[BrandonSS90]

But.. my question is.. is why don't they give some kind of LOW dose of opioid to all severe depressed patients? And.. then.. they wouldn't be depressed?

[sunrise]

Opioids can be helpful for depression but probably wouldn't help everyone. I read an article on that last summer in Vanity Fair, I think, of all places. It was written by a woman who had tried everything for depression and they told her she had "treatment resistant depression." Then she tried opioids and voila, she was better! She wrote a lot about the difficulty in getting narcotics in the U.S. because of the extreme restrictions regarding their prescription (due to their addiction potential). It was a really interesting article. The opioid she used was one that tended to not be as addicting as others. I am glad this woman found something to help her. I guess using opioids to treat depression is more common in some other countries (France sticks in my mind). But most docs here won't touch this with a ten foot pole.

[Seraph]

Stimulants (methamphetamine, methylphenadate, amphetamine) relieve depression as well by increasing dopamine in the brain. Plus, they counteract fatigue often seen in the depressed.

Of course they're highly addictive as well. They can be proscribed for depression, but it's more of a last resort (4th line of treatment maybe?).

Amphetamine class stimulants are roughly as addictive as opiates. So, this leads me to believe that opiates are probably not a great treatment for depression.

[trippinmickey]

Like alot of people i know with mental illness I've self medicated . I use opioids and in the beginning it was great .It was the first time in earlys I felt good (normal) But it dose not last long and make things 10x worst .Now you can get stimulants from a doctor my roommate did and lifted her right out of her depression .She know longer was laying in bed all day but know she needed meds. to put her to sleep at night and soon ones to get up .She thought it was great but she could not see her self from the outside she was nutty and not a good fun nutty to be around but nutty that would make most people run the other way-FAST!!!!

I was told this by my T along time of go .There is know magic pill as much as i hated hearing that statement over and over again in time I came to learn he was right .

[BalishBun]

Not a stupid question at all

[BrandonSS90]

Thanks. That's what I thought. I guess what patients could take is SDRIs, too, so.. I never thought about amphetamies though. I really only thought prescription amphetamines or stimulants were for people with either a sleeping disorder, or ADD/ADHD.. and that's it.