Anti-depressants... your own experiences...

there is something INSANE about the way feeling bad has been made into such a lucrative industry. almost anyone who feels bad can get diagnosed with "clinical depression" [there's NO MEDICAL TEST for "depression"; they ask you simple questions and have no way of measuring brain chemistry levels].

face it: people have been feeling bad for centuries, and they have gotten through it without any of these modern treatments. if YOU are one of those rare people with a true brain disease/mood disorder i don't belittle your plight. but all the same you shouldn't try to evangelize ME about the wonderful world of pills, "therapy" and the need for ridiculous side effects. people who are self-reliant should be free to forego the mental health industry's mainstream remedies....is it shameful to NOT need counseling or meds???

they are OUR feelings, NOT the medical establishment's....we should be allowed to deal with them our way.


[edit on 9-10-2004 by victor was right]

I was on paxil for a few months when I was in highschool. All it did, or appeared to do for me was made me not want to get up in the mornings and just sleep, I never really gave it a chance to do anything.

Victor- I quite agree! In the end,it comes down to profit. I feel the same way about Ritalin and other meds for ADD

they are OUR feelings, NOT the medical establishment's....we should be allowed to deal with them our way.

This is true, but social norms are not going to jump off the bell curve just because there's alternative medicine. Many medical doctor's still hold true to the poor bed-side manners of "ask me no questions for I am your master" and people get duped every day like this.

Plus, people who are depressed are not very likely to stand up against mainstream ideas...they'll just go with the flow. Speaking of gowing with the flow, I know far too many young teenagers who pop pills thinking it's fun and cool and immediately fall into depression due to adverse effects - so sometimes it works against them.

I totally agree that medication is overprescribed. But, I really, really resent the belittling of people who DO have a diagnosed clinical depression. There is a standard method for diagnosing BTW.
It is not just feeling bad. It has nothing to do with "pulling up your boot straps and feeling better"...it is a chemical imbalance.
I agree that people want quick fixes. I'm not lumping them into the categories with people who do need meds for a true medical condition which can result in death (clinical depression). And, I don't evangelize about the glories of drugs. I had to rationally decide whether I wanted to have the side effects or go on like I was with my condition. I certainly don't think everyone, or even many people, need antidepressants, but, for those who have a problem...which is a life threatening medical condition...please don't belittle there use or the condition.
Believe me, I'm anything but mainstream. I'm not just blindly following my doctor's advice like a sheep. I'm totally for alternative medicine. I use alternative medicine.
Oh well...
joey

I'm sorry joey
That wasn't my point - I simply brought another side of the arguement to the table.

I do believe that most cases are physiological disorders and that any form of treatment is better than denial.

Thanks, I guess I'm a little strident on this point. I become so tired of fighting the stigma of depression and panic disorder. Thanks for understanding
joey

Yes it is a stigma, and it's a shame that it is. I put off going to a doctor for quite some time because of it. True.....people have dealt with it for centuries.....some by taking thier own lives.

Just to add another side to this topic again...I said something earlier to a poster about checking to make sure he didn't have diabetes...

Depression shares and is tied to many many other dieseases with the same symptoms - Part of why I thought I was depressed was because of incredible fatigue - I mentioned this to my doctor and we had a little chat about other possibilites - Turned out after I spent a dreadful night in a sleep disorder clinic...don't even get me started... I was diagnosed with sleep apnea.

I think, like I mentioned earlier regarding pill poppers, you can start off with one problem, say like fatigue in my case, and go down the spiral path of being diagnosed with depression, to only find out later that your whole life you've had another condition that has the same symptom.

This is a clear example of the fact that are brains are powerful enough to enduse other symptoms by simply thinking them true - when I was actually told I had depression was when it got worse, not better.

For those that may be self-induced, it can just be a matter of pulling yourself out of it, like I did...Then you have people like my friend who's a bit manic, and has had success with medication - It all requires a very personal touch, and hopefully as new techniques become discovered, more people will find that method of healing.

Why try to fight anything? What's right for some isn't right for others. Who cares what anyone thinks in the long run? Those who feel that depression is just "feeling bad" or "sad" are not going to have their minds changed by anyone. Those who believe people taking medication are sheep or simple or just too lazy or stupid to deal with their feelings are not going to be converted by anything anyone says. Who cares? I don't give a rat's a** what anyone thinks because I -know- how I feel and what my doctors and I have discussed. I -know- my own history and what's worked and what hasn't. Nobody can change what I know to be true so their opinions don't matter, really. Won't affect how I'm doing things. Why fight something that doesn't matter? Just causes more stress.

Well my dad strongly thinks that i should stopping taking anti-depressants and start "being a man about it". But how can i? i know for a fact that i cannot cope with out taking my medication, last time i stopped taking them, i started cutting my arms up and had a failed suicide attempt. I hate it when people, especially my dad says im weak and i should sort things out on my own, but i can't. Its hard living each day, being extremely paraniod and hearing voices, i tried speaking to my parents about how i feel and they have just blanked it out. Then when i spoke about the doctors feeling i have developed other personalities, my parents just told me to never speak to it about people because people will think im insane. But im not insane, im very sick at the moment.

I like to think im a normal 18 year old male, but with all the stuff that happen in my past, the pain has effected me a lot. Flashbacks and nightmares to events in my childhood haunt me all the time, just horrible stuff. As i said in an early post, the depression was the start of other problems, now i have been diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder.

But seriously, i hate taking the pills, none have helped and i feel that they have only made things worse for me.

My friend's parents took it the same way when he started having panic attacks - they would yell at him and belittle his troubles with their own divorce matters, which I think started some of it...I later found out that during this whole time he was seceretly selling coke to buy himself out of a debt so he wouldn't be killed...sooo...that didn't help either.

Life sucks some days and really sucks other days...for me, I dunno - I stopped myself one day and said, these pills aren't doing anything (and I'm not saying here that they don't work for some) but I just said - hey, this is all in my head...luckily I had just began a short vacation to London and it was the breath of fresh air I needed to boost me out of it. I still have bouts here and there - nobody goes thru life w/o feeling it - it hits some harder than others...and everyone's experience is their own - some people are able to come away from it and others have to go to other means to "wake" themselves - During my four years of college I can't even begin to count the number of kids I would walk past and see hesitation marks on their arms...It's so common, you would think we would have a better understanding of what works for different people

I'd be dead now if it weren't for antidepressants. (of course, there are those who aren't too thrilled about my continued existance, but that's another post.) I used to try to convince people that I wasn't being drugged by The Man� and that I'm not weak and pathetic, but there is no convincing people of that. so now my current policy on the subject is that any and all who disagree may kindly kiss my butt. it makes my life much easier

joey/bobbo, thx for the offer. you know, i actually found this place coz of the aussie bloke hoax. i was actually looking forward to the end of the world. imagine that. anyway it was good while it lasted and now its back to taking it day by day

also, to the person who wrote the 3rd article on the recent poll we just had. (why ats is great?? i dont really recall) anyway, you nailed it spot on a perfect 10.

Mine experiences in a nut shell:


Gave me vivid nightmares, worms crawlng through my skull and eating my flesh...

I yawned alot but could never sleep

my eyes were like being on e or coc aine

I was emotionally detached...


I wasn't on it long enough to experience any more negative effects but I know a couple people that went through that.
They are hard to get off of due to severe depression coming off them.

Sometimes it is theraputic to chat or forum on line. You get to express thoughts and ideas so you drag them around with you.

[edit on 5-7-2004 by slank]

I;m not sure what you mean by "blanching"...?

Maybe it would help to describe what depression really is.

Depression is not something you can just "snap out of." It's caused by an imbalance of brain chemicals, along with other factors. Like any serious medical condition, depression needs to be treated.

Its from this site www.depression.com...

People who are feeling down, maybe due to an event in their life, may have the ability to 'snap out of it' (a good friend can help here), but for anyone who is suffering from clinical depression, they need proper treatment. This usually consists of medication and counselling. However, people react in different ways to medication, so it is usually a case of trying to see which drugs are effective. This can take time, but is worth persevering with.

Here is another site that describes depression and how to cope with it.
www.nimh.nih.gov...

Thanks - I think that clarifies what I was trying to say along with adding supporting links

Good post

Originally posted by slank
Sometimes it is theraputic to chat or forum on line. You get to express thoughts and ideas so you drag them around with you.

[edit on 5-7-2004 by slank]

it has helped. There was a member who use to U2U me everyday to see how i am, he was a really nice guy. But now i hardly talk about cause people judge me and think "im weird". Even a so called friend said that i should be a nut house cause i hear voices and stuff