My concern about all these anti-depressant medicines is:
when people are depressed, rather than do the hard work of:
1. figuring out what is bothering them;
2. figuring out whether it SHOULD bother them;
2.5 not allowing themselves to get depressed over things that shouldn’t depress them (I don’t mean to be flippant - I know that’s HARD work)
3. altering what they are able to alter that’s bothering them;
4. accepting the things they can’t alter, and changing their responses to them;
5. facing the wrong behaviors/attitudes they possess which they must change within themselves;
6. seeking help;
7. discipling themselves in appropriate ways;
8. reaching out to others in order to alleviate overly self-centered thinking -
9. making sometimes big, hard changes like moving, changing careers, changing environments, changing diets, changing relationships;
10. developing positive and life affirming hobbies, habits and thought patterns -
most of which is hard, grovely, time consuming effort, two steps forward, one step back, start to do better then get knocked on your keester -
they take pills and try to skip all the hard work.
And you know, I just don’t think that, long term, pills work. MAYBE they work for a short term. and MAYBE, enjoying their effects for a few months makes you even less able to cope with hard core depression the old fashioned way.
Depression can be totally debilitating and should not be treated lightly. I think using prescription meds is a way of treating them lightly. I’m not a medical professional. It’s just my observation. I think you need to fight your way out of depression, and often you need help, but I don’t think the pills are help.
Right you are...the meds are a tool, not a cure.
I feel the same way about Neal Clark Warren - supposedly eharmony is great, but I can’t stand that guy’s smarmy face. He seems to want to sell people the idea that the problems and challenges go away if you’re with the right person (excuse me...your “soulmate.”) It’s simply not true, unless you’re John Lennon and Yoko Ono, so I think he’s selling people on the idea that it’s not you, it’s them - a dangerous mindset to be in if you’re looking for long-term security with a loved one.
With regards to item # 2. Supposed you witnessed an aircrash into Pearl Harbor that killed 11 of your close friends. Then you ID'd them in the morgue. Then you spent a week burying them. Should that depresses you? And if so, what next?
Regards
Antidepressants do have their place in treating certain kinds of serious depressive disorders. People cannot snap out of it any more than they can snap out of a brain tumor. Still, these drugs are way over- prescribed and I feel they have had a detrimental effect on society. They can dull the protective sense of shame and guilt that is our internal moral compass. These meds contribute to people’s give-a-crap being broken. It also makes it easier to point to the sins of others like the dead white men rather than looking inside at our own.
Many people get depressed from things other than worry or stressful relations. Pneumonia, for example, can cause serious depression with a rapid onset. All the soul-searching in the world won't benefit these cases.
Also, in many instances, the patient's mental abilities deteriorate as a result of the depression and it becomes impossible for them to literally think straight.
But, if the patient is a good candidate for it, outdoor exercise, a good diet and good friends can be as helpful as anything.
“Depression can be totally debilitating and should not be treated lightly. I think using prescription meds is a way of treating them lightly. I’m not a medical professional. It’s just my observation. I think you need to fight your way out of depression, and often you need help, but I don’t think the pills are help.”
The Northern Illinois University killer went OFF his meds a few weeks before his murderous rampage. Methinks he should have stayed on them, as at least while on them he wasn’t busy plotting and carrying out mass murder. I think we have to be very careful here not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Many times pills can help, and many medications have allowed us to live a lot longer than one ordinarily would, as most of us know. There is much more trial and error to get the right meds that will work on a given mental patient, however, if those pills allow the mentally ill to at least function in society, then so be it. This killer at Northern IL Univ. went off his meds in order to try to solve his problems on his own. Well, we can see where his decision led him. Think carefully before blaming the pills for whatever happens. I don’t trust this anyhow, as the Libs are always after the big pharmaceuticals, and they will use any leverage they can get to do so.
Your post shows such a complete lack of knowledge about depression and depressive disorders as to render it laughable.
Depression and depressive disorders are not about feeling sad or sorry for oneself.
That said, sometimes it takes some time working with your doctor to determine what is the best medication and dosage for treatment.
Additionally, many people do not realize that some of these medications, Prozac for one, cannot be started or stopped abruptly and that doing so will have repercussions. Unfortunately many people think they are smarter than the doctor.
Quite often, depressed people can’t even begin to do those things without help. Asking them to do and identify all those steps is like asking the impossible when most of the time they don’t even want to face getting out of bed in the morning. Jeez, when I was in a really bad depressive state, it threw me into such a state just trying to decide if I should do the laundry or vaccuum first. You’re paralyzed. Indecision and clouded thinking is a huge part of true depression. You can’t ask someone like that to make reasonable decisions right off the bat and on their own.
It’s all easier said than done. Imagine yourself isolated on a desert island, which is what today’s urban environment has become for each and everyone of us. Sure, pills won’t cure melancholy, but neither will outdoor exercise and good diet. Been there, am there.
I see that several subsequent comments have set you straight on what is an extremely naive and biologically ignorant view of depression (as opposed to sadness) in human beings.
I can only speak of my own experiences. I have done each of the steps in your post. It was hard work. But it wasn’t enough. I am currently taking Zoloft. It is helping me feel like myself. If taking a prescription pill for the rest of my life keeps me from becoming depressed, I have no problem doing so.
I think you meant disciplining but the slip, if it was one, is appropriate also.
But for many people achieving those steps would be impossible without some sort of medication to take the edge off. It’s hard to address problems logically if the untreated depression is making logical though nearly impossible.
My therapist once treated someone who said it was an effort for her to breathe. Yes, as the commercials say, it’s more than just mental - it can be physical too.
As someone who takes effexor, your comments offend me. Before I took this med, I couldn’t think clearly. I could barely function.
I also was involved in CBT which I think makes an enormous difference. In my case, and in many others, changing one’s thinking means a lot. It can be difficult to do. It’s tough to see one’s thinking objectively, and it’s even harder to change.
Just as it is hard to do the things you cited.
But taking the meds gave me the ability to start changing things. It brought me up to a stable place. CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) helps you realize that lemons are merely the precursor of tasty lemonade.
Ya know, just LIVING when you have depression is incredibly hard work, regardless of what it looks like from the outside.