And what's the deal with anti-depressant drugs?

Anyone on, or know anything about, anti-depressants? How do they work, and when, and for what (precisely)? A friend of mine was on them before, and he quit taking them because he said he didn't like feeling "deluded"; but I've heard him say similar things about alcohol.

How do you know if they're the drug for you? and would you dub them recommendable?

 

If you need anti-depressants or other mood stabilizing drugs then yes I'd dub them recommendable.

I'm not on any, but I have friends on Celexa, Lamictil, Zoloft, and Effexor. Each of them makes whomever's taking the drug feel different. Some feel happy, some numb, some apathetic. But none of them feel depressed or suicidal unless their meds run out.

 

Unfortunately, you may notice the effects during the effects, you understand? And that's what makes some people feel uncomfortable about taking 'em.

 

I've never been diagnosed as being in need of mood-stabling drugs, but I haven't exactly made many efforts of finding that sorta thing out. Judging from what you said, magikot, it looks as though they're not really advisable unless you're in a suicidal state.

Arthur, I imagine that someone could be pacified in the knowledge that drugs aren't permanent.

What I'm really asking is, if you're in a state where you're considering that kinda thing at all, do they work if all you want is the drugs and pretty much out-straight refuse to talk about specifics of whatever problems you might have.

 

Fairly certain this is what doctors are for.

 

I'm on anti-depressants at the moment because I'm a loser. Was on Citalopram for a bit, but they made me sick, so the doctor switched me over to Prozac.

I don't notice any difference in myself at all, but everyone I regularly associate with says I am a lot happier.

Recommendable? If you're depressed, I guess?

 

I've tried a few. There's basically two kinds, to my knowledge. Both try to stabilise serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is what you get after a hug.

One kind, like prozac, increases serotonin production. Another kind, like effexor, inhibits serotonin reuptake after it is produced naturally.

The second kind is a gentler option in my experience. It is a prevention for a serotonin crash in your brain which can make optimism extremely difficult.

However, for the prevention of depression, Exercising for 30 mins, 3 times per week is as effective as any pill. Furthermore, cognitive therapy, where you just practise optimism and build up serotonin with your thoughts alone, is more effective in the long run.

For example, you're not a loser, Sjael.

All have side-effects and some are very serious: Mood swings, aggression, even increased risk of suicide. I recommend them only as a last resort and in combination with other therapies, but definitely an healthier option than killing yourself.

Yes, they work, but you're right: It only treats the symptoms, not the cause.

 

Oh, that fact has nothing to do with my depression. :lol:

 

It's recommended to take anti-depressants in conjunction with psychotherapy. No pill is going to cure you, they only deal with symptoms. If the cause is neglected, your medications will be for naught. I'm currently on anti-depressants and anti-psychotics. I've even spent time in mental hospitals. As many of you can see, I'm still a little crazy. However, I'm much more confident than I used to be, thanks to a little tough love on my own part; I started college at my own volition to facilitate a necessary change in my own personality. So far, so good.

 

But surely it's better than nothing if you just refuse to talk about what you think might be bothering you.

 

Sometimes they're worse than nothing. The side-effects can truly suck, and you never know how you'll react until you try them for a while.

But if your mate will not/can not confront his problems then, yes, it's probably better than nothing, and certainly better than suicide.

Once I googled "meaning of life" and found an entire family of tap-dancers wearing sparkling vests who believed prozac should be in the water supply. Bahahaha. That's one side-effect right there.

 

But psychotherapy can help you utilize the changes in your perception of things due to medications in ways you hadn't thought of on your own. Sure, if you have the right attitude, just taking some pills can turn out fine. However, not everyone can realize the inner potential for recovery on their own. I'd say taking anti-depressants without professional help would be a last resort, due to the potential side effects. It takes time to dig through years of depression, and sometimes the willpower of the symptomatic isn't enough. With the right person, it can be. And if this turns into another fake suicide thread I will burn you all with my radioactive rage.

 

And why do they call them fans? I mean all they do is swamp you and demand your autograph. I don't feel any cooler around them.

 

You're not supposed to feel any cooler around your fans. Fan is short for fanatic, which is definitely someone you don't want hanging around your bubble of personal space so readily trespassed by the voracious swarms of rabid onlookers.

 

Awh Gross, Gross... C'mon...

 

Ah, the delicious literal-mindedness of Asperger's Syndrome.

Taking people's questions at face value is another virtue of autism.

I hope that clears up the confusion, Zanza.

 

There are some things in life that make me giggle. One of them is this post, this thread, and the pretense that follows and flows within it. Now, ordinarily, if you get a group of people together, and discuss the idea of what drug works for who, we'd be comparing who's dropping x, or acid, or whatever hip drug all the kids are doing these days. Not in Terra Arcanum. No, when drugs are mentioned, we discuss anti-depressants. Now, this isn't to rag on the community any more than my pointing this fact out does to the possibly-fragile ego's of those who are resident here. No, the point of this is to point out the humor I've drawn from this thread. Now, I'm no 4Chan /b/tard, but I do know a bad place to ask for advice when I hit my face against one. So far, we have at two admitted individuals taking anti-depressants, (three, I suppose, if you count myself. I was prescribed one in middle school... though now the name sits on the tip of my tongue). Toss in my dyslexia, ADD (or is it ADHD? Given my hatred of Doctor's, the world may never know!), and general "stream of conciousness" styling to my writing, and we've ourselves a small crackpot of crackheads!

Well. There. If anyone is left after this point, I'll be surprised.

 

I tried them for some months, but I didn't feel any different, if anything, they just made me feel more indifferent. Then they also gave me some side effects, it was harder to sleep, I think some form of hyperactivity.

And during & after their use I lost my ability to write poems. I used to write some couple poems in a month. Now at best I've written one poem in a year. I think something similar has happend to my music making. I used to compose songs much more and get them ready, but now I've only done some incomplete tracks.

Now I'll just eat some cannabis if I feel depressed or stressed. Though it only helps temporarily as my stress comes from cannabis being illegal here. Even if I didn't have any cannabis in my possession, I would worry about getting caught of it's use. Hopefully it'll be legal soon, so I can stop worrying about it.

 

Of those of you who are or ever have been on anti-depressants, how many of you were on them because they were prescribed to you by a doctor?

I would like to reiterate Zanza's original reply and encourage anybody who thinks he may need anti-depressants to seek professional evaluation on the matter.

 

My two-cents:

In my opinion, the science behind anti-depressants is shaky. The hypothesis that low serotonin, along with other neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, etc) levels somehow corresponds to depression is the accepted one, but not fully adequate. At one conference I attended in 2007, a researcher from Eastern Kentucky University was investigating the role of psychoactive drugs on brain receptors. He made the point that whenever you take a psychoactive substance (all of which modulate neurotransmitters), such as opiates, benzodiazepines, THC, or whatever your drug of choice is, as soon as it hits the target receptor one feels the effect almost immediately. Yet with anti-depressants, it hits the brain just as quickly as any other drug that can cross the blood-brain barrier, but takes two or more weeks to induce an effect (edit: desired effect). It begs the question why? If it really is a case of low neurotransmitter concentration, then anti-depressant drugs should be acting more quickly. What is it they are doing? Are they regulating gene expression in neurons? Up-regulating/down-regulating receptors? Altering ion channels? And then there is the topic of failure rate.
Many depressed patients find these drugs to be of immense benefit. But the efficacy of the drugs is questionable and have been subjected to bias reporting by pharmaceutical companies. See http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa065779#t=articleResults

I won't mind being ripped for this seemingly obnoxious post. I just hope its food-for-thought.