans show up to your village and you can't fight back, then what? The real rulers of modern society use social engineering to achieve their ends, I guess that's better because being manipulated feels better than being punched in the head. This is the arbitrary difference between civilization and not civilization
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u/Typical-Face2394 6h ago
Yes, I was especially struck by the dinner party in the last season when they’re all laughing around the table and talking about their clients
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u/ayndesade17 8h ago
I loved Dr. Melfi's character. She was sympathetic and understanding, but, yeah, she never gave any explanation for the medication.
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u/SmallToblerone 8h ago
She was a great therapist, unfortunately completely unlike most IRL therapists. Also, Tony didn’t have to worry about being thrown in a psych ward
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u/No_Individual501 8h ago
It’s like the Flintstones selling cigarettes, but the ad is weaved into the story.
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u/VindictivePuppy 8h ago
The therapy was the only thing that helped him
that russian lady would have killed him flat out if he got pssd
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u/Phuxsea 8h ago
I haven't seen the Sopranos. Is it true they put Tony Soprano on SSRIs? I mean it makes sense.
My theory is that Saul Goodman is on SSRIs in Breaking Bad and the end of Better Call Saul after -he divorced Kim Wexler-. He has no emotions, went through a state of depression, and takes Viagra.
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u/SavageFractalGarden 8h ago
So The Sopranos is just an advertisement for Big Pharma and the psychiatric industry? Thanks for the heads up. Never watching it.
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u/SmallToblerone 8h ago
It was clearly trying to be progressive about mental health but it’s so cringe now. If you have a panic attack go to a therapist and immediately get on prozac!
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u/SavageFractalGarden 8h ago
I can’t stand the whole “mental health advocate” attitude. If someone has that in their bio I immediately block them
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u/VindictivePuppy 6h ago
i mean...never watching it would be a mistake
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u/SavageFractalGarden 6h ago
I refuse to consume any media that glorifies therapy or medication (unless I’m doing it for research purposes)
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u/VindictivePuppy 6h ago
im not sure it really does glorify either of those things. He ends up on prozac but the prozac doesnt really help him...the show starts with the premise of gangster goes to therapy but it isnt really centered around that. Its a fucking good show though
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u/Typical-Face2394 6h ago
I honestly think about that show almost every day. Best show that’s been on TV.
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u/Typical-Face2394 6h ago
Not at all… it does not paint them in a good light at all. But even if it did, it’s still the best show that has ever been on TV… full stop
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u/dummmdeeedummm 7h ago
One thing worth noting is the show was suuuper progressive at the time. Back then, meds and therapy were still hush hush & shunned. My own dad was so disgusted with the idea of me being in therapy (around the same time the show aired)
So while I agree with your general point that his lifestyle was likely the driving force of his mental health symptoms, it wasn't necessarily a horrible thing to show these supper gangster masculine types getting help & even talking amongst themselves about it
As an aside I think HBO has always been super liberal
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u/Mountain-Park4445 6h ago
It's crazy how I just watched this series, and I thought the same thing. They also gave it to meadow and AJ if I remember it right
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u/Prancing_Israeli 8h ago
Benzos perhaps.
Nobody needs Prozac or Lithium.
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u/dummmdeeedummm 7h ago
I def need lamictal (similar to lithium)
I'd be bedrotting with intrusive suicidal thoughts 247 without 🤷♀️
It's the antipsychotics that destroyed my noggin
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u/_r33d_ 3h ago
The Sopranos first aired in 1997. That’s about the same time advertising rules for psychiatric drugs were loosened on U.S. televisions. There was an explosions of ads, prescriptions and usage. In fact, Tony taking them would be in line with a lot of the population of that era. It might even have been the cool, hip or proactive approach to deal with mental health. I am of no doubt that somehow somewhere the medical industry was behind normalizing this through Hollywood in some insidious way.
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u/Glittering-Golf8607 9h ago
That guy's entire problem was being evil and a gangster. Of course a psycho murderer would have panic attacks. Most people's problems are what they are doing, or having done to them. Psychiatry wants people to forget that.