Posted by Victoria on April 4, 2000, at 21:45:47
In reply to Re: SSRI's: maybe cause dumbness?, posted by Joy on April 4, 2000, at 13:03:51
The same way you know who you are if you take thyroid medication (which, like other chemical imbalances, can have depression as a symptom). I'm now on an effective dose of meds (AD, plus thyroid and estrogen) and I feel more myself than I did when the fog and mental static of depression were getting in my way. I don't feel that my emotions per se are any different from what I felt before meds. If one has a chemical imbalance, one can certainly use all possible inner resources to cope with its effects--and for some people that might be enough and there's some evidence that talk therapy might have some effect of brain chemicals--but probably the imbalance will still be there. And I haven';t found that taking meds solves all my problems, so I am using my inner resources to work on them (rather than just to cope with the symptoms of depression), among them learning to sort out which behaviors and attitudes are reactions to being depressed and can be gotten rid of now that I'm not. I realize it's a bit more complicated because the organ that's affected by meds is the same as the organ you use to judge those effects, but I personally don't believe that the proper dose of the proper med changes who one is (I'm not talking about side effects oo being thrown into a manic or hypomanic state).
Also on the question of SSRI-induced dumbness, I think I experienced it, a feeling of confusion and trouble finding words. There's soem material on the Psychopharmacology Tips page that deals with word-finding problems as a side-effect of SSRIs.
> How can one ever know what feelings we are having..if we are taking drugs? Suppose
> you as a person..without AD's...are or are not..."feeling inadequate","smarter/dumber"?
>
> Since you have been on AD's for so long..who are YOU? Personally I want to get to the
> root of my "unhappiness/confusion/depression" and deal with it using my own strength,
> maturity,healthful living ie:nutrition,exercise,etc. and peace of mind.
>
> How can anyone "know" who they are..if they are using drugs?
poster:Victoria
thread:28729
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000401/msgs/28897.html