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anti depressent (confused)

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
This might sound a bit strange but here goes.

I went to the doctor today to see if I could get some help with my depression and self harming,
Hey has gave me anti depressents and is going to get me someone to talk to.
But I dont really want to be on them so I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with them or any advise. he has put me on sertraline and I have never took these before and I am a little worried about taking them.

Any body got any advise

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Take them and see how you get on. Prozac kept me alive. There's a lot of bullshit written about ADs (along with some truth!).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've said it before and it bears repeating.

    If cancer had the same stigma as mental health issues, and instead of skipping out on your ADs you were refusing a course of chemotherapy, do you think you would be behaving sensibly? There are a lot of users on here who have a long history of taking ADs to help them through short patches, or to maintain a steady emotional platform for them to live life on.

    Take them. See how you get on. Give them at least a month if not longer to take effect.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    Fiend_85 wrote: »
    I've said it before and it bears repeating.

    If cancer had the same stigma as mental health issues, and instead of skipping out on your ADs you were refusing a course of chemotherapy, do you think you would be behaving sensibly?

    Chemotherapy is tried and tested and widely accepted way of treating some cancers.
    The science and theory behind ssris is really far more dodgy.
    Anti depressants are over prescribed mind altering drugs with nasty side effects and a large scope for addiction. They're certainly not something to take lightly, especially when their effectiveness is still in question.
    Weekender Offender 
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The first couple I was on fucked me around a lot, but don't give up if the first one doesn't work. You'll find one that suits you. I no longer take AD's but I do take an anti-psych called Aripiprazole.
    Mental health medication can really help, I don't think it should be seen as a life long thing, it's just there for a while to make you stable enough to deal with your issues. If the doctors reccomending you go on it, I think you should give it ago. It wont work straight away, but after a few weeks it could really help. If you get side effects or anything, they can switch you to a new one (there's loads) and it should hopefully be better for you. Personally I quite liked Sertraline, but everyone's different.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Skive wrote: »
    Anti depressants are over prescribed mind altering drugs with nasty side effects and a large scope for addiction. They're certainly not something to take lightly, especially when their effectiveness is still in question.

    over prescribed, yes. but that is a reflection of our overstretched health services rather than the quality of the drugs.
    side effects? sometimes, but not in the same league as other psychiatric drugs.
    mind altering - obviously, that's the idea.
    SSRIs are NOT addictive. there is of course potential for emotional reliance, but they are not chemically addictive. if you stop taking them straight away then there will be withdrawal symptoms, but they are not an addictive substance.

    if the OP is depressed and self-harming then taking sertraline is worth a try, if only to lift their mood enough to engage in non-medical treatment. it is an effective drug (a thorough literature search will give plenty of evidence for this), but everyone's brain is balanced slightly differently so it might not suit everyone and they could experience side effects, but that is the same as for any other medication.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    SSRIsis still dodgy science. It's become a mainstay if popular culture that depression us caused by a chemical imbalance of serotonin in the brain. In reality this is still an unproven theory with no scientific support.
    I'm not writing if SSRIs completely but there's not a whole lot of unbiased evidence to suggest they really are that effective. In fact trials commissioned by the manufacturers if these drugs indicate that in ask but the most heavily depressed SSRIs are little more effective than placebo. Most trials indicate they are not significantly effective and that in most people that see a benefit it is the placebo, and not the drug, that is in effect.

    What is proven is that they have many common side effects, some if them pretty nasty. Increased suicide in young people? And although not chemically addictive in the medical sense if the word, dependence is not uncommon. Addiction dependence whatever, they can be incredibly hard to come off.
    Weekender Offender 
  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    omg hi wrote: »

    if the OP is depressed and self-harming then taking sertraline is worth a try, if only to lift their mood enough to engage in non-medical treatment. it is an effective drug (a thorough literature search will give plenty of evidence for this), but everyone's brain is balanced slightly differently so it might not suit everyone and they could experience side effects, but that is the same as for any other medication.

    :yes: I think this is a really sound summary.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    To assert that SSRIs are significantly effective is an over simplification and scientifically unsound.
    Weekender Offender 
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote: »
    Give them at least a month if not longer to take effect.

    I've always been told 8 weeks for SSRIs.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I find antidepressants very helpful and I hope you do too :)
  • ReenaReena Posts: 1,375 Wise Owl
    I found the counselling more effective, but I know a few people that found them really helpful. xx
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