Elon Musk doesn’t practice as a doctor. He’s not a psychiatrist or any other type of mental health professional. On Friday, however, he voiced a strong opinion on Wellbutrin (an antidepressant medication) on Twitter. Musk plans to purchase Twitter for $44Billion. That’s $44Billion more than what most people have. Look at Musk’s response to Marc Andreessen, Netscape founder about an alternative medication Adderall.

As you can see, Andreessen had originally tweeted, “Everyone thinks our present society was caused by social media. I’m wondering whether Adderall plus ubiquitous Google searches have bigger effects.” Note that Andreessen, who’s not a medical doctor or other mental health professional either, didn’t mention Wellbutrin. Nevertheless, Musk decided to throw in a well, how about Wellbutrin type of reply: “Wellbutrin is way worse than Adderall imo. It needs to be taken off the marketplace. Every time that drug has come up in conversation, someone at the table has a suicide or near suicide story.”

Presumably, Musk used “imo” to stand for “in my opinion” rather than “intrepid marine officer”, “intelligent medical object”, or “I monetize otters.” Maybe this was a disclaimer just in case someone accused him of offering medical advice. Regardless, on social media, such a qualifier may go unnoticed, especially if you don’t emphasize “imobidhrme,” which would stand for “in my opinion because I don’t have real medical expertise.” Remember when podcaster Joe Rogan said, “I’m not a doctor, I’m a bleeping moron,” and “I’m not a respected source of information, even for me,” as I covered for SME? Rogan has stopped Rogan from giving medical advice to people. Rogan has stopped making claims about Covid-19 vaccinations and medication such as ivermectin. Musk is in a similar position if you add more than $260 billion to your net worth.

Let’s take a look at the specifics of what Musk tweeted. Saying that Wellbutrin is worse than Adderall is a bit like saying, “a can opener is way worse than a hedge trimmer.” Sure, both medications do affect neurotransmitters, the chemicals that nerve cells in your brain use to communicate with each other. They do however fall under different types of medication. Wellbutrin, known generically as bupropion, is an aminoketone antidepressant or a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, whereas Adderall, known generically as dextroamphetamine/amphetamine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant. The effectiveness, strengths, risks, and utility of Wellbutrin as well as Adderall depend on their specific usage.

They are often used for completely different purposes. Wellbutrin can be prescribed to either treat major depressive disorder (MDD) or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which refers to the fact that depression symptoms are most common during winter and fall months. The …read more

Source:: Social Media Explorer

Author: Aaron