Why are people normalising antidepressants?!

[mumyes]

Just watched yet another reel on Instagram about "the thugs that make me happy"...coffees with friends, downtime, fresh air...and my antidepressants.

It feels like the entire world thinks it's normal to take them.

I am in no way judging those who do, it just feels bloody tragic that life is so shit for so many people that this is now becoming what seems like the norm.

Lessen stress on people, pay them more, treat workers better.

Oh no, let's treat people like shit & shovel pills into them so they don't care.

Surely this is not a good thing.

Because I believe the chemical imbalance theory was discredited many years ago - it was only ever a theory suggested by the drug companies - but I know that brain scans can identify changes in someone with major clinical depression.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/03/the-chemical-imbalance-theory-of-depression-is-dead-but-that-doesnt-mean-antidepressants-dont-work

Oh I already knew why you asked; I looked at your posting history. I just wondered why you hadn’t just said so straight away instead of quizzing me.

I don’t suffer from depression so I don’t believe that applies to me. I’m sleeping better, having fewer intrusive thoughts and worrying less since I’ve started on mirtazapine so I would say that they are absolutely working for me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I agree with many points here.
They are a useful tool at times
Save life's and suffering and enable the sufferer to act on healing.

Actually, I should have mentioned probably for anyone interested, I think Buproprion is still pretty weak for dopamine reuptake, as it is still a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor, but there are a few other drugs; just not used for depression. In fact, the most common dopamine reuptake inhibitor is considered a psychostimulant (in the same category as amphetamines), and is, or was, the most “popular” medication for children with ADHD, methylphenidate. Interestingly, when methylphenidate was given to 65 depressed patients, 38 of them reported significant improvement, which is pretty impressive in a study and apparently, it’s used in some countries for treatment-resistant depression. I have no idea what it would “feel” like in comparison to an SSRI, but I’d imagine it might provide a feeling of more actual energy.

The study:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181580/

Of course there are huge problems with both of the things you say, and I completely agree: that a lot of men who need help for depression aren’t seeking it, and that we have a mountain of literature that shows the most effective treatment is often therapy PLUS medication, yet so often only medication is provided. I’m very, VERY fortunate that I see a therapist who is also a psychiatrist as well, so we have talk therapy for 45 minutes roughly once a fortnight (increased to once a week when I was in a crisis), and then based on it, he makes decisions about my need for medications or medication changes.

Suicide was the leading cause of death for both men and women, age 20-34, from 2001-2018, so I think it’s a hard argument that anti-depressants are “too” normalised.

Respectfully, there is a world of difference between the drug you were taking and the GP prescribed anti depressants that are the general subject of the thread.

Unfortunately there isn't in some cases, and antidepressants can be equally as harsh and harmful when given to the unfortunate susceptible individuals. They are all pretty neurotoxic to the people who are genetically predisposed to the adverse effects.

Because unfortunately the nhs or medical profession prescribes things to help with symptoms and never gets to the root of the issue . It’s cheaper to do it this way . I agree with you , medication should be an alternative to other less damaging treatments . A while ago I went to a baby class that people seemed to all have been given meds for post natal depression , literally only me and another never took any meds ( class of 13 mums ) . They seem to be the doctors first port if call these days

Exactly this. You wouldn't think twice about taking medication for other illnesses, why is mental health any different.

@OoooohMatron

Depends on your stance on medication tbh.
Like some people are opposed to it, or cautious or just don't like taking it in general.
Be it the "basics" like paracetamol, for example.

So if one has this stance it makes sense they would be opposed to taking them for mental health reasons.

Antidepressants make you feel less overwhelmed. They cannot make you feel 'happy' - that would be MDMA

This is TOTALLY wrong and not how they work at all. My god some people on this thread literally have no idea. Try looking it up.

I’d be dead now if I hadn’t started taking antidepressants.

I’ve suffered since I was 14 and the events in my life in the past 18 months have taken a massive toll on my mental health.

it’s not a get up and go pill ffs, I was already doing way way to much of that trying to cope with all the shit. It’s literally a save my life, and get me back living again.

im not A little bit down, or poorly paid, or not spending enough time with my family, these are not the reasons I need anti ds

My psych would agree, even my gp is out of her depth with me.

This post is offensive. I don't live a shit life.

Op, I think I saw the reel you mean because it stuck out like a sore thumb for me too. HG? All for antidepressants but that reel kind of looked like an ad for them!

I don’t have a shit life either. I mean shit things have happened to me but my life itself isn’t shit.

I have hobbies, I get out on walks with the kids and dogs, I’ve changed
my working hours to part time which is helping, I’ve a good relationship with people and my kids. I’m just completely and utterly beaten by the shit hand life has dealt me lately.

people are judging and also assuming things about depression even if they think they’re not

Surely we should be asking why women's lives are so shit & not just dishing out stuff that 'solves the problem'.

On paper my life is far from shit. Dh adores me, we have plenty of money, a big house etc yet I feel suicidal most of the time.

I'm not on anti depressants (horrendous reaction to setraline and the psychiatrist who prescribed, told me to manage without drugs) but Ive had over 2 years worth of therapy for ptsd on the NHS. Given I exercise (my acceptable self harm), I eat healthy food, my relationship isn't abusive, I have an active social life, young children and therapy had mixed results but didn't stop the depression/self loathing, what would you suggest?

I know lots of women on anti depressants but I cant think of one single fix which would make them feel better in the way anti depressants do.

too many people are taking anti depressants long term without ever having any other form of treatment or seeing a psychiatrist

and too many people are having their dose increased without full exploration as to why this is needed or how they can manage without this

it’s concerning I know a number of people who are on the dose that was considered the maximum dose for someone who is clinically depressed when what they have is low level moods and anxiety but they don’t want to deal with this so numb themselves

I work in mh it’s often discussed the concerns of young adults on high dosage (while often experimenting with substances)

I’d rather have had a nice childhood than a traumatic one, no traumatic events as an adult rather than multiple concurrent ones, multiple times. I’d rather have an easier life.

But I didn’t and I don’t, so I take meds that are prescribed by CMHT, have been for years and I’ll be on them forever.

My only other option is death, and I’d rather not inflict trauma upon my children.

Because psychiatry is different from the rest of the medicine.

Classification (nosology) is not evidence-based but based on consensus on what we think may constitute an x illness.

In the seventies, psychiatrists from NY and London were asked to watch the same clips and try to 'diagnose' people from the clips. New York psychiatrists said schizophrenia, while London-based psychiatrists said depression. For every stomach ache, you can do millions of tests and diagnose a patient based on the result of their bloods etc. In psychiatry, even one equivalent test doesn't exist.

Some people are affected by 'something' and need help, but I am not sure if saying take a magic pill, the ball is in your court, is really helpful.

There are more humanistic ways of thinking about mental health.

And GPs get it most of the time wrong but anyway, in the first place, they should never prescribe such medications themselves. Yet they do.

Endocrinological issues, especially thyroid function diseases and even silly vitamin deficiency, can give symptoms of depression. So the first thing done when a woman (in females, thyroid conditions are more common) comes to her GP with depression-like symptoms should be hormonal tests not a prescription for sertraline.

Some of the side effects, in some people intervisible, is the impossibility of having an orgasm. Or to be happy or to feel any kind of pleasure at all.

Some of the side effects, in some people intervisible, is the impossibility of having an orgasm. Or to be happy or to feel any kind of pleasure at all

You realise severe depression does that too, right? And for someone who’s actively suicidal, feeling as you describe is still far more preferable to what they currently feel.

With all the respect, these are two different issues. Some people were not appropriately informed about their treatment, needed other interventions and now live with anhedonia. I am all for proper mental health care. One of the steps towards it is stopping GPs from throwing sertraline on people.

You know what more people are on that fucks with their emotional state? The pill.

Agree. I'm not a fan and don't agree with it tbh

I'm on anti-depressants for hormonally-affected, irrational rage which kicked in dangerously every month after having children. PMDD.
I am level now. But I'll never get my dc's early childhood back.

Reducing MH stigma and endorsing the life changing positive effects of anti depressants is not ' normalising '