Anti-Depressants

[RockAngel]

Anyone ever taken them? Thoughts? Comments?

I'm asking because I am seriously considering these god forsaken pills. I'm able to sleep and eat, but I have a hard time concentrating, and I feel a lack of emotion with ANYTHING during most of the day. Everything is an effort, and when I talk to family/friends I'm always stumbling upon words or can't even remember what I was talking about! I don't feel any excitement for the happy things that come my way, and when I feel down, it's so low that I'm struggling to get out of it. Happiness feels so far away. I've been in this "funk" for 4 months now, and I don't see much light at the end of this tunnel.

[LilGuillermo]

I hear ya, and I've dealt with depression most of my life, I know what it's like to wake up and just not care about anything and to feel hopeless about everything in general. Then I started trying antidepressants and I got around to paxil and for me personally, that was the one that worked. Then I started feeling good about life and things started to make more sense. Like being social came a lot easier, that was the big thing I myself noticed. I've been off of them for about a year now and I can feel myself receding, but maybe that's because there's a lot of things going on in my life that I need to correct (find better job, get a gf, find place, etc...) or maybe I really do need to get back on them. But the point is when I used them, they worked! Now I don't know if they're for everyone, I personally needed them cos living with my mindset wasn't working, but ask your doctor, it could be something to look into....

[Jedi of Zen]

I've been on antidepressants (two of them actually) for many years now. Overall, it's worked out well. For me, it doesn't eliminate depression, but it does make it easier to manage.

I guess, not to sound like a commercial, but only you and your doctor can decide if antidepressants are right for you. :)

[manman]

I know several people who take anti-depressants, and I would consider all of them to be better off because of them.

[LisaAF]

I took them as a teenager, before they stopped giving them to kids. The doctor first put me on Zoloft. I took it once and went totally psychotic. The doctor then switched me to Prozac. It helped, a little, and I didn't have any side effects when taking it, but getting off it years later was horrible. It actually took me a couple of tries to do so. By the time I went off it, the warnings about suicide had appeared, and I had to taper it off gradually, going from 40mgs to 30mgs to 20mgs and so on. Every time I lowered the dose I was miserable until my body adjusted to it, and by then, it was time to lower it again. I'd suggest them as a last resort. If you're not already talking to a therapist weekly, try that first. And if you don't like the first therapist, try another one. I went to three different ones before I found one I was comfortable with.

[Xgraduatex]

hmm im on them right now. Its so sad im seeing many occurences of people our age, or post college on anti depressents and i think our nation is just such a take a pill to fix a problem society that it hurts us in the end. That being said without 150mg of wellbutrin a day i'd shoot myself.

:-)

get the pills if you feel a funk

[wordsmith]

Having gutted it through two fairly significant bouts of depression without any type of treatment whatsoever, I can confidently say that if I find myself in that position again, I will absolutely NOT hesitate to get mental health care and/or medicate if it seems appropriate to do so under a professional's advice. And I don't take medication regularly for anything, so I'm def. not a "pop a pill and it'll all be better" person.

I had a lot of the same reasons I imagine many others have for resisting treatment (thinking, "Oh, it's not like this is a real illness," "there's such a stigma about medicating," "I don't want to feel dependent upon a pill," etc., and just plain being too proud/too private/ too much in denial of a real illness to avail myself of help I may well have needed). In hindsight, it was really a mistake to lose a full year or more to a black hole of depression, chosing instead to treat it like just a bad day that needed to be gotten through. I wouldn't refuse to seek treatment for a physical condition, and instead choose to suffer indefinitely; it doesn't make any more sense for me to refuse to seek treatment for something psychological/emotional. When I think about all the time I lost feeling like utter shit and despairing everything, and the ensuing fallout that occurred in my life (and more would have occurred had I not been lucky enough to be surrounded by people who loved me and helped me get through as best they could) it seems pretty stupid that I opted not to avail myself of help.

I think people need to give mental health as much credence as they do physical health. It's just as important, if not moreso.

[SmilesSoSweet]

Anyone ever taken them? Thoughts? Comments?

I'm asking because I am seriously considering these god forsaken pills.

Why do you say that they are "god forsaken pills"? I've been taking meds for my depression and ADD for over two years now. They only helped (along with therapy) me, not hurt me. I have no shame about taking these meds. They're helping me, so why wouldn't I take them.

Of course you and your doctor will have to determine which meds are best for you since they all vary from person to person.

[Steve Grabowski]

I've never really tried traditional SSRIs for depression, but high dose magnesium (which is an orthomolecular antidepressant) was a lifesaver for me when I first started in winter of 2007.

[Steve Grabowski]

Having gutted it through two fairly significant bouts of depression without any type of treatment whatsoever, I can confidently say that if I find myself in that position again, I will absolutely NOT hesitate to get mental health care and/or medicate if it seems appropriate to do so under a professional's advice. And I don't take medication regularly for anything, so I'm def. not a "pop a pill and it'll all be better" person.

I had a lot of the same reasons I imagine many others have for resisting treatment (thinking, "Oh, it's not like this is a real illness," "there's such a stigma about medicating," "I don't want to feel dependent upon a pill," etc., and just plain being too proud/too private/ too much in denial of a real illness to avail myself of help I may well have needed). In hindsight, it was really a mistake to lose a full year or more to a black hole of depression, chosing instead to treat it like just a bad day that needed to be gotten through. I wouldn't refuse to seek treatment for a physical condition, and instead choose to suffer indefinitely; it doesn't make any more sense for me to refuse to seek treatment for something psychological/emotional. When I think about all the time I lost feeling like utter shit and despairing everything, and the ensuing fallout that occurred in my life (and more would have occurred had I not been lucky enough to be surrounded by people who loved me and helped me get through as best they could) it seems pretty stupid that I opted not to avail myself of help.

I think people need to give mental health as much credence as they do physical health. It's just as important, if not moreso.

Yup. Mental illnesses are among the biggest causes of disability, lost productivity and suffering on the planet. They are the biggest cause of disability among people in our age bracket. Yet we barely take them seriously or even talk about them.