Quote:
Originally Posted by DechanDawa
Everyone was telling the OP she shouldn't feel like a failure for taking meds. Isn't this invalidating the OP's feelings about taking psych medication?
I didn't feel like a failure as much as very anxious about being dependent on antidepressants.
I spoke to people who had "brain zaps" and other horrible symptoms when coming off of antidepressants. I found this out a few days into taking antidepressants because my primary care physician did not discuss side effects or withdrawal symptoms, and so, yes, I did go off them within two weeks based on new information.
Many studies suggest antidepressants should be only used short-term, and the person needs to augment the use of antidepressants with therapy and lifestyle changes. But I know several people who have been taking antidepressants for decades, and don't do therapy, and are not actively engaged in exercise, a good diet etc. They take the antidepressants because they are afraid to come off of them.
In truth, in all these decades it has not even been determined how antidepressants work. It is unknown.
As the pharmacist was handing me my antidepressants he said that they would return my zest for life, creativity, happiness etc. I now think it was unethical for him to make these statements. It wasn't his place to be making these kinds of promises. The pharmacist made antidepressants sound like miraculous happy pills. No one told me that antidepressants are only helpful to about 30% of the population.
Why does the responsibility always fall on the patient? If the antidepressant doesn't work the patient is told they didn't stay on it long enough, or didn't properly weather the side effects. My side effects were severe such as not sleeping for days, ratcheted up anxiety, and suicidal ideation. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.
This isn't like other disease processes. I take synthroid medication for my thyroid. It works. In 20 years I have had only occasional minor dosage adjustments. I can depend on my thyroid medication. I take it every single day, it works, and there are no side effects, except that it does what it is supposed to do which is to keep my hormones in balance.
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Invalidating the OP's feelings about entering the world of AD's was not my intention at all. I was trying to help him/her see that sometimes people need help with depression when everything else doesn't work, and it's tough dealing with people in your life who wag their fingers at you telling you not to rely on meds - to just exercise more, get outside, eat better, meditate, take vitamin supplements, I've even heard marijuana oil. I've seen internet comments of people who believe that AD's cause violent behavior. (Yes, I realize the comments section is the toilet of the Internet but it makes me wonder how widely that is believed).
I do know people who have been OK with the same med for many years. I am not one of them.
People rely on solely on AD's without the other components you mentioned for a whole host of reasons. Maybe they can't afford therapy. Maybe they're hourly workers and can't afford to lose that time *and* pay a therapist during that hour or two that they're losing. Maybe they've had bad experiences with therapists. Maybe they have a health issue that prevents them from being as active as they could be. Maybe they're taking care of a family member and can't take time out for themselves to do stuff like prepare better meals, exercise, etc. Maybe they don't have the time it takes to investigate options of treatment (community health centers, govt. services, seeing a student therapist at a college etc etc). Everyone has different life situations. So, I can see very well why they're afraid to go off of them then, because that's all that's keeping them going.
IMO your pharmacist was totally out of line and shouldn't make comments about any medication at all. They're supposed to just fill it, you pay for it, and that's it. Your GP was unethical about not telling you about side effects. This is why I am against GP's prescribing these drugs. If you have a more complex heart issue, a GP refers you to a cardiologist. If you have a neurological issue your GP refers you to a neurologist or neurosurgeon. I don't understand why a GP doesn't do that with a psychiatric issue. Maybe it's the fact that psychiatrists are very difficult to get an appointment with (at least in the US anyway) and they can be super expensive if they refuse to take insurance.
This is a horribly complex disease and everyone working on it - from therapists, to psychiatrists, to researchers - have only just discovered the tip of the iceberg.
Again, I didn't mean to invalidate the OP's feelings in any way.