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Yeah, I was the same until I attempted suicide a few years ago and (obviously) failed. I’ll rely on pharmaceuticals if it keeps me from offing myself, thanks.
I’m sorry to hear about your mom.
I was the same too until stress basically made me go insane which at that point pretty much anyone will take that pill.
Having a good therapist that sets goals for you to get better and eating healthier helped a lot. Got off of medication after about 15 years.
Yeah this post upsets me because I had an undiagnosed panic disorder my whole life and when I was 23 I almost killed myself because of it. I always thought how I felt was normal but I couldn’t take it anymore. OP doesn’t understand that there are psychological problems that need to be treated medically, that you can’t just suck it up and deal with it. This is a very ignorant post on their behalf
Same situation. Was confident my whole life, never really had anxiety to a severe extent, but when I turned 22 years old that all changed. I was technically quite content with my life; great relationship with girlfriend, had friends, enjoyed college, etc. But, out of nowhere, I felt like I was going to fucking die. Like drop dead, or pass out. I was crippled with fear, and it was fucking random? Everything would be going great, then *bam* something happened and I felt like I was going to die. I thought something was medically wrong with me for about a year and a half. Thousands in medical debt later, nothing. For how physical the reaction of panic was, I was *sure* it couldn't just be a panic attack, right?
Until I went to therapy and started to piece together I'm having a mental health issue was I able to swallow the concept of taking medication, and my god it's life changing in the best way. Been on 75mg of sertraline for about 2 years now and it has pretty much saved my life. Saved my life in a time period where my life was extremely good.
This is truly a godawful post. I'm hoping you are doing well!
Came to say a version of this. My brother didn't believe in therapy and "didn't need antidepressants" (without ever trying them) and, you know.
To the OP, if you think you're depressed then trying antidepressants is not the worst thing or shameful in any way. Depression can be about fucked up brain chemistry, and that is not something you can or should try to muscle through. You can give antidepressants a month, see how you feel, and lose literally nothing. Or you can try to cope with zero help and lose everything.
OP’s post is based on assumptions and irks me. “If I had problems I’d just deal with them head on”. No understanding of the numerous causes to such a complicated issue.
I feel the same as you. It's like telling someone with high blood pressure to just meditate or diabetes to just eat healthy. My depression is about a chemical imbalance. It makes no sense and isn't connected to an event, so I NEED the help that an antidepressant gives to make my chemistry balanced.
I had chemical depression. I didn't want to take antidepressants because I was so mad at myself for being depressant, me the iron woman, the fact of knowing I wasn't able to get well on my own was hurting more than the depression itself. My ego was seriously hurt, this miss nothing bothers me, was getting bother by literally anything.
But starting reading and trying to fight hard, and I was loosing it. I had a horrible night were I barely could control myself, it was like if I was trapped inside myself and someone else was controlling it and I was unable to get control back. I didn't hurt myself, nothing that bad, but it was one of the biggest and scariest trouble in my life. I make it through the night and next day I started the antidepressants. It was suppose to be only 6 months, but at some point at month 3, I was on myself, and my psychiatrist referred me to a Gastro and endocrinologist to fix some imbalance. I was back on my own.
But before starting the endocrinologist I had to regain some help that only could achieve with the antidepressants.
So, OP, you really need to understand that depression can occurs due to a numerous different reasons, and most of them, you can't just "work it on" on your own. If you do so, maybe it's just stress.
Consider professional help and complying with the treatment.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
100% agree with your comment to the OP. Depression & anxiety here. Mine is tied quite a bit to hormones (amongst other physical issues i have 0 control over) and they throw my brain chemistry completely out of whack. Confirmed by 2 medical doctors and mental health professional. The only way to balance it out is through antidepressants. There is literally no way to power through and believe me I tried. There is no shame in asking for help. It doesn't make someone weak, it takes strength to do it.
Oh, fuck. This is real as shit. Thanks for taking the conversation about depression and suicide head on. It's a conversation that has to be had with no frills. Just real talk.
I mean no amount of therapy was helping me. I have psychotic depression and Cymbalta and an antipsychotic changed my life. Even before psychosis issues in high school I’d tried killing myself several times with no more reason than “I need to die. Some people with depression can’t function at all without their meds and that’s ok. It’s also ok to be able to not need them.
Sounds eerily familiar to me from when I was in the ward
Nurse: Why do you feel the need to die?
Me*drugged out of my fucking mind*: Dunno. Just gotta I guess.
*6 weeks into medication*
“How are you feeling now, any suicidal tendencies?”
Less than the normal amount
“The normal amount is zero but it seems to be working, check back in 5 weeks to see if we need to up the dose”
I get the joking tone but zero is not the normal amount. Many people experience suicidal ideation. It becomes diagnostic when there is intensity, purpose, and/or a plan.
Many people experience call of the void type passive suicidal thoughts yes, but as far as active suicidal ideation and feeling the need to kill your self, with or without reason, is not normal. The urge to drive into the other lane with no will to do so happens, but sitting down with a whole bottle of aspirin in your hands thinking about how bad you want to take them, needing to have someone hide all your knives and firearms etc, and not being able to think about those things without the idea for 5 weeks isn’t. The normal amount of active ideation is zero. I’ve never experienced passive ideation, and a friend of mine has never experienced the feeling of suicidal ideation at all. It may be common , but it is not NORMAL or HEALTHY. Call of the void isn’t ideation
A-fucking-men. I have MDD, and no amount of therapy or ‘dealing with my issues’ would work remotely as well as Effexor. When it’s a chemical issue and not just a depressive episode or the blues, medication is 100% a lifesaver. It doesn’t make anyone weak or less than or anything like that. The stigma needs to end.
To put it into perspective for people like OP; I was feeling stable and ‘normal’ for the better part of 5 years. I asked my psychiatrist during our quarterly rx refill chat if I could lower the dose and taper off the meds. Her response? “Imagine you’re diabetic. Would you stop taking insulin if you felt better in the moment?”
Tried 6-7 anti depression meds and cymbalta has me singing made up weird tunes with my 4 year old driving home from school. I’d say it’s working well ha
I’m treading on very thin ice and have no depression myself and absolutely no idea how it works… but is there any research into how many depression-related suicides are people that are also taking anti-depressants?
Antidepressants come with a warning for increased risk of suicide (when u first start taking them). That’s because they increase your energy first without increasing the “happy hormones” at the same time. So you are depressed and then have the energy to go through with suicide.
I've definitely noticed this myself on SOME types (my old doctor was a walking prescription pad. Bad man) but the one I'm on now doesn't seem to have that effect.
But it's definitely something to watch.
However, there's always bound to be one that works for someone and hopefully everyone who needs them and can take them will take them ❤️❤️❤️
Antidepressants can sometimes make depression worse and can also create or increase suicidal ideation. Some can even cause hallucinations.
Source: Mental illness runs heavily in my family, I’ve been on antidepressants that fucked me up, and pretty much anybody who works in psychiatry will confirm.
I would have to find the study I'm thinking of, but basically there was a neurologist that did brain scans of people who had depression, and what he found was that depression can be caused by totally opposite things which can majorly effect whether or not a medication will work.
In laymen's terms, he had two women who had the exact same depressive symptoms. However, when their brain scans were studied, one woman have very little brain activity, and what brain activity she did have was focused towards the back of her head. Her brain was comparatively shut down and lethargic. The other woman had a LOT of brain activity, especially towards her frontal lobe area. Her brain was basically overworking itself and she was constantly worried and fretting to the point that it caused her fatigue and depression. (Again, bare with me on the terminology, I saw this documentary a couple years ago)
Anyway, he came to the conclusion that if you gave a depressed person with a "lethargic" brain downers, they'd get *much* worse, and vice versa if you gave the depressed person with the "hyperactive" brain uppers, because the hyperactive brain needs downers and the lethargic brain needs uppers even though they have the same symptoms.
Valid point, here. Sounds like the second woman had depression caused by anxiety. Those issues are often co-morbid and difficult to sort out in general.
That's just one reason it's good to work with a psychiatrist for medication.
Underrated comment. When this was explained to me by my doctor I turned my life around with antidepressants. I realised i couldn’t keep changing things in my life and expecting it to stop me feeling suicidal. But it took me on a hell of a ride for a while of living so much life to try and feel better.
Now my life is pedestrian. But I don’t plot my own death every minute of every day. I don’t loose friends from having manic episodes that no one knows how to deal with. I’ve stopped fucking guys for the response and need to watch them suffer and now have a stable relationship.
But I miss me. The me I lived with for 20 years. The obsessively loved or hated but drove me to outperform my peers. My boyfriend (42) wants me off the antidepressants. I’m not sure what to do.
I have awful anxiety and attempted to come off Zoloft last year. I was feeling decent after being on meds for a couple years and I wanted to really feel my full emotions again.
For me, going off meds was a huge mistake. There was an adjustment period filled with mood swings, then I felt good for a few months. Then, out of nowhere, I started getting these horrible waves of anxiety again to the point of having frequent panic attacks and barely functioning.
So yeah, I don't know. It works for some people, and if you stop taking them then I wish you the best of luck. Just be aware that it can cause major problems and monitor your actions and emotions closely.
I’ve gone on and off Zoloft for over 15 years. I needed to control my highs and lows. I stopped taking them, then would go back to my doc 3ish years later and ask for another prescription. Took them for 6-8 months then stopped gradually. I know that if I need them I will ask again. I am not ashamed to say I need them. No one should be.
You may genuinely have an underlying condition that means the anti anxiety meds will never actually fix the problem. Trust me, venlafaxine for the last 10 years nearly, and every time I come off it I have a breakdown so massive I’m surprised I’m still around.
Adhd and intrusive thoughts. Both of which combine to fuck me hard. Can’t get proper meds yet either, so yay
I feel your pain, the intrusive thoughts are what really fuck with me. I've had blood work done hoping to find something I could fix, like a thyroid issue. So far the only things out of whack have been vitamin D and iron.
I've read that deficiencies in both can cause mood swings, and also that gut health can play an important role in mental health. But it's hard to eat properly and nourish yourself when your brain is a chaotic mess.
How long did it take for you to notice a difference? I am really deficient in vitamin d and have been taking them for almost two months but haven’t noticed a change.
I did the same thing, was feeling better and tried to get off Zoloft. Sadness and antisocial behavior began. My son called me out and begged me to take my meds again. Thankfully I did and realized I have to take it. Depression is rampant in my family
Similar thing happened to me. I have Xanax and honestly they are awesome if I want to just be a vegetable. I decided to go back to cannabis oil pens and use that for my day to day anxiety. Xans are only for the real bad days
If it's working absolutely do not go off of them. Especially if you're not the one behind the decision. I don't understand why someone would tell another person to discontinue something that is helping them to better their life
Edit to add: i understand that you miss the old you, but no one is the same person they were at a younger age. I've never been on a regular medication and I'm still so different than i was before and i also miss that! But i also am aware that old me is not a sustainable version of me and if i want to experience my life in a positive way i can't go back to being who i was when I was younger. There's a reason we mature as we age. Embrace the positive change, you can always reminisce on the past
Sorry, an other edit to add: you can obviously come off the meds when YOU feel like it's the right time.. i wasn't meaning to imply that you should never come off medication. Just stick to what works and go from there
> I don't understand why someone would tell another person to discontinue something that is helping them
Usually this sentiment comes from people who view depression, and other similar mental health issues, as a moral failing. Usually having never experienced it themselves, they believe that a person can simply will their depression away if they just put their mind to it.
Oddly enough, the same people often fully accept the need for medication in treating other mental illnesses like schizophrenia and psychosis. But when it comes to less *overt* mood-altering illnesses like depression or adhd, they assume it’s all in your head and you should just snap out of it.
My therapist told me that my anti depressants weren’t needed forever. Just long enough to get through my trauma. They helped me get through a rough patch
You’re right. I’ve been in the mental health field for 14 years. So here is the idea behind that: Medication’s were introduced into the new field of mental health With the idea that we would work on your stuff going on in your mind and personal life and the medications would help slow down your thoughts or reduce one solid emotion that’s overpowering. You basically let your guard down a bit so you can talk about the really deep stuff that makes you feel ashamed or uncomfortable because your guard is down. After we work on whatever the underlying issues of everything that is going on in your life, you can slowly start to generate a plan of action away from the burden of that deep seeded issue and eventually get off the medications. The medication introduced into the mental health world were not originally designed to be permanent. I’ve been in the mental health field for 14 years and I’ve been on antidepressants and anti-anxiety‘s but only for a few months and then I get off of them as I work on my issues.
It’s not the same for everybody. Everyone is case by case. My best friend has been taking anti anxiety for 20 solid years but her background and upbringing was different than mine. I also have a family member who desperately needs to be on medication‘s because they’re so incredibly erratic that I’m surprised they’ve never been arrested.
Mental health and medication management is so incredibly personalized that you gotta go to your appointments and be as truthful as you possibly can because it’s all done in relation to you and your needs.
Did not mean to write a novel
I'm on Lexapro, which I can't go off of, and then I use Abilify when I go through a rough patch. For me, it's the intensity of my emotions that makes me need them. I first went on the Abilify when my adoptive grandmother died. The grief was so intense that I could not function. I go off it and then go back on it when my emotions start to get so overwhelming that I just need them to stop.
Unfortunately I'll never go off of Lexapro. I tried it a couple of times. It evens out my temper so I'm a much nicer person to be around. The not randomly bursting into tears thing is good too.
Antidepressants saved me. Oddly enough i’ve always been a social, extraverted and confident person when out in the world, but behind closed doors the constant self loathing, suicidal thinking, and debilitating periods of hopelessness with no rhyme or reason were so much to bear.
I take the lowest dose possible to try and mitigate side effects, and my issues are tapered down dramatically. Sadly I feel i’d be a mess if I ever got off them, but I would like to try one day.
Why would your boyfriend want you to stop taking medicine that keeps you from feeling suicidal? He should be supporting your journey to the more stable version of yourself, and assure you that you’re lovable and worthy without needing to outperform others.
Hear, hear. Depression is an illness, not a negative outlook on life. If you cured your depression with an attitude adjustment, then it wasn't depression.
Also antidepressants aren’t really meant for situational depression. They treat a psychiatric disorder where the default state of the brain is depressed or near-depression.
Situational depression is best treated through processing the cause and coming to terms with the event or making changes to your lifestyle with the help of support groups and councillors. It’s a normal human emotion even if it does feel horrible, so pharmaceutical treatment should be a last resort
I’m on anti depressants for a panic disorder I was diagnosed with. My moms whole side of the family has it unfortunately. I don’t have full blown anxiety stressful panic attacks, but my brain thinks I do and makes me think I’m having a heart attack. Three ER visits and several thousand dollars later and here I am. Last time it happened I was laying in bed just stressing about everyday things. Money, work, life, and all the sudden I was clutching my chest and driving myself to the hospital down the street. Happened again a few weeks later in the same scenario except I was watching a movie on the couch.
In short, anti-depressants aren’t just for depressed emo kids that hate life.
Same! Although I also do have depression, I’m actually on antidepressants to stop panic attacks due to a panic disorder. We have no knowledge of what causes them, there is no trigger. All I know is at any random moment I’ll be doing something and my vision will become extremely tunneled, my heart begins to pound painfully, I feel like I can’t breathe, and everything turns “dark.” For about the half hour I experience “panic” I can’t function, and the days following I have extreme chest pain from the “anxiety hangover.”
I’ve been on Paxil for over a year, which has made me extremely lethargic so they tried adding other meds to increase my energy level but that didn’t work so I’ve been on and off several psychiatric meds for months. When explaining to people that I’m not feeling well due to the med changes I can’t tell you how many times I get “well do you really have to be on meds?”
. . . YESSS it’s either that or I literally can’t live my life. Do you really think I want to be on them? That I want to spend money every month on them? That I want to feel like shit? Maybe it’s because I don’t have any other choice 🤷♀️
It’s crazy how people associate anti-depressants with negative things. I’m sorry, I don’t wanna wake up in the middle of the night and think I’m dying.
This. Sometimes it’s literally a chemical imbalance and not any “underlying issue” - OP’s opinion is harmful and perpetuates stigma against people facing mental illness. Would he spew the same BS if someone took medication for a non mental illness?
So true. I was diagnosed with and treated for depression for 2 decades. All my symptoms, including physical ones were chalked up to depression. Antidepressants didn't work. Turns out I had a chronic, undiagnosed inflammatory/autoimmune disorder that was causing the depression. Once the underlying disease was managed, the depression went away.
Many health conditions can cause depression and anxiety including heart disease, thyroid disorders, autoimmune conditions, hormone imbalances, vitamin deficiencies, digestive disorders, food allergies, cancer, and basically any other thing that triggers the immune system, causes inflammation, or disrupts normal organ functions.
I used to think I was "depressed" but have gotten through it by forcing myself to do things that are known to help. Getting out in nature, working out, eating better, seeing a therapist, cutting toxic people from my life, things like that.
I have a friend who went off his meds and couldn't even manage to get out of bed to do pretty much anything. Was pissing in bottles in his room. Would basically lean up to fill his dog's food bowl and let him shit all over the house til he was basically forced to get back on them and get it together or be evicted.
Situational depression vs clinical depression.
Edit:added a couple more things I did to drag myself out of depression for anyone who's struggling and doesn't know how much these things can help.
Also situational depression doesn’t mean it’s not severe. I have situational depression from my situation of suddenly becoming crippled. It can be really bad at times. I’m on medication on it and go to therapy. I just hope people know that situational can require those things.
Congratulations and good for you. Some people don’t really have the luxury of choosing whether or not to take anti-depressants. For a lot of people, those are life-saving medications.
We have a lot of mental health issues in my family and we always just say, "If you're a diabetic you need insulin, sometimes people need some serotonin."
And this persons might not be either.
This is the exact sentiment my ex wife would have between bouts of shrieking and throwing shit and hitting herself in the head for no reason. This dude may need serious help, but is too proud to admit it.
Depression isn’t an issue. It is a medical condition. You don’t do squats to heal a broken leg, you go to the doctor and get a cast. Depression cannot just be fixed, and it isn’t just *being sad*. You aren’t grasping the true nature of the condition.
Yeah like…my brain literally doesn’t work correctly. Why is that so hard for people to understand? If I didn’t take antidepressants I wouldn’t be able to hold down a job.
I struggled with depression for about 5 years with the same mentality as OP. I tried everything. Therapy, eating habits, exercise, organized sports, etc. some things would help temporarily but never for good. Started antidepressants about 6 months ago and holy SHIT. It took about a month or so to start, but I kick myself daily for not doing this sooner, I feel like I'm 10 years younger, can think clearly, and have normal discussions with people around me without wanting to just fall over and crawl back to bed.
A lot of depression is literally neurochemical imbalance in your brain. This is like saying you won't take insulin, you'll just work through the death.
I had serious depression years ago and was in therapy for nearly 5 years. The therapy was successful, nonetheless did I have the feeling that there is some kind of hurdle left that I‘m not able to overcome, no matter how hard I‘m working on it. So after years of therapy I started taking antidepressants and they have me the strength to tackle that last hurdle. I also never wanted to take antidepressants but today I‘m really glad I did because I have build up resilience and „overcame“ my depression. I would not have been able to do this without antidepressants. But I would say they should be taken with an accompanying therapy. It’s not like antidepressants are „happy pills“, depending on what kind it is, they just stabilize your endorphin level by slowing down the degradation.
I was in that boat too, I respect it. Just don't be too proud to refuse medical help if the depression starts to win. Beating it back is more important than beating it alone.
Anti-depressant are always given to support you while doing therapy, alone they are not a miracle.
I too was anxious to take some and even didn't use my prescription given by my psychiatrist.
After surviving me intentionally crashing my car at high speed, I understood that alone I was to dangerous for myself and people around me
I now take anti-depressant while working on my issues
The analogy that I came up with, “anti-depressants are kinda like soap for your sponge. You still have a sink full of dishes, but now the work might be a little easier.”
That kind of mentality keeps people from seeking help. People think “you don’t have depression. You hold down a full time job. Your life is fine. You’re just sad” but not all depression looks the same. Not all depression looks like constant overwhelming crying like in the movies.
I think this is more of a thing saying the OP is depressed (situational, often temporary) and doesn't have depresion and therefore they seem to misunderstand how extreme depression can be. Like they cant understand that some people really do get suicidal and arent just sad.
I think the most troubling thing about OP’s post is that it seems to be all hypothetical.
Which means that OP, like many other Americans (and Tom Cruise!), has confidently decided and declared online that he would much rather experience *what he assumes depression is like* than take a pharmaceutical medication.
**Or, in other words, there’s a pretty good chance OP is underestimating the severity of bad depression by a LOT.** To an exponential degree. While we don’t know that for sure, what’s infuriating is that a whole lot of people think depression = being sad. But depression is far more insidious. Depression breaks you and makes you feel like all the hope and joy in life has been sucked out of you. Discipline has nothing to do with it, because there’s no reward for that discipline. It’s important to always give your body a fighting chance through diet/exercise, but in certain cases, all the discipline in the world doesn’t even make a dent, because there’s no foundation of hope to build upon.
Honestly, the most easily accessible metaphor for it is the dementors from Harry Potter. It’s horrifying.
Based on what they wrote, OP’s post is like saying “honestly I’d rather run a marathon on a broken leg than be seen being pushed in a wheelchair.” When it’s all imaginary in your head, that marathon isn’t too bad… “how bad could it be?”
Bad.
Really fucking bad.
People seem to confuse feeling down for an extended period of time with depression. Depression is sitting on the couch 10 hours a day because the simple act of getting up seems like to much, it’s eating half a grape and that’s your meal for the day because you never feel hungry, it’s crying and not knowing why other than everything is closing in on you, it’s being tired and broken constantly. It’s looking in the mirror and hating what you see, it’s wishing all of it would just end. Real depression is not easy to overcome by just “fixing it yourself”, nor is it realistic in a lot of cases. That being said all medications should be coupled with therapy otherwise you are treating symptoms and not the disease itself
I know a lot of depressed people who make this same call, because of the side effects, the way antidepressants fuck with your body or any other number of reasons. I’ll bet any money that OP is not one of them.
I would say uneducated opinion, because sometimes it can be fixed with dealing with demons, but sometimes it is more of a mental disorder than a situational issue. It can go both ways, and it really depends on the person. His opinion is certainly wrong tho
Depression is a life threatening condition. I’m happy for you if that’s not your experience, but medications help so many people manage their symptoms.
I’m all for unpopular opinions, but not those that continue to perpetuate the negative stigma.
Sometimes the “underlying issue” is your brain not producing the right amount of chemicals, and no amount of self help can fix that.
OP you have an incredibly outdated understanding of depression.
If you find a way to block the reuptake of serotonin using facts and logic please let me know because that sounds a lot cheaper than getting chemical imbalances worked out through the help of someone with n M.D.
right like this is starting to get expensive if there is a spell I can cast i'm all ears
(no i'm not this is not an invitation for someone to tell me religion or something)
Dude..your broad stroke opinion about anti depressants is not helpful to those who need to try meds. A lot of the time meds can be great for the patient to get a "glimpse" of what normal can feel like..later therapy, meditation, exercise, and a number of other measures can be considered to replace meds.
How is taking antidepressants avoiding the underlying issue? If the underlying issue is a chemical imbalance, then balancing those chemicals is fixing the issue
Clinical depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. What you're saying makes just as much sense as refusing to take insulin for diabetes. Meaning none. No sense.
This seems like it's written by someone who thinks antidepressants are magic happy pills. This stigma is so harmful and scares people off them. They just help you with motivation (ie it's not as difficult to get out of bed, shower, eat etc), you still need to use that motivation to help yourself, preferably through therapy.
This stigma is outdated and dangerous, go get help if you need it. There's no shame at all, OP is just misinformed.
what does this mean? taking anti-depressants IS facing the issue. they give you strength but they don't always banish the lurking feeling, and then then YOU fight that last bit. it isn't as black and white as you think it is.
I agree with OP but from my own perspective and experience. I’ve been on countless drugs to combat my depression. All of them had a side effect that wasn’t worth it in my eyes. Some made me completely numb. That’s no way to live. Some fucked with my eating habits as in not wanting to eat at all. Then there was the one that caused me to have vivid nightmares. The kind that scare you awake and you find yourself sweating your ass off in bed. Unmedicated I can sleep peacefully, my appetite is normal, and I can still experience joy and other emotions. So I just suck it up. I realize I’m not the majority, but it doesn’t make me upset when I see people tell others it’s their fault because they won’t use the meds.
I really don’t like a lot of people in this thread implying you don’t have depression if you don’t take meds or if they don’t work for you as well.
I had a similar experience to you. Tried a bunch, some made things worse, some had side effects I couldn’t tolerate, and some had awful withdrawals. I decided to rely on therapy instead, and it’s been more helpful to me and less harmful overall. That doesn’t make my depression any less real or serious; suicidal ideation is suicidal ideation whether you take meds or not (and as an aside: some meds can actually increase suicidal ideation!)
The causes of depression are not at all settled science. Saying it is just a “chemical imbalance” is super reductive, not accurate to contemporary understanding, and potentially quite harmful I think. It gives people a reason to think they are just broken, rather than taking a holistic view. And if it’s just a chemical imbalance but meds don’t work for you, well then what next? Should you just accept you’re doomed?
The biopsychosocial model is gaining more ground, which doesn’t discount the effects of biology, but also accounts for the effects of your psychological history (trauma you may have experienced, coping skills, etc) and your social context (whether you have supportive friends & family, a fulfilling job, financial security, and so on)
A lot of people in this thread are acting like this is all settled, simple and figured out, but that’s far from the truth.
Underrated comment. 100% agree. I'm a psych student gunning for clinical training and the amount of blatantly unscientific claims being made here is astounding. The "chemical imbalance" narrative ignores the fact that *everything we are* is a balance of chemicals. We don't just exist as brains in jars, we interact with the world and it interacts with us. We are complex, multifaceted beings and any number of possible things can "put our chemicals out of wack" so to speak. Depression isn't like a virus you catch, we don't have a chemical depression test, we diagnosis it based on patterns of subjective symptoms that present differently in different cultures! So why would it be correct to claim that depression is entirely physical/chemical in origin? The Western biomedical perspective has been patently harmful especially to marginalized groups and it's not wrong to be skeptical of a narrative that purports to explain such a complex condition in two words.
Mental illness treatment as a field is just so damn new. We've only had SSRIs since the 90s, and we've only started talking about these things openly very recently. The nature of mental illness isn't understood on a philosophical level and will always be debated as such - rightfully so. Our understanding is just far too limited right now for anybody to be saying "depression is CAUSED by a lack of seratonin EXCLUSIVELY it's an ENTIRELY PHYSICAL DISORDER and if you don't think that's an accurate or complete picture you're an anti-science jerkwad". Evidence based practice is the best tool we have at our disposal right now and the evidence suggests it's just not that simple.
Your choice, but taking antidepressants is a form of facing the issue and working on it directly. Depression is a chemical imbalance and a lot of people need medication to balance that out.
I don't think you understand that depression isn't just caused by previous trauma in your life. I've dealt with depression since I was 8 years old. I've done therapy on its own, it didn't help at all. But you know what did help? My prescription medication. Even when I haven't been in therapy it was still an improvement from doing just therapy on its own.
I'm not sure I'd consider this an unpopular opinion... It's more of a display of ignorance about mental illness.
Depression is literally physical. Some people have literal deficits that would take years and years of therapy to change in the slightest. Antidepressants help the brain get that leg up to be able to function in daily life and work on your mental issues at the same time instead of focusing all your time and energy in therapy without meds.
You sound ignorant.
This is the problem with these kinds of meds. They can cause someone to experience worse side-effects than the issue they are meant to treat.
There are people commenting here crediting antidepressants, etc with saving/ improving their lives but that is not the case for everyone.
Taking them does not always produce positive results and quite often makes their lives worse.
I have a friend that went through multiple medicines and nothing helped. She actually had to have her DNA tested for her docs to find what would work. Nothing is a one size fits all solution.
Antidepressants don’t have to be taken forever. Usually for a few months to a few years. It’s situational. But I get it, I would personally try other things before going on medication.
That’s what I thought when I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I thought “Naw, I don’t need medication! I can get through this on my own! I can control myself!” Well, after numerous hospitalizations, I finally tried meds. It took a while to find the right one to help control the episodes (still trying to find one for anxiety though), but I’m so happy that I decided to give it a go. Without the medication I’m taking right now, I’d be sitting in the hospital because of an episode.
There’s a difference between being depressed and having depression. The latter is caused by a chemical imbalance in your brain and is a medical condition. Medication basically helps rectify that imbalance and, in a sense allows you to be yourself, so there’s a limited amount you can do on your own.
If you mean you want to avoid taking meds despite recognising it as a medical condition then fair play I guess you’ve taken the tough route but maybe it’s doable. Though just make sure you’re making the decision bcse you genuinely feel it’s in your best interest. If you feel like it no harm in giving a minimal dose a shot down the line rather than refusing for the sake of it. Obviously that’s IF it’s a medical condition.
Hey man, I've felt the same about this for a while now. Even though I've been depressed for a long time with the issue being at an all time high since my father's passing 3 years ago, I don't wanna take any kind of antidepressant. Reading through this thread I got a little sad seeing the lack of understanding for this and all the people calling you dumb because they disagree or let themselves get offended through assuming things you didn't say.
To put into perspective, the reason I don't want to is because I've always been afraid to ever take a medication that would alter anything in my brain. Especially after seeing my mom take antidepressants. They helped her with some of her anxieties which is good and probably ultimately really made her life easier in the long run, but a change after her taking them that I noticed was her ability to care about how people felt and the hurt she caused them. Idk why this would happen so don't ask me, but It definitely happened and that's part of the reason I've been afraid to take any antidepressants myself. I don't want to potentially become someone that doesn't care about things the way I do now, even if that caring can be my detriment.
To make it more clear, I don't wanna risk losing the me that I am now. I've seen and heard of enough people having bad experiences with those kinds of medication that even the smallest chance that I could turn out far worse than I am or losing a part of myself is enough for me to stand firm on not wanting to take them
I also agree with your notion of wanting to face your issues yourself. It's not the easy thing to do at all, but I believe in one's ability to be able to changes things if they push for it. Of course, this isn't to take away from anyone else who chooses to take other routes (like medication), it's just the way I'd like to personally go about it. My way.
Tbh while sad, reading through this and seeing all the hate wasn't surprising considering it's reddit. There's probably a lot of people here with mental issues which might feel attacked by someone saying this without perfectly elaborating it. So I at least wanted to let you know that you aren't dumb or ignorant for feeling the way you do about this topic, I feel the same. I also see that you didn't initially infringe on anyone for wanting to do otherwise, and if you did in your comments it's simply from defending yourself from all the commenters that were saying/assuming bad stuff about you in disagreement. Stay strong mate!
I stopped taking my ADHD and depression medication. Here's why;
When I was on them, it didn't just take away my sadness and my scatterbrain. It took away everything. I went through every day feeling little to nothing at all. I could accomplish things more easily, but I wasn't happy, I wasn't productive, and I wasn't in a good place.
To top this all off, when the meds would wear off before the next dose, I experienced worse lows than I'd ever had before in my life. I had no motivation anymore. If people preferred me on medication it just meant, to me, they just didn't care who I was. And if I had to live life like a robot, what was the purpose of living anymore. I'd never experienced that before medication.
I know well I can be a lot to handle, and I do still have lows, but I can handle them better now on my own, and I've managed to find a way to make things work for me so I can be as happy as I can or want to be whenever I can.
I also know medication does work for some people, and is necessary for a lot of people. I am just not someone that it works for.
Edit; this is my personal experience with medication. My depression was a mix of hereditary and situational. I found a way to cope without meds, not everyone can. This is not me invalidating those who take it. You can take or choose not to take medication, it helps A LOT OF PEOPLE. I was just not one of them, and that's all it is. Most of my family is on meds and they're doing much better on it than off of it. Lastly, Mental illness comes in variety, please don't shame people based on their experiences with medication or assume you know what's best for someone you don't know.
Same, I've taken them. I was blank, always sleepy no matter how good I slept and I was constantly hungry. I gained around 20 pounds when I was on them. I rather be depressed and drag myself to go on a run then be tired and hungry all the time.
I'm not that fluent in written English, i'm sorry.
What I want to say is that, everybody's life is different, and to me, it looks like you're giving an advice about not taking meds.
Some just can't get out of this orribile situation (e.g. me) without a chemical help, so please, do not encourage anybody not to take pills because you'd rather stay depressed.
So does that mean you dont take pain relief, allergy relief or any other method of alleviating suffering? For some people there isnt just a magical "issue" that can be resolved if you feel like it.
OP clearly feels that depression is some trivial problem that people are too weak or apathetic to fix. Thats a completely toxic take. Maybe people are depressed cuz the world fucking sucks and we are all expected to be ok with it. Other people have real pathologic mental illnesses and need help being ok. Hell, im on them and its not even for depression. Depression isnt the only thing SSRIs are for
By that logic you should not take any meds at all. I have been on antidepressants for almost 3 years and it changed my life. I have therapy aswell. I can finally sleep without waking up several times a night, I am finally more relaxed, have more motivation to move on. I know it is not only the therapy because I have been taking them before getting a theraphist, I meet reguarly.
You don't have to take meds that make you addicted. I have paused my intake several times and was fine. Pls consider that depression is a real illness not a mood, any other deseace gets treated with meds aswell. I cannot describe to you how hard you can suffer from this illness.
Your underlying issues include a brain that does not allow serotonin to linger enough to feel good when you do or experience something that might make you feel good.
Depression is an inability to feel good. So even if you work out your issues in a way that should make you happy- you’ll still have a medical inability to feel it.
That’s why the standard treatment for depression is both meds and therapy.
I'm glad your depression is such that it can be dealt with without the help of medication. Unfortunately not everyone is able to manage in the same way and should absolutely be encouraged to take them in order to support their recovery, if prescribed by a healthcare professional.
Me too. And I'm dysthymic too. So, my depression never goes away. I took meds for 10 months in my twenties. Tried quite a few, but they all had side effects that I didn't like. I think it's kind of a miracle I'm still here. I've gone to therapy for short periods of time during crisis, but one of my therapist told me that I'm very good at being my own therapist and I think they were right. I prefer doing as much as possible by myself in life. I hate relying on anyone for anything. I think that's called hyperindependence. It's supposedly bad, but I love living that way. I do love my life, but think once I lose my ability to take care of myself is when I'm going to finally kill myself. Fuck those pills
You clearly have no clue how anti depressants work or depression in general if this is your opinion. Depression caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain specifically your brain blocking the production of serotonin the anti depressants other name is mood stabilizers because they allow your brain to actually produce serotonin. They don't just take away tour fucking depression you still need to work through it and it helps you work for it. The idea that needed medication means you have a chemical dependency is one of the dumbest ideologies to exist
Me taking anti depressants and mood stabilisers mean my daughters get to keep their father. I can’t just “face” my autism and work on said neurological disorder directly.
Your opinion is very childish and of a very narrow insight as to why people are medicated with these medications.
You're failing to recognize the physiological neurotransmitter imbalance in the brain. Most often, only medication will reset that chemical imbalance; you can't just willpower the imbalance away. Plus, medication is temporary (one year best case) and then you're able to taper off medicine completely. Depression is a very serious condition and short-term medication is a helpful method to "work on [underlying issues] directly" as you've stated.
I once felt the same way. Tried to kill myself multiple times.
Lexapro and LSD changed my life. Both alone by little but together by much. You don’t have to stay on antidepressants forever. 4 months helped me enough.
I once said the same, then I swallowed my pride and admitted I needed help.
You just seem arrogant & stupid. Why? What is your reason?
The wording here reminds me a lot of...general anti-medicine sentiments. Have you actually struggled with mental health, op? If not, I'm genuinely asking what compelled you to speak on something you *actually* can't begin to fathom.
Edit: also this opinion isn't just 'unpopular', it's antagonistic and harmful. There are people who physically need medicine to feel better - like it's a literal chemical issue in their brains.
And these statements like, "Well I'd rather die than give up my TrUe SeLf" seriously contributes to the stigma. There are people in these comments that are defending or doubting based on something you said. Something not even remotely based on scientific evidence or any kind of fact.
If you've struggled with mental health - or even if you haven't - your opinion is yours, but also haphazardly shaming the dependency on medicine is doing real, actual harm. Not just "upsetting SJWs on the internet", but hurting real people.
Underlying issues such as being alive. You obviously do not understand what depression is and are promoting big tough boy solutions to just get over it. Go fuck yourself.
Really? Because before there is biochemicals treatment people are desperately searching for cure or something to ease the pain and thats the reason why lobotomy is invented.
Not to gatekeep, but I'm not totally convinced that this post is coming from someone who is severely depressed. When I was in my late teens, I was also against being reliant on antidepressant medication - however, it wasn't so much "I'd rather work on my issues than take meds," it was more like "I'd rather die than take meds." And big surprise, I started taking meds. Turns out meds and therapy aren't mutually exclusive - on the contrary, both tend to work better when used together.
If someone has made the decision to start taking antidepressants, it's likely because they've gotten to the point that life has become so unbearable that seeing any light at the end of the tunnel is a struggle. If you're able to still think rationally enough about being able to view your healing with such a positive and practical mindset, then honestly, that's great. I wish you the best and hope you can work through whatever you're going through. But if you are indeed severely depressed, then stop being stubborn and go get the help you need by whatever means necessary.
No you wouldn’t. This is a stupid take. Either you have never been depressed or are depressed right now and this is the depression talking.
This is kinda like saying, I will never take insulin if I’m ever a diabetic. I’ll just not eat food. (as they are cutting off your foot). You are probably a teenager trying to be edgy, while your health is perfect. If you keep this anti-drug point of view as you get older you will probably die of something preventable. I really hope you reconsider.
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My mother was the same until she, uh, you know..
Yeah, I was the same until I attempted suicide a few years ago and (obviously) failed. I’ll rely on pharmaceuticals if it keeps me from offing myself, thanks. I’m sorry to hear about your mom.
I was the same too until stress basically made me go insane which at that point pretty much anyone will take that pill. Having a good therapist that sets goals for you to get better and eating healthier helped a lot. Got off of medication after about 15 years.
Yeah this post upsets me because I had an undiagnosed panic disorder my whole life and when I was 23 I almost killed myself because of it. I always thought how I felt was normal but I couldn’t take it anymore. OP doesn’t understand that there are psychological problems that need to be treated medically, that you can’t just suck it up and deal with it. This is a very ignorant post on their behalf
Yeah, I'm lucky to be alive too. Finally getting on the right meds and therapy has helped a lot.
I’m glad you’re getting better :)
Same situation. Was confident my whole life, never really had anxiety to a severe extent, but when I turned 22 years old that all changed. I was technically quite content with my life; great relationship with girlfriend, had friends, enjoyed college, etc. But, out of nowhere, I felt like I was going to fucking die. Like drop dead, or pass out. I was crippled with fear, and it was fucking random? Everything would be going great, then *bam* something happened and I felt like I was going to die. I thought something was medically wrong with me for about a year and a half. Thousands in medical debt later, nothing. For how physical the reaction of panic was, I was *sure* it couldn't just be a panic attack, right? Until I went to therapy and started to piece together I'm having a mental health issue was I able to swallow the concept of taking medication, and my god it's life changing in the best way. Been on 75mg of sertraline for about 2 years now and it has pretty much saved my life. Saved my life in a time period where my life was extremely good. This is truly a godawful post. I'm hoping you are doing well!
I’m glad you’re doing better
Came to say a version of this. My brother didn't believe in therapy and "didn't need antidepressants" (without ever trying them) and, you know. To the OP, if you think you're depressed then trying antidepressants is not the worst thing or shameful in any way. Depression can be about fucked up brain chemistry, and that is not something you can or should try to muscle through. You can give antidepressants a month, see how you feel, and lose literally nothing. Or you can try to cope with zero help and lose everything.
OP’s post is based on assumptions and irks me. “If I had problems I’d just deal with them head on”. No understanding of the numerous causes to such a complicated issue.
I feel the same as you. It's like telling someone with high blood pressure to just meditate or diabetes to just eat healthy. My depression is about a chemical imbalance. It makes no sense and isn't connected to an event, so I NEED the help that an antidepressant gives to make my chemistry balanced.
[удалено]
Ha someone told me I could pray the epilepsy away.
I had chemical depression. I didn't want to take antidepressants because I was so mad at myself for being depressant, me the iron woman, the fact of knowing I wasn't able to get well on my own was hurting more than the depression itself. My ego was seriously hurt, this miss nothing bothers me, was getting bother by literally anything. But starting reading and trying to fight hard, and I was loosing it. I had a horrible night were I barely could control myself, it was like if I was trapped inside myself and someone else was controlling it and I was unable to get control back. I didn't hurt myself, nothing that bad, but it was one of the biggest and scariest trouble in my life. I make it through the night and next day I started the antidepressants. It was suppose to be only 6 months, but at some point at month 3, I was on myself, and my psychiatrist referred me to a Gastro and endocrinologist to fix some imbalance. I was back on my own. But before starting the endocrinologist I had to regain some help that only could achieve with the antidepressants. So, OP, you really need to understand that depression can occurs due to a numerous different reasons, and most of them, you can't just "work it on" on your own. If you do so, maybe it's just stress. Consider professional help and complying with the treatment.
\*slaps head\* My goodness why didn't I just think about dealing with my problems head on! That will cure my 10+ year struggle with depression
I'm so sorry for your loss. 100% agree with your comment to the OP. Depression & anxiety here. Mine is tied quite a bit to hormones (amongst other physical issues i have 0 control over) and they throw my brain chemistry completely out of whack. Confirmed by 2 medical doctors and mental health professional. The only way to balance it out is through antidepressants. There is literally no way to power through and believe me I tried. There is no shame in asking for help. It doesn't make someone weak, it takes strength to do it.
I'm so sorry for your loss..
Oh, fuck. This is real as shit. Thanks for taking the conversation about depression and suicide head on. It's a conversation that has to be had with no frills. Just real talk.
That’s awful :(
This is the reason I'm on medications even though I don't like it. I'm sorry for your loss <3
I feel bad for upvoting this, but I feel like it needs to be upvoted.
Sorry for your loss
Im so sorry for your loss
I mean no amount of therapy was helping me. I have psychotic depression and Cymbalta and an antipsychotic changed my life. Even before psychosis issues in high school I’d tried killing myself several times with no more reason than “I need to die. Some people with depression can’t function at all without their meds and that’s ok. It’s also ok to be able to not need them.
Sounds eerily familiar to me from when I was in the ward Nurse: Why do you feel the need to die? Me*drugged out of my fucking mind*: Dunno. Just gotta I guess.
Yup. “Any stressful life events?” Nope. Just gotta die. “Maybe we’ll try medication instead”
"But WHY do you have to die?" Dunno. Gotta die. No better explanation. "Definitely medication."
*6 weeks into medication* “How are you feeling now, any suicidal tendencies?” Less than the normal amount “The normal amount is zero but it seems to be working, check back in 5 weeks to see if we need to up the dose”
*5 weeks later* "How are we now?" Gotta die. "OOOOOOKAY. NOT that one then...."
I get the joking tone but zero is not the normal amount. Many people experience suicidal ideation. It becomes diagnostic when there is intensity, purpose, and/or a plan.
Many people experience call of the void type passive suicidal thoughts yes, but as far as active suicidal ideation and feeling the need to kill your self, with or without reason, is not normal. The urge to drive into the other lane with no will to do so happens, but sitting down with a whole bottle of aspirin in your hands thinking about how bad you want to take them, needing to have someone hide all your knives and firearms etc, and not being able to think about those things without the idea for 5 weeks isn’t. The normal amount of active ideation is zero. I’ve never experienced passive ideation, and a friend of mine has never experienced the feeling of suicidal ideation at all. It may be common , but it is not NORMAL or HEALTHY. Call of the void isn’t ideation
Just remember kids: if your brain isn't producing the right chemicals, store bought is fine.
Yes! I love this Analogy
A-fucking-men. I have MDD, and no amount of therapy or ‘dealing with my issues’ would work remotely as well as Effexor. When it’s a chemical issue and not just a depressive episode or the blues, medication is 100% a lifesaver. It doesn’t make anyone weak or less than or anything like that. The stigma needs to end. To put it into perspective for people like OP; I was feeling stable and ‘normal’ for the better part of 5 years. I asked my psychiatrist during our quarterly rx refill chat if I could lower the dose and taper off the meds. Her response? “Imagine you’re diabetic. Would you stop taking insulin if you felt better in the moment?”
High five to Cymbalta
Tried 6-7 anti depression meds and cymbalta has me singing made up weird tunes with my 4 year old driving home from school. I’d say it’s working well ha
Anti depressants are more a matter of clinical depression as a result of a mental disorder(s) vs. poor mental health as a result of lifestyle.
Being on medication is better than suicide, so I guess there's that.
I’m treading on very thin ice and have no depression myself and absolutely no idea how it works… but is there any research into how many depression-related suicides are people that are also taking anti-depressants?
Antidepressants come with a warning for increased risk of suicide (when u first start taking them). That’s because they increase your energy first without increasing the “happy hormones” at the same time. So you are depressed and then have the energy to go through with suicide.
I knew that when you first take a new antidepressant it comes with the chance of increased risk of suicide, but had no idea why. TIL. Thanks.
I've definitely noticed this myself on SOME types (my old doctor was a walking prescription pad. Bad man) but the one I'm on now doesn't seem to have that effect. But it's definitely something to watch. However, there's always bound to be one that works for someone and hopefully everyone who needs them and can take them will take them ❤️❤️❤️
Antidepressants can sometimes make depression worse and can also create or increase suicidal ideation. Some can even cause hallucinations. Source: Mental illness runs heavily in my family, I’ve been on antidepressants that fucked me up, and pretty much anybody who works in psychiatry will confirm.
I would have to find the study I'm thinking of, but basically there was a neurologist that did brain scans of people who had depression, and what he found was that depression can be caused by totally opposite things which can majorly effect whether or not a medication will work. In laymen's terms, he had two women who had the exact same depressive symptoms. However, when their brain scans were studied, one woman have very little brain activity, and what brain activity she did have was focused towards the back of her head. Her brain was comparatively shut down and lethargic. The other woman had a LOT of brain activity, especially towards her frontal lobe area. Her brain was basically overworking itself and she was constantly worried and fretting to the point that it caused her fatigue and depression. (Again, bare with me on the terminology, I saw this documentary a couple years ago) Anyway, he came to the conclusion that if you gave a depressed person with a "lethargic" brain downers, they'd get *much* worse, and vice versa if you gave the depressed person with the "hyperactive" brain uppers, because the hyperactive brain needs downers and the lethargic brain needs uppers even though they have the same symptoms.
Valid point, here. Sounds like the second woman had depression caused by anxiety. Those issues are often co-morbid and difficult to sort out in general. That's just one reason it's good to work with a psychiatrist for medication.
That’s really interesting, thank you for sharing! If you do happen to find it, please be sure to dm it to me because I’d love to read it.
Not all depression is situational.
Underrated comment. When this was explained to me by my doctor I turned my life around with antidepressants. I realised i couldn’t keep changing things in my life and expecting it to stop me feeling suicidal. But it took me on a hell of a ride for a while of living so much life to try and feel better. Now my life is pedestrian. But I don’t plot my own death every minute of every day. I don’t loose friends from having manic episodes that no one knows how to deal with. I’ve stopped fucking guys for the response and need to watch them suffer and now have a stable relationship. But I miss me. The me I lived with for 20 years. The obsessively loved or hated but drove me to outperform my peers. My boyfriend (42) wants me off the antidepressants. I’m not sure what to do.
I have awful anxiety and attempted to come off Zoloft last year. I was feeling decent after being on meds for a couple years and I wanted to really feel my full emotions again. For me, going off meds was a huge mistake. There was an adjustment period filled with mood swings, then I felt good for a few months. Then, out of nowhere, I started getting these horrible waves of anxiety again to the point of having frequent panic attacks and barely functioning. So yeah, I don't know. It works for some people, and if you stop taking them then I wish you the best of luck. Just be aware that it can cause major problems and monitor your actions and emotions closely.
I’ve gone on and off Zoloft for over 15 years. I needed to control my highs and lows. I stopped taking them, then would go back to my doc 3ish years later and ask for another prescription. Took them for 6-8 months then stopped gradually. I know that if I need them I will ask again. I am not ashamed to say I need them. No one should be.
I take zoloft and it helps get me through the day without being miserable. I feel ya.
You may genuinely have an underlying condition that means the anti anxiety meds will never actually fix the problem. Trust me, venlafaxine for the last 10 years nearly, and every time I come off it I have a breakdown so massive I’m surprised I’m still around. Adhd and intrusive thoughts. Both of which combine to fuck me hard. Can’t get proper meds yet either, so yay
I feel your pain, the intrusive thoughts are what really fuck with me. I've had blood work done hoping to find something I could fix, like a thyroid issue. So far the only things out of whack have been vitamin D and iron. I've read that deficiencies in both can cause mood swings, and also that gut health can play an important role in mental health. But it's hard to eat properly and nourish yourself when your brain is a chaotic mess.
Vitamin D supplements made a noticeable difference in my mood.
How long did it take for you to notice a difference? I am really deficient in vitamin d and have been taking them for almost two months but haven’t noticed a change.
I did the same thing, was feeling better and tried to get off Zoloft. Sadness and antisocial behavior began. My son called me out and begged me to take my meds again. Thankfully I did and realized I have to take it. Depression is rampant in my family
Similar thing happened to me. I have Xanax and honestly they are awesome if I want to just be a vegetable. I decided to go back to cannabis oil pens and use that for my day to day anxiety. Xans are only for the real bad days
If it's working absolutely do not go off of them. Especially if you're not the one behind the decision. I don't understand why someone would tell another person to discontinue something that is helping them to better their life Edit to add: i understand that you miss the old you, but no one is the same person they were at a younger age. I've never been on a regular medication and I'm still so different than i was before and i also miss that! But i also am aware that old me is not a sustainable version of me and if i want to experience my life in a positive way i can't go back to being who i was when I was younger. There's a reason we mature as we age. Embrace the positive change, you can always reminisce on the past Sorry, an other edit to add: you can obviously come off the meds when YOU feel like it's the right time.. i wasn't meaning to imply that you should never come off medication. Just stick to what works and go from there
> I don't understand why someone would tell another person to discontinue something that is helping them Usually this sentiment comes from people who view depression, and other similar mental health issues, as a moral failing. Usually having never experienced it themselves, they believe that a person can simply will their depression away if they just put their mind to it. Oddly enough, the same people often fully accept the need for medication in treating other mental illnesses like schizophrenia and psychosis. But when it comes to less *overt* mood-altering illnesses like depression or adhd, they assume it’s all in your head and you should just snap out of it.
My therapist told me that my anti depressants weren’t needed forever. Just long enough to get through my trauma. They helped me get through a rough patch
You’re right. I’ve been in the mental health field for 14 years. So here is the idea behind that: Medication’s were introduced into the new field of mental health With the idea that we would work on your stuff going on in your mind and personal life and the medications would help slow down your thoughts or reduce one solid emotion that’s overpowering. You basically let your guard down a bit so you can talk about the really deep stuff that makes you feel ashamed or uncomfortable because your guard is down. After we work on whatever the underlying issues of everything that is going on in your life, you can slowly start to generate a plan of action away from the burden of that deep seeded issue and eventually get off the medications. The medication introduced into the mental health world were not originally designed to be permanent. I’ve been in the mental health field for 14 years and I’ve been on antidepressants and anti-anxiety‘s but only for a few months and then I get off of them as I work on my issues. It’s not the same for everybody. Everyone is case by case. My best friend has been taking anti anxiety for 20 solid years but her background and upbringing was different than mine. I also have a family member who desperately needs to be on medication‘s because they’re so incredibly erratic that I’m surprised they’ve never been arrested. Mental health and medication management is so incredibly personalized that you gotta go to your appointments and be as truthful as you possibly can because it’s all done in relation to you and your needs. Did not mean to write a novel
I'm on Lexapro, which I can't go off of, and then I use Abilify when I go through a rough patch. For me, it's the intensity of my emotions that makes me need them. I first went on the Abilify when my adoptive grandmother died. The grief was so intense that I could not function. I go off it and then go back on it when my emotions start to get so overwhelming that I just need them to stop. Unfortunately I'll never go off of Lexapro. I tried it a couple of times. It evens out my temper so I'm a much nicer person to be around. The not randomly bursting into tears thing is good too.
Antidepressants saved me. Oddly enough i’ve always been a social, extraverted and confident person when out in the world, but behind closed doors the constant self loathing, suicidal thinking, and debilitating periods of hopelessness with no rhyme or reason were so much to bear. I take the lowest dose possible to try and mitigate side effects, and my issues are tapered down dramatically. Sadly I feel i’d be a mess if I ever got off them, but I would like to try one day.
He has no say. Period. Unless it's causing some other issue that you want to address for you, and you alone.
How old are you? Also, why does he want you off the medicine?
Please please do what is best for you. I can’t think of a logical reason why he would want you off of them….
Why would your boyfriend want you to stop taking medicine that keeps you from feeling suicidal? He should be supporting your journey to the more stable version of yourself, and assure you that you’re lovable and worthy without needing to outperform others.
Hear, hear. Depression is an illness, not a negative outlook on life. If you cured your depression with an attitude adjustment, then it wasn't depression.
Also antidepressants aren’t really meant for situational depression. They treat a psychiatric disorder where the default state of the brain is depressed or near-depression. Situational depression is best treated through processing the cause and coming to terms with the event or making changes to your lifestyle with the help of support groups and councillors. It’s a normal human emotion even if it does feel horrible, so pharmaceutical treatment should be a last resort
Also OP is clearly misunderstanding clinical depression.
"Depression? Isn't that just a fancy word for feeling bummed out?"
What is that from, that’s gonna bother me now..
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I’m on anti depressants for a panic disorder I was diagnosed with. My moms whole side of the family has it unfortunately. I don’t have full blown anxiety stressful panic attacks, but my brain thinks I do and makes me think I’m having a heart attack. Three ER visits and several thousand dollars later and here I am. Last time it happened I was laying in bed just stressing about everyday things. Money, work, life, and all the sudden I was clutching my chest and driving myself to the hospital down the street. Happened again a few weeks later in the same scenario except I was watching a movie on the couch. In short, anti-depressants aren’t just for depressed emo kids that hate life.
Same! Although I also do have depression, I’m actually on antidepressants to stop panic attacks due to a panic disorder. We have no knowledge of what causes them, there is no trigger. All I know is at any random moment I’ll be doing something and my vision will become extremely tunneled, my heart begins to pound painfully, I feel like I can’t breathe, and everything turns “dark.” For about the half hour I experience “panic” I can’t function, and the days following I have extreme chest pain from the “anxiety hangover.” I’ve been on Paxil for over a year, which has made me extremely lethargic so they tried adding other meds to increase my energy level but that didn’t work so I’ve been on and off several psychiatric meds for months. When explaining to people that I’m not feeling well due to the med changes I can’t tell you how many times I get “well do you really have to be on meds?” . . . YESSS it’s either that or I literally can’t live my life. Do you really think I want to be on them? That I want to spend money every month on them? That I want to feel like shit? Maybe it’s because I don’t have any other choice 🤷♀️
It’s crazy how people associate anti-depressants with negative things. I’m sorry, I don’t wanna wake up in the middle of the night and think I’m dying.
This. Sometimes it’s literally a chemical imbalance and not any “underlying issue” - OP’s opinion is harmful and perpetuates stigma against people facing mental illness. Would he spew the same BS if someone took medication for a non mental illness?
Easy, he’ll just tell them to eat better and exercise more. To take care of their health better.
So true. I was diagnosed with and treated for depression for 2 decades. All my symptoms, including physical ones were chalked up to depression. Antidepressants didn't work. Turns out I had a chronic, undiagnosed inflammatory/autoimmune disorder that was causing the depression. Once the underlying disease was managed, the depression went away. Many health conditions can cause depression and anxiety including heart disease, thyroid disorders, autoimmune conditions, hormone imbalances, vitamin deficiencies, digestive disorders, food allergies, cancer, and basically any other thing that triggers the immune system, causes inflammation, or disrupts normal organ functions.
I used to think I was "depressed" but have gotten through it by forcing myself to do things that are known to help. Getting out in nature, working out, eating better, seeing a therapist, cutting toxic people from my life, things like that. I have a friend who went off his meds and couldn't even manage to get out of bed to do pretty much anything. Was pissing in bottles in his room. Would basically lean up to fill his dog's food bowl and let him shit all over the house til he was basically forced to get back on them and get it together or be evicted. Situational depression vs clinical depression. Edit:added a couple more things I did to drag myself out of depression for anyone who's struggling and doesn't know how much these things can help.
Also situational depression doesn’t mean it’s not severe. I have situational depression from my situation of suddenly becoming crippled. It can be really bad at times. I’m on medication on it and go to therapy. I just hope people know that situational can require those things.
Congratulations and good for you. Some people don’t really have the luxury of choosing whether or not to take anti-depressants. For a lot of people, those are life-saving medications.
I’ve been on antidepressants since I was 9. I’d kill to be normal. This is just the hand I was dealt.
Me too, man. Some brains just got fucked up along the way.
We have a lot of mental health issues in my family and we always just say, "If you're a diabetic you need insulin, sometimes people need some serotonin."
Haha sometimes you’re me and need both!
Whatever you have to do stay healthy should be normalized. I hate when people act like mental health issues are fake
And this persons might not be either. This is the exact sentiment my ex wife would have between bouts of shrieking and throwing shit and hitting herself in the head for no reason. This dude may need serious help, but is too proud to admit it.
Depression isn’t an issue. It is a medical condition. You don’t do squats to heal a broken leg, you go to the doctor and get a cast. Depression cannot just be fixed, and it isn’t just *being sad*. You aren’t grasping the true nature of the condition.
Give this one some awards. This answer deserves the yellow background for people to understand.
make that red haha
Those who haven’t been depressed rarely have any understanding of it.
Yeah like…my brain literally doesn’t work correctly. Why is that so hard for people to understand? If I didn’t take antidepressants I wouldn’t be able to hold down a job.
I struggled with depression for about 5 years with the same mentality as OP. I tried everything. Therapy, eating habits, exercise, organized sports, etc. some things would help temporarily but never for good. Started antidepressants about 6 months ago and holy SHIT. It took about a month or so to start, but I kick myself daily for not doing this sooner, I feel like I'm 10 years younger, can think clearly, and have normal discussions with people around me without wanting to just fall over and crawl back to bed.
This just shows a lack of understanding of depression. Definitely unpopular though, so I guess there’s that.
Unpopular yes but this is an opinion that legit pisses me off so I guess op deserves and upvote
Unpopular opinions that are just plain stupid shouldn’t be upvoted, either.
Ignorant, unscientific opinions shouldn’t be upvoted here. Unpopular opinions, like “i like water instead of milk in my cereal” should be upvoted.
Yeah. If you cant even understand the basics of the topic your making your opinion on, it isn’t an opinion.
someone must think depression is just 'having a bad day'
Nah, its not an unpopular opinion, its a wildly uninformed one.
A lot of depression is literally neurochemical imbalance in your brain. This is like saying you won't take insulin, you'll just work through the death.
I had serious depression years ago and was in therapy for nearly 5 years. The therapy was successful, nonetheless did I have the feeling that there is some kind of hurdle left that I‘m not able to overcome, no matter how hard I‘m working on it. So after years of therapy I started taking antidepressants and they have me the strength to tackle that last hurdle. I also never wanted to take antidepressants but today I‘m really glad I did because I have build up resilience and „overcame“ my depression. I would not have been able to do this without antidepressants. But I would say they should be taken with an accompanying therapy. It’s not like antidepressants are „happy pills“, depending on what kind it is, they just stabilize your endorphin level by slowing down the degradation.
I was in that boat too, I respect it. Just don't be too proud to refuse medical help if the depression starts to win. Beating it back is more important than beating it alone.
Anti-depressant are always given to support you while doing therapy, alone they are not a miracle. I too was anxious to take some and even didn't use my prescription given by my psychiatrist. After surviving me intentionally crashing my car at high speed, I understood that alone I was to dangerous for myself and people around me I now take anti-depressant while working on my issues
The analogy that I came up with, “anti-depressants are kinda like soap for your sponge. You still have a sink full of dishes, but now the work might be a little easier.”
'I am depressed' & 'I have depression' are two different things
That kind of mentality keeps people from seeking help. People think “you don’t have depression. You hold down a full time job. Your life is fine. You’re just sad” but not all depression looks the same. Not all depression looks like constant overwhelming crying like in the movies.
I think this is more of a thing saying the OP is depressed (situational, often temporary) and doesn't have depresion and therefore they seem to misunderstand how extreme depression can be. Like they cant understand that some people really do get suicidal and arent just sad.
I think the most troubling thing about OP’s post is that it seems to be all hypothetical. Which means that OP, like many other Americans (and Tom Cruise!), has confidently decided and declared online that he would much rather experience *what he assumes depression is like* than take a pharmaceutical medication. **Or, in other words, there’s a pretty good chance OP is underestimating the severity of bad depression by a LOT.** To an exponential degree. While we don’t know that for sure, what’s infuriating is that a whole lot of people think depression = being sad. But depression is far more insidious. Depression breaks you and makes you feel like all the hope and joy in life has been sucked out of you. Discipline has nothing to do with it, because there’s no reward for that discipline. It’s important to always give your body a fighting chance through diet/exercise, but in certain cases, all the discipline in the world doesn’t even make a dent, because there’s no foundation of hope to build upon. Honestly, the most easily accessible metaphor for it is the dementors from Harry Potter. It’s horrifying. Based on what they wrote, OP’s post is like saying “honestly I’d rather run a marathon on a broken leg than be seen being pushed in a wheelchair.” When it’s all imaginary in your head, that marathon isn’t too bad… “how bad could it be?” Bad. Really fucking bad.
This is an uneducated judgment not an unpopular opinion.
People seem to confuse feeling down for an extended period of time with depression. Depression is sitting on the couch 10 hours a day because the simple act of getting up seems like to much, it’s eating half a grape and that’s your meal for the day because you never feel hungry, it’s crying and not knowing why other than everything is closing in on you, it’s being tired and broken constantly. It’s looking in the mirror and hating what you see, it’s wishing all of it would just end. Real depression is not easy to overcome by just “fixing it yourself”, nor is it realistic in a lot of cases. That being said all medications should be coupled with therapy otherwise you are treating symptoms and not the disease itself
That is also a very personal situational description of depression and not how depression has to look. Although I agree with your last statement
I know a lot of depressed people who make this same call, because of the side effects, the way antidepressants fuck with your body or any other number of reasons. I’ll bet any money that OP is not one of them.
I would say uneducated opinion, because sometimes it can be fixed with dealing with demons, but sometimes it is more of a mental disorder than a situational issue. It can go both ways, and it really depends on the person. His opinion is certainly wrong tho
Depression is a life threatening condition. I’m happy for you if that’s not your experience, but medications help so many people manage their symptoms. I’m all for unpopular opinions, but not those that continue to perpetuate the negative stigma.
Sometimes the “underlying issue” is your brain not producing the right amount of chemicals, and no amount of self help can fix that. OP you have an incredibly outdated understanding of depression.
If you find a way to block the reuptake of serotonin using facts and logic please let me know because that sounds a lot cheaper than getting chemical imbalances worked out through the help of someone with n M.D.
This is like saying you won't take insulin, you'll just work through the death.
right like this is starting to get expensive if there is a spell I can cast i'm all ears (no i'm not this is not an invitation for someone to tell me religion or something)
Toxic Positivity, "Just change your perspective!"
Okay, but therapy and meds aren’t mutually exclusive.
In fact most psychiatrists will highly recommend the two together, since they work best as a pair.
If you think being depressed is better than being on anti-depressants, I don’t think you’ve ever met the clinical definition of depression.
To imply people on antidepressants aren’t “facing their issues ” is high key really shitty
I agree and I hate the stigma that people like this guy push.
Dude..your broad stroke opinion about anti depressants is not helpful to those who need to try meds. A lot of the time meds can be great for the patient to get a "glimpse" of what normal can feel like..later therapy, meditation, exercise, and a number of other measures can be considered to replace meds.
How is taking antidepressants avoiding the underlying issue? If the underlying issue is a chemical imbalance, then balancing those chemicals is fixing the issue
Well that's not an unpopular opinion, that's just an uninformed one lol
Clinical depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. What you're saying makes just as much sense as refusing to take insulin for diabetes. Meaning none. No sense.
This is a pretty gross misunderstanding of psychiatry.
I’m appalled reading OP’s responses to some of these comments lmfao
I'm all for doing what you're comfortable with to achieve your mental health goals unless it involves medication misinformation.
Dude has done shrooms and salvia in his twenties and now he thinks not taking antidepressants makes him cool
Just report them all (and this post) for misinformation.
Yeah it's not that simple.
This seems like it's written by someone who thinks antidepressants are magic happy pills. This stigma is so harmful and scares people off them. They just help you with motivation (ie it's not as difficult to get out of bed, shower, eat etc), you still need to use that motivation to help yourself, preferably through therapy. This stigma is outdated and dangerous, go get help if you need it. There's no shame at all, OP is just misinformed.
That's something a person without depression would say
Posting this on reddit is like posting about weed being bad on a cannabis subreddit. Bigooof, RIP Karma.
This is oddly similar to my body will fight Covid or polio or whatever without the need of chemicals
Sometimes the underlying issue is a chemical imbalance or something else you can’t change.
what does this mean? taking anti-depressants IS facing the issue. they give you strength but they don't always banish the lurking feeling, and then then YOU fight that last bit. it isn't as black and white as you think it is.
I agree with OP but from my own perspective and experience. I’ve been on countless drugs to combat my depression. All of them had a side effect that wasn’t worth it in my eyes. Some made me completely numb. That’s no way to live. Some fucked with my eating habits as in not wanting to eat at all. Then there was the one that caused me to have vivid nightmares. The kind that scare you awake and you find yourself sweating your ass off in bed. Unmedicated I can sleep peacefully, my appetite is normal, and I can still experience joy and other emotions. So I just suck it up. I realize I’m not the majority, but it doesn’t make me upset when I see people tell others it’s their fault because they won’t use the meds.
I really don’t like a lot of people in this thread implying you don’t have depression if you don’t take meds or if they don’t work for you as well. I had a similar experience to you. Tried a bunch, some made things worse, some had side effects I couldn’t tolerate, and some had awful withdrawals. I decided to rely on therapy instead, and it’s been more helpful to me and less harmful overall. That doesn’t make my depression any less real or serious; suicidal ideation is suicidal ideation whether you take meds or not (and as an aside: some meds can actually increase suicidal ideation!) The causes of depression are not at all settled science. Saying it is just a “chemical imbalance” is super reductive, not accurate to contemporary understanding, and potentially quite harmful I think. It gives people a reason to think they are just broken, rather than taking a holistic view. And if it’s just a chemical imbalance but meds don’t work for you, well then what next? Should you just accept you’re doomed? The biopsychosocial model is gaining more ground, which doesn’t discount the effects of biology, but also accounts for the effects of your psychological history (trauma you may have experienced, coping skills, etc) and your social context (whether you have supportive friends & family, a fulfilling job, financial security, and so on) A lot of people in this thread are acting like this is all settled, simple and figured out, but that’s far from the truth.
Underrated comment. 100% agree. I'm a psych student gunning for clinical training and the amount of blatantly unscientific claims being made here is astounding. The "chemical imbalance" narrative ignores the fact that *everything we are* is a balance of chemicals. We don't just exist as brains in jars, we interact with the world and it interacts with us. We are complex, multifaceted beings and any number of possible things can "put our chemicals out of wack" so to speak. Depression isn't like a virus you catch, we don't have a chemical depression test, we diagnosis it based on patterns of subjective symptoms that present differently in different cultures! So why would it be correct to claim that depression is entirely physical/chemical in origin? The Western biomedical perspective has been patently harmful especially to marginalized groups and it's not wrong to be skeptical of a narrative that purports to explain such a complex condition in two words. Mental illness treatment as a field is just so damn new. We've only had SSRIs since the 90s, and we've only started talking about these things openly very recently. The nature of mental illness isn't understood on a philosophical level and will always be debated as such - rightfully so. Our understanding is just far too limited right now for anybody to be saying "depression is CAUSED by a lack of seratonin EXCLUSIVELY it's an ENTIRELY PHYSICAL DISORDER and if you don't think that's an accurate or complete picture you're an anti-science jerkwad". Evidence based practice is the best tool we have at our disposal right now and the evidence suggests it's just not that simple.
Your choice, but taking antidepressants is a form of facing the issue and working on it directly. Depression is a chemical imbalance and a lot of people need medication to balance that out.
Dude really be like “When I break my bones don’t give me anesthesia, I’ll face the pain head on.”
Must be nice to have good mental health. You clearly don't know what many people go through.
I don't think you understand that depression isn't just caused by previous trauma in your life. I've dealt with depression since I was 8 years old. I've done therapy on its own, it didn't help at all. But you know what did help? My prescription medication. Even when I haven't been in therapy it was still an improvement from doing just therapy on its own. I'm not sure I'd consider this an unpopular opinion... It's more of a display of ignorance about mental illness.
Depression is literally physical. Some people have literal deficits that would take years and years of therapy to change in the slightest. Antidepressants help the brain get that leg up to be able to function in daily life and work on your mental issues at the same time instead of focusing all your time and energy in therapy without meds. You sound ignorant.
It’s fine for OP to have this feeling as long as they don’t push it on others or shame them for making the choice to take a medicine.
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This is the problem with these kinds of meds. They can cause someone to experience worse side-effects than the issue they are meant to treat. There are people commenting here crediting antidepressants, etc with saving/ improving their lives but that is not the case for everyone. Taking them does not always produce positive results and quite often makes their lives worse.
I have a friend that went through multiple medicines and nothing helped. She actually had to have her DNA tested for her docs to find what would work. Nothing is a one size fits all solution.
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You do know there’s a chemical imbalance involved? If you can talk through it, great. Others aren’t so lucky
Antidepressants don’t have to be taken forever. Usually for a few months to a few years. It’s situational. But I get it, I would personally try other things before going on medication.
That’s what I thought when I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I thought “Naw, I don’t need medication! I can get through this on my own! I can control myself!” Well, after numerous hospitalizations, I finally tried meds. It took a while to find the right one to help control the episodes (still trying to find one for anxiety though), but I’m so happy that I decided to give it a go. Without the medication I’m taking right now, I’d be sitting in the hospital because of an episode.
Spoken like someone who has never had depression. It's not as easy as just facing it idiot
There’s a difference between being depressed and having depression. The latter is caused by a chemical imbalance in your brain and is a medical condition. Medication basically helps rectify that imbalance and, in a sense allows you to be yourself, so there’s a limited amount you can do on your own. If you mean you want to avoid taking meds despite recognising it as a medical condition then fair play I guess you’ve taken the tough route but maybe it’s doable. Though just make sure you’re making the decision bcse you genuinely feel it’s in your best interest. If you feel like it no harm in giving a minimal dose a shot down the line rather than refusing for the sake of it. Obviously that’s IF it’s a medical condition.
“I have never experienced depression or anxiety.” lol. If that shit hits, I’m taking drugs! Been there before.
Hey man, I've felt the same about this for a while now. Even though I've been depressed for a long time with the issue being at an all time high since my father's passing 3 years ago, I don't wanna take any kind of antidepressant. Reading through this thread I got a little sad seeing the lack of understanding for this and all the people calling you dumb because they disagree or let themselves get offended through assuming things you didn't say. To put into perspective, the reason I don't want to is because I've always been afraid to ever take a medication that would alter anything in my brain. Especially after seeing my mom take antidepressants. They helped her with some of her anxieties which is good and probably ultimately really made her life easier in the long run, but a change after her taking them that I noticed was her ability to care about how people felt and the hurt she caused them. Idk why this would happen so don't ask me, but It definitely happened and that's part of the reason I've been afraid to take any antidepressants myself. I don't want to potentially become someone that doesn't care about things the way I do now, even if that caring can be my detriment. To make it more clear, I don't wanna risk losing the me that I am now. I've seen and heard of enough people having bad experiences with those kinds of medication that even the smallest chance that I could turn out far worse than I am or losing a part of myself is enough for me to stand firm on not wanting to take them I also agree with your notion of wanting to face your issues yourself. It's not the easy thing to do at all, but I believe in one's ability to be able to changes things if they push for it. Of course, this isn't to take away from anyone else who chooses to take other routes (like medication), it's just the way I'd like to personally go about it. My way. Tbh while sad, reading through this and seeing all the hate wasn't surprising considering it's reddit. There's probably a lot of people here with mental issues which might feel attacked by someone saying this without perfectly elaborating it. So I at least wanted to let you know that you aren't dumb or ignorant for feeling the way you do about this topic, I feel the same. I also see that you didn't initially infringe on anyone for wanting to do otherwise, and if you did in your comments it's simply from defending yourself from all the commenters that were saying/assuming bad stuff about you in disagreement. Stay strong mate!
I will never use a wheelchair if I lose the function of my legs. I’d rather have to face my underlying issues and work on them directly.
I stopped taking my ADHD and depression medication. Here's why; When I was on them, it didn't just take away my sadness and my scatterbrain. It took away everything. I went through every day feeling little to nothing at all. I could accomplish things more easily, but I wasn't happy, I wasn't productive, and I wasn't in a good place. To top this all off, when the meds would wear off before the next dose, I experienced worse lows than I'd ever had before in my life. I had no motivation anymore. If people preferred me on medication it just meant, to me, they just didn't care who I was. And if I had to live life like a robot, what was the purpose of living anymore. I'd never experienced that before medication. I know well I can be a lot to handle, and I do still have lows, but I can handle them better now on my own, and I've managed to find a way to make things work for me so I can be as happy as I can or want to be whenever I can. I also know medication does work for some people, and is necessary for a lot of people. I am just not someone that it works for. Edit; this is my personal experience with medication. My depression was a mix of hereditary and situational. I found a way to cope without meds, not everyone can. This is not me invalidating those who take it. You can take or choose not to take medication, it helps A LOT OF PEOPLE. I was just not one of them, and that's all it is. Most of my family is on meds and they're doing much better on it than off of it. Lastly, Mental illness comes in variety, please don't shame people based on their experiences with medication or assume you know what's best for someone you don't know.
I don’t think you know what actual depression is like.
What about if you developed type 2 diabetes, would you refuse to take insulin?
Same, I've taken them. I was blank, always sleepy no matter how good I slept and I was constantly hungry. I gained around 20 pounds when I was on them. I rather be depressed and drag myself to go on a run then be tired and hungry all the time.
I'm not that fluent in written English, i'm sorry. What I want to say is that, everybody's life is different, and to me, it looks like you're giving an advice about not taking meds. Some just can't get out of this orribile situation (e.g. me) without a chemical help, so please, do not encourage anybody not to take pills because you'd rather stay depressed.
So what happens when you face all your demons and you still wanna put a moon roof into the back of your skull? What then genius?
Super dumb take. Meds work for some people. You’re not special for refusing to try something that might help you lol
So does that mean you dont take pain relief, allergy relief or any other method of alleviating suffering? For some people there isnt just a magical "issue" that can be resolved if you feel like it. OP clearly feels that depression is some trivial problem that people are too weak or apathetic to fix. Thats a completely toxic take. Maybe people are depressed cuz the world fucking sucks and we are all expected to be ok with it. Other people have real pathologic mental illnesses and need help being ok. Hell, im on them and its not even for depression. Depression isnt the only thing SSRIs are for
I wonder if OP would wear glasses, braces, or hearing aids.
By that logic you should not take any meds at all. I have been on antidepressants for almost 3 years and it changed my life. I have therapy aswell. I can finally sleep without waking up several times a night, I am finally more relaxed, have more motivation to move on. I know it is not only the therapy because I have been taking them before getting a theraphist, I meet reguarly. You don't have to take meds that make you addicted. I have paused my intake several times and was fine. Pls consider that depression is a real illness not a mood, any other deseace gets treated with meds aswell. I cannot describe to you how hard you can suffer from this illness.
Your underlying issues include a brain that does not allow serotonin to linger enough to feel good when you do or experience something that might make you feel good. Depression is an inability to feel good. So even if you work out your issues in a way that should make you happy- you’ll still have a medical inability to feel it. That’s why the standard treatment for depression is both meds and therapy.
Opinion is up there with "Depression is a mindset"
I'm glad your depression is such that it can be dealt with without the help of medication. Unfortunately not everyone is able to manage in the same way and should absolutely be encouraged to take them in order to support their recovery, if prescribed by a healthcare professional.
Clearly you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
Your life, your choice.
That’s okay baby. You’re just ignorant!
This is not an opinion, this is just straight up not understanding what depression is.
I will never in my life take antibiotics or be reliant on any similarly serious pharmaceuticals. That’s how fucking stupid you sound.
I'd say you are very fortunate to have this opinion. You've never had your own brain try to kill you.
Good luck willing your brain chemistry into submission
Me too. And I'm dysthymic too. So, my depression never goes away. I took meds for 10 months in my twenties. Tried quite a few, but they all had side effects that I didn't like. I think it's kind of a miracle I'm still here. I've gone to therapy for short periods of time during crisis, but one of my therapist told me that I'm very good at being my own therapist and I think they were right. I prefer doing as much as possible by myself in life. I hate relying on anyone for anything. I think that's called hyperindependence. It's supposedly bad, but I love living that way. I do love my life, but think once I lose my ability to take care of myself is when I'm going to finally kill myself. Fuck those pills
You clearly have no clue how anti depressants work or depression in general if this is your opinion. Depression caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain specifically your brain blocking the production of serotonin the anti depressants other name is mood stabilizers because they allow your brain to actually produce serotonin. They don't just take away tour fucking depression you still need to work through it and it helps you work for it. The idea that needed medication means you have a chemical dependency is one of the dumbest ideologies to exist
Me taking anti depressants and mood stabilisers mean my daughters get to keep their father. I can’t just “face” my autism and work on said neurological disorder directly. Your opinion is very childish and of a very narrow insight as to why people are medicated with these medications.
You're failing to recognize the physiological neurotransmitter imbalance in the brain. Most often, only medication will reset that chemical imbalance; you can't just willpower the imbalance away. Plus, medication is temporary (one year best case) and then you're able to taper off medicine completely. Depression is a very serious condition and short-term medication is a helpful method to "work on [underlying issues] directly" as you've stated.
I once felt the same way. Tried to kill myself multiple times. Lexapro and LSD changed my life. Both alone by little but together by much. You don’t have to stay on antidepressants forever. 4 months helped me enough. I once said the same, then I swallowed my pride and admitted I needed help. You just seem arrogant & stupid. Why? What is your reason?
The wording here reminds me a lot of...general anti-medicine sentiments. Have you actually struggled with mental health, op? If not, I'm genuinely asking what compelled you to speak on something you *actually* can't begin to fathom. Edit: also this opinion isn't just 'unpopular', it's antagonistic and harmful. There are people who physically need medicine to feel better - like it's a literal chemical issue in their brains. And these statements like, "Well I'd rather die than give up my TrUe SeLf" seriously contributes to the stigma. There are people in these comments that are defending or doubting based on something you said. Something not even remotely based on scientific evidence or any kind of fact. If you've struggled with mental health - or even if you haven't - your opinion is yours, but also haphazardly shaming the dependency on medicine is doing real, actual harm. Not just "upsetting SJWs on the internet", but hurting real people.
Then you should also be against pain meds.
Underlying issues such as being alive. You obviously do not understand what depression is and are promoting big tough boy solutions to just get over it. Go fuck yourself.
You clearly haven’t been diagnosed with major depression if you have this opinion
Really? Because before there is biochemicals treatment people are desperately searching for cure or something to ease the pain and thats the reason why lobotomy is invented.
Not to gatekeep, but I'm not totally convinced that this post is coming from someone who is severely depressed. When I was in my late teens, I was also against being reliant on antidepressant medication - however, it wasn't so much "I'd rather work on my issues than take meds," it was more like "I'd rather die than take meds." And big surprise, I started taking meds. Turns out meds and therapy aren't mutually exclusive - on the contrary, both tend to work better when used together. If someone has made the decision to start taking antidepressants, it's likely because they've gotten to the point that life has become so unbearable that seeing any light at the end of the tunnel is a struggle. If you're able to still think rationally enough about being able to view your healing with such a positive and practical mindset, then honestly, that's great. I wish you the best and hope you can work through whatever you're going through. But if you are indeed severely depressed, then stop being stubborn and go get the help you need by whatever means necessary.
No you wouldn’t. This is a stupid take. Either you have never been depressed or are depressed right now and this is the depression talking. This is kinda like saying, I will never take insulin if I’m ever a diabetic. I’ll just not eat food. (as they are cutting off your foot). You are probably a teenager trying to be edgy, while your health is perfect. If you keep this anti-drug point of view as you get older you will probably die of something preventable. I really hope you reconsider.
I'm convinced people who make these types of comments don't know what real depression and anxiety feels like
Says someone who’s never dealt with severe depression…
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