# What happens if you mix depressants and antidepressants? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446 "2011-11-29T13:43:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/1 "2011-11-29T13:43:49Z")
Just curious. If you take a depressant and an antidepressant around the same time, do they in any way cancel each other out? Does anything unusual happen? ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/2 "2011-11-29T14:11:58Z")
Language fail. “Depressants” do not depress mood, they depress the central nervous system. They make you stupid and sleepy. They do not make you sad. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/3 "2011-11-29T14:24:22Z")
In pharmacological terminology, the antonym of _depressant_ is _stimulant_, not _antidepressant_. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/4 "2011-11-29T14:28:54Z")
And no, mixing them doesn’t cause them to cancel each other out. They may amplify each other, or one may amplify the other or they may cause waves of alternating effects. This is what is observed when people mix cocaine and an opiate. > **[Speedball (drug)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedball_%28drug%29)** > > Speedball, powerball, or over and under, is the polydrug mixture of a stimulant with a depressant, usually an opioid. > Common stimulants and depressant used for recreational drug use include cocaine or amphetamine with heroin, morphine, and/or fentanyl that may be taken intravenously or by nasal insufflation. > Speedballs often give stronger effects than either drug when taken alone due to drug synergy, and are a particularly hazardous mixture that can easily cause heart attack, respiratory arre... ---
**Author:** ![thatguyjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6de8d8/32.png) [@thatguyjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatguyjeff)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/5 "2011-11-29T17:30:34Z")
I’ve heard (anecdotally) that mixing alcohol with antidepressants will render the AD ineffective, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/6 "2011-11-29T18:18:14Z")
Four Loko ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/7 "2011-11-29T18:34:09Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Four Loko Bingo. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/8 "2011-11-29T21:12:01Z")
You get the premise for a really hacky comedian’s joke. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/9 "2011-11-29T21:17:40Z")
> [@thatguyjeff](#): > > I’ve heard (anecdotally) that mixing alcohol with antidepressants will render the AD ineffective, or something like that. My GP told me that antidepressants’ effects are mitigated by regular alcohol consumption, especially to excess on occasion. But, I take Xanax as needed (on a stressful day, 6 mg qd, on a regular day [most], none). Haven’t noticed anything personally, but I’m on a low dose of Citalopram (20 mg qd), which is taken for anxiety, so (a) I’m not perhaps the ideal subject, never having had major depression and (b) I don’t know of any studies, nor would I know how to interpret them if there were any. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/10 "2011-11-30T03:37:24Z")
I am actually taking a “speedball” under a doctors care. I take morphine for pain and amphetamine to stave off the lethargic effects of the morphine. However, my doses must be way south of those needed to experience a high effect. In my case the anti-depressant (stimulant) wins! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/11 "2011-11-30T04:13:57Z")
I think this is what powers the USS Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/12 "2011-11-30T06:59:09Z")
Mostly, one continues to feel depressed. Sometimes even worse than before. ---
**Author:** ![Reverend\_Meade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Reverend\_Meade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverend_Meade)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/13 "2011-11-30T07:08:41Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Four Loko Wrong. That’s a depressant and a stimulant. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/14 "2011-11-30T07:16:18Z")
You have done something to your brain. You have made it high. If I lay 10 mils of diazepam on you, it will do something else to your brain. You will make it low. Why trust one drug and not the other? That’s politics, innit? … I recommend you smoke some more grass. … If you’re hanging onto a rising balloon, you’re presented with a difficult decision - let go before it’s too late or hang on and keep getting higher, posing the question: how long can you keep a grip on the rope? [/Withnail & I] ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/15 "2011-11-30T07:20:48Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Language fail. > > “Depressants” do not depress mood, they depress the central nervous system. They make you stupid and sleepy. They do not make you sad. However, the opposite of clinical depression is mania or hypomania, and there are anti-manic drugs, mood stabilizers. Lithium being the most common. Some people with Bipolar disorders are prescribed both a mood stabilizer and an anti-depressant, to smooth both lows and highs out. Which one wins depends entirely on dosage and is very carefully monitored. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/16 "2011-11-30T08:15:53Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > However, the opposite of clinical depression is mania or hypomania, and there are anti-manic drugs, mood stabilizers. Lithium being the most common. > > Some people with Bipolar disorders are prescribed both a mood stabilizer and an anti-depressant, to smooth both lows and highs out. Which one wins depends entirely on dosage and is very carefully monitored. Bipolar here. Correct–although I believe Lithium is being phased out for medicine with fewer problems (close blood level monitoring and a slight flattening of emotions being the most common). I’ve talked to people who’ve said that it would be great to take my anti-depressants–these “happy pills”–and then have their day brightened and happy. It don’t work that way. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/17 "2011-11-30T08:26:13Z")
It makes you more mellow. Of course, moderation in all things. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/18 "2011-11-30T14:05:48Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Bipolar here. Correct–although I believe Lithium is being phased out for medicine with fewer problems (close blood level monitoring and a slight flattening of emotions being the most common). As an undergrad I did a research project with some biochemists and a psychiatrist who were working on lithium as a mood stabilizer for bipolar people. They were finding that it was effective, but it was not yet in very wide use. They told me that part of the problem was that it was difficult to get the drug companies interested because the stuff was so cheap (probably unpatentable too) that there would be very little profit in it for them. Despite this, lithium did soon take off as a widely used drug for bipolar disorder. It sounds as though, now, the drug companies have finally found a way around their little “problem” with it. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/19 "2011-11-30T14:33:12Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > It sounds as though, now, the drug companies have finally found a way around their little “problem” with it. The side effects of Lithium, the fact that the effective dosage is very close to the toxic dosage and the need for blood level monitoring are all damn good reasons to develop better treatments. I’ll let the evil drug companies off for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446/20 "2011-11-30T15:18:11Z")
> [@Reverend\_Meade](#): > > Wrong. > > That’s a depressant and a stimulant. Have you read the ingredients list? Neither have I, but I’m sure there’s some Prozac, Ambian, and Quaaludes in there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-depressants-and-antidepressants/604446.md?page=2)