Antidepressants

[Damen]

I was talking to a pharmacist today and he said that out of a room of people at least 75% of them would be on some sort of antidepressants. I was pretty shocked at his statement.

Really what I'm looking for in this thread is for people who have taken antidepressants (mostly SSRIs, but any apply), why they ended up taking them, and how it effected your "thinking" or any other side effects that may have occured. [Apparently the term 'Paxil-Rod' is a joke between midwives with husbands on Paxil.]

For example, I read about a guy with social anxiety taking some medications, and while he said they did allow him to be social in almost any way imaginable, he also said it dulled a lot of his 'normal' thoughts as well and stopped taking them for this reason.

I'm really interested in this topic, and I tried to find some 'reader reviews' of antidepressants on the internet, but I haven't had much luck.

[Miji]

Maybe 75% of the people he deals with are on antidepressants. Just because 99% of the people I associate with most of the day are college students does not mean 99% of all people are college students.

[Keno]

I was talking to a pharmacist today and he said that out of a room of people at least 75% of them would be on some sort of antidepressants. I was pretty shocked at his statement.

Really what I'm looking for in this thread is for people who have taken antidepressants (mostly SSRIs, but any apply), why they ended up taking them, and how it effected your "thinking" or any other side effects that may have occured. [Apparently the term 'Paxil-Rod' is a joke between midwives with husbands on Paxil.]

For example, I read about a guy with social anxiety taking some medications, and while he said they did allow him to be social in almost any way imaginable, he also said it dulled a lot of his 'normal' thoughts as well and stopped taking them for this reason.

I'm really interested in this topic, and I tried to find some 'reader reviews' of antidepressants on the internet, but I haven't had much luck.

Your pharmacist is wrong. Only 17% of people will have a major depressive episode in their life* [major depressive episodes, the kinds that warrant anti-depressent meds (whether they be MAO or SSR inhibitors), are categorized as lasting longer than 2 weeks in length and having the severity of significantly impairing your daily performance]. That statement alone makes the 75% thing impossible.

Maybe though people are abusing AD's for their side effects, that is a completely different story.

*Having 1 ore more MD episode counts you as having major depressive disorder for your entire life.

P.S. Sorry for throwing the psycho-babble at you, thats just my Psychological background talking.

EDIT: Miji has an excellent point, I completely didn't even read what he wrote until I finished writing my schpiel.

[Odon]

Yes. I'm currently on Prozac. I started taking it a couple weeks ago, and there already is a huge change, I'm not down anymore, etc, it's really nice. And it is really effective..

[BerenTebogo]

You'd be surprised how many people are on anti-depressants of some form, or maybe more importantly, SHOULD be.

In some forms anti-depressants are used to treat psychotics, but for the most part they are used to regulate the secretion of horomones in the brain that are responsible for controlling many factors of behavior and attitude.

75% of the general population undoubtedly would be helped by anti-depressants, at the least, in my own opinion. Not to say in any way that the majority of people cannot, and in reality most likely WILL NOT need anti-depressants, we all have aspects of our persona which we may feel that we do not have complete control over.

The amount of people I am close with, from all social classes and statuses in life across a broad age range that self medicate with alcohol to some degree, or at least use alcohol as a buffer against their emotions which they would rather not face are a clear example.

I use an anxiety medication regularly and my fiancee uses the same one I'm on (I have my prescription written double since her health coverage sucks.) Our life before was one story, completely different from what it is now. We are normal, well adjusted, successful people who are more sociable and friendly than the average in my opinion (I am a sarcastic / snide asshole, but if you are around me it is because you enjoy my sense of humor, plenty of people cannot tolerate it.)

Our life before we decided to look into a 'buffer' as I like to call it was fine, we were happy, loved each other just as much, but we let the typical small incidents rise into fights and arguments which caused strain on our relationship. An example would be a 'spilling of the milk' or the like, in the morning, there would be a 'ugh why are you such a slob' response by one or the other, and an argument would inevitably ensue, whether it be our being tired, stressed, over-worked, or just not in the mood for it.

The anxiety medication provides me (I cannot speak for her) what I can only describe as a 2-3 second buffer between I think of saying 'fuck you' and actually saying it. In the past I would have thought 'fuck you' and said 'fuck you' whereas now I may think 'fuck you' but by the time I am about to say it, something clicks and I think 'ok you know what, it was an accident, dont get mad' or something equally more responsible.

It does not alter the way I think or act, it just gives me personally a period of time where I can evaluate my attitude or actions and make more responsible choices for everyone, myself included. My life has NEVER been smoother.

I know this is a huge rant, but I grew up with one parent being severly depressed, one being bi-polar, and knowing many people throughout my life suffering from the stigma of being on anti-depressants. People (including my fiancee's family) associate needing medication with being flat-out crazy, when they themselves have more problems than the average american (the amount of self-medication with alcohol is ridiculous) and I feel personally that the longer anti-depressants / mood stabilizers have a stigma attatched to them the longer the general population of the world will suffer.

I grew up with admitting you had ADHD being equivalent to you being fucking insane and now it is a common disorder which is widely recognized and has much support in place for those who choose to benefit from it, as well as a lack of the previous stigma. I think people who associate mood disorders with severe phsycological illness need to take a hard look at the people around them, 75% may be a small stretch, but I firmly believe it is not very far from accurate.


/rant

[Keno]

Yes. I'm currently on Prozac. I started taking it a couple weeks ago, and there already is a huge change, I'm not down anymore, etc, it's really nice. And it is really effective..

You'd be better suited with psychotherapy; Prozac is a horribly inefficient and dangerous drug.

[VZX]

Never. Can't comment much about anti-depressant or the users itself. I don't even know what anti-depressant itself is . I mean I knew it, but never ac crossed in my mind the day I'd need em

[Damen]

Your pharmacist is wrong. Only 17% of people will have a major depressive episode in their life* [major depressive episodes, the kinds that warrant anti-depressent meds (whether they be MAO or SSR inhibitors), are categorized as lasting longer than 2 weeks in length and having the severity of significantly impairing your daily performance]. That statement alone makes the 75% thing impossible.

Maybe though people are abusing AD's for their side effects, that is a completely different story.

*Having 1 ore more MD episode counts you as having major depressive disorder for your entire life.

P.S. Sorry for throwing the psycho-babble at you, thats just my Psychological background talking.

EDIT: Miji has an excellent point, I completely didn't even read what he wrote until I finished writing my schpiel.

Taking antidepressants for depressive episodes (17%) and people just taking antidepressants for any reason (like you said abusing for side effects) aren't exactly the same.

I was just looking into my own family, and was astonished at the amounts of prescribed ADs they're on. My brother got prescribed Zoloft I believe for chest pains (in addition to Fentanyl patches). My step father is on it permanently. My biological mother has taken it in the past to help get out of a 'rut' which started after 9/11. My uncle has taken *something* which has helped with him not having unnecessary angry fits about absurd topics. The only legitimate person (stigma) in my family who should be on them would be my bi-polar aunt (non-related) who has a prescription for them, but won't take them. Apparently, she only believes in herbal remedies which also ended up in the death of her first born but yea..

Also, one of my mother's friends said specifically about Wellbutrin that "There is no way I could make it through my day without my antidepressant."

I just thought there were way too many people that I knew that were on them so I started to question maybe his statement had some validity to it.

[Zigma]

nope

[Keno]

Yes 20% [From the Poll Here]

Oddly close to the actual statistic I gave. And yeah, you may know a lot of close relatives that are on them but that could be (read: is) a flawed sample.

[Lbelle]

was at one point

[Axil]

i need antipsychotics can we do a thread abotu those

[Keno]

i need antipsychotics can we do a thread abotu those

You take any anti-depressants with the lithium? Studies have found it actually helps quite a bit with most manic/hypomanic people; hell, they've even tested well with the psychotic disorders (schizophrenia, etc.).

[Axil]

i need antipsychotics can we do a thread abotu those

You take any anti-depressants with the lithium? Studies have found it actually helps quite a bit with most manic/hypomanic people; hell, they've even tested well with the psychotic disorders (schizophrenia, etc.).

i take nothing but should be taking a lot, idk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality this is me + other things. it sucks

[Keno]

i need antipsychotics can we do a thread abotu those

You take any anti-depressants with the lithium? Studies have found it actually helps quite a bit with most manic/hypomanic people; hell, they've even tested well with the psychotic disorders (schizophrenia, etc.).

i take nothing but should be taking a lot, idk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality this is me + other things. it sucks

Get a perscription for some lithium, it's a mood stabilizer. Kind of like a number. Some people complain it makes them unable to think clearly, but mostly no problems. And hell, anything is better than living with BLPD.

[Intense]

I voted no, Im generally an upbeat guy. Im mostly positive about things and generally happy about where my life is headed.

I think though its because I dont dwell on things, if I get mad or upset, Im over it in a few minutes.

[Axil]

I voted no, Im generally an upbeat guy. Im mostly positive about things and generally happy about where my life is headed.

I think though its because I dont dwell on things, if I get mad or upset, Im over it in a few minutes.

I still dwell on shit from like when i was 13 i have such an insane and paranoid way of thinking. like little things make me flip out and punch people and shit

[Tricen]

It's all in your head. IN YOUR HEEEEEEEEEEEEAD ZOMBIE ZOMBIE

[Axil]

It's all in your head. IN YOUR HEEEEEEEEEEEEAD ZOMBIE ZOMBIE

pretty much

[Tricen]

yah srsly