Goodness, I noticed that there are so many people on anti depressants.
Why did you need it? How has it changed you? Do you regret going on it? Did you know you needed it?
I remember going to a Dr. when I was 15 because I was depressed about my dad passing away. His first response was to put me on Prozac. I told him it would be a waste of time because I wouldn’t take it. He gave my mom the prescription and like I said, I never took it. Now that I look back, there was no reason to put me on anything!
Is it a money making thing a lot of the time, or are there that many depressed people?
I think part of it is that the availability of meds which will effortlessly beat back a patient’s demons, or soothe their depressed/angry/confused, etc. etc. breast, is irresistable to many therapists and doctors in general.
Just think of how much more time and work used to be involved before the hint of a smile was returned to a face. Now, a therapist can just mark their calendar, per patient, for that predictable six to eight week point where synthetic progress WILL be shown.
Two ensuing benefits for the therapist are that the patient will likely be more cooperative and pliable thereafter, and also may gush, refer business and keep coming back, due to the apparent “skill” of the therapist.
I got put on antidepressants by my regular doctor, because I didn’t want to go to therapy. I took them from a bag of free samples the doctor gave me* for about a month, then just stopped… I don’t know why. Never bothered to go back and have her write me out a prescription or give me more freebies or anything.
My psychological state has not significantly improved - I’m still on the same roller coaster as before - but I won’t go back on the pills unless I hit a sustained low point, like I had for six months or so before I went to the doc.
Because of the rather iffy status of my insurance coverage since I left college, my general practicioner tends to give me samples from the drug companies whenever possible so as to avoid me having to wrestle with the insurance co. When samples aren’t available, I get a prescription.
Speaking as a depressed person, anti-depressants are a godsend. They help clear away a lot of the negative feelings associated with depression so I could focus on the real issues.
It’s not about being cooperative or pliable. It’s about being able to work on what the real problems are without having the symptoms of depression in the way.
A lot of people are on them because they work. Not for everybody, of course, but they work often enough and well enough that if there is much question about starting an anti-depressant, it is usually prudent to err on the side of starting it.
For some it just won’t work, and for others the side effects will be intolerable. That’s OK; you gave it a shot. The rest will have had their lives improved, some immeasurably, and that makes up for the failures, IMO.
I don’t know how good they are for more transient types of depression, such as the encounter you describe; I don’t know that it has been studied specifically. There’s no reason they shouldn’t be. We like to think of “clinical depression” and situational depression as two completely separate entities, but both are the result of poorly-understood chemical reactions and electrical impulses (as is the fact that I’m sitting here typing this). There’s no reason that a pill can help one and can’t help the other.
We have a stigma about psych meds, and I’m not immune to it. I have tried more than once to get by without Ritalin, and I can, but when I do use it I do my job better, interact with people better, enjoy life more, and generally feel better about myself. So why shouldn’t I take it, aside from a nebulous desire to be “drug-free”?
So no, it’s not a money-making scheme, although the drug companies certainly haven’t turned any down lately. Anti-depressants are used as commonly as they are because of their very good chance of benefit and the very low probability of harm.
This topic has the potential for ahem strong opinions, especially among those who have taken anti-depressants for whatever reasons.
Disagreement is fine and legitimate, but I remind one and all upfront that this forum is for discussing ideas, i.e. “debate light”. Personal anecdotes and opinions are fine; aspersions on those holding the opinons aren’t.
In other words, hot buttons or no, please keep the discussion civil.
I need anti-depressants to change my brain chemistry which is off balance. It changed me by allowing me to be who I really am rather than being literally brain-damaged. I do not regret going on it. In fact, it saved my life. Clinical depression can be fatal illness.
No, I didn’t know that I needed it. Very often depression is not recognized by the person experiencing it. The brain makes the judgment calls of your life. Your brain can make a sound decision about whether or not you need to see a physician or get medication for most physical diseases. But with depression, the brain is too messed up to make reliable choices.
Depression is not just about feeling sad. It affects your entire perspective on life. For me it was like being wrapped in cotton batting and unable to see or breathe.
I am not a physician. I think your doctor was probably just wanting to take extra precautions. Grief can be a trigger for serious depression. But it doesn’t have to be. Grieving is a normal part of letting go of those we love. You were able to survive your grief without clinical depression and apparently made the right choice for yourself.
As to whether or not it is a money making scheme depends on the physician. One out of ten people will experience clinical depression sometime during her or his lifetime. One in four families will have have to cope with it. Depression causes more disabilities than any other disease.
BTW, to clear up a common misconception, anti-depressants are not “happy pills.” People with normal brain chemistry can take them without becoming happier.
The SSRI class of antidepressants were kind of a revolution in that they focused on a specific process in the brain that researchers suspect contributes to depression. They can help you push aside some of the mental obstacles to happiness so you can focus on how to make yourself feel better. It’s not a miracle, but it is medicine.
Some doctors give them out like candy, and I think that’s wrong. When my sister was at college, she had some anxiety problems. They gave her Zoloft and sent her away. She ended up having such bad side effects that she couldn’t stay on it, so the treatment failed, of course. And they didn’t really have much of a therapy apparatus in place, so there just wasn’t much available to her in the way of help. Giving someone these drugs and saying “good luck” is not conscientious medical care. It takes more than drug therapy to help a person with mental difficulties.
You’re right, MsRobyn, I didn’t mean to issue a blanket judgment. I mean only that I wish the prescribing of meds was just another tool in the therapist arsenal, not a seeming requisite. And by all means I’m sure many still do get to know their new patients a bit before whipping out the prescription pad.
People with garden variety blues who feel and exhibit nothing to be alarmed about may often not need to be on anything, but it’s frequently offered anyway. I wonder what percentage of people aren’t offered something without asking on their first visit these days. I think there are many cases where doctor and patient could get to know each other a bit first, because it really is an awfully big decision. I won’t even go into what many go through coming off of SSRIs, and how some try for years without success, even though being on the things has in itself become the primary source of their discontentedness.
I think a lot of people end up in that situation, who didn’t need to. And if SSRIs are obtained from a general practitioner, chances are even less the patient will be given full disclosure on everything that can result from it, as there isn’t time to get into it all.
But that is not to knock all therapists who prescribe SSRIs, or to say I don’t believe they serve a huge purpose for those who are on them for the right reasons. I very much believe that. I meant only to say they’re given too often and too quickly, with too little information.
A month isn’t really long enough to be sure you’re seeing the full effects - most recommendations that I’ve seen are 6-8 weeks.
Anti-depressants aren’t for everyone. Not all depressions are caused by external events, but some are. Sometimes an anti-depressant may help get someone to a state where they can be helped better by therapy; sometimes they’re not needed.
Some people do have messed-up brain chemistry and need something to set it right again. I knew a guy in college who would go on a “vacation” from his antidepressants during the summer, because his symptoms weren’t bad in those months. He didn’t restart the medications in time apparently, because he went out one night and killed himself. He had been working with a doctor on this for years; it wasn’t really anything environmental that caused his depression, but truly was an imbalance in his neurochemistry.
They’re not for all times of sadness or grief either. Grief over a death, divorce, etc. is normal and natural. When sadness that you have seems out of proportion to what’s going on in your life, it’s affecting your ability to function, and/or it’s lasted a month or more, you might want to see a doctor about this.
My mother is on prozac: she had a stroke 8 years a go and it makes her cry for no reason sometimes.
But it doesn’t seem to be helping much.
How many anti-depressants drugs are there?
How depressed does someone have to be to get prescribed them?
Has your mother been to a psychiatrist? Perhaps if she saw one they could prescribe the proper meds for her symptoms.
Psychiatrists are good medication mangers. I would not recommend going to a GP for depression.
My grandfather had a stroke in March-- and he is now on Celexia (I think that’s how it is spelled). It has made a difference, esp. since he lost his wife of 52 years two weeks before his stroke.
After being consistently depressed for over ten years, I was willing to try an antidepressant. It was not a light decision to make, and I haven’t been on it long enough to know how good of a decision it was.
I have no idea how old your mother is, but she might want to have a work-up by a geriatric specialist who has experience in managing this kind of thing.
And there are a number of different anti-depressants that work in different ways. Often, medicating depression is simply trial and error; you try different things until one or a combination works.
yes, thanks. She is 84, and her doctor isn’t that great, from what I’ve heard.
So I will try to get her a cehck-up (she’s in the nursing home at this point in time).
That’s it exactly for me. I’m no longer on anti-depressants, as there’s no generic for what I need to take and I have no health insurance. I’m okay not taking them now, because I learned coping mechanisms that I didn’t have before while I was on them. Without the medication, I would not have been able to learn these things. I needed it because otherwise I’d have killed myself. I literally could not keep living how I was, and rather than take my own life I went to the student health center. So yes, I’d say I knew I needed it. It let me deal with a lot of really difficult things in my life without panic or suicidal ideation. I don’t regret going on them, though the side effects cost me a lot.
I think there really are that many depressed people. My guess would be as the stigma against admitting it is lessened, you hear about it more.
I have been fighting with depression ever since I was a teenager, but just recently felt so engulfed by it that I knew I needed help.
I went into a major depressive episode last spring, but as the days grew longer it bagan to subside on its own. In July, I found out that I was pregnant. I was delighted, because I have had fertility problems, and it took almost seven years to concieve my second son. This news of a third child on the way pulled me the rest of the way out of my depression.
Unfortunately, the baby’s heart stopped beating shortly before twelve weeks. I took a long time to miscarry, and ended up needing a D&C.
After that, I went into an immobilizing depression.
I started taking Zoloft in late September. I will probably stay on it until next spring. I don’t feel ecstatically happy, but I’m not overwhelmed by despair, hopelessness and futility. Right now, that’s good enough.
I had stopped talking to my friends; now I’m reconnecting with them. I also feel like coming out of lurk mode here for the first time in months… [sub]mumble although THAT may not be a “good” thing cough[/sub].
I have some old issues to work though as well, and I feel more able to tackle those things.
It should be known that there are many types of Anti-depressant now available, often working in considerably different ways.
If you feel down all the time, especially if you have considered suicide see a psychiatrist if you can, or at least see your GP and talk about it.
They are quite likely to offer you anti-depressants, if you wish to try them you will find the following useful.
They all take several weeks (4-6 usually) before they have significan effects on your mood.
They all have possible side effects, and the side effects offten kick in long befor your mood changes.
Some people can get really bad effects, including worsening of their mental state, if this seems to be happening to you, go back to your doctor immediately.
Sometimes you will feel a small benifit after 4-6 weeks, this can indecate you need a higher dosage, your doctor can help you with this.
Coming off of Anti Depressants can be unplesant, or can be a complete non issue. To change Medications you usually need to stop the first befor starting the second, make sure your doctor gives you the doses of the first that will allow you to reduce its usage very slowly if you need to.
My background with Anti Depressants was Celexia for 5 years, after which it had stopped working for me too well. I stopped Celexia with no problems and changed to paxil which made my mind slow down (to normal human inteligence ) which was not at all plesant, so I changed again. This time comming off Paxil was a nightmare, I started at 80mg and had to drop each week to 75% of the previous dose to avoid horrible side effect, took about 7 weeks to stop taking. I then weant on to Effexor which I am currently taking with so far excellent results.