Posted by Damien on March 26, 2004, at 18:25:45
In reply to Re: Don't Worry About Withdrawal Symptoms!, posted by djmmm on March 26, 2004, at 8:08:39
DJMMM -
Thanks for your comments. The points you raise are certainly valid, although I'm not as well-versed in the monoamine theory or the deleterious effects of antidepressant therapy on neural function. Perhaps I'm less concerned about disrupting other neurotransmitter systems since mine are largely "disrupted" to begin with.
While perhaps in my way I'm contributing to the pharmaceutical companies by believing that I'll need to take stimulants and an antidepressant for the rest of my life to function normally, I don't see any other treatment modality as being a viable option.
I'm not depressed because of any particular circumstances or events in my life, nor have my life-long (I'm pushing 40) problems with ADHD responded very well to conventional therapy. Yes, I've learned to be employed at an ADD-friendly job and various skills to make coping easier, but it is medicine that brings the biggest benefit, allowing me to focus, stay on task, and do seemingly simple things like complete this posting without being distracted by the other open windows on my PC.
Of course, that doesn't mean I'll remember where this tangent was headed in the first place ;-D
Guess I simply feel that medication improves the quality of my life, has few (noticable) side-effects, and thus I've no present reason to stop taking the medicine.> > While I agree with the points raised by the poster of the message quoted below, I think I'm missing the point somehow. The same way doctors don't worry about addiction when prescribing pain medications for people with cancer, etc, because the medication is necessary pretty much for the rest of a person's life, why is it that someone just stops taking a medication that is improving the quality of their life? I personally take stimulants for ADD and Wellbutrin for depression. These are not temporary fixes - these are the medications required to restore my neurotransmitter balance to some semblance of normal. They don't "fix" the problem where I can eventually stop the meds, as it is the actions of the medications that create the normal balance. Thus this is a life-long issue. If I want to be "well" then I continue taking medication.
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> > I don't believe that someone with biochemical depression is going to magically have their brain chemicals fall back into proportion and no longer need medicine.
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> > This is one of the issues that has created the so-called "revolving door" of mental health. People get well because of meds, then think since they are well, they don't need meds. So they stop taking meds and the whole cycle has to just begin again.
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> > Anyway, if I'm coming across wrong, I apologize. I am slightly off-topic, but I'm curious as to what others think about antidepressant medication. And why people stop taking it if its helping.
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> > Thanks.
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> > > For some of us withdrawel can be serious possibly throwing us into a severe manic or depressive state possibly even requiring hospitalization. I don't think the fear involved in withdrawel should be made fun of. It is not fun and I don't think it is nice of you to assume people are weak or not sick enough if they are afraid of withdrawel symptoms.
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> So your position on depression is based on the monoamine theory (which, for the most part I agree with) yet, you are ignoring HAlf of what is behind the monoamine theory...
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> You believe that it is a "chemical imbalance" yet you dont believe in the consequence (based on scientific evidence) of taking medication long term (receptor downregulation, disruption of other neurotransmitter systems, discontinuation syndromes, etc).
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> Depression, anxiety, etc dont have to be life long illnesses...thinking this way only seems to be setting you up for failure, which seems like a greater contributer to the "revolving door" of mental health that you speak of. It's true that some people contribute to this cycle by stopping medication the minute they feel better...but I think that sometimes we fail to realize that the main goal of medication therapy is to let us get to a place (symptom free) where we can better deal with the problems that contribute to why we are feeling depressed, anxious, etc.
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poster:Damien
thread:327930
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040325/msgs/328837.html