So who like, ISN'T on some sort of anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medication?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Answers

Me.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

i certainly am not. the over-medication of people these days annoys the shit out of me.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

i almost was. i told my mom i wanted to move out last summer and the next day she made an appointment with our family practicioner (he does a lot of low-level counseling) for a depression screening. good lord. of course i see the humor that for six years my parents didn't notice a thing when i would have admitted i was depressed but when i mention getting my own place..wham!

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Does crack count?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm not and hope to never be on one. Then again I tend to skip pills as much as I can just on principle. One bad experience with phenobarbitol and suddenly I'm a skeptic *heh*.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm not.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

No, I use Ridalin. I don't use it, I need it. I'm like a Philip the Hyper-Hypo without it. It's sad.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Self medication is the way to go.

-dan

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Me.

"Been there. Done that. Bought the T-shirt. ;)"

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm on Paxil, but I have to go to the doctor and possibly get a different kind of medication, cause Paxil makes me loud and annoying (people are embarassed to be seen with me in public!!) and my hands shake. Woo hoo.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Me and my mom are the only people in our family of six (that includes my grandmother) that aren't on any anti-depressants. But Katie, both of my sisters tried Wellbutrin and stopped because their anxiety increased too. I think they changed to Paxil now. It seems to work pretty well, and it stops my one sister from having these scarey breakdowns that she used to have. I hope it works for you, Katie. Good luck!

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm dependant on sugar and caffiene. Does that count?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

One of my roommates is on Wellbutrin now (after trying almost every other antidepressant in existence), and she hasn't complained of any increased anxiety. Then again, she takes anti-anxiety medication as well. I'm on the same type of combo: anti-depressant + anti-anxiety = supposedly sane Laurie.

I have more problems with anxiety than I do with depression at this point, so I'm thinking of ditching the Zoloft sometime soon.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm pretty much against psychiatric medication on principle (not for other people; I could care less what you or your grandmother decides to do, but for myself) for the same reason I'm against heroin addiction; it changes who you are (same thing for any drug if you're on it constantly.) Being myself is important to me and I would not take a drug *designed* to change an aspect of my personality and make me more like Normal People[tm] and like I'm Supposed To Be[tm]. I like myself the way I am, so-called flaws and all.
(For the record, since I don't want it to seem like I'm saying this because I have no experience with psychological problems, I have obsessive-compulsive disorder and some pretty bad social anxiety and have had heavy situation depression that was deemed clinical by my psychologist [I think situation depression is often misdiagnosed as clinical and medicated.])

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm so sorry to get into this but this makes me so upset and I apologise in advance. The newer medications at least do not change who you are, they balance chemical levels in your body and particularly in your brain. I'm not on any medication now, I was for a year (stopped taking them a few months ago) and it did help, but only to a certain extent, it was still there but not as bad.

I don't think medication really solves anything because the problems that caused it in the first place go untreated. Some people may never be able to treat the cause because they might not ever understand or "get over" what really caused it. They might have to take medication all their lives, *have* to or they would not be able to live.

I'm sorry.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I have a question: what is "anxiety," exactly? What's the difference between depression and anxiety, and which is "worse" or stronger? And what causes anxiety as opposed to depression? How does medication isolate one disorder above the other?

(I've been wondering for a while, and since most of you seem pretty educated about this subject, I thought, what the hell, I'll just ask)

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I've been meaning to post an answer to one of your questions and now I'm finally doing it! Here it goes:

After living most of my 18 years in depression, I finally ended up on Paxil & Xanax due to frightening panic attacks. To make things worse, they impaired my ability to work and after a year of freedom from college and family, I ended up back home. (It's true, the one place I so wanted to leave my entire life ended up being my last refuge. *Sigh*)

At any rate, I would that you get a second opinion before you entrust your whole life to a pill.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm not! A good number of my friends and family are though. My ex- girlfriend isn't either, but she REALLY should be....

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

To answer Audre's question: there is a very distinct difference between anxiety and depression.

First of all, I'd like to point out that many people claim to be depressed when they are sad. Depression is a medical condition; sadness is not. Sadness can be overcome with some effort and time, whereas untreated depression can become a paralyzing cycle.

Similarly, it is normal to worry feel worried and nervous about things. (Ex: "Will I pass this test?" "How will I come up with rent money?") Anxiety, as medical condition, is constant and unrealistic. It can lead to obsessive-compulsive behavior. We're not just talking about having to rub a lucky charm before a test. It's about avoiding situations that you fear will lead to feelings of panic. (Ex: I avoided listening to my favorite relaxing music because I thought it would "hypnotize" me and lead to another attack.)

Depression is sadness times a thousand. You can't think straight, you can't eat or eat too much, you find it hard to get moving, you are certain life is hopeless and you are worthless. Some people feel suicidal. Nothing cheers you up and it's hard to feel anything because you just don't care. You can't care. It happens again and again for weeks and months at a time until it seems like this state is all you know.

Manic-depression is another matter. When you're not in the depths of despair, you are having manic periods. This doesn't necessarily mean you are hyper and overly happy, because manic behavior can often translate into outrageously destructive behavior.

While I'm setting the record straight, "nervous breakdowns" are not the same as being burned out. Nervous breakdowns often land people in the hospital, feeling physically ill and mentally confused.

There now, I hope this answered your question!

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

The only perscription drug I have ever been on is birth control and the occasional penicillan. I only know one person who is on any type of anti depressent medicine and hot damn does she need it. Perhaps it's harder in Canada to get a lot of the drugs that (I hear on Dateline and crap) are readilly handed out in the states.. ie. Prozak. I dunno though. Maybe I am just blessed with a mentally balanced group of peers.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I don't know anyone personally that takes those kinds of drugs, and I'm not either. I don't know why, but I just don't find myself associating with the kinds of people who are always depressed or have some sort of chemical imbalance. I'm the kind of person who I guess some people might call "normal," as in I don't have breakdowns and I don't get depressed for an extended amount of time, but yet I'm not incredibly bubbly either. I'm just in the middle.

Of course, there is the temporary, yet somewhat expensive solution to everything - pot... :o) but it's not for everyone... hehe...

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

"When you're not in the depths of despair, you are having manic periods."

Okay, I gotta admit, when I read that, the first thing I thought of was super-intense menstrual cycles. Like, laying on the back and firing the egg out like a cannon. :) Boom!

ObOnTopic: Xanax, Prozac. The first worked well for me, the second, less so. Eric

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm not... now. I was. I was on Wellbutrin and that ended up not helping... Then I went on Zoloft for awhile and when that stopped helping, I upped the dose [or my doctor did] and then I got off of it altogether. And I feel okay. The side effects, for me anyways, were a real bitch.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm not, but I have been in the past. Prozac. I can't remember if it actually worked. I guess it did. My best friend said she saw a change, but I don't remember realizing anything too wonderful. I think the fact that a pill can make you feel *happy* or at least better is strange and I didn't really want to acknowledge the fact that that is actually true... to strange.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

I'm not, but I have been in the past. Prozac. I can't remember if it actually worked. I guess it did. My best friend said she saw a change, but I don't remember realizing anything too wonderful. I think the fact that a pill can make you feel *happy* or at least better is strange and I didn't really want to acknowledge the fact that that is actually true... too strange.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Nope...I am not on any medication.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Hannah -- I agree with you. Anti-depressant medications are like Band- Aids in pill form: they don't help the wound heal, and they don't get to the root of the problem. For most cases of anxiety and depression, a combination of therapy and medication is usually the best solution.

However, if your symptoms are so severe that they're affecting your ability to function normally, medication really can be helpful. A few months back, I was so depressed that I didn't want to eat, leave the house, or even get out of bed. Zoloft helped me get my energy back, and Klonopin (anti-anxiety medication) helped curb my panic attacks. I had never been too fond of the idea of taking medication before, but I had also never been to a point where I thought my mental state would really get in the way of my life. I was really thankful to be on the medication when spring semester started.

Cindy -- My Abnormal Psych professor said a couple weeks back that there's no such thing as a "nervous breakdown." That surprised me when I heard it. Do you know if it's an actual medical condition or not? Just curious.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Laurie--whether all MDs tell the patients who end up in the hospital because of their mental/emotional problems that they've had a nervous breakdown, I really don't know. Maybe your prof simply meant that there are so many labels for mental health problems that nervous breakdowns often carry specific names now. Or maybe he just picked psychology as a profession to debunk all the theories. :)

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

I'm not on any drugs. The was a point a few years ago when I could have used them, certainly, but then I met Jess, and everything's okay now.

One of my hang-ups is this: I see drugs like Prozac and the like as something to hide behind. I mean, if it's a chemical imbalance thing, or something that can be changed with medication, then yeah, go for it, but some people, I think, abuse the privilege by using the drugs as a crutch, as a fallback--even as an excuse.

There's got to be a proactive side to it. Drugs alone aren't going to change a person. Drugs are only an assistant; they can't do all the work. People need to use a little of their own will power to beat their monsters.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

I just wanted to second Laurie's statement that there is no such thing as a nervous breakdown. At least thats what the psych professors here tell their abnormal classes. It's actually kind of funny. Every year the abnormal psych class has to due a campus poll about what people know about schizophrenia and nervous breakdowns. They ask you tons of questions about what causes them, how they're treated etc... then tell you that there's no such thing as a nervous break down. It also makes some people who insist they've had nervous breakdowns very mad.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

it is my understanding that a nervous breakdown is a general term for several mental disorders: acute anxiety disorder, long term bouts of depression or psychosis, etc. So, it's not to say that a nervous breakdown doesnt exist, rather that it is a very broad definition for many varied mental disorders.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

My dad was on Wellbutrin to quit smoking. It was quite a trip. He's normally a rather gruff, surly guy, but on Wellbutrin, he was cheerful ALL THE TIME. It was creepy. He went off it because he said that when he wasn't super-happy, he was super-rageful, and had to get away from people to prevent causing them damage.

My partner has been on every (and I do mean every) anti-depressant on the market. He's also been on ADD meds for his whole life (he was one of the first kids ever to be diagnosed...his mom's a therapist), and I must say that I disagree with whoever said drugs don't change who a person is or what their personality is or whatever. They most certainly do.

I watch him as he begins to run out of meds and has to space them out before his next appointment...he changes into a totally different person. He gets depressed, he can't get thoughts together enough to speak (literally. he doesn't talk at all), and he has these gripping anxiety attacks where he looks like a frightened deer trapped in a cage or something, and he can't calm down. It's scary. Drugs definitely change who he is, if his base personality is himself without drugs.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Go drugs. In the country (the US) people are so paranoid about taking pills. Hey, they are there to take advantage of and improve your life. I don't take any for my mood, but I take whatever is necessary to get better if I get sick of if I am injured due to one of the sports I play. It is so nice to live in a country and a society where you have access to new medical advances. If you need help, the help is there..be glad you have the acces to this type of help. I know so many people who are would rather suffer (be it mental or physical) then take something that can get take care of your problem. Good for you Katie for taking the steps to improve your life!!!!!!

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

I've been on many different anit-depressives and anti-psychotics over the past 14 years or so. Of course, it wasn't always for depression. I have a rather severe case of Tourette's Syndrome, altho most ppl who meet me wouldn't realize that cuz the meds work really well.

Some of the meds I've been on have had serious side effects...ask any of my friends about the 4 hour cackling fests followed by suicidal tendencies. Or the 14 mile walk after midnight in the rain just to see a friend. Oh yes, I know all about the wonderful side effects of medications. Hell, one drug I was on, Orap, I was on such a high dose that the side effect of the med was the same thing that I was taking it to prevent! go figure.

recently, I took a 2 week drug holiday, no meds whatsoever, for the first time since I was, oh, about 12 maybe. I'm about to be 24. The first week was fine, but then towards the end of the 2nd week, tics got to be unbearable and I had to bite the bullet and start taking pills again :( so that doesn't bode well for me ever getting off them,

But hey, one of these days..we can still dream, can't we?

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

Hurray Tatyana! There is definitely a stigma associated with the taking of drugs. No one is going to give you a medal at the end of your life if you never take drugs to end pain. No one is going to shake your hand and say, "We're glad you suffered instead of using the remedies that science and research have provided for you." However, I do think that the big drug companies are under-regulated and over-charge for their products. I think that major reform needs to be made in the areas of prescription drugs.

I've been on Zoloft for anti-anxiety since August, and I have been very happy with it. I have no side effects and I'm a much easier person to live with when I use it. My partner and his family have quite a lot of OCD which drugs help to ease (making them easier to live with). And my mother has taken Paxil for years. She's gained a lot of weight, but she's now a normal person and can function in the world. Believe me, when I was younger, it was hard to live with her.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

No one is going to give you a medal at the end of your life if you never take drugs to end pain. No one is going to shake your hand and say, "We're glad you suffered instead of using the remedies that science and research have provided for you."

True, but you also can't be totally dependent on drugs to take care of your problems. Some of it has to come from your own conscious effort. And if it takes drugs to get you there, then by all means take them, but you have to carry yourself the rest of the way towards recovery.

That's where the stigma develops, I think... Some people see those who have a full medicine cabinet and are not getting better, and they say to themselves, "I'm not going to end up like that; I'm never ever ever taking drugs." Kinda foolish...

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

I've avoided answering this question because the subject is very personal to me, but here goes.

Around Christmas of 1999, I started to feel very unhappy all of the time. When I returned to school for spring semester, I found myself unable to go through a day without crying and always in terrible moods. Despite my struggle to get out of bed every morning, I was excelling in my classes, so it didn't appear to the outside world that I was having problems.

I got my self to a therapist and pronto. She helped me work through the underlying issues that were causing what was diagnosed as clinical depression. However, because of a family history of depression and related mental health issues, therapy didn't entirely return me to my normal self and in April, after an extremely rough Spring Break where my best friend had to convince me I had some reasons left to live, I went on Celexa.

While I will agree with people that pills don't solve problems, they often can lessen or alleviate symptoms of those problems and make the healing process (at least in my case) easier. Celexa was pretty much the best thing that happened to me during that period. I was able to focus again. I was back to being the fun person I once was and looking forward to my (hopefully) lengthy future.

Admitting that I was fallible and that I needed help was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. There is such a stigma attached to mental disorders and before my experience, I had the same opinions some of you do. Some people, though, because of their imbalances and life situations, *can't* deal without intervention.

I'd urge anyone who thinks they don't know a single person on anti-Ds or anxiety medication to think twice. There are only a handful of people in my life (my closest relatives and friends) that know about my depression. Even fewer know that I am on medication. Ask yourself, would YOU want to tell your family and friends about your experiences if you thought they would think you were crazy and look down on you? My best friend, in a fit of anger one day directed towards me, turned to our mutual friend and said, "Well, at least I'm not the one on anti depressants!" Thankfully, the mutual friend called her on it, but I've never been so hurt in my life.

For further reading, or to gain some sort of empathy and compassion, check out "Prozac Nation" by Wurtzel or "Girl, Interrupted" by Kayes. These books both demonstrate the underlying frustration of the depressed: there is no light at the end of the tunnel. The human condition begs for perseverence and we can survive almost anything, but with depression, there is no feeling of optimism. There is nothing to help you imagine life after. It's. Just. Not. There.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

That's so true about the stigmas of mental illness and disorders. My partner has severe ADD (there are 4 types of ADD -- he has all 4, and the most severe forms of each), and prior to him, I always thought those with ADD were those snot-nosed hyperactive (yeah, I now know about ADHD, too) kids who wouldn't shut up and wouldn't leave me alone and always failed all of their tests. Anyway, my partner lent me this wonderful book called "Into the Mind of ADD" or something like that, and that helped me realise that I had this stupid notion inside my head that *he* was causing this, and it was because he wasn't trying hard enough or wasn't doing this or wasn't doing that, etc....but he really just couldn't help it, and yelling at him or putting him down would only make things worse. Being with him has taught me tremendous patience, and opened my mind. I think twice before I jump to conclusions now.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

I'm on Depakote (1000 mgs) and Celexa (which is the BEST anti- depressant, I've tried them all *60 mgs*). I'm bipolar. Before they found out what was wrong with me, I was always "depressed", but some depression was worse than others. I'd have a week where I'd just be a little depressed (this was my "manic" stage), and three weeks where I was just total jump off the edge depressed ("depressed stage"). The depakote levels me off to where I'm always at one stage of depression, and the celexa helps me to not be depressed. Get it? Depakote is so awesome, the best way to describe it to me... say I'm a puddle of dirty water, and you drop some depakote in me, and I'm like, sparkling bottled water now. :o) It's great stuff and I feel a lot better now.

YAY FOR ANTI-DEPRESSANTS

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001

The person that replied right after my last post said that some people need to take psychiatric medications to live; I'll grant you that some people need to do SOMETHING if they want to go on living, but it isn't as though psychiatric medications aren't just one of many options...hell, constantly taking recreational drugs might work for you; it's a matter of weighing one's personal perspective of the benefits versus the negative aspects. And the reason I specifically said that I am against it for ME and NOT anyone else is because I can't speak for what other people need, want, or what works for them. A constant stream of drugs is not for me (I would be more open to the idea of taking them in a transitional period as I got used to regular activity, though I would also prefer to avoid that, *personally*.)

As for no one giving anyone a medal at the end of your life for not taking drugs, well, sure they won't. It's a matter of finding what's comfortable for you; who does anything to get a medal at the end of your life (unless one believes in some sort of karmic afterlife ::shrug:: that's one to file under "Personal Beliefs")? I do what makes me comfortable; I wouldn't be comfortable taking Prozac, nor heroin, nor living in a country with an official religion. It's not about getting credit for my decisions, just having a life that I can be satisfied with.

The thing about "nervous breakdown" isn't that it doesn't exist but that it isn't a disorder to begin with, but an event, and not one recognised by the psychological establishment. It's a colloquial term to describe a general thing.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2001

I'm not, but I have students who are. And I can say that it does make them easier to put up with. Let's hope the same works for my sister :D (Just kidding!)

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001

James,

Most depression disorders and whatnot are caused by Chemical Imbalances in your head, which can only *truly* be fixed with medication of some sort.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001

Dee,

There is a lot of controversy about this...I don't know what your Psychology backround is, but this is not a Known Fact[tm] and a lot of psychologists and pyshoclogical researchers would disagree with you. (There is even some amount of question about whether the imbalance causes the depression or the depression causes the chemical imbalance.) These are issues that are entirely debatable and I am simply sharing my opinion on them. Questioning the status quo of practises is how progress is made, you might all be thanking people on my end of the debates in 20 years. ;P

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

There isn't really a good way to test for chemical imbalances yet (I'm on three different types of, uh, "head meds," yet I've never had a brain scan or anything like that. At this point, they're very expensive and therefore impractical for most people with clinical depression or mild anxiety disorders), so it can't be proven that *most* mood or anxiety disorders come only from a chemical imbalance. Often a disorder is caused by a biological or genetic factor combined with a stressor. Example: me. Genetic predisposition for panic disorder passed to me from my mom + bad breakup + stressful exam week last semester = lots of panic attacks. I'd had a few in my life before the winter (though I didn't identify them as panic attacks at the time), but only in December and January did they become regular occurrences.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2001

I'm no longer on Paxil, as we found out it made me bipolar 2. That means I'm not actually bipolar, but being on antidepressants makes me act all manic. So now I'm on two types of medication whose names I can't spell- respiridone once a day (anti-psychotic), and epival twice a day(mood stabilizer). Medications should be easier to spell. The psychiatrist took me out of school for two weeks to "stabilize" and I go back tomorrow. Yay.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

pills scare me. i can't swallow them. i was supposed to be taking melatonin so i wouldn't get jetlag when i went to france, but i choked on it, so i didn't. i can't even take tylenol!

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001

I'm not, but I probably should be on Lithium since my mother is manic- depressive, and hey, the apple don't fall from de tree.

-- Anonymous, May 12, 2001

Late in high school, my world fell apart.

I remember that all I knew of my life was a web of pushing and pulling pressure. And then when I was about 17 I suddenly realised I wasn't the person everyone thought I was.

And I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to be my own person. I had been so busy being what everyone else wanted, that I'd never actually been me - except to myself; secretly, quietly.

Then I got scared - mostly that people would find out that I was a liar and a fake. I couldn't sleep, and my fear turned into an anxiety that controlled my days and my nights. The cruel weight of depression, its clouded thoughts, fear, lonliness, isolation and bleak hollow existence curled me into a ball.

My least favourite anxiety revolved around sleep. I had many others - and looking back some are almost amusing, but at the time they were truly horrific.

Often people talk about depression and insomnia in the same breath. And I had this hella insomnia, but I had this even more hella anxiety about it. I was tired, so tired, aching and hurting with tiredness. So I'd try to sleep, and couldn't, then I'd know that everyone else in my house was asleep, and I'd be consumed with fear about being the only one awake. Then this absolutely desolate sadness of aching for sleep and wanting to fall, fall, fall deep into sleep would prey on my mind, and soon I'd be crying and fretting and scared because I was the only one awake. It was awful and it went on for months and months. Later after a whole bunch of other stuff - I got onto anti- anxiety meds and onto prozac and prozac-like drugs I was able to train myself to have reasonable sleep patterns again.

Later - and it was much much later.....when I came off the meds totally, the self discipline I'd learnt about sleep, and the skills I'd developed helped me over the hard times, and even now when the black dog of depression and anxiety creeps silently in, I'm able to go back to what I learnt and apply it - without the need for medication. But when I was so sick that I wanted to die, there really weren't too many other options.

Because for me, whilst medicated I was able to look into the mirror of my illness and learn how to deal with it and make it part of a life lived. On medication I accepted that periods of depression and anxiety are part of me, and with good coping skills and strategies I could get through them - with meds if need be.

Well, that's how it was for me anyway.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001