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Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

theguardian.com

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Re: Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

#341

Post by superb_dev »

pizzafeelsright wrote: post #253
konmok wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Depression is caused by laziness and anxiety by hopelessness. I wish this were true, but its not even close. I wonder how your kids will react when they move away, and you're not around to police their emotional expression. If they're like me, they will promptly collapse into paralysis and self-destruction. I strongly suggest that you frequently give your kids long stretches of time (months) to practice regulating…

At this age I am teaching emotional regulation on a daily basis. As for when they grow up, adults who cannot manage their emotions get fired or are sent to jail. It is critical to be slow to anger, quick to forgive, and work at building strong friendships.

It sounds like you're actually teaching your children to hide their emotions from you

Re: Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

#342

Post by diob »

BjoernKW wrote: post #232

[flagged]

I think the reality is likely more nuanced than 'all good' or 'all bad.' While the side effects you linked are real risks that should be taken seriously, claiming these drugs are 'by no means safe,' cause 'mostly permanent' damage, or lack evidence is a pretty extreme generalization that doesn't align with the experience of millions of patients.

Speaking for myself, I took sertraline for years and it did wonders for my mental health. It didn't ruin my life or numb me, it gave me the ability to regulate my emotions when I previously struggled immensely with anger and crippling anxiety.

It’s possible for these drugs to be handed out too easily in some contexts and simultaneously be life-saving, effective treatments for those who genuinely need them. Suggesting they violate 'do no harm' ignores the massive harm caused by leaving severe mental health struggles untreated.

Re: Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

#343

Post by superb_dev »

pizzafeelsright wrote: post #259
konmok wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know several depressed people that exercise every day and live in a clean house.

That's unfortunate. Ask they why they are depressed and see if there is any way to fix it.

What people are trying to tell you is that in the case of clinical depression there isn't an easy fix because it's not caused by anything external.

I have a very good support system in my life. If it was possible for a friend to come along and just fix it then I wouldn't have depression.

Re: Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

#344

Post by Refreeze5224 »

pizzafeelsright wrote: post #230
robertakarobin wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, us too. Beats us. Sure wasn't around our house, and we can't imagine any family/friends/TV/whatever he may have learned it from.

[flagged]

> Depression is caused by laziness and anxiety by hopelessness.

No offense, but teaching your kids this kind of nonsense is borderline abusive. It's so far away from so many people's experiences, and is just plain wrong. I hope you can recognize how damaging this could be for your kids down the road.

Re: Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

#346

Post by Razengan »

jdietrich wrote: post #234
Razengan wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Trying to help those people with talk therapy or exercise or companionship would be as futile as using those things to treat hepatitis or gangrene. I get what you want to say, but to nitpick the analogy: If the "treatment" for gangrene is amputation, then that's not really "fixing" anything. That's just the scorched earth strategy of destroying the afflicted along with the affliction. Like lobotomies. What do peopl…

>Like lobotomies. What do people think of them now? Lobotomy was in fact an effective treatment (albeit with extremely severe side-effects), but we now have much better and safer treatments available. The abandonment of lobotomy was fundamentally driven by the invention of effective antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilisers. Neurosurgery is still offered to an extremely small proportion of patients sufferi…

The discredited procedure that was banned in the Soviet Union before the United States? That was used disproportionately against women?

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

Re: Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

#347

Post by ltbarcly3 »

jdietrich wrote: post #190
area51org wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't go that far, but there was a now-famous study (Princeton?) that showed that doing aerobic exercise for maybe 30 mins every day, about five days per week, was equally effective at alleviating depression symptoms.

There's one big problem with that - getting seriously depressed people to do 30 minutes of exercise (or anything else) five days a week. "Get more exercise" is excellent advice for someone who feels a bit down, but it's absolutely useless for someone who can barely summon up the strength to eat or brush their teeth.

It's also very hard to get severely depressed people to make a Dr's appt and get out of bed and show up to it. It's hard to get them to do anything.

Re: Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

#348

Post by esseph »

pizzafeelsright wrote: post #259
konmok wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know several depressed people that exercise every day and live in a clean house.

That's unfortunate. Ask they why they are depressed and see if there is any way to fix it.

You are very, very extremely inexperienced in this area, as anyone who deals with or has someone in their close family that deals with serious, life-threatening depression will tell you.

And that's okay!

I would encourage you to look at the number of comments from different people who have a history of dealing with this kind of thing for a long time.

Re: Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

#349

Post by diob »

area51org wrote: post #114
sharts wrote: post #107

I thought this was already known? I can’t recall exactly but there was some research pointing to SSRIs in general as not being particularly effective at all. They were just hyped a lot and became mainstream.

I wouldn't go that far, but there was a now-famous study (Princeton?) that showed that doing aerobic exercise for maybe 30 mins every day, about five days per week, was equally effective at alleviating depression symptoms.

It’s always frustrating to see the implication that people just need to exercise to solve their mental health struggles. It might not be your intention, but it's a take I see a lot online from influencers.

I say this as someone who is extremely fit. I've worked out religiously since high school. While exercise is integral to me feeling somewhat normal and provides a short-term boost, that is just not how it works for everyone. Some of us have 'broken brains' that cardio can't fix.

Exercise manages my baseline, but sertraline is what helped me finally bridge the gap. It allowed me to regulate my emotions and anxiety in a way that no amount of exercise ever did. And the introspection from being on it helped me make lifelong changes.

To be honest, fearmongering from folks online is what stopped me from taking it sooner, but I wish I had. It was fairly life-changing.

Re: Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

#350

Post by esseph »

V__ wrote: post #285
pizzafeelsright wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree 100% and it is an uphill battle requiring significant effort. That is where discipline is required. Exercising that discipline will bring positive results. There is nothing other than self stopping someone from cleaning instead of crying under a blanket.

"If you have executive dysfunction, just discipline through it" is definitely a take.

This person just does not understand.
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