• Anti-Depressants
    50 replies, posted
I took them for a few months They were great, I had the drive to get out of bed in the mornings, I stopped contemplating offing myself because it would be easier So I weened off the, I still have issues sometimes but other than that, they helped me become self sufficient
What little I've seen is that it taking 'em differs much from person to person. Works for others, not for some. Saw some rapid moodswings on a friend last year and it made me wonder if the pills were really worth the money. I personally think pills aint the solution yet at the same time I have no right to call out people who use them because I'm not going through what they are.
[QUOTE=andrey191919;37675136]SSRIs cause permanent changes in the brain[/QUOTE] Source?
in my opinion and in many medical experiments psychotherapy has proven much more effective of a treatment to depression than anti-depressants. i don't think the problem lies within the anti-depressants themselves, but more that it is too difficult to diagnose and give personal treatment to every person who claims to be depressed. the expenses of psychotherapy alone are enough to turn people to anti-depressants.
I am changing my stance to "none ever". Even if the depression is only temporary, it still must have had a cause. And that cause must be found out so it can be prevented from happening again.
[QUOTE=Audio-Surfer;37800627]I am changing my stance to "none ever". Even if the depression is only temporary, it still must have had a cause. And that cause must be found out so it can be prevented from happening again.[/QUOTE] although taking drugs to solve problems is never really the best idea, some people have physical chemical imbalances causing their depression and some of these people simply cannot afford the psychotherapy that it would take to repair these chemical imbalances and drugs are pretty proficient at repairing chemical problems. it's sad but true.
[QUOTE=AgentBoomstick;37800812]although taking drugs to solve problems is never really the best idea, some people have physical chemical imbalances causing their depression and some of these people simply cannot afford the psychotherapy that it would take to repair these chemical imbalances and drugs are pretty proficient at repairing chemical problems. it's sad but true.[/QUOTE] Maybe if the medical industry didn't have to waste so much money on treating the side effects of anti-depressants, they could make proper care more affordable.
I think also if you're severely depressed they can offer you a taste of something to work for, when you decide to stop taking them, which could be useful
I think the problem with AD now is that people see them as the only thing that will help them, while it's true they'll help they can't be the only solution, exercise and changes to their diet will also increase their mood as well as proper hydration. I'm all for their use but if you're not helping yourself along with the anti-depressant use than it's not going to be as effective.
There's too much emphasis on being happy-joy-joy all day, every day in this society of fake smiles, lust and unhinged wanting. People who on the surface appear to have happiness through their looks, possessions, wealth, power or whatever leads other people who don't have these things to desire for them and leave them depressed if they fail to attain it in their time-frame, or deem it as impossible. Furthermore these people who seem to have it all on the surface occasionally end up killing themselves which usually surprises everyone because it just doesn't make sense.. They had it all right..? Why would they end such a perfect life? So can medicines really help you or simply cover up the underlying trauma/effect caused by your thought processes? Who knows. 'Removing' depression as a human, simply not possible. You can sort-of do it by being a Zen guy, but in doing so also remove happiness, neutrality, love, emotion and all other feelings from the equation, aka everything that makes a human. I think a much more effective and permanent solution is taking a step back to understand beliefs and how they work, renouncing all your beliefs, adopting better beliefs, and slowly, patiently testing and trying out things that alter your quality of life through the way you directly see and interact with other people and the world, so instead of trying to remove or kill the depression, you become comfortable with it, and it doesn't effect your life in any way. Agree/disagree/want to try it/think I'm batshit? Hit me up by PM and we can talk on Steam or something.
Chemical imbalance theory makes a lot of assumptions and pushed way too hard by pharmaceutical companies. This is from someone who has taken anti-depressants (SSRIs) and has done decent research into the brain. In fact, I was going to do a project this year on modification of glutamate receptors (NMDAR and AMPAR) but instead decided to work with mitochondria and free radicals. I'll probably expand on this later. Its late at the moment and these threads always get so long so fast... This prior post summed up my views pretty well: [quote] This "chemical imbalance" theory has made people seem to think that popping a pill can take away all their misery. Loading someone up on pills should not always be the solution, all you are doing is masking the underlying issue, you aren't curing it.[/quote]
I was prescribed both Trazadone and Celexa by simply telling my doctor that I was having trouble sleeping. Neither drugs helped, had me waking up in the middle of the night hallucinating while in sleep paralysis. The following day, I would have hangovers worse than a night of binge drinking. What's ironic, is that I smoked Cannabis occasionally for a few weeks straight (recreationally), and have slept fine ever since. But that's a different argument entirely.
Celexa made me have a horrible time getting to sleep. I would feel restless even if it was a time when I should fall asleep in minutes. Its funny because they tell you it takes 4+ weeks for these drugs to start working even though the neurotransmitter levels are adjusted within a days time. Fun stuff. Then once your body's natural production of neurotransmitters and of enzymes is downregulated/upregulated, you have to ease off the anti-depressants or go into some pretty bad withdrawel.
[QUOTE=Collin665;37852014]Celexa made me have a horrible time getting to sleep. I would feel restless even if it was a time when I should fall asleep in minutes. Its funny because they tell you it takes 4+ weeks for these drugs to start working even though the neurotransmitter levels are adjusted within a days time. Fun stuff. Then once your body's natural production of neurotransmitters and of enzymes is downregulated/upregulated, you have to ease off the anti-depressants or go into some pretty bad withdrawel.[/QUOTE] I couldn't stand another day of using that drug, much less four weeks. The second day I took it, I had what I believe to be a mild amnesia, where I forgot that my parents left the house, and got in a rather terrifying OCD fit. I watched them walk out the door, and ten minutes later, I was frantically searching the house looking for them for a few minutes, thinking they were still in the house. I started to forget where I was, and began to panic, but I calmed down after those few minutes. The fact of the matter is, they mess with your serotonin receptors. I feel as thought whatever change Antidepressants do to ones mind can very well cause another imbalance somewhere along the line.
My doctor tells me that it's important to use the right kind of anti-depressants, and finding out what kind you've got to use is done by going to a psychiatrist. He also mentioned side-effects, but that is supposed to be reported to the doctor if they occur. Personally, the drug have changed my life for the better. Some side-effects at the start but that's just normal.
I don't really have an opinion on this yet since I have no personal experience with them, but I only know they are a lot of help for some people while only making it worse if you're using the wrong ones. I've been feeling a lack of motivation and drive to do anything and often feel pretty crappy for a year or two now, and it's pissing me off. I'm hoping that something like ADs could be a possible solution to this if it's really mental.
My personal experience with anti-depressants is that I've tried 3 different types, none of them did anything except one side effect of one of them made me very sleepy so it helped me sleep at night.
I was on Prozac for 3-4 months once and became pretty zombified. I'm of the opinion that these are a cash cow for pharmaceutical companies and the psychiatrists with vested interests in them who write and edit the DSM and similar diagnostic criterion. I also think that a lot of the time they are used as a way to try and make the way the world works, which is pretty disappointing, more tolerable. I've had more success using cannabis on an occasional basis as an anti-depressant than people report about these magical happy pills.
My girlfriend was given some anti-depressants by a doctor with the promise that she'd 'stop being so anxious and to help with insomnia' She doesn't have insomnia. The sole reason she's anxious is because her mother and stepfather area always arguing, and she watched the breakup of her parents, and that's why she gets anxious and nervous. She's afraid. Her hormones aren't imbalanced. It's something psichotherapy could fix easily, but nope, her mother (who is the spiritual, tarot card bullshit kinda person) says the damn pills should do. I already told her to just not take them. I care too much to let herself get on that big of a coin-flip results wise
They seem to be used far too much as a quick fix. I've noticed that doctors here in the UK that they are more willing to prescribe happy pills than refer you for counselling or to see a mental health specialist. In the situation you mentioned, [URL="http://facepunch.com/member.php?u=241095"]mfb412[/URL], clearly what is needed is some counselling and her parents need to be made aware of why she is upset so they can adjust their behaviour or call it a day. Pills might very well do some good if the problem was completely fabricated in her head but there are external causes that need to be dealt with, not sidestepped with magical pills. I feel as though maybe the reason so many people are depressed these days is because communities rarely commune anymore, they're just a group of standalone individuals. I dunno, just a hunch
I've been on Citalopram for a few years now. I've been wanting to get off of it but it's very hard and i can never find a good time to do it. The girl I've been hanging out with is encouraging me to get off of it because it has an effect on my libido and stuff. I think i'm going to try halving my dose and slowly weaning off of it over 3 weeks.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.