Oh, lord, so many questions!

I may be wrong but I think that SSRI’s are the most prescribed antidepressants these days. About two-years hospitalized, having been through all legally available antidepressants, my docs started me on Nardil and I think that I actually smiled within days.

Not meant for severe depression but it worked somewhat for me — better than anything else they had tried.

Unfortunately, even though the dietary folks controlled the odd diet that Nardil requires, my blood pressure was headed toward Strokeville so I had to come off it after less than two months. I think that it’s an MAOI?

There are so many types of antidepressants but some docs won’t stray into older areas. I guess that you need to discuss a desire to experiment with your doc and see if he/she is agreeable.

Yes. There are antidepressants that work.

Yes. I have been/am being treated with medications and therapy. I’m still as mad as I was twenty-years-ago but I’m much more functional, now. I feel better, although I still have slips and other concerns.

Speaking only of my experiences: the meds usually serve to calm me down and the therapy allows me/the therapist listens and coaxes me as I release the voluminous crap that is in my head.

When I first sought the services of a shrink I thought ‘this’ll fix me,’ but my disorders didn’t go away. Just like the physical diseases for which I receive treatment, so I continue to be treated for my psychiatric disorders.

I think that most people who seek help for, e.g., mild depression, can be ‘cured’ with a dose of CBT and a placebo and get back to living. I didn’t know that my head was ****ed for life.