What do anti depressants do?

[NellMangel]

I'm having a shit time. Became single mum, very lonely, not much support, job drama in recent weeks.

I'm usually calm and patient but this week I was really stressed about a job issue, was trying to sort it by phone, my 3yo was screaming at me for the phone. I had to run upstairs so I could cry without DC seeing me. I just felt like screaming, so frustrated, alone and hating my life.

I've not slept for the past couple of days. When I go to bed my stomach is churning with anxiety and my brain races round issues.

So...

Would anti depressants help me? Or is it just the case my life is a bit shit therefore I am not happy. So its not a condition to be medicated, but just a response to a situation.

I suspect doctors willingly write AD prescriptions, cos nothing else they can do. I would love to feel better but don't want to get addicted or be zoned out.

I take prozac, have done for years. I'm not aware of feeling anything different eg zoned out, it just takes away the anxiety and lets me get on with life. I started on a very very low dose (liquid formulation) and it was increased gradually so I never had any side effects.

I'm on sertraline for anxiety/depression. Situational, as home life is difficult.
It evened me out a bit. I still feel like me, but the lows aren't quite so low.
In my case realising that the situation was/is making me ill, it's allowing me to see where changes can be made rather than being bogged down with it all.

I don't know from your post if you should go on ADs, I'm not a dr, but they're not as scary as I thought they were.

I took Sertraline for 6 months for PND and massively rate the drug for that scenario. As they rebalanced brain chemicals. It saved my life in a way.

For a situation like you've described it's hard to say through a forum if they'd help. But it's worth noting they're not addictive (coming off wasn't the loveliest thing but it was fine) and don't make you feel like a zombie at the right dosage / drug for you.

My recommendation would be to go to your gp and see what they say. You may be able to get referred for consoling first? I found that to be massively helpful previously.

However if you decide to take antidepressants in addition / instead of / after you may find they help. The GP may be able to give you something else to encourage sleep and calm, they're the best bet to get answers from.

My personal rule of thumb would be to try talking therapies first, IF you feel you can cope in the meantime. But get the ball rolling for some help & support from your GP.

For me they round the sharp edges in a subtle yet invaluable way. The problems don't go away, but they become a little less intense.

Thanks everyone. I suppose it's worth asking my gp.

I like the idea of taking the edge off the anxiety. At the minute I feel like the tiniest setback knocks me more than it should. I feel on the brink of breaking down.

I took Sertraline for 6 months, going on them was hard for me as I was working but I could not concentrate, I felt like I was in a bubble, abd lightheaded, for the first 4 weeks my depression was much worse but after 6 weeks I started to feel the best version of myself. I was calm, patient, able to laugh and enjoy things again, issues didn't seem like quite such a big mountain to climb.

Stick with the initial side effects so you can reap the benefits.

Sertraline is not addictive as in you don't keep wanting more and more, but your brain will get used to it so when you come off you will probably get some discontinuation symptoms. My discontinuation syndrome only lasted a week and mostly consisted of dizziness but for 2 days I also had nausea

Modern ADs aren’t addictive and won’t leave you spaced out. They take about 6 weeks to work and you shouldn’t stop them suddenly once you start but you can easily stop over a few weeks if you don’t get on with them.
I take Citalopram and found it took the edge off the constant anxiety before it went to full panic mode giving me space to think and sleep and get better.
Don’t be scared of ADs if you need them, they’re no different to any other needed healthcare

Can't get a doctor's appointment until October 17th. Oh well will just have to be run with it.