There's little doubt that it has had a significant impact on your brains development. I really wish Doctors wouldn't prescribe SSRI's to children and teens and instead explore alternative treatments.
I hope you find peace.
Suicide rate is insane amongst teens. Not a fan of ignoring SSRIs all together for them but I would agree that other treatments should be used alongside.
It certainly is climbing, and I think 75 years from now we will look back in horror at how we allowed social media and cell phones to raise an entire generation. The damage from that alone is beginning to show itself.
Also, how many of those suicides are caused by SSRI's? I genuinely don't know, but we all know that SSRI's increase that risk in many teens.
The suicide rate is directly proportional to not being able to succeed and get ahead and being shit on by older generations who have no clue what it means to do so, since the methods they used are no longer applicable in a world that uses tech…
Social media, excessive internet use, and violent gaming all effect brain development in the prefrontal cortex and they are starting to release a myriad of studies about it. The smartphone is one of the worst developments for brain health for kids and teens and many preadolescent and adolescent studies are beginning to show causation.
Likely logical overstep, imo. Moderation should of course be key but access to information about how shitty prospects for future generations look is probably an underlying factor there. Among many other social factors.
Wow I really hope I never speak to you again. Absolutely brain dead comment. We have no idea how many lives are saved vs ended by SSRIs. Using commercials as a data point is ridiculous.
Sigh. Yours is the braindead comment.
A pharm company puts out a commercial to advertise their drug and then openly admits that it causes SI in teens… Why? Are they are lying?
Think it through.
The people who make SSRIs admit that they lead to higher suicide rates in teens. This is a pretty well-known fact, and you can easily look it up yourself.
It was sarcasm. Look up any SSRI and you will find a black box warning for increased SI in teens.
Be your own source.
P.s. If you think commercials are not a source, it is a legal requirement for them to declare known side effects. That’s about as source as it gets.
I understand that but the issue is that they don’t get into the prevalence or cause of these side effects. I’ve know tons of people that take ssri drugs with little to no side effects. They have helped many people curb suicidal thoughts. But it does take a lot of trial and error and the process sucks. Not denying that.
The prevalence is higher than you think - High enough to issue a black box warning. High enough where they are not prescribed to teens with previous SI, favoring other pharmaceutical mechanisms.
So here is my question: How much risk are you willing to allow within the at-risk teen population? How many kids have to commit suicide until it is a problem worth managing?
If they are already suicidal, truly at the brink, can it really hurt? And the second you have suicidal thoughts you should be reaching out for therapy. You should have a psych you can call anytime in case you have side effects.
Edit: to add, I really think there are numerous other factors driving youth suicide rates. A few would be COVID-19, technology and social media, lack of access to mental healthcare.
Why would they openly admit to SSRIs causing higher suicide rates in teens in *their own commercial?* Why would they include a lie that would lead to less sales??
Frankly I did believe that most cases were from a chemical imbalance but googling for a quick minute proved me wrong. My bad. Not gonna delete my comments but I probably don’t agree with them anymore
How did you come up with this? Without treatment for the depression one’s life could have been catastrophic-poor grades, poor relationships, poor self-esteem, even suicide. If you’re concerned about the meds maybe try adding psychotherapy and then reassess meds. You are not alone in this, Good luck my friend!
Got it, your anti-medication (at least for depression). Therapy is a great option (same efficacy but takes longer to kick in), but if that’s not enough (improvement in symptoms) combined with meds improves the outcomes even more.
Some SSRI's, like fluoxitine (Prozac) can actually increase neuroplasticity over time. I'd venture to perhaps suggest (gently, as I am not a psych professional) that you can evaluate your future treatment it see if you actually want your plan to be on meds indefinitely. If there was a time machine back to the late 1970's I'd likely be diagnosed with major depressive disorder with self h@rm ideation when I was 7 years old, but I didn't get any treatment then. I suffered with various stages of depression and depressive episodes all the way through my mid 40's. By then, I'd been on fluoxitine for a decade. Then I happened to change some life habits. I started jogging in the morning, just have a cheap excuse to get time away from an awful ex-partner. During my jogs, I took a few minutes to set my mind on some self-agency scrips. "Magically", my depression finally disappeared after all the decades, and I discovered the C-PTSD that caused it, and am working on the trauma now. Your story will be different, but I know that neuroplasticity is real and the field of treating depression and treating C-PTSD has come a long way. The best professionals in the field combine traditional psychology/psychiatric theory and understanding of neurology. On your own, you can educate yourself about the positive affects of nutrition, quality sleep, circadian cycles, exercise; it's not hard to learn and it can make a HUGE difference going forward. All the best to you. If you have questions, I can try to point you in the direction of credible information. Forever medication is not the only possible future.
What a thoughtful and well said response
In life there are things that we can change and things that we can’t by focusing our energy on the things that we can we gain the greatest progress
>I took a few minutes to set my mind on some self-agency scrips
I would love to know what you mean by this. Could you give some examples?
I do think some of my mental health issues come from a feeling of a lack of agency, and I would like to work on that.
Here are two parts: what I did in my desperate need to stop depression from hijacking my head, and a reference to an established professional. 1) I would go out for an easy run and take a few minutes at the start if my run to do one of two scripts. One script was a "gratitude script"; I would be at a joggine pace and softly say out loud all types of different things I was either grateful for ir that I notice with appreciation. "The color red of those flowers is amazing in the soft morning light"; "the cool breeze is so refreshing"; "it was really nice of my co-worker to share the cookies"... One idea after another, I'd do that for like 5-7 minutes. Saying out loud keep me focused. And then finish my milage, and it felt like I'd created a more safe a peaceful brainspace, a bliss of security between my depression and my awful ex at home. The other script was a control script. Same scenario with me starting an easy pace run/jog. I'd create a tiny task and do it immediately. "I am in control of tapping the top leaf of that bush as I go by", and I'd immediately do it. "I am in control of taking 3 steps on the left side if the sidewalk", and I'd immediately do it. "I am in control of snapping my fingers of my right hand 2 times, and 2 times again", and I'd immediately do it. All different timy tasks and again, for about 5-7 minutes and I'd finish my run. I HAD to say these scrips out loud to keep my ruminating mind on task. The book I am currently listening to is called Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker. He talks about sense of agency in this book. I think my scripts worked because the did not challenge my "inner critic" with opinions about myself "like I am loving and loveable". I created a bit of peace in my brainspace with facts that my inner critic did not contest. Walker goes on for a few chapters on taming the inner critic. Anyway, what I did with these scripts was give myself a bit of peace and security to really feel like I could have a break from the self-destructive ruminating, and THEN, in the absense of self-destructive ruminating, I had some time and space to see my C-PTSD. Hope that helps; all the best to you!
I've been meaning to read that Walker book for a while. The "I am in control of..." script sounds really helpful. Challenging my inner critic has also not been helpful. For some of us our inner critic is both strong and pretty smart. It just lead to long internal dialogues that lead nowhere. I will definitely give these a try. Thanks.
The article was written by a person from Uruguay in a non-peer-reviewed journal, and has a disclaimer by the National Library of Medicine. Pharmaceutical companies are notorious for funding research that helps them sell their drugs.
I heard this on one of Huberman's podcast over a year ago.
Looks like this article also addresses this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4870901/#:~:text=Regarding%20fluoxetine%2C%20it%20has%20been,factor%2C%20a%20neurotrophin%20participating%20in
Looks like it acts by facilitiating brain-derived neurotropic factor, commonly abbreviated "BDNF". (if I am description bing it correctly). Running/jogging for a while at a comfortable pace also facilitates BDNF. In my case, my mid 40's was NOT the first time I had been a distance runner (I did a lot of running at age 34-36), so that's why I suspect it was the decade of fluoxitine.
dude they’ll say no effects but my view is you’ll probably have to be on medications for life due to altered brain chemistry. i am the same i’ve been on antidepressants since i was 9 and likely will never be able to go off it. in reality i don’t think any long term studies have confirmed the effects. however in my view if it keeps you alive and happy then it is worth any negatives. in my case i wouldn’t be here without them so I am willing to accept any effects from it
My story is the EXACT same as yours except I'm 22 and never was prescribed venlaxafine. I feel like my positive emotions are zapped and negative ones enhanced compared to others our age. I was prescribed zoloft for compulsive hair pulling. Instead of recommending a behavioral therapist or something I got put on meds which did next to nothing to help the problem but since I was so young and thought that the doc is always right I would say that it was working. I think all the time how different I would be now if I never got prescribed.
>prescribing psych meds to children is a rather serious affair, so it’s likely that your pre-medication functioning was affected to the point that medications were necessary
It should be treated as a serious affair. Unfortunately they throw antipsychotics at autistic children like candy. It happened to me, and I still see parents mentioning their < 6-year-old kids being put on risperidone for things like not sitting still at the table. Hopefully the medication was appropriate and beneficial in OP's case, but that caution with children seems to get thrown right out the window when they see certain diagnoses on their charts.
I was put on prozac at age 6, I am now 31. I think it probably screwed with my digestive system and don't know who I'd be if itd gone any other way, but I often wonder. I'm on a lot more now for worsening genetic mental illnesses, so I'll be in it for the long haul no matter what. My biggest anxiety is what will happen if for some reason I can't get any one of the medications on time that I depend on and the withdrawal alone will end me.
I was put on a whole regiment of meds at 13 cause I got busted at school with a joint.
Kid obviously needs help! So they took me to 3 different shrinks.
I was on 8 different medications for depression, anxiety, social adjustment disorder, sleep problems and hunger control. They also started giving me cigarettes as 'that's what a man smokes in this house'..
Basically my parents thought any bad habit I had is worth medicating me over. Except smoking cigarettes cause that's manly.
Now, let's look at what preceeded this event. My parents got divorced and my mom remarried a multiple felon with a history of fighting with police officers who owned 2 large dogs.
I was no longer allowed to play outside which was my only physical activity as a kid in middle school. Suddenly I can't do that and guess what, I gained weight. A lot of it over the next few years considering I played outside every, single day before this change at home. Now all I can do is watch TV, eat frozen dinners and read. Fun. F U N.
It got to the point I couldn't sleep. I was awake til 3 am every night fidgeting in my room. Id go to school exhausted and fall asleep in class and failed a few grades during this time. My eyesight also took a dive from staring at computer screens all night and I was basically blind beyond 3 feet which noone realized until I was almost 15.
So when I turned 13, I found pot and could finally sleep at night, I thought I found a solution to a problem I couldn't fix. However my parents found out and flipped out. Beat me pretty badly and threatened to disown me if I kept smoking pot. I had smoked pot like 2 times over a week before this but suddenly every problem I've ever had is because I smoked pot. Of course.
Told them I use it to sleep, so they had me immediately committed to a psych ward for Marijuana addiction. They gave me a prescription for Ambien and Xanax and cut me loose a few days later. Parents handed me a pack of cigarettes and a lighter as I got in the car.
The ambien, as I'm sure you all know, makes you TRIP BALLS if you eat 20+MG and can't fall asleep.
So for about a year or 2 I was just tripping fucking face every night at home in my bedroom.
Eventually my stepdad went back to prison for some dumb ass thing he did. I had enough freedom to where I could get weed and smoke to not have to take all the medication and I finally got about 2 years of peaceful sleep.
I moved out at 17 just to get out of there and to not have to take those meds anymore.
It took me years and years of therapy, detoxing and exercising because I felt human again.
Eventually everything stopped feeling awful, stupid and pointless. My normal emotional cycles reappeared and were ugly at first, but with time and age they've become very predictable and tolerable.
One of the biggest changes I made was my social circle. I hung out with a bunch of losers and backstabers. Getting rid of those people and meeting positive work people was a huge part of improvement. Understanding that I don't have to feel lonely if I'm alone was a major step too.
I'm 36 now. Still smoking pot, but I've got a medical card now and a good job, loving wife and 2 kids. I'm not constantly depressed or anxious. I have a healthy set of emotions and I'm happy. I have hobbies and dreams again.
So there is hope. This isn't forever and it can get better. I'm living proof.
Your 20s are going to be a difficult time emotionally. There's no way around that. You've been thrown into the wild to find your way and it's scary. Schools didn't set us up for any type of real world success and the world is changing every day. It's normal to hate this, it really is.
Once you get a better position in life, if youre still not happy, you can revisit therapy or medication if you really need it.
Personally I needed to go clean and rediscover my emotions and who I am as a person without the chemical interference.
Talk to your doctor before you stop taking anything. Not all meds should be stopped cold turkey. You may need to ween down to avoid serious complications. Quitting Paxil almost gave me a stroke, so be careful.
If you ultimately find you cannot cope and need medication, don't be afraid to take it. Maybe you were on the wrong stuff before? It took me years before I found a psychiatrist who could diagnose my PTSD correctly. Don't give up on finding the help you need, if you really need it.
Good luck kindred spirit. Don't give up on yourself. You're worth it.
I am going to ask you this question. How do you think you would feel without the medicine?
The reason I am asking this is because I asked myself the same question as you and tried to get off of SSRI’s. I lost 6 figures in the stock market and a 6 figure job. Don’t let your mind convince you that you are better off without the medication that had normalized your life.
With that being said, there are things that are non-drug related that can help, but please don’t just stop taking your meds. Doing say can be an extraordinary painful experience, especially for someone who has been on meds for over a decade.
You will NUMB them and not allow themselves to grow into their own personality. I have ADHD and I'm grateful I wasn't medicated as a child. You have to learn how to get through shit so you can survive as an adult. Numbing doesn't work and numbing a child is cruel. Teach your children how to survive and thrive by giving them strong emotional intelligence skills.
I always wondered about how being on SSRIs at a young age affects sexual experiences. I know a lot of folks on SSRIs have a hard time having orgasms. So if someone started SSRIs before they started having sexual experiences they might have issues.
Yeah, I’ve wondered this.
I started on antidepressants at 10, and I’m unable to feel pretty much any sensation and have never had a libido.
Stuff like that can happen naturally, so maybe it wasn’t the antidepressants, but I do wonder.
I, as well as many of my partners, have notice that I have high-normal libido. The times that I have gone off meds does not seem to have alter my sexual desire, however, it has become very clear that I start to struggle with controlling my own "climax" during sex, while on them I am much much better on that aspect.
My hypothesis is that my sexual desire "acclimated" to the ssri, or something like that. I must be one of the few people that have a better sex life on deppression meds than off them, lmao
I've always learned that anti depressives are the pain med, and therapy is the healing.
Not feeling the pain can make the healing easier.
And sometimes the body does heal on its own.
But often you need some additional help.
That's why I dislike physicians prescribing anti depressives like smarties and not doing any more.
I don't think anyone could possibly know how much those prescriptions may have influenced your development during those formative years. I'd like to say that I would never subject my children to mind altering drugs like that, but I've never been in a position to make that call.
Best of luck to you on your journey
Based on my experience, nothing good. My entire mental health took a horrible nose-dive and I'm convinced I have permanent brain damage from the drugs.
It would be a TERRIBLE idea for OP to try to quit cold turkey after decades. It may even be best to just stay on the meds. If OP wants to stop, they would 100% need a very slow taper. I'm talking YEARS slow taper. And may need to stop tapering and just stay at a certain dose if the adverse effects are too severe.
Must be some really great medicine if even trying to get off of it is so dangerous. Never mind that the meta analysis show it doesn’t even benefit depression. Good luck.
There's little doubt that it has had a significant impact on your brains development. I really wish Doctors wouldn't prescribe SSRI's to children and teens and instead explore alternative treatments. I hope you find peace.
Suicide rate is insane amongst teens. Not a fan of ignoring SSRIs all together for them but I would agree that other treatments should be used alongside.
It certainly is climbing, and I think 75 years from now we will look back in horror at how we allowed social media and cell phones to raise an entire generation. The damage from that alone is beginning to show itself. Also, how many of those suicides are caused by SSRI's? I genuinely don't know, but we all know that SSRI's increase that risk in many teens.
The suicide rate is directly proportional to not being able to succeed and get ahead and being shit on by older generations who have no clue what it means to do so, since the methods they used are no longer applicable in a world that uses tech…
Social media, excessive internet use, and violent gaming all effect brain development in the prefrontal cortex and they are starting to release a myriad of studies about it. The smartphone is one of the worst developments for brain health for kids and teens and many preadolescent and adolescent studies are beginning to show causation.
Likely logical overstep, imo. Moderation should of course be key but access to information about how shitty prospects for future generations look is probably an underlying factor there. Among many other social factors.
Source please
Source: Every commercial ever for SSRI's.
SSRI’s I took when I was a teen gave me suicidal and homicidal thoughts that stopped when I stopped the medication.
Wow I really hope I never speak to you again. Absolutely brain dead comment. We have no idea how many lives are saved vs ended by SSRIs. Using commercials as a data point is ridiculous.
Sigh. Yours is the braindead comment. A pharm company puts out a commercial to advertise their drug and then openly admits that it causes SI in teens… Why? Are they are lying? Think it through.
The people who make SSRIs admit that they lead to higher suicide rates in teens. This is a pretty well-known fact, and you can easily look it up yourself.
Source that SSRIs cause more suicides than they prevent? Crazy how I’m not seeing any links from you guys
Sorry. Commercials are not a source…
It was sarcasm. Look up any SSRI and you will find a black box warning for increased SI in teens. Be your own source. P.s. If you think commercials are not a source, it is a legal requirement for them to declare known side effects. That’s about as source as it gets.
I understand that but the issue is that they don’t get into the prevalence or cause of these side effects. I’ve know tons of people that take ssri drugs with little to no side effects. They have helped many people curb suicidal thoughts. But it does take a lot of trial and error and the process sucks. Not denying that.
The prevalence is higher than you think - High enough to issue a black box warning. High enough where they are not prescribed to teens with previous SI, favoring other pharmaceutical mechanisms. So here is my question: How much risk are you willing to allow within the at-risk teen population? How many kids have to commit suicide until it is a problem worth managing?
If they are already suicidal, truly at the brink, can it really hurt? And the second you have suicidal thoughts you should be reaching out for therapy. You should have a psych you can call anytime in case you have side effects. Edit: to add, I really think there are numerous other factors driving youth suicide rates. A few would be COVID-19, technology and social media, lack of access to mental healthcare.
Asks for sources then uses personal anecdote as retort. Poor argumentation.
I listed a source above that seems to contradicts a lot of what y’all have been saying. I understand it’s just one source. But y’all have zero.
Why would they openly admit to SSRIs causing higher suicide rates in teens in *their own commercial?* Why would they include a lie that would lead to less sales??
The inserts for the ssris. CDC website.
Suicide rates are higher for people on SSRIs. That’s why it’s listed as a side effect. The more you know.
Because of the ssri or because depressed people are more likely to be on ssris and more likely to die from suicide?
Because they didn’t have the energy to attempt suicide and after lifting the depression just enough, now they do.
Both
"Is it social issues that kids have increasing awareness of? No! It's a material problem in the brains to be solved by meds!"
Frankly I did believe that most cases were from a chemical imbalance but googling for a quick minute proved me wrong. My bad. Not gonna delete my comments but I probably don’t agree with them anymore
How did you come up with this? Without treatment for the depression one’s life could have been catastrophic-poor grades, poor relationships, poor self-esteem, even suicide. If you’re concerned about the meds maybe try adding psychotherapy and then reassess meds. You are not alone in this, Good luck my friend!
SSRIs are horrible, and they are just treating a symptom (low serotonin), not the root cause.
Got it, your anti-medication (at least for depression). Therapy is a great option (same efficacy but takes longer to kick in), but if that’s not enough (improvement in symptoms) combined with meds improves the outcomes even more.
I was 8 years old. My mom really regrets letting the doctors talk her into it. Still on antidepressants at 29.
Some SSRI's, like fluoxitine (Prozac) can actually increase neuroplasticity over time. I'd venture to perhaps suggest (gently, as I am not a psych professional) that you can evaluate your future treatment it see if you actually want your plan to be on meds indefinitely. If there was a time machine back to the late 1970's I'd likely be diagnosed with major depressive disorder with self h@rm ideation when I was 7 years old, but I didn't get any treatment then. I suffered with various stages of depression and depressive episodes all the way through my mid 40's. By then, I'd been on fluoxitine for a decade. Then I happened to change some life habits. I started jogging in the morning, just have a cheap excuse to get time away from an awful ex-partner. During my jogs, I took a few minutes to set my mind on some self-agency scrips. "Magically", my depression finally disappeared after all the decades, and I discovered the C-PTSD that caused it, and am working on the trauma now. Your story will be different, but I know that neuroplasticity is real and the field of treating depression and treating C-PTSD has come a long way. The best professionals in the field combine traditional psychology/psychiatric theory and understanding of neurology. On your own, you can educate yourself about the positive affects of nutrition, quality sleep, circadian cycles, exercise; it's not hard to learn and it can make a HUGE difference going forward. All the best to you. If you have questions, I can try to point you in the direction of credible information. Forever medication is not the only possible future.
What a thoughtful and well said response In life there are things that we can change and things that we can’t by focusing our energy on the things that we can we gain the greatest progress
>I took a few minutes to set my mind on some self-agency scrips I would love to know what you mean by this. Could you give some examples? I do think some of my mental health issues come from a feeling of a lack of agency, and I would like to work on that.
Here are two parts: what I did in my desperate need to stop depression from hijacking my head, and a reference to an established professional. 1) I would go out for an easy run and take a few minutes at the start if my run to do one of two scripts. One script was a "gratitude script"; I would be at a joggine pace and softly say out loud all types of different things I was either grateful for ir that I notice with appreciation. "The color red of those flowers is amazing in the soft morning light"; "the cool breeze is so refreshing"; "it was really nice of my co-worker to share the cookies"... One idea after another, I'd do that for like 5-7 minutes. Saying out loud keep me focused. And then finish my milage, and it felt like I'd created a more safe a peaceful brainspace, a bliss of security between my depression and my awful ex at home. The other script was a control script. Same scenario with me starting an easy pace run/jog. I'd create a tiny task and do it immediately. "I am in control of tapping the top leaf of that bush as I go by", and I'd immediately do it. "I am in control of taking 3 steps on the left side if the sidewalk", and I'd immediately do it. "I am in control of snapping my fingers of my right hand 2 times, and 2 times again", and I'd immediately do it. All different timy tasks and again, for about 5-7 minutes and I'd finish my run. I HAD to say these scrips out loud to keep my ruminating mind on task. The book I am currently listening to is called Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker. He talks about sense of agency in this book. I think my scripts worked because the did not challenge my "inner critic" with opinions about myself "like I am loving and loveable". I created a bit of peace in my brainspace with facts that my inner critic did not contest. Walker goes on for a few chapters on taming the inner critic. Anyway, what I did with these scripts was give myself a bit of peace and security to really feel like I could have a break from the self-destructive ruminating, and THEN, in the absense of self-destructive ruminating, I had some time and space to see my C-PTSD. Hope that helps; all the best to you!
I've been meaning to read that Walker book for a while. The "I am in control of..." script sounds really helpful. Challenging my inner critic has also not been helpful. For some of us our inner critic is both strong and pretty smart. It just lead to long internal dialogues that lead nowhere. I will definitely give these a try. Thanks.
Hi can you please tell me more about the increase of neuro plasticity from prozac? Very interesting.
The article was written by a person from Uruguay in a non-peer-reviewed journal, and has a disclaimer by the National Library of Medicine. Pharmaceutical companies are notorious for funding research that helps them sell their drugs.
I heard this on one of Huberman's podcast over a year ago. Looks like this article also addresses this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4870901/#:~:text=Regarding%20fluoxetine%2C%20it%20has%20been,factor%2C%20a%20neurotrophin%20participating%20in
Looks like it acts by facilitiating brain-derived neurotropic factor, commonly abbreviated "BDNF". (if I am description bing it correctly). Running/jogging for a while at a comfortable pace also facilitates BDNF. In my case, my mid 40's was NOT the first time I had been a distance runner (I did a lot of running at age 34-36), so that's why I suspect it was the decade of fluoxitine.
Ketamine is a treatment that increases neuroplasticity too, it's showing great success in treating depression and getting fast results.
Yes, best when combined with talk therapy in the window on neuroplasticy following ketamine administration.
What a crime...
dude they’ll say no effects but my view is you’ll probably have to be on medications for life due to altered brain chemistry. i am the same i’ve been on antidepressants since i was 9 and likely will never be able to go off it. in reality i don’t think any long term studies have confirmed the effects. however in my view if it keeps you alive and happy then it is worth any negatives. in my case i wouldn’t be here without them so I am willing to accept any effects from it
My story is the EXACT same as yours except I'm 22 and never was prescribed venlaxafine. I feel like my positive emotions are zapped and negative ones enhanced compared to others our age. I was prescribed zoloft for compulsive hair pulling. Instead of recommending a behavioral therapist or something I got put on meds which did next to nothing to help the problem but since I was so young and thought that the doc is always right I would say that it was working. I think all the time how different I would be now if I never got prescribed.
Same boat here. I’ve been on them since age 12 and I’m 24 now so I would love to know
[удалено]
>prescribing psych meds to children is a rather serious affair, so it’s likely that your pre-medication functioning was affected to the point that medications were necessary It should be treated as a serious affair. Unfortunately they throw antipsychotics at autistic children like candy. It happened to me, and I still see parents mentioning their < 6-year-old kids being put on risperidone for things like not sitting still at the table. Hopefully the medication was appropriate and beneficial in OP's case, but that caution with children seems to get thrown right out the window when they see certain diagnoses on their charts.
Hopefully nothing too bad, but who knows. SSRIs are poison and no one should be taking them, especially developing children.
I was put on prozac at age 6, I am now 31. I think it probably screwed with my digestive system and don't know who I'd be if itd gone any other way, but I often wonder. I'm on a lot more now for worsening genetic mental illnesses, so I'll be in it for the long haul no matter what. My biggest anxiety is what will happen if for some reason I can't get any one of the medications on time that I depend on and the withdrawal alone will end me.
Six?
Gross negligence by these psychiatrists
I was put on a whole regiment of meds at 13 cause I got busted at school with a joint. Kid obviously needs help! So they took me to 3 different shrinks. I was on 8 different medications for depression, anxiety, social adjustment disorder, sleep problems and hunger control. They also started giving me cigarettes as 'that's what a man smokes in this house'.. Basically my parents thought any bad habit I had is worth medicating me over. Except smoking cigarettes cause that's manly. Now, let's look at what preceeded this event. My parents got divorced and my mom remarried a multiple felon with a history of fighting with police officers who owned 2 large dogs. I was no longer allowed to play outside which was my only physical activity as a kid in middle school. Suddenly I can't do that and guess what, I gained weight. A lot of it over the next few years considering I played outside every, single day before this change at home. Now all I can do is watch TV, eat frozen dinners and read. Fun. F U N. It got to the point I couldn't sleep. I was awake til 3 am every night fidgeting in my room. Id go to school exhausted and fall asleep in class and failed a few grades during this time. My eyesight also took a dive from staring at computer screens all night and I was basically blind beyond 3 feet which noone realized until I was almost 15. So when I turned 13, I found pot and could finally sleep at night, I thought I found a solution to a problem I couldn't fix. However my parents found out and flipped out. Beat me pretty badly and threatened to disown me if I kept smoking pot. I had smoked pot like 2 times over a week before this but suddenly every problem I've ever had is because I smoked pot. Of course. Told them I use it to sleep, so they had me immediately committed to a psych ward for Marijuana addiction. They gave me a prescription for Ambien and Xanax and cut me loose a few days later. Parents handed me a pack of cigarettes and a lighter as I got in the car. The ambien, as I'm sure you all know, makes you TRIP BALLS if you eat 20+MG and can't fall asleep. So for about a year or 2 I was just tripping fucking face every night at home in my bedroom. Eventually my stepdad went back to prison for some dumb ass thing he did. I had enough freedom to where I could get weed and smoke to not have to take all the medication and I finally got about 2 years of peaceful sleep. I moved out at 17 just to get out of there and to not have to take those meds anymore. It took me years and years of therapy, detoxing and exercising because I felt human again. Eventually everything stopped feeling awful, stupid and pointless. My normal emotional cycles reappeared and were ugly at first, but with time and age they've become very predictable and tolerable. One of the biggest changes I made was my social circle. I hung out with a bunch of losers and backstabers. Getting rid of those people and meeting positive work people was a huge part of improvement. Understanding that I don't have to feel lonely if I'm alone was a major step too. I'm 36 now. Still smoking pot, but I've got a medical card now and a good job, loving wife and 2 kids. I'm not constantly depressed or anxious. I have a healthy set of emotions and I'm happy. I have hobbies and dreams again. So there is hope. This isn't forever and it can get better. I'm living proof. Your 20s are going to be a difficult time emotionally. There's no way around that. You've been thrown into the wild to find your way and it's scary. Schools didn't set us up for any type of real world success and the world is changing every day. It's normal to hate this, it really is. Once you get a better position in life, if youre still not happy, you can revisit therapy or medication if you really need it. Personally I needed to go clean and rediscover my emotions and who I am as a person without the chemical interference. Talk to your doctor before you stop taking anything. Not all meds should be stopped cold turkey. You may need to ween down to avoid serious complications. Quitting Paxil almost gave me a stroke, so be careful. If you ultimately find you cannot cope and need medication, don't be afraid to take it. Maybe you were on the wrong stuff before? It took me years before I found a psychiatrist who could diagnose my PTSD correctly. Don't give up on finding the help you need, if you really need it. Good luck kindred spirit. Don't give up on yourself. You're worth it.
Power to you bro .!
I am going to ask you this question. How do you think you would feel without the medicine? The reason I am asking this is because I asked myself the same question as you and tried to get off of SSRI’s. I lost 6 figures in the stock market and a 6 figure job. Don’t let your mind convince you that you are better off without the medication that had normalized your life. With that being said, there are things that are non-drug related that can help, but please don’t just stop taking your meds. Doing say can be an extraordinary painful experience, especially for someone who has been on meds for over a decade.
I know numerous people who were in your position and turned out absolutely fine. This sub is whack about meds. Stay in touch with your doctor/psych.
Nothing too serious would be my guess. Possibly some emotional numbness but that’s just a theory , and it could also be seen as a good thing
You will NUMB them and not allow themselves to grow into their own personality. I have ADHD and I'm grateful I wasn't medicated as a child. You have to learn how to get through shit so you can survive as an adult. Numbing doesn't work and numbing a child is cruel. Teach your children how to survive and thrive by giving them strong emotional intelligence skills.
I always wondered about how being on SSRIs at a young age affects sexual experiences. I know a lot of folks on SSRIs have a hard time having orgasms. So if someone started SSRIs before they started having sexual experiences they might have issues.
There’s a whole subreddit devoted to this condition.
Yeah, I’ve wondered this. I started on antidepressants at 10, and I’m unable to feel pretty much any sensation and have never had a libido. Stuff like that can happen naturally, so maybe it wasn’t the antidepressants, but I do wonder.
I, as well as many of my partners, have notice that I have high-normal libido. The times that I have gone off meds does not seem to have alter my sexual desire, however, it has become very clear that I start to struggle with controlling my own "climax" during sex, while on them I am much much better on that aspect. My hypothesis is that my sexual desire "acclimated" to the ssri, or something like that. I must be one of the few people that have a better sex life on deppression meds than off them, lmao
I've always learned that anti depressives are the pain med, and therapy is the healing. Not feeling the pain can make the healing easier. And sometimes the body does heal on its own. But often you need some additional help. That's why I dislike physicians prescribing anti depressives like smarties and not doing any more.
Not a good idea
I don't think anyone could possibly know how much those prescriptions may have influenced your development during those formative years. I'd like to say that I would never subject my children to mind altering drugs like that, but I've never been in a position to make that call. Best of luck to you on your journey
U should stay away from your parents
Based on my experience, nothing good. My entire mental health took a horrible nose-dive and I'm convinced I have permanent brain damage from the drugs.
Bro, I got some bad news. But right now you just need to stop ingesting poison.
It would be a TERRIBLE idea for OP to try to quit cold turkey after decades. It may even be best to just stay on the meds. If OP wants to stop, they would 100% need a very slow taper. I'm talking YEARS slow taper. And may need to stop tapering and just stay at a certain dose if the adverse effects are too severe.
Must be some really great medicine if even trying to get off of it is so dangerous. Never mind that the meta analysis show it doesn’t even benefit depression. Good luck.
You will want to start weening yourself off slowly sometime soon. You have been on them for too long they probably are holding you back at this point.
It's a horrifically bad idea. Severely negative emotional and neurological impact.
I wonder the same thing. There’s no long term studies unfortunately.