Help Do you believe that antidepressants help?

[onlyanimalsaregood]

I was taking some that were prescribed to me but then I stopped because I hated to drink alcohol. I think I was feeling better but I don't know if it was the pills or the alcohol. I want to stop feeling this way but I don't know how.

 

[ClaudeKersey]

It depends on why you are depressed.

So largely, no.

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

It depends on why you are depressed.

So largely, no.

For multiple reasons. I'm not satisfied with anything in my life. I don't like my job. I'm trying to forget someone and I'm really miss being with him but we have decided to move away, at least for now. I have friends but they never invite me for nothing so at the moment I'm alone at home in the bed with my cat and feeling very lonely. Don't have a good relationship with my family, etc. And I have to cut down on alcohol because any day I'm getting an alcohol problem and makes me doing stupid decisions like go to his house or calling him. Don't know what to do to.

 

[CommitSudoku]

I've never properly tried or been prescribed antidepressants since I knew I'd OD on them, but would probably stay alive and then I'd just have people knowing to keep an eye on me and be worse off for my plans. So in that way I can't speak of them. I love the drunkenness of alcohol though, I hate the taste but that state of being free for a while of all the negativity is what's addicting. At my present I can't give alcohol up, but in my case I know it would very rarely make me reach out to anyone I don't want to, and even if I did I know I'm to a point with her that it doesn't matter, and any hurt I feel won't compare to anything else. She won't even know when I'm gone in the end, so also why care if I break my word to myself and talk to her? It'll die quickly and make me hate myself more so it might even help me in wanting to go lol Gonna make a topic about this actually hahaha

Anywayssss, in your case I don't know how long you've had the antidepressants but I'd try them longer and avoid alcohol at this point if you know it might make you reach out and you can't do that with him. You'll need to give it more time until you get to a point when you can trust yourself more not to do that. For pills you kind of have to give it longer to see how it goes, they may not work but you don't know unless you use them as prescribed and see. If your friends are still around maybe try forcing yourself to reach out and get involved? It's an amazing thing to still have them whether or not they invite you, so maybe you can try to work up the courage to invite them. I know it's hard, so just thoughts. Maybe dote on your cat more. Just try to distract yourself short term. Keep busy. Keeping busy is what's helped me with the one stuck on in head. I can't message her if I literally have no free time. If you don't like your job, fill your time with looking into other jobs. Get outside weather-permitting. Etc etc. Just thoughts, best wishes with things and I can relate with really missing someone and not truly being able to move on. It hurts so much, I hope you can find some ways to lessen this pain.

 

[lili]

I personally can't take antidepressants because I have bipolar. However I know that medications can take a lot of trial and error to find the right ones. It can also take a lot of self perseverance, which I know it's hard to have when one is so low. I can relate to not having a lot of family nor friend support over mental health and it's hard to do these things yourself.

I would say give it a try if you'd like to see if your antidepressant works, and it's almost like you have to in circumstances shop around different medications to find the right fit. Which can take a lot of energy. Because there's so many different kinds and so many options. I have had moments where my medications work momentarily and give me a boost to solve some problems.

But they won't take away your circumstances nor rid you if your thoughts about it, but might help to try to give you an emotional boost to find a way to improve the situation. Although I know that is a lot of work too.

Unfortunately medications don't work for me because I have overdosed on a lot of them, and the psychiatrist don't want to prescribe me anymore because of it. Plus I always had a lot of side effects. But that's me, and trying all sorts of medications for many years.

I would say it doesn't hurt for you to try and give it a chance before assuming it doesn't work.

 

[Hollowman]

No, they're a scam.

 

[Darkover]

no they do nothing for me i was on prozac for 1 year it did nothing

 

[Fadeawaaaay]

I had a nervous break down and took them about 30 years ago and have been On them ever since. They helped me reach a state of Moderate functioning. But I think they amped me up and created a sense of false security let bigger problems fester. Maybe as a short term solution along with a very skilled talk therapist. Also be careful about taking the wrong medicine which can really screw you up. It's a complicated method of trial and error and house of mirrors where it's easy to lose track of reality. I certainly did. I stopped taking antidepressants Cold about four or five days ago and weirdly I feel better.

 

[Ta555]

It's very hit and miss. Life savers for some people and for others their lives are completely destroyed on them. There's no way to tell except for trying it yourself unfortunately.

 

[Disappointered]

It's hard to be sure that any of the moderate improvement I found was due to finding one that had fewer and less unpleasant adverse effects + placebo or because it actually worked beyond placebo. A medical doctor once confided to me that there was no evidence they worked better than a placebo but that was a long time ago so maybe now there's evidence or maybe now there are better meds.

It's never going to have a significant impact though, even if it works beyond placebo.

I remember the outrageous propaganda pumping them up when they first appeared. In retrospect I can see that it was indeed lying. It was people knowingly telling lies.

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

I've never properly tried or been prescribed antidepressants since I knew I'd OD on them, but would probably stay alive and then I'd just have people knowing to keep an eye on me and be worse off for my plans. So in that way I can't speak of them. I love the drunkenness of alcohol though, I hate the taste but that state of being free for a while of all the negativity is what's addicting. At my present I can't give alcohol up, but in my case I know it would very rarely make me reach out to anyone I don't want to, and even if I did I know I'm to a point with her that it doesn't matter, and any hurt I feel won't compare to anything else. She won't even know when I'm gone in the end, so also why care if I break my word to myself and talk to her? It'll die quickly and make me hate myself more so it might even help me in wanting to go lol Gonna make a topic about this actually hahaha

Anywayssss, in your case I don't know how long you've had the antidepressants but I'd try them longer and avoid alcohol at this point if you know it might make you reach out and you can't do that with him. You'll need to give it more time until you get to a point when you can trust yourself more not to do that. For pills you kind of have to give it longer to see how it goes, they may not work but you don't know unless you use them as prescribed and see. If your friends are still around maybe try forcing yourself to reach out and get involved? It's an amazing thing to still have them whether or not they invite you, so maybe you can try to work up the courage to invite them. I know it's hard, so just thoughts. Maybe dote on your cat more. Just try to distract yourself short term. Keep busy. Keeping busy is what's helped me with the one stuck on in head. I can't message her if I literally have no free time. If you don't like your job, fill your time with looking into other jobs. Get outside weather-permitting. Etc etc. Just thoughts, best wishes with things and I can relate with really missing someone and not truly being able to move on. It hurts so much, I hope you can find some ways to lessen this pain.

Hi. Thank you so much for these message, it helped me a lot and I see that we understand each other. You made me laugh when you talked about creating a topic ahah, thank you for that too. Lately I rarely laugh. I will take your advice and go back on the medication and see if I feel better and try to get out of the bed too. I think sometimes we just need someone to give us some light and tell us what to do to help us, even though deep down we already know. You seem to be a very kind person to me, so if you ever want to talk feel free to dm me :)

 

[brnggundottxt]

not for me.

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

It's very hit and miss. Life savers for some people and for others their lives are completely destroyed on them. There's no way to tell except for trying it yourself unfortunately.

Indeed. And most of the times the medication has to be adjusted but I will try again and see if I feel better. I hope so.

It's hard to be sure that any of the moderate improvement I found was due to finding one that had fewer and less unpleasant adverse effects + placebo or because it actually worked beyond placebo. A medical doctor once confided to me that there was no evidence they worked better than a placebo but that was a long time ago so maybe now there's evidence or maybe now there are better meds.

It's never going to have a significant impact though, even if it works beyond placebo.

I remember the outrageous propaganda pumping them up when they first appeared. In retrospect I can see that it was indeed lying. It was people knowingly telling lies.

Yeah. And a fact is that also with medication alone, whether it's placebo effect or not, it's not enough.

not for me.

Want to share your experience?

 

[NickiStix]

Antidepressants can work wonders if you can find the right one. I'd definitely recommend trying them if you're open to it. (I know some people that tried them and it was a game charger for them).

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

Antidepressants can work wonders if you can find the right one. I'd definitely recommend trying them if you're open to it. (I know some people that tried them and it was a game charger for them).

I took them for at least 1 week and they had no major side effects for me so that's positive. I will try to take them again.

I personally can't take antidepressants because I have bipolar. However I know that medications can take a lot of trial and error to find the right ones. It can also take a lot of self perseverance, which I know it's hard to have when one is so low. I can relate to not having a lot of family nor friend support over mental health and it's hard to do these things yourself.

I would say give it a try if you'd like to see if your antidepressant works, and it's almost like you have to in circumstances shop around different medications to find the right fit. Which can take a lot of energy. Because there's so many different kinds and so many options. I have had moments where my medications work momentarily and give me a boost to solve some problems.

But they won't take away your circumstances nor rid you if your thoughts about it, but might help to try to give you an emotional boost to find a way to improve the situation. Although I know that is a lot of work too.

Unfortunately medications don't work for me because I have overdosed on a lot of them, and the psychiatrist don't want to prescribe me anymore because of it. Plus I always had a lot of side effects. But that's me, and trying all sorts of medications for many years.

I would say it doesn't hurt for you to try and give it a chance before assuming it doesn't work.

Ohh I'm sorry to heard that. I have an uncle who has bipolar disorder and it is not easy. Yeah, I think that when I take them I get more willing to do things but the hardest thing is to actually start doing them. I hope at least I can sleep better tonight :( Thank you so much for your time and support

I had a nervous break down and took them about 30 years ago and have been On them ever since. They helped me reach a state of Moderate functioning. But I think they amped me up and created a sense of false security let bigger problems fester. Maybe as a short term solution along with a very skilled talk therapist. Also be careful about taking the wrong medicine which can really screw you up. It's a complicated method of trial and error and house of mirrors where it's easy to lose track of reality. I certainly did. I stopped taking antidepressants Cold about four or five days ago and weirdly I feel better.

Damn 30 years is really a long time

 

[Seafoam]

When I took them it got me out of bed at least but then ended up giving me mania (bipolar). Ultimately I think it depends on the person.

 

[Buddha.e.c]

I advise to really do research before getting a " prescription " from a "professional "and ask people who have taken it see how it makes them feel also. I was on alot of "strong" antidepressants that were prescribed to me at a young age and it damaged me even more now im older ive taken antidepressants but they never work for me atleast everyone is different. I have no hope:(

 

[ambivalent.]

I didn't for a long long time, but I was desperate and tried again. Somehow Pristiq seems to be making a difference. I think it depends on the person, the provider, their relationship, the med, and the dose.

 

[ameliacecelia]

I was on different anti depressants for over a decade. After I found out that I had the genetic mutation MTHFR, I then started on Spravato/Ketamine since I had treatment-resistant depression. That helped much more than the pills. Then after awhile, I decided to try microdosing psilocybin per the stamets stack regimen. I can't describe how effective that was for me. I had extreme ptsd from multiple sexual assaults. Within 2 months of microdosing, I felt I no longer needed to have weapons on me when I left the house and no longer feared being followed. I think traditional antidepressants help only a small percentage of people. I'm not on here due to mental health reasons but due to degenerative neurological problems. Best of luck to you. If you suspect you may have MTHFR but can't afford testing, you can try supplementing with L-Methylfolate.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I believe they can work, but they often take time to find the correct mediation and dosage to be effective. It can also take more then multiple weeks to even see results, and sometimes it just doesn't work at all. Depression can also be treatment resistant, in which case maybe the whole journey is just a witch hunt. Some people believe that the best option is a combination of therapy and medication, but personally I don't like the idea of having to take medications to "be" a different person and don't want them to numb my feelings and personality. But they definitely are a viable option for some people.

 

[dumbLove]

It really depends on the reasons you want to ctb. Some kinds of depression can absolutely be eased (or even semi-cured) with antidepressants. And it's certainly worth a shot if you have access to medical care. Not to mention, ethical before ctb to attend to every possibility to save yourself.

 

[everydayiloveyou]

There is no medication that will make you 100% cured and never sad ever again. The point of medication is to reduce the impact that your mental illness has on your daily life. You'll still be yourself.

I take an SSRI and it's pretty good. I had a significant reduction in suicidal thoughts, but only once I increased my dosage (low dose did absolutely nothing for me). The suicidal thoughts still happen, it's just they don't take up 100% of my day.

I am taking meds primarily for social anxiery disorder and in that regard I've seen tons of improvement. Again, I still get very anxious, it's still obvious that I have a problem, but it's way less debilitating to me personally. One example is that when I first moved in to college, I would clean the entire dorm multiple times per day since I was so worried I was dirty. I still get caught up in that but I can catch myself and say, "hey, I already cleaned once. Cleaning again will not change anything or make me more clean." When minor bad things happen I dont spend the rest of the day sobbing about it and contemplating suicide.

Also I did not drink when I first started medication. I started drinking very recently and it was a mistake tbh since I'm pretty heavyweight (SSRIs usually make you lightweight) and I enjoy the feeling too much. Ideally you shouldn't be drinking when taking meds, and if you absolutely need to, you should not binge drink at all (iirc around 6 standard drinks at once for a 160 lb woman is binge drinking) and you should drink once per week or less. Alcohol can react negatively with medication and if you are already having a hard time, the alcohol wont do you any favors even if the couple hours of tipsiness feels too good to resist. Talk to your doctor about ways to wean off and/or control your intake, try making friends with straightedge people so you dont get tempted to drink socially

 

[Al Cappella]

Yes, they can help tremendously, and there's plenty of evidence to support that fact. But they're not the complete story. They need to be accompanied by a talking cure and tons of difficult work, and then only if your depression isn't treatment resistant.

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

When I took them it got me out of bed at least but then ended up giving me mania (bipolar). Ultimately I think it depends on the person.

I advise to really do research before getting a " prescription " from a "professional "and ask people who have taken it see how it makes them feel also. I was on alot of "strong" antidepressants that were prescribed to me at a young age and it damaged me even more now im older ive taken antidepressants but they never work for me atleast everyone is different. I have no hope:(

I didn't for a long long time, but I was desperate and tried again. Somehow Pristiq seems to be making a difference. I think it depends on the person, the provider, their relationship, the med, and the dose.

I was on different anti depressants for over a decade. After I found out that I had the genetic mutation MTHFR, I then started on Spravato/Ketamine since I had treatment-resistant depression. That helped much more than the pills. Then after awhile, I decided to try microdosing psilocybin per the stamets stack regimen. I can't describe how effective that was for me. I had extreme ptsd from multiple sexual assaults. Within 2 months of microdosing, I felt I no longer needed to have weapons on me when I left the house and no longer feared being followed. I think traditional antidepressants help only a small percentage of people. I'm not on here due to mental health reasons but due to degenerative neurological problems. Best of luck to you. If you suspect you may have MTHFR but can't afford testing, you can try supplementing with L-Methylfolate.

I believe they can work, but they often take time to find the correct mediation and dosage to be effective. It can also take more then multiple weeks to even see results, and sometimes it just doesn't work at all. Depression can also be treatment resistant, in which case maybe the whole journey is just a witch hunt. Some people believe that the best option is a combination of therapy and medication, but personally I don't like the idea of having to take medications to "be" a different person and don't want them to numb my feelings and personality. But they definitely are a viable option for some people.

It really depends on the reasons you want to ctb. Some kinds of depression can absolutely be eased (or even semi-cured) with antidepressants. And it's certainly worth a shot if you have access to medical care. Not to mention, ethical before ctb to attend to every possibility to save yourself.

There is no medication that will make you 100% cured and never sad ever again. The point of medication is to reduce the impact that your mental illness has on your daily life. You'll still be yourself.

I take an SSRI and it's pretty good. I had a significant reduction in suicidal thoughts, but only once I increased my dosage (low dose did absolutely nothing for me). The suicidal thoughts still happen, it's just they don't take up 100% of my day.

I am taking meds primarily for social anxiery disorder and in that regard I've seen tons of improvement. Again, I still get very anxious, it's still obvious that I have a problem, but it's way less debilitating to me personally. One example is that when I first moved in to college, I would clean the entire dorm multiple times per day since I was so worried I was dirty. I still get caught up in that but I can catch myself and say, "hey, I already cleaned once. Cleaning again will not change anything or make me more clean." When minor bad things happen I dont spend the rest of the day sobbing about it and contemplating suicide.

Also I did not drink when I first started medication. I started drinking very recently and it was a mistake tbh since I'm pretty heavyweight (SSRIs usually make you lightweight) and I enjoy the feeling too much. Ideally you shouldn't be drinking when taking meds, and if you absolutely need to, you should not binge drink at all (iirc around 6 standard drinks at once for a 160 lb woman is binge drinking) and you should drink once per week or less. Alcohol can react negatively with medication and if you are already having a hard time, the alcohol wont do you any favors even if the couple hours of tipsiness feels too good to resist. Talk to your doctor about ways to wean off and/or control your intake, try making friends with straightedge people so you dont get tempted to drink socially

Yes, they can help tremendously, and there's plenty of evidence to support that fact. But they're not the complete story. They need to be accompanied by a talking cure and tons of difficult work, and then only if your depression isn't treatment resistant.

Thank you so much for the support and advices. I decided to start taking medication and it is helping me a lot :)

 

[sealbabies]

I think most people on here who can answer that shows a percentage of NOPE.

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

I think most people on here who can answer that shows a percentage of NOPE.

I believe so. It depends on the person.

 

[Mtnwildflowers]

Took them for decades and nope

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

Took them for decades and nope

I'm sorry to hear that

 

[Al Cappella]

Thank you so much for the support and advices. I decided to start taking medication and it is helping me a lot :)

Oh good for you—that's really great!

 

[Journeytoletgo]

No they didn't help me caused me damage