DP is the great white hope in a family with a hefty history of mental illness, mainly schizophrenia. He has had manic depressive episodes and has been diagnosed as bipolar by one doc and not, by a different one. He's always been completely open about this. He took something for the bipolar disorder very briefly but stopped because it damped him down too much. He's overcome it, very successfully, with self-discipline, and is strong, fit and successful. He would also say he battles depression daily and that it's 'not easy being him'.
Last night I found a capsule in his jeans pocket and asked him what it was (he never even takes aspirin) and he sheepishly, but openly, said it was prozac and he's been taking it on and off but trying to stop. We don't generally keep stuff from each other, and live so much in each other's pockets he must have made quite an effort to keep the pills hidden. He said he kept it from me to spur him on to come off them.
But why should he feel he has to come off them if he needs them? Why hide them? I come from a family of Polyannas, so this is quite alien to me.
I've just said he doesn't need to hide anything from me and I will support him in anything.
How does prozac affect personality? Sex drive? How long are you supposed to be on it?
I'd really appreciate any thoughts as I think my way around this.