I take Abilify. Its a clean(er) tranquilizer. I don't know why it was hyped so much. Anyway..neuroleptics/tranquilizers flatten emotions. The original term for "antipsychotics" is "neuroleptic," which apparently means to "seize the mind," or something. Basically, they came up with this name after some studies on Thorazine showed that it could reliably induce Parkinson's type sympoms --and-- make people more "manageable." When Thorazine first came into use, many regarded it as a "chemical lobotomy"--it calmed people down and made them easier to deal with, but didn't require the fuss of an actual operation.

Still, some of us need neuroleptics. I do, at least for a while to come. BuSpar seems like it might make the numbing worse (to me...just a thought...). I had bad experience with BuSpar and also with Abilify plus SSRI drugs, which flatten people, too. I now take Wellbutrin with the Abilify, and the depressive problems are better and I'm not too apathetic.

Do you have psychosis? I'm not a doctor, but...neruoleptics are well-studied and effective in psychosis and manic episodes. There's less long term data for psychotic depression. They're not ideally 1st line in Bipolar disorders. I take one because I went untreated for a while and had some hardcore psychosis, so I'm taking it until that has been gone for a nice, long while.

A lower dose might help, but if you go too low...why bother? A different neuroleptic might be better, but...personally, I find Abilify to be less numbing and apathy-inducing than the other "atypicals" I've been prescribed.

I dunno...all psych drugs cause problems, or can. Do you think you need the pills? Do you think maybe talk treatments might work? Is that an option?

I don't wanna sound anti-psychiatry. Psychiatrists can help some people. Its just...the pills now are just cleaned up versions of pills that have been around for decades. The newer antidepressants don't work any better than the old ones; they just have a different adverse effect profile. The newer antipsychotics are like the old ones, they just cause different adverse effects and cost more (usually). They --might-- be less likely to cause tardive dyskinesia, but apparently that's not even clear from available information.

Just please be careful. Drugs can help some people. Some people need the drugs. Some people need them indefinitely. Some people benefit, then taper, and never look back. A lot of people are on pills who probably could do better without them.

Hope this helps. I'm not trying to scare you, but...psych drugs are serious business, even though these pills are handed out like candy.