News Flash: Antidepressants Aren't The Solution

[TiredHorse]

An excellent --if long-- article in The Guardian, on the causes and (actual) remedies for depression:

https://www.theguardian.com/society...depression-wrong-johann-hari-lost-connections

A bit of a "well duh!" article for many of us, I'm sure, but I was struck by its clarity. I may go looking for the book it is excerpted from, though I admit that I don't expect to find in it any practical remedies for my own situation.

I especially liked the idea that a cow was an effective antidepressant, and I was particularly inpressed by the opening of its concluding paragraph:

"If you are depressed and anxious, you are not a machine with malfunctioning parts. You are a human being with unmet needs."

 

[ReadyasEver]

That was a good read and very telling. Thanks for the post.

 

[Severen]

Needs that will never be met. So best to take anti depressants, take care of business and CTB.

 

[Johnnythefox]

Thanks for sharing this, it certainly confirmed my suspicions about anti depressants.

 

[TiredHorse]

Thanks for sharing this, it certainly confirmed my suspicions about anti depressants.

The last I heard, antidepressants have --at best-- an 11% success rate. And if I remember correctly, that's not taking complex-placebo effect into account: placebos that mimic the side effects of antidepressants, to disguise that they're otherwise just sugar pills.

 

[Comatose11]

That doesn't surprise me. Antidepressants seemed to have never worked for me.

 

[Johnnythefox]

The last I heard, antidepressants have --at best-- an 11% success rate. And if I remember correctly, that's not taking complex-placebo effect into account: placebos that mimic the side effects of antidepressants, to disguise that they're otherwise just sugar pills.

Yes! The placebo effect is probably more powerful than any antidepressant.
Auto suggestion works in the same way I think.

 

[TAW122]

Good find @TiredHorse. This is something that big pharma keeps pushing and then it creates some sort of dependency or vicious cycle of relying on placebos and anti-depressants. Hell, in fact when I took a course at a community college (a few years ago) about Intro to Pharmacy Technicians or something like that, even the instructor (who is a Pharmacy Technician herself) talked about how when someone gets on an anti-depressant, eventually they become reliant on one, then the first drug causes some side effect, they get another, etc., then soon after, they become an "pill junkie" or something.

I've never taken an anti-depressant in my life and will NEVER want to take one because of the dependency issue, but also the cost and all that crap. Fuck big pharma pushing this. Also, I don't think therapy is helpful for me (doesn't offer solutions for my problems, doesn't give me anymore insight to what I already don't know, really waste of time at best, etc.) but that's another topic.

Oh of course, I cannot go without saying, eww to the obligatory suicide prevention numbers being posted in the article (I guess they have to everytime they write a mental health/suicide/death related article, but idk their policies..)

"If you are depressed and anxious, you are not a machine with malfunctioning parts. You are a human being with unmet needs."

This is actually a really accurate and good quote.

 

[Final Escape]

I did have an antidepressant pull me out of a breakdown once. I had gotten breast implants at 24 and the doctor put too big of implants under the muscle. Omg I was in so much physical pain for too long because he stretched the limit of what my body could handle. The extreme physical pain put me into depression and a roommate living with me at the time had a script he never filled. It was called doxepin. Within a short time it did work to pull me out of the extreme state and I wasn't crying and unable to get out of bed all day. I think they can work but it's not a long term solution. Psych meds can help people be a bit more functional but it's just not a permanent solution.

 

[gingerplum]

Thank you. I got so, so tired of friends, family, and therapists pushing me towards meds, I shut down and refused to talk anymore.

 

[TiredHorse]

"89% of depressed patients are not receiving a clinically significant benefit from the antidepressants that are prescribed for them. Yet this 11% figure may overestimate the number of people who benefit from antidepressants."

It's a long-ish paper, but it pretty much knocks all the credibility out from under antidepressants:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172306/

I suggest sending the article to any trying-to-be-helpful family and friends who are certain that just popping a few pills will make everything better. It has worked wonders to take the overweening wind out of the sanctimonious sails of my own cadre.

 

[Xaphous]

I have avoided the pharma meds route as much as I can. It really angers me how much it is pushed. It angers me how I have been told I'm doing nothing to help myself because I won't take toxic medication. Then people getting angry at me including family and "therapists" because not taking the BS which are designed to MASK the problem, numb your mind so you forget the root causes whilst giving you "side effects". The ignorance and lack of understanding is totally aggravating. When I was in mental hospital they literally force you to take it and watch you swallow it, check your mouth. I always kept it on the roof of my mouth an spat it out later. Fucking psychopaths.

 

[Johnnythefox]

Been on prozac for a couple of months and feel no benefit whatsoever, now doubled the dose and if no improvement then I'll chuck them.

 

[Final Escape]

Been on prozac for a couple of months and feel no benefit whatsoever, now doubled the dose and if no improvement then I'll chuck them.

I was once up to 40mgs but it numbs u out too much I think. I gave up Prozac awhile ago. That one wasn't really hard to come off but you probably shouldn't do it abruptly. I think I gradually weaned myself. One every other day and so on.

 

[Jen Erik]

The last I heard, antidepressants have --at best-- an 11% success rate.

And then there's the matter of the marketing studies that last for typically no more than 2 years, so the efficacy beyond that is of course questionable, at best.

 

[Johnnythefox]

In all fairness though, they do seem to have laxative and flatulence benefits.

 

[Jen Erik]

In all fairness though, they do seem to have laxative and flatulence benefits.

 

[15dec]

Thanks for the good read! I can definitely think of several unmet needs I have, sadly nothing I've tried has fixed them

 

[azucaramargo]

Thanks for sharing this, it certainly confirmed my suspicions about anti depressants.

I'm so happy you're still here, JohnnytheFox. Please never leave.

 

[ScorpiusDragon]

I regret ever going on meds. No matter what meds I tried, they didn't help my depression at all. All they did was kill my sex drive and make me gain weight.

 

[Beautifulletdown]

I regret ever going on meds. No matter what meds I tried, they didn't help my depression at all. All they did was kill my sex drive and make me gain weight.

I hear ya. I gained so much weight which makes me more depressed and then drs give me a hard time because I weight too much.

 

[Wayfaerer]

I will never be able to forgive my mother for pushing that bullshit on me when I was a kid. I've been convinced that it has fucked me up because I never had the problems that I've had before I was on them.

 

[CURSED again]

I will never be able to forgive my mother for pushing that bullshit on me when I was a kid. I've been convinced that it has fucked me up because I never had the problems that I've had before I was on them.

the drugs are horrible with very bad side effect including PSSD - they made me worse off - much worse off

 

[Wayfaerer]

the drugs are horrible with very bad side effect including PSSD - they made me worse off - much worse off

Oh yeah, the sexual dysfunction? Fuck that. I've always feared that becoming permanent and it's one of the myriad of reasons why I refuse to ever go back on them even if it means offing myself. It's especially distressing for men.

 

[Baskol1]

I only use a mild antidepressant.

 

[azucaramargo]

I

An excellent --if long-- article in The Guardian, on the causes and (actual) remedies for depression:

https://www.theguardian.com/society...depression-wrong-johann-hari-lost-connections

A bit of a "well duh!" article for many of us, I'm sure, but I was struck by its clarity. I may go looking for the book it is excerpted from, though I admit that I don't expect to find in it any practical remedies for my own situation.

I especially liked the idea that a cow was an effective antidepressant, and I was particularly inpressed by the opening of its concluding paragraph:

"If you are depressed and anxious, you are not a machine with malfunctioning parts. You are a human being with unmet needs."

I still credit Zoloft with saving my life. After experiencing that kind of relief I just hope that no one is denied the opportunity to try them.
Are antidepressants difficult to obtain in France?

I only use a mild antidepressant.