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Do antidepressants work?
Nonameanymore:
I once tried fluoxetine but I couldn't stand the spaced-out and drowsy feeling, so I didn't go through the whole therapy. My ex-fiance took them about the same time (history of taking antidepressants in his family) and I remember the first couple of days when he called me on the way to work to say that he felt really, really bad. A little later we broke up but he nevertheless shared that he had problems climaxing (sorry if this too graphic). I think he said that he couldn't 'feel' anything, maybe similar to what Dr. G. is talking about in his reply (numbness). My ex-sister in law was taking a cocktail of them as well and although she seemed 'happy', she was like a stepford-wife, the lights are on but nobody's home. We say in Greece that the eye of someone who is taking antidepressants resembles a fish that was caught 3 days ago: it forms a thick layer on the eye...
I have taken St. John's Wort for many years and it has worked, however when I tried to stop the worst withdrawal symptom was physical and not emotional, a lack of energy.
My layman opinion is that if one doesn't work on the underlying issue that caused depression in the first place, they won't get better even if they take them for the rest of their life. I feel that depression is a symptom. To me it's a good boost but only for a while. If one's life is a mess, it won't be sorted just by raising their serotonine levels...
I come from a family of suicides too (NM's side) and I am relieved to see that this is common. Not that I am happy about it ( :D ) but rather that I see that it goes hand in hand with N issues. My NM's brother did several attempts (once I found him and had to keep him alive until the ambulance came when I was 7 or 8 and I found out that he killed himself in 2007 after immigrating to America (I guess like me he thought that moving abroad will sort out his issues but they caught up with him at the end). Also many members in the family used suicide as manipulation means (let me do this, or do this or I will kill myself)
BonesMS:
--- Quote from: Dr. Hountini on August 09, 2011, 05:58:51 AM ---I once tried fluoxetine but I couldn't stand the spaced-out and drowsy feeling, so I didn't go through the whole therapy. My ex-fiance took them about the same time (history of taking antidepressants in his family) and I remember the first couple of days when he called me on the way to work to say that he felt really, really bad. A little later we broke up but he nevertheless shared that he had problems climaxing (sorry if this too graphic). I think he said that he couldn't 'feel' anything, maybe similar to what Dr. G. is talking about in his reply (numbness). My ex-sister in law was taking a cocktail of them as well and although she seemed 'happy', she was like a stepford-wife, the lights are on but nobody's home. We say in Greece that the eye of someone who is taking antidepressants resembles a fish that was caught 3 days ago: it forms a thick layer on the eye...
I have taken St. John's Wort for many years and it has worked, however when I tried to stop the worst withdrawal symptom was physical and not emotional, a lack of energy.
My layman opinion is that if one doesn't work on the underlying issue that caused depression in the first place, they won't get better even if they take them for the rest of their life. I feel that depression is a symptom. To me it's a good boost but only for a while. If one's life is a mess, it won't be sorted just by raising their serotonine levels...
I come from a family of suicides too (NM's side) and I am relieved to see that this is common. Not that I am happy about it ( :D ) but rather that I see that it goes hand in hand with N issues. My NM's brother did several attempts (once I found him and had to keep him alive until the ambulance came when I was 7 or 8 and I found out that he killed himself in 2007 after immigrating to America (I guess like me he thought that moving abroad will sort out his issues but they caught up with him at the end). Also many members in the family used suicide as manipulation means (let me do this, or do this or I will kill myself)
--- End quote ---
You're absolutely right that if the root cause of depression is not addressed and dealt with, the "happy pill" is NOT going to fix it! I've tried telling that to the last therapist I saw and he wasn't interested in hearing it. His main attitude was: "Why can't you get over the past? Here, take this pill and get a man too! That should solve A-L-L your problems!" (What planet was that therapist living on?????????)
Bones
Nonameanymore:
Right on Bones! Lately more and more I believe that taking ANY pill is not going to solve the problem. Pain is here to show you that something isn't right in your body and you should check it.
Yes, I am familiar with the 'why can't you get over the past'. It usually comes from 'textbook knowledge only' therapists....
Talking about the 'get a man', I was also told by the psychiatrist who gave me the fluoxetine that even if I didn't feel like being intimate with my ex-fiance, it didn't mean a thing and that I should remember the song 'Yes, I am great pretender', as if saying 'no, we shouldn't look at why you don't want to have sex but that you should force yourself to do it anyway'. Jeez, I had completely forgotten about this one!
sKePTiKal:
--- Quote ---I feel that depression is a symptom.
--- End quote ---
I agree with this, wholeheartedly. For some types of depression (definitely not all*), it's best not to avoid those feelings - with all those useless coping strategies - it's way better to trace it all back and pull out the splinter that got infected so that the depression can heal on it's own. But our society sees something "wrong" if a person isn't happy, social, engaged with others, 24/7... the idea of balance with solitude, self-reflection, etc just isn't all that fashionable right now. So that becomes an additional burden or stigma for the person trying to heal. I just don't think MDs get enough training to diagnose what kind of depression they're dealing with, in a 15 min conversation with a patient. They want to help; don't know how or have the time; so of course they reach for a pill -- an emotional "antibiotic miracle drug" -- the anti-Ds. "Take two of these and call me in the morning".
*For the majority of self-reported depression... which is most often a normal human response to temporary life difficulties that simply don't feel that temporary or outside of one's self.
SilverLining:
--- Quote from: Dr. Hountini on August 09, 2011, 05:58:51 AM ---
I come from a family of suicides too (NM's side) and I am relieved to see that this is common. Not that I am happy about it ( :D ) but rather that I see that it goes hand in hand with N issues. My NM's brother did several attempts (once I found him and had to keep him alive until the ambulance came when I was 7 or 8 and I found out that he killed himself in 2007 after immigrating to America (I guess like me he thought that moving abroad will sort out his issues but they caught up with him at the end). Also many members in the family used suicide as manipulation means (let me do this, or do this or I will kill myself)
--- End quote ---
Hi H. Suicide definitely goes along with N issues. I haven't gotten into this aspect of my FOO history on the board, but there have been numerous suicide attempts, the latest being two by my sister in the last five years. Maybe her underlying N problems were the ultimate cause, but I believe the chemical treatment was at least a contributing factor. She was trying to withdraw from Cymbalta when she made these attempts. There are 1000's of comments on the internet about problems with Cymbalta, especially for those trying to quit.
So after her suicide attempts the response of the medical system was to up her dosages and add more drugs. Not that I can blame "the system" because she is certainly an Nish hypochondriac and difficult to deal with. I only hope that she finally learns enough from experience to get out of this trap somehow. I have to wonder if she would have been better off if talk therapy was the only choice 25 years ago when the whole thing started. Now she's pushing 50 and still looking for the easy chemical answer.
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