I don't want to go back on anti-depressants
or anti-anxiety meds.
How can you tell if you need to go back on meds, or if you need to change your life? I mean, how can you tell if psych meds are just covering up a problem that should be dealt with, or if they are a cure FOR a problem?
Maybe I shouldn't feel fine, because something's wrong, and the drugs will make me feel as though everything's okay when it's not?
On the other hand, maybe the drugs are necessary for a clear head?
I wish I could take a "see things as they really are uncolored by any pre-existing experience and free of outside influences" pill. Do they make those?
How can you tell if you need to go back on meds, or if you need to change your life? I mean, how can you tell if psych meds are just covering up a problem that should be dealt with, or if they are a cure FOR a problem?
Maybe I shouldn't feel fine, because something's wrong, and the drugs will make me feel as though everything's okay when it's not?
On the other hand, maybe the drugs are necessary for a clear head?
I wish I could take a "see things as they really are uncolored by any pre-existing experience and free of outside influences" pill. Do they make those?
posted by Ubermilf at 9:19 AM
7 Comments:
I'm assuming that the antidepressants are being prescribed by a psychiatrist. If so I suggest you ask the psychiatrist exactly what you asked yourself here, and us. I'm guessing you might do well to have some old fashioned talk therapy in conjunction with the antidepressants. If it's your internist who's prescribing, he/she should be shot.
And the fact that you're asking the questing tells me you know there are problems. The question is then how best to find a solution? Again, maybe talk therapy is the path that will get you there. The next problem is finding a good talk therapist--namely one you like and can trust. Can't have trust without a bit of like.
Honey, are you in there?
Let me ask you this, hypothetically, why WOULDN'T you want to be on antidepressants? Hmmmm?
unless it interferes with the drinking... I wouldn't want that I suppose.
Dark side. Interesting.
I'm sorry Utah. This blog isn't hooked up to send me emails when I get comments.
I have been off anti-depressants since... May? April?
I have a great doctor (a benefit of living in the Chicago area is the number of teaching hospitals and such) a psychiatrist, not a gp or anything.
It's difficult for me to talk about going back on them TODAY because TODAY I'm not depressed.
It makes me question, what sets me off? Should I be desensitized against what sets me off?
Plus, with my thyroid meds, what will they give me this time?
Maybe my brain needs highs and lows.
The solution is there is no solution-
The sooner anyone understands that,
the faster they can heal-
Antidepressants are like putting
a band aid on an open wound-
I live in hell,
trust me-
Live your hell sober,
for two minutes,
you'll be downing vodka like me-
If I'm going to get taken out,
I'll go down on my own terms,
and that's that-
FUCK HARD,LIVE HARD,LAUGH HARD,
DIE SOFT AND COMFORTABLE-
Ubermilf,
I highy, highly suggest you read this book:
Prozac Backlash - Overcoming the Dangers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Other Antidepressants with Safe, Effective Alternatives.
It's by Joseph Glenmullen, M.D., a professor at Harvard.
I won't recount for you here my 20-odd years of taking every single anti-depressant on the planet and the ultimate side effects they ended up causing and, in the their inherent inefficacy.
The book was recommended to me by my current shrink, a psychoanlyst who is smart, realistic and measured.
But seriously, read the book. You'll learn a lot and I think it will help you make the right decision for yourself with regard to anti-depressants. We all have own or make-up, our own histories, so I am not one to say "yes" or "no" to them. They have their use.
And Utah is right. A good talk therapist goes a real long way.
I'm a lot late in reading this, but I'll say I was on anti-depressants for years and they helped tremendously, but I always questioned whether or not I should be taking them. I stopped taking them for a while and went on this healthy eating kick. I decided to follow some basic rules set out in an article Mrs. Kathy had forwarded to me. Here's a link (or at least text you can copy into a browser address line): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?_r=1&ex=1189742400&en=e310e19086604438&ei=5070
I also started exercising regularly. What I know now that I've lived through a couple of extremely stressful years without the happy pills, as I fondly referred to them, is that I see an immediate difference in my mood based on what I eat and how active I am. This may not be the same for you, but I think it's a factor for everyone. Our bodies are basically incredibly complex machines and they run better when we care for them.
I don't mean this to sound preachy at all. I think the pills have their place. And there are certainly things that can't be treated with diet and exercise alone. I can just tell you it made an immeasureable difference for me. Strike that. It is a measureable difference. I can get out of bed in the morning. I can function. I can go days, rather than only hours, without crying now. And when I slip into bad habits as I tend to do when I get stressed, they feed into it and I feel worse. As soon as I do something positive and get back on track, I feel better.
I hope that helps somehow. I threw this out here in part based on a conversation with my doctor who recently asked how I was doing without the medication and why I thought I didn't need it anymore. My answer was, "I started eating right and exercising and I feel better. Who knew?" Her response was, "Please tell people that."
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