Posted by emmanuel98 on July 29, 2011, at 3:26:55
In reply to Re: The 'antidepressants dont work' thing » emmanuel98, posted by linkadge on July 28, 2011, at 22:22:48
> I think thats a pretty pathetic statement. The "I have *true* depression. All those other loosers out there just need to get their acts together" mentality.
>
> Linkadge
Thanks Linkadge. Supportive and helpful, as usual.
That's not what I meant. Seeing a therapist doesn't mean you're a loser who needs to get your act together. I see two therapists. Therapy is a powerful treatment for people who are unhappy, anxious, shy. SSRIs are not. And I wouldn't mind handing these out like candy for a placebo response, but in the cases I see, the p-docs keep upping the dosage and augmenting with other meds when there is no response except for more and more unpleasant side effects. There's a big difference between someone who is crippled by feelings of hopelessness and despair and someone who hates thier job and resents their family and doesn't know how to move on or accept the situation. The latter isn't a "loser", but it's not clear they are clinically depressed. They need help, but it's not clear they need drugs that alter their brain chemistry.I know a guy who is unhappy and confused about his life, but not really depressed. He takes about 3 anti-depresants which have so destroyed his libido, that his girlfriend left him. No placebo resonse either. He refuses to see a therapist, seeing that as "weak".
I won't take anymore drugs. I feel sure that the residual depression I've had since starting parnate is psychological in origin, not physiological. Instead, I see a p-doc for dynamic therapy and a SW for DBT. I also do a DBT group. My p-doc agrees with this and when I've gotten miserable, suggests I work harder at the DBT rather than trying to augment parnate with another drug. The parnate keeps me from falling into the vegetative state I was in when I started. But it doesn't make me happy. Anti-depressants are not happy pills.
poster:emmanuel98
thread:992133
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110728/msgs/992232.html