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Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

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Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#81
post #77
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

These drugs do not give you a "good" time, they can at best give you a more normal one.

"normal" or "good", either way you become a "culturally acceptable" drug addict who must purchase a prescription for a drug made specifically for the purpose of creating a market of addicts.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#82

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…

> 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". The statement is factually true and worded correctly.

But that's not enough. You have to give at least a little consideration to how your audience will interpret your words.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#83
post #78
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are diabetics "addicted" to insulin? > Taking a pill means not taking responsibility I think this nonsense deserves some psychoanalysis of itself, as well as acknowledging that brain chemistry does matter for various sorts of mental illness.

Insulin is not the same as prozac, yo. One is designed to get you high so you can deal with your life in a "socially acceptable manner" - the other one helps blood sugar enter the body's cells so it can be used for energy. One is a social crutch - the other, vital medicine.

> One is designed to get you high

This is wrong. I'll flag this thread for removal.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#84

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…

> These drugs are like casts for broken bones. Just because you can't see the broken system doesn't make it less physical.

They're absolutely not like this. In fact, doctors themselves will tell you we aren't 100% sure how or why they work, and so will a Psychology 101 class. That's why medication is generally given in conjunction with counseling/therapy.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#85
This article approaches the drugs for being used to treat depression. I am on 2 anti depressants and not because I have depression. I take Fluoxetine in the morning to help with my foggy head due to fibromyalgia. I then take Amitriptyline in the evening to help with chronic pain so I can get to sleep.

A lot of drugs are licensed to treat X but doctors will use them to treat Y.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what we've been reading this last years, it's not like antidepressants are worthless, it's like antidepressants aren't doing what we think are doing. The "depression is lack of serotonin" theories seem to have less and less base every day, but SSRIs don't only act on serotonin (just review their side effects). I've done, mostly, vortioxetine and sertraline. For some of us, some SSRIs or SNRIs work. Some don't. Pr…

I completely agree. I believe we have no idea how these drugs work at the moment. For one, serotonin receptors are _everywhere_, notably the gut, which also has a strong relationship with emotional state. And as you point out, they don't just affect serotonin. Given we have a whole bunch of drugs that attempt to be serotonin selective, but where each one affects different people in different ways, it seems likely to…

>Why would a huge chunk of the population have a imbalance of brain chemicals?

Because they are all members of a society whose food production is controlled by 2 or 3 mega-corporations, who also, incidentally, have an interest in selling pharmaceutical products to make people feel better about their lives ..

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#87
post #81
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These drugs do not give you a "good" time, they can at best give you a more normal one.

"normal" or "good", either way you become a "culturally acceptable" drug addict who must purchase a prescription for a drug made specifically for the purpose of creating a market of addicts.

Well yeah it's "culturally acceptable" because of they low abuse potential, which is to say there are real actual differences that go into making it culturally acceptable. No one is crushing up their SSRIs and snorting them and going in to sex work to pay for the habit the same way heroin users do, because, well it's not a drug addiction as recognized by the psychiatric industry.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#88
post #83
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insulin is not the same as prozac, yo. One is designed to get you high so you can deal with your life in a "socially acceptable manner" - the other one helps blood sugar enter the body's cells so it can be used for energy. One is a social crutch - the other, vital medicine.

> One is designed to get you high This is wrong. I'll flag this thread for removal.

Its not wrong, it is factually correct. Mind-altering substances get you high... these pharmaceuticals are merely socially-acceptable high-producing mind-altering substances where - guess what - the science is not final on what they are doing to human beings.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#89
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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,…

You are merely reiterating your argument, with an accusation of fear and religion on top.

Re: Most people on antidepressants don’t need them

#90
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree. I believe we have no idea how these drugs work at the moment. For one, serotonin receptors are _everywhere_, notably the gut, which also has a strong relationship with emotional state. And as you point out, they don't just affect serotonin. Given we have a whole bunch of drugs that attempt to be serotonin selective, but where each one affects different people in different ways, it seems likely to…

> Why would a huge chunk of the population have a imbalance of brain chemicals? That's what I think about from time to time as well. I have ADD and take meds for it. But I'm pretty sure that I only need these meds to be able to work in an open-space, corporate IT environment with dead-lines, responsibilities etc. Without meds I get overwhelmed and panicky quickly, when taking them they turn me into kind of an office…

I believe the same thing. In fact, I believe people with ADD have a natural advantage in pre-modern settings. We are built to run long distances, outsmart prey, and forage. A distraction isn’t a distraction on that environment, it’s awareness and quickly thinking through possibilities and avenues of success.
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