I had a neurologist try to push Celexa on me a few years ago. I went to him for a nerve condition, a physical one, not a mental one and he told me I “could be depressed and not know it”. I told him that I could also be “not be depressed and know that, too”. He never wrapped his head around the fact that I was refusing, I guess, because he called me two weeks later and asked how the antidepressant was working. I said, “I told you that I wasn’t going to take a mind altering drug.” He argued with me that it wasn’t mind altering and said that I really, really needed to be on it. What a filthy, drug pushing quack. I found a real doctor and the nerve issues are resolved.
My elderly, but fully cognizant, mother in law was put on Lexapro for something other than depression. She nearly went out of her mind. Her kids no longer recognized her behavior. She had violent shakes and cried all the time and said she just couldn’t live like that, which was scary to hear such a vibrant woman say. Her kids stepped in and had her weaned off of the drug. She told me that it was nearly 2 years before she felt normal with no tremor flashbacks. She’s back to her old, cheerful self again, thankfully.
My dad lost a good friend a few weeks after he started on an antidepressant. His wife said he became withdrawn and had a complete personality change. He shot himself and my dad said that he was absolutely NOT the suicidal type. He was completely under the influence of that drug.
SSRI’s and other similar psychotropic meds are VERY DANGEROUS chemicals and doctors are encouraged to give them out like candy before fully screening a patient for other potential treatment. An antidepressant should not be the go-to drug. For some people, they are literally a poison. They should be a last resort and require careful and frequent monitoring. Family members should be well educated on what to look for and to stay in touch with the doctor about all side effects.
Thank you for the post. I have done quite a bit of reading on the issue. The more I read, the bigger I realize the problem is. The Pharm industry did not include any warnings in the beginning, but was allowed to get by in USA. Germany would not ok without warnings.
I just finished reading a legal brief, and there it noted that one reason for this was an inability to metabolize the drug. Suggested a compatibility test before prescribing it. Wouldn’t it be awful if it was that simple, but no one ever looked into it sufficiently before?
I just naturally shy away from Rx. What I’ve read makes me glad of that.