Don’t try this at home: exec self-medicates for depression, apnoea – and solves problems he spent a fortune on with doctors in vain
Derek Chan has become an amateur pharmacist and armchair doctor in his quest to relieve chronic conditions, after running up big bills in Hong Kong for largely ineffective medical treatments; it worked for him, but he doesn’t recommend it
Self-described amateur pharmacist and armchair doctor Derek Chan (not his real name) is living proof that where there is a will there is a way to overcome what ails us – even if it means taking matters into our own hands. Or, in his case, his nose.
He has cabinets chock full of medicine and health supplements in his Beijing home, having shopped online for St John’s Wort, 5-HTP, gamma oryzanol, gastrodin and other potential remedies for his depression.
A finance executive with a multinational company, Chan was diagnosed with the debilitating mood disorder seven years ago, when he was working in Hong Kong. He turned to self-medication after years of expensive but mostly ineffective medical treatments.
By the time he was transferred to Beijing three years ago, he had spent hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars following orders from general practitioners, specialists, psychologists and psychiatrists, but felt no relief.
“My symptoms included migraine, stomach ache, fatigue, muscle pain, mood disorder, poor memory, lower intelligence and productivity. I found it hard to concentrate. My brain was not sharp as before. I fell into the habit of avoiding complex tasks and looking for an easy way out,” Chan says.