Latuda is new, and psychiatrists love prescribing new drugs. I don't know what the deal is, honestly.

What do --you-- think your problems are? Forget about the labels. Just think about it for a minute...what do you think your problems are, and what do you want from the pills?

There's only so much pills can do. If you hear voices and/or get paranoid, Latuda and other antipsychotics can helps with that. If you get full blown mania, there are drugs that can treat that and either prevent it from happening again or reduce the likelihood that it will happen again.

Depression is harder to treat. Even if a given drug helps, you may still be somewhat depressed, plus you're dealing with adverse effects. Mild to moderate depression doesn't responds as well to drugs as more severe depression. My depression responds to drugs because I get severe, psychotic depression. For me and some other people, the costs of the drugs and the side effects are better than not taking the drugs. You may or may not be one of those people.

Why do you think you have social anxiety disorder? I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Now, I realize: I was awkward, queer, and got picked on because I was from a working class family in the Honors and Gifted classes, surrounded by kids from upper middle and upper class families. I was easy pickins', and that--day in, day out, for years--set the stage for a lot of my problems.

Drugs always have adverse effects. Drugs are toxins. Some are more toxic than others. Antipsychotics are dangerous. They can cause NMS, which is neuroleptic malignancy syndrome. That's when you get a high fever, rigid muscles, and you might die. Its relatively rare, but it does happen, usually within the first 2 weeks of treatment.

Antidepressants aren't usually that toxic. There's some indication that taking an antidepressant long term can make depression chronic and more severe, so you'll end up needing the drugs for a longer time, maybe indefinitely. Some people who take antidepressants end up diagnosed with "Bipolar Disorder." This happens more frequently than with people who do not take the antidepressants.

I don't have any answers for you, I'm just trying to get you to ask yourself some questions. One reason I need the drugs is because I took the drugs at a young age, because I thought that was the solution and that's what the "experts" told me would solve the problems. Now, I have a diagnosis of "Bipolar I" and I require drugs daily.

Hope this helps. Just because a psychiatrist is an MD doesn't mean they'll help you. In fact, they may not even care if they help your or harm you. A lot of them don't, honestly. Trust me on that one. I don't know if its intentional or just...the way the world works...but psychiatrists create victims on a fairly regular basis.