what exactly do antidepressants benefit

[mymarbles]

i've been struggling with depression/suicidal ideation for about 4-5 years and as a last resort i've been looking to get into medications after exhausting everything like frequent exercise, socializing, healthy diet, healthy sleep schedule, etc. but every day is the same where i feel more and more fatigued and unmotivated and have the constant urgency to die. there isn't a waking hour in the day where i am not excruciatingly exhausted. since i don't have a family doctor ive been to walk in clinics and this fat doctor told me i should try working out harder/weight loss (no offence to heavier people but it was so frustrating for someone of his size to tell me to lose weight, i'm 5'4 120 lbs.) i feel more and more demented every day and i feel like it's taken away my ability to finish school. i can't think coherently and it gets worse every day.

i've been reading your guys' experiences with antidepressants and at this point not sure what they're supposed to benefit? i don't have the energy to do anything throughout the day, not even to sit up and play games or anything, just would rather slump. but i've heard that antidepressants make people feel fatigued and dissociated when there are the reasons i have an urgency to die, could anyone from similar experiences let me know what kind of changes they felt with antidepressants?

i've also been to clinics, therapists, but no one has really guided me to where i can get with someone who would prescribe medications or anything, my mom told me i'd be better off killing myself so i dunno where else to go, it's like i ha e to try killing myself to get attention from someone who could help me with medications. sorry if this doesn't make much sense but as i have mentionned i struggle with thinking coherently and feel hella demented but i am just overall wondering what peoples before and after experiences are with taking antidepressants

 

[LittleJem]

anti-ds lessen my suicidal ideation and give me more energy and motivation. They can take up to 12 weeks to kick in, so the sooner you begin them the better.

I used to be a medication-dodger, but now I say when it comes to meds the sooner the better. I love all drugs - pharmaceutical and street drugs - as I don't function at all without them.

 

[dragonofenvy]

Therapists, clinics, hospitals, etc. are supposed to guide you to someone who can prescribe anti-depressants. It's not just psychiatrists who can prescribe them, once in urgent care I had a doctor prescribe me some and he was just a general urgent care doctor.

They're supposed to relieve symptoms of depression like exhaustion and sometimes sadness. They "generally" work. As in for about 1/3 of people they work super well, 1/3 they work okay, and 1/3 they don't work at all. Anti-depressants with therapy are also successful. Now I don't have exact stats on how successful it is because the research just says "successful". Some studies I saw say about 20-30% of people who get treatment will still have some symptoms.

My logic behind anti-depressants is that if your environment sucks it isn't going to make a huge change. It's the environment that's the problem. But for some people, taking them allows them to change their crappy environment. You're not going to know if they work for you until you try them for a few months. Your mind is going to resist it and try to find excuses not to do it. I saw some of the resistance in your post; "I don't have the energy to do anything... I've heard antidepressants make people feel fatigued." Some do, others don't.

Now if you want my personal experience with anti-depressants, I'll be frank, they never helped me. But I also had some pretty extraordinary circumstances throughout my life. It was the environment causing me problems and pills weren't going to fix that. Some people are going to find that they don't help, but I don't think that should discourage you from trying because they could be the thing you need.