I have been a practicing psychologist for 21 years (and worked briefly at a VA). IMO, some psychiatrists tend to overprescribe for depression because they see Bipolar D/O in every garden variety depressive. That’s an ongoing debate in the community.
However, when it comes to treating PTSD and truly Bipolar vets, medication is the first (but not only) treatment choice.
I agree that people posting on this thread know very little about psychiatric medications. General statements about how one SSRI is better than another is simply ignorant. We have different reactions to different medications. That one person does poorly on Paxil doesn’t mean it is an ineffective drug. That another does well on Prozac doesn’t mean it is appropriate for everyone presenting with depression.
Glad to have another professional opinion on this thread.
Reminds me of the stupidity about Prozac “causing” suicides in the 1980’s. The Scientologists were behind that, but people are generally very gullible and very dangerous when they have a LITTLE information.
What makes you think he is the only “other” professional posting on this thread?
Psychology and psychiatry are at best fringe psuedo-science. NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE can claim to know how, let alone why, aberrant behaviour occurs in humans. Some of these drugs do work for a very short time, but what are they really doing? Long term, they are dangerous. And I don’t care how long you have been practicing. Very little is yet understood about brain functions. Synthetic drugs which the body does not have on its own, deposit themselves in receptors meant for other things and fundamentally repress and change natural responses. Instead of teaching an individual how to control and overcome out of sync responses that are often normal and fitting to a situation, these drugs mask them so that the responses are artificial, instantaneous, and often overwhelmingly OUT of control. These drugs do NOTHING to enhance self-control. In fact, they do the exact opposite.
Klonopin, which is most often used to reduce the effects and seizures of epilepsy and suppress involuntary nerve disorders like twitching and facial tics also has a tranquillizing effect. Given to a patient who has NONE of these symptoms and who doesn’t need it, it can, and does, create what it is supposed to control.
Taking it as an anti-anxiety drug while taking zanax and antidepressants is downright dangerous. Not to mention it is addictive.
So again. Is the above mentioned “cocktail” something YOU would prescribe for anyone, let alone someone who needs to adjust to the world as it is? NONE of these drugs can remove the causes of the anxiety or the depression and most people do not take themselves away from the causes. The drugs let them exist in a situation that should, but does not change. Instead, they stay in therapy and talk about the same things for literally years. No one gets better. So I ask you, as a “professional,” do you truly believe you are doing the best thing for a patient by introducing drugs like these?