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Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

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61–70 of 167 posts

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#61
I think we'll look back to this era the same way we currently look back at the time we prescribed heroin for all kinds of things: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Drug_sto...

The fact that they work and helped people isn't mutually exclusive with the fact that they're abused, over prescribed and have crazy side effects

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#62

Like it or not, you are your neurology. You are your synaptic structure, you are your neurotransmitters. This trick of conscious self awareness doesn't trump neurology. You can't meditate out of physical systems malfunctioning any more than you can meditate away a broken leg. These drugs are like casts for broken bones. Just because you can't see the broken system doesn't make it less physical. Get a cast. Heal the a…

>Like it or not, you are your neurology. You are your synaptic structure, you are your neurotransmitters.

Yeah, but look who's saying that. Your neurology etc.

By that logic the cast of Seinfeld is a tribe of gnomes living inside your tv.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#63
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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> Be careful what you pimp These aren't drugs you can just ask for (in the UK) at least and the parent wasn't "pimping". Undermining someone's account of their positive experience using therapeutic drugs because of your own bias shows an astounding lack of compassion.. Getting help, help that often involves therapeutic drugs to bootstrap other life changes _is_ taking responsibility. Your comment neatly sums up the t…

Breaking cycles or bootstrapping changes for those too overwhelmed with depression or anxiety to make lige changes are the ideal uses for the drugs. And then you are supposed to get weaned off them until the next spiral, and then ise rhem to shorten that one too. But in the US plenty of doctors seem to treat simply asking for these drugs as the requisite symptoms for diagnosis. Andany people I care about were diagnosed with chronic depression or anxiety as early teens when all sorts of things are happening. Decades later they still take them and who can say now if they ever needed them, but they certainly do now. It is the normal state for their brains and any attempt to wean would require those complex feedback loops to rebalance.

Continuous use isn't always bad either, but im the US we don't always try other options first, and if the mess work they almost never encourage you to stop, because if you hurt yourself that is a liability for them, but if you are a robot with no strong feelings about anything that eats cake, watches circuses and goes to work, then at least that is something.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#64

I can tell this thread is going to be a nightmare but whatever I really want to share my experience in case there are people similar to me that need to hear this: I cannot emphasise enough how much Escitalopram (lexapro) has helped me with issues I didn't even know I had until I started taking it. At which point I realised I was living in a constant state of anxiety up to that point, and I probably should have been o…

I use this too, a very low dose to just alleviate my anxiety. If I don't take it, stress often leads to severe anxiety for me. The same way it leads to ulcers or other things for other people.

A small dose of it serves as a safety net for me. I still get it but it doesn't get out of control.

I've tried to do without in the past but eventually when I get in a rough patch things get bad and this drug is only affective after taking it for a few months. So just taking it when it's most needed is not an option.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#65

Statements like this need to be worded very carefully. In many people's minds, saying something like "most people don't need antidepressants" quickly becomes "antidepressants are useless". Many people who may benefit from them get scared away. Speaking as someone who has been on/off antidepressants for GAD+OCD for the better part of a decade, I've had countless people tell me that antidepressants are useless and just…

That's right, you are among the 0-15% SSRI's help. For the rest 85-100% of people they help as much as a sugar pill.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#66
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> pushing all kinds of stuff via doctors And also pushing directly to the consumer via commercial advertising, which is very unusual. Not sure which way is right though. Maybe people have a right to know about which drugs are available, unscreened by a doctor who may not have your best interests in mind (for example they have to meet a budget, or they have religious opinions.)

I’ve always thought the fact that there are commercials for cancer drugs is very telling. Surely your oncologist will put you on what’s best, right? I’ve never had cancer but my experience with plenty of other doctors points the other way, and that they wouldn’t be spending money on those commercials if they didn’t get a return from them.

> Surely your oncologist will put you on what’s best, right?

No - best case scenario is they'll put you on the best that their budget and policy allows them to in your particular region.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcode_lottery

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/2700686/Healthcare-p...

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#67
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

> Be careful what you pimp These aren't drugs you can just ask for (in the UK) at least and the parent wasn't "pimping". Undermining someone's account of their positive experience using therapeutic drugs because of your own bias shows an astounding lack of compassion.. Getting help, help that often involves therapeutic drugs to bootstrap other life changes _is_ taking responsibility. Your comment neatly sums up the t…

On the contrary - there is now much evidence these drugs do not work as effectively as the glowing reviews state. There is also much evidence that they are being over-prescribed, for profit.

So it is just as toxic to say "these drugs are awesome and you should try them in spite of all of this talk about them being ineffective, addictive, and being sold for massive profit" in that context.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#68
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Your comment is execrable.

So is the conclusion that these drugs are worth the side effects, expense, and significant addiction - just because someone on the Internet had a good time on them.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#69
post #62

Like it or not, you are your neurology. You are your synaptic structure, you are your neurotransmitters. This trick of conscious self awareness doesn't trump neurology. You can't meditate out of physical systems malfunctioning any more than you can meditate away a broken leg. These drugs are like casts for broken bones. Just because you can't see the broken system doesn't make it less physical. Get a cast. Heal the a…

>Like it or not, you are your neurology. You are your synaptic structure, you are your neurotransmitters. Yeah, but look who's saying that. Your neurology etc. By that logic the cast of Seinfeld is a tribe of gnomes living inside your tv.

Not really, I'm just saying you are your neurons and their configuration and function.

If not, what are "you"? There's nothing else but the state and mechanics in your brain and their interface with the world.

I appreciate for some, this fact is scary. For some, it undermines odd outdated ideas of soul or spirit. That doesn't make it less true.

Sometimes this complex, organic, non-deterministic, environment coupled, feedback driven system ... gets out of balance and needs help.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#70
What this suggests to me is that what we diagnose as "depression" has multiple causes, and current antidepressants are fairly effective at treating at least one of them.

It's as if we had a single category for "breathing trouble" and consistently treated it with antibiotics. Sometimes it's bacterial pneumonia and that works very well. Often it's emphysema or lung cancer, and antibiotics don't help.

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