Psychiatric Medication Poll

[real human being]

By psychiatric medication I mean antidepressants, antipsychotics, as well as any other medications commonly prescribed by psychiatrists.

I'm making this poll because I know that there are people who are helped by these medications, and I know that there are people who are harmed by them, but I want to see how common the various outcomes are among people here. I'm sure many others, especially those considering taking such medications, would like to know as well. Also, feel free to write about your experiences.

 

[carac]

I haven't taken any so I didn't vote, but personally my view on them is Very Negative. I've been told quite a few times by professionals that the whole chemical imbalance in the brain has no substance to it and was just a marketing ploy. These drugs, in my opinion are just pushed on people to make profits for big pharma.

 

[NumbItAll]

Severe adverse reaction, enough to push me into antipsychiatry views. I wrote about it here if anyone is interested.

 

[ForgottenAgain]

I took psychiatric medication for almost 5 years. I took Sertraline, Mirtrazapine, Risperidone, Risperdal Consta (same as Risperidone but injection instead of pill, for some reason it worked much better for me than the pill), Venlafaxine and Zolpidem (only in case of insomnia). From all those, during my worst years I took Sertraline, Risperidone/Risperdal Consta and Mirtrazapine every day. I truly think I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for the meds not allowing me to go too low in mood. Even with the meds, I was still cutting myself and painting with the blood, but I wasn't feeling as horrible as prior to taking them.
After those years of therapy and meds, I stopped hearing voices in my head which was a huge relief, albeit a sad goodbye.

Important to note: Zolpidem destroyed my concentration and memory. It took several months to get that back, of actively playing memory games and working on it. Even today I don't have the same memory as I did, and I had almost photographic memory. It also left a weird "addiction" in the sense that, if I think too much about Zolpidem I crave it again. Taking that pill resulted in such a quick and deep sleep like I have never had in my life, only maybe as a small child. I have always woken up tired except for when I took Zolpidem, you wake up like in the commercials, so refreshed, but it's a dangerous drug.

 

[DyingToDie123]

I just discovered r/antipsychiatry for the first time and figured I would follow the rabbit hole here.

I answered neutral because I haven't had any negative side effects, except that they've numbed my emotions, which weren't particularly great to begin with but they also numbed my will to ctb. I've been off of them for a week and I just feel so much more like a person, for better or for worse.

 

[Life_and_Death]

what if you have more than 1 answer?
i really like my buspar, i actually get uncomfortable without it even though i dont take it because its nice to know its an option
but the olanzapine causing me to sleep 15-20hrs....not....not cool dude

 

[Scattered-Soul]

Honestly I feel like an annoying broken record talking about this, 80% of my posts are just that but might as well do it for the people who see my responses for the first time.

Extremely negative, the main offender Escitalopram completely nuked my brain in every possible way and triggered a progressive neurocognitive disorder which is currently my reason to CTB. One month into taking it I had another psychiatrist prescribe me Abilify for the depersonalization and derealization caused by Escitalopram, I took a single 2,5mg dose of that which almost killed me and there was no way I could continue taking it (and it wouldn't have helped either knowing what I know now). Then 6 months in I took Reboxetine for 1 month which just added more side effects. It was just a shitshow.

 

[Kattt]

A lot of drugs, medicinal or otherwise, simply have no effect on me. It's infuriating. While they have no effect, they also have no side effects and I experience no withdrawal symptoms stopping them. Nobody can offer a reason why this is the case.

 

[sserafim]

By psychiatric medication I mean antidepressants, antipsychotics, as well as any other medications commonly prescribed by psychiatrists.

I'm making this poll because I know that there are people who are helped by these medications, and I know that there are people who are harmed by them, but I want to see how common the various outcomes are among people here. I'm sure many others, especially those considering taking such medications, would like to know as well. Also, feel free to write about your experiences.

I'm much more productive, focused, and organized on my ADHD meds. I can finally get the motivation and drive to do things. ADHD meds feel like glasses, finally allowing you to see clearly after years of blurry vision. However, I stopped taking them because don't want to depend on them for my entire life. I would say that meds are a double edged sword. I'd like to develop coping strategies myself and not use meds as a crutch.

 

[backtoearth]

My experience has been negative but that's because I only have access to anti-depressants when I'm needing anti-psychotics (but hey obviously I don't know what best, the doctor on the phone who has known me for 5 minutes does /s) however I am not anti medication - I have seen it do amazing things for others and I've seen people be able to create beautiful, successful lives due to medication. I just live in a shit, uncaring city.

 

[Celerity]

Trazadone for sleep, Quetiapine for the calming effects/sleep, Ambien for effortless sleep at any time of day, Valium for life on easy mode.

Every other psych drug (of which I tried many) are basically sugar pills.

I only take Trazadone regularly now.

 

[Smelly_ballz]

So far none of the meds I have tried have helped, nor have they made my mental health worse. The worst part is forgetting to take the meds and being dizzy/not in reality all day. I have taken/take: Lexapro, Risperdal, lithium, Zoloft, Prozac, Effexor, abilify, and amitriptyline. Even on max dosages, there was literally no difference. I put negative bc Prozac would burn my esophogas when I didn't eat enough with it and amitriptyline makes me extremely dizzy/derealized when I don't take it.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I've only taken Fluoexetine (Prozac) for one course. My personal experience was neutral. It didn't seem to help but I didn't get bad side effects either.

My feelings about anti-psych or anti-deppressant drugs is pretty negative though. I know people who just feel like zombie's on them. I just think that's symptomatic of this f*cked up world. 'Here- take these- you'll be able to keep working that way.' I also know other people who struggled to come off them and there are plenty of people here for whom they've done serious damage to.

What I hate most is the experimental way in which they seem to be dished out. 'Let's see what happens when we put you on this. We don't really know how it affects the brain but hey- it seems to do something.' Doesn't sound very scientific to me. 'Chemical lobotomy' sounds about right.

Not to knock those who feel they help them. I'm glad they were lucky. I just don't think science and healthcare should be based on luck though.

 

[fishlover]

i was put on escitalopram (generic lexapro) for my anxiety disorder- and it just made me incredibly sick. i already have a stomach disorder as well but i was noticeably sicker when on the medication. it also didnt help me much mentally. youre not supposed to, but i stopped it abruptly and since then ive definitely felt better.
also yes, i know theres a 2 week period where youre absolutely going to feel sicker while your body adjusts to the medication, but i was well past that point. about 4 months on it and no improvement.

 

[CPY]

I'm on Sertraline and I switch between olanzapine and aripiprazole for OCD.i feel like they don't do much.Olanzapine made me gain tons of weight, I've also experienced restless legs sometimes.now I have sky high triglycerides my GP said I will have to take a cholesterol lowering med if it continues like this so I have started to take it only as needed to sleep.The SSRI should be the one with the most effect but I feel like it's just a sugar pill honestly it has done nothing for my condition and I still suffer a lot. Aripiprazole feels like another sugar pill I don't really feel anything not even sleepiness

 

[en-bat-y]

i had one make me so angry i felt i had to physically restrain myself from lashing out at people, i had one that made me think the devil was trying to steal my bed so i couldn't sleep, and i had one not approved for people my age (yay being a lab rat /s) that gave me a seizure. others just didn't seem to do anything. with sleeping pills they didn't seem to make a difference to my sleep but made me feel nauseated and unwell, plus lingering drowsiness that made it hard to function the whole day.

 

[Kundalini Guy]

Antipsychotics are pure garbage, I hate how they turn you emotionless

 

[tiredcat]

i've been on antidepressants, anxiety med, sleep meds, mood stabilizers, antipyschotics, meds for hyperactivity, and even injectable antipyschotics. different brands and everything.
in the beginning they did help. but in the long run i feel like after 6 years of putting a shit ton of chemicals in my body and it not doing anything long terrm fucked me up for the worse. i was put on medication i wasnt supposed to be on and meds that helped. but overall i barely ever felt that much of a difference in my mood, though the meds did help with my delusions and hallucinations.
it wasnt really the effects that the meds had on me that made my experience negative but rather how my family was because i took it. if i acted even slightly sad i was asked "do you take your meds?" like i wasnt allowed to have regular human emotions around them.

i dont take meds anymore due to me abusing them in the past though. so do with that what u will lol

 

[carac]

Video I am watching now about the Myth of low serotonin

 

[NumbItAll]

I haven't taken any so I didn't vote, but personally my view on them is Very Negative. I've been told quite a few times by professionals that the whole chemical imbalance in the brain has no substance to it and was just a marketing ploy. These drugs, in my opinion are just pushed on people to make profits for big pharma.

Exactly right, and psychiatrists are nothing more than licensed drug dealers. There's even a handy marketing euphemism for withdrawal called "antidepressant discontinuation syndrome" which is meant to distinguish them from street drugs. SSRIs aren't even selectively affecting serotonin as the name would imply -- when you boost serotonin it has cascading effects such as dropping dopamine, which can cause movement disorders among many other problems. Drug companies also fund the APA because it helps them to market diseases for which they can market these "cures." Primary care physicians, who are the biggest prescribers of antidepressants, have become unwitting participants, as they are simply following guidelines and handing out (often long term) prescriptions for basically any issue.

 

[bebebeep]

My few attempts at reaching out for help left me with some lexapro(escitalopram) prescriptions, which only made my brain feel foggy and numb. Not even the good "floaty" kind of numb, more like a "where tf am I" kind of numb.