Happy Pills

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Boddington's
I've been given anti-depressants before, but I didn't want to take them.

It demeans you.

Luckily that kind of stigma about depression is getting less as people become more educated about it so hopefully people won't put off getting treatment for a genuine illness because they think like that.

Do you think getting anti-biotics demeans you?

[Q Classic]

I think the fact that SSRI's are so prevalent is a disturbing trend about how people aren't being treated like people. Instead, they're shuffled into a doctor's office, given a quick once-over, and shuffled back out with prescription in hand. At the same time, these are very powerful drugs whose range of effects on different people aren't fully understood.

i'm not arguing against that. i'm arguing against those who think that the only answer lies with strength of will.

i hate my insurance, but it's all i've got. this means that i get funnelled to an abysmally piss-poor shrink cooperative, with a shrink i detest and am now on new medication the lexapro mentioned in the first post, that makes me dizzy when i first wake up in the morning.

lexapro == dizzy in morning.
to answer the first post.

[Japher]

Anti-biotics! If your blood/alcohol drops so low that virus' can actually live in your body then that is demeaning and I don't see how you could continue to live with yourself...

Honestly, we are just begining to understand the mind, and we have noticed that many psychosis are caused by chemical imbalances in the mind. These imbalances make it difficult or impossible for us to actually deal with certain problems, hence the use of drugs. If you have ever dealt with someone who is bipolar you would understand more... Maybe depression is some sort of this, and I for one know that I would be short one sister, a grandma, and a cousin if it were not for Prozac.

[Solly]

Let's all have heroin on the NHS!

[MikeH]

Finally a policy of yours I agree with.

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by Asher

Listen: I've suffered from depression and social anxiety disorder since at least around age 10. I've tried everything you listed, for years, and it never worked for me.

Okay, that makes me wonder about the quality of your life right now, but at least you're not depressed, which is good.

Tried therapy, which was a joke and didn't help.

At least we can agree that therapy is a joke.

Tried medication, and it did work, and it worked very well.

I'm happy that you are cured. Medication does work for some, but for others it is not the best choice. Now let's try to have a calm discussion about our difference of opinion...

Because yours is so blatantly wrong that anyone with a clue about how depression works would dismiss it outright. Some people can pull themselves out like how you described, others can't.

Frankly, it's downright insulting for people like you to tell people who are on medication that they should just "pull themselves out of it". It's ignorant, it's insensitive, and it's simply stupid.

Please calm down, I can't talk to you when you're like this. Take a moment and go to the cupboard and find the little pill that calms you down and swallow one or two. Don't take too many or else you have to take the pill that brings you back up again...

As I said before, the "pull yourself out of it" phrase does sound harsh, but that really is the main idea. My advice on this subject is directed towards those who have been trying medication and/or therapy and not getting the results that they had hoped for - not for those like you, who are already cured.

You obviously don't understand what it's like to live in a depressive and anxious hellhole for many years, while attempting to pull yourself out with no success...

And exactly how is that obvious? Go back and read my posts when your medication starts to kick in. I was depressed since my teenage years. It wasn't until my early 20's that I realized it was a problem though, and so I went through the whole therapy and medication thing during my mid 20's to early 30's. From my experience, that approach did not work. I'm taking this opportunity to share my story with others so they can consider the way that I escaped depression and maybe it will help them if what they are trying now doesn't work. If my way helps somebody get free of depression, would you object to that?

I'm angry because you disagree with me without understanding anything about what you're talking about. Stupidity angers me like nothing else, and that's all you've shown. Further, you act like a **** with an (intentional or not) veiled insult implying people who are on medication aren't smart enough to know to try to pull themselves out of their depressive hole before seeking help.

So at age 20 you have all the answers, then? You believe that the whole world agrees with you and any who don't are stupid?
I have no idea what veiled insult you are talking about. You are creating this in your own mind.

[Lorizael]

Okay, this is technically my thread, so I'm going to try to exercise a bit of authority here.

First of all, calm down Asher. There's absolutely no reason at all for you to be this angry. Understand that people have different opinions, especially in a community of over thirty eight thousand people.

That said, all those here who have said or implied that the only way out of depression - or the way that proves you're not weak-willed - is to tough it out, be quiet. No one here knows enough about this subject to truly speak definitively on it. Maybe if we got Strangelove in here he'd know something, but otherwise we're left with our own personal experiences and nothing more.

Next, I'm going to offer my side. I've been more or less depressed for five years (since eighth) grade. I've tried very hard to pull myself out of the depression manually, but have been totally unable to. In fact, every time I tried, I only got worse. My grades continued to fall, I lost my bestfriend, I totally withdrew from society and I lost interest in all but my writing. Now, I cannot even write.

I realized that I needed another way to fight this depression. I have a long family history of depression, suggesting that it isn't just bad times I've run into, but a disorder in me.

However, I have a strong dislike of pills. I really don't like things messing with my system, especially my mind.

So I've taken to meditation and focusing my mind. But I see no reason why I shouldn't use every resource at my disposal. If these sample pills I take (that means they're free!) can help pull me out of my depression, then maybe I'll be able to rely just on my own abilities in the future. But right now, I need all the help that I can get. I'm about to start college. I can't **** around any longer.

Now having given my view on this, everyone here remember that we all have different experiences, different conditions, different lives. Not all of our views are compatible. I don't mind my thread being threadjacked, I don't mind discussion, but I do mind people throwing insults and yelling and screaming.

[Q Classic]

lori, i agree with you entirely.

and i'll say it again. lexapro makes me dizzy in the morning. be careful with it.

i'm looking to have my prescription changed back to wellbutrin. this lexapro stuff works, but so was wellbutrin (maybe not as well), and it was doing it without making me dizzy.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Feephi
Take a moment and go to the cupboard and find the little pill that calms you down and swallow one or two. Don't take too many or else you have to take the pill that brings you back up again...

See, at least I'm forthright with my opinions. You thinly veil them like that, which is sad...

So what's this one supposed to mean? That I'm a person who takes pills for anything and everything? I don't even take Tylenol, I find it doesn't do anything.

And exactly how is that obvious? Go back and read my posts when your medication starts to kick in. I was depressed since my teenage years. It wasn't until my early 20's that I realized it was a problem though

If you don't realize until your early 20s that you were depressed, it must've have been very bad at all. You're out of your league here.

So at age 20 you have all the answers, then?

No, not all -- I just know for a fact that people respond differently to different treatments. People who say otherwise are stupid, there's just no way around it.

Boddington's is on your side man, there's no hope for it.

I have no idea what veiled insult you are talking about. You are creating this in your own mind.

When somebody tells someone else that they can do something without the aid of the medication they're on, particularly when they've already explained how they tried to get themselves out of it, it is insulting.

I'm sorry if you're too dense to comprehend that.

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by Lorizael

That said, all those here who have said or implied that the only way out of depression - or the way that proves you're not weak-willed - is to tough it out, be quiet. No one here knows enough about this subject to truly speak definitively on it. Maybe if we got Strangelove in here he'd know something, but otherwise we're left with our own personal experiences and nothing more.

I've had a considerable amount of experience with this subject. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder + anxiety. My whole point with my posts here is that you don't necessarily need to treat depression as some sort of mystic puzzle that can only be solved by someone with a PhD and an MD. I found my way out of the labyrinth by realizing that all the answers were already within me and all I had to do was make myself tough mentally to confront my problems and disect my neurotic behavior patterns. For me, psych drugs were like a cloud over clear thought and I couldn't get better until I stopped taking them. Despite what Asher thinks, I'm trying to help people with these posts. I don't normally post this much in any thread, but this particular subject I feel strongly about. When you are depressed and you feel like you've tried everything and nothing works it really sucks. I hit rock bottom and then this was the path I found out of it. If I could help just one person out of depression with anything that I've said then all of this typing was worthwhile.

[Lorizael]

I already do what you do, Feephi. I have incredible mental focus that allows me to solve pretty much any problem I encounter. But my depression I have not been able to overcome. So I'm going to do something that will give my own abilities a little boost.

[Ecthy]

what is sweet lady liquor?

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by elijah


Its not as easy as that. Its a chemical issue, the brain re-absorbs seratonin (a happy hormone) too effectively, and thats why we take selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors.

The cause can be either psychological or medical. Either way, it can't be helped.

I was on this generic fluoxitine hydrochloride (basically prozac) and it ****s with your head! I flushed it a couple months ago, the next month was tough but I'm good now.

I do think depression gives you an interesting outlook on life though, a new non-pragmatic, idealistic, philosophical perspective that is quite common in depressives or post-depressives in my experience. Every cloud...

Prozac has done wonders for me. It hasn't radically changed my outlook or life in some ways but it takes a lot to get to me, and my anger is more controlled and the frustration doesn't kick as hard. I am still aware of the problems in my life but they don't cripple me like in the past.

[st_swithin]

Absinthe makes the heart grown fonder. Gin takes it and breaks it.

I tried to commit suicide twice before realising that I was always going to be a failure at it, and that I'd better start looking for another way out.

Watch "Fight Club" - it's as good a starting point as any.

[Provost Harrison]

I'm with Asher on this one, some of you really don't seem to have a clue what depression is like and that it isn't just something you can snap out of if you want to. I have been to counselling myself, which although useful in some ways it is just sometimes impossible to change how you feel by questioning your thoughts...and that is when I thought antidepressants would be a better choice for me. They have worked for me. If you don't like the idea of them, then that's your decision, but perhaps an avenue you are closing off to yourself without ever really knowing...