Posted by SLS on May 29, 2005, at 16:07:13
In reply to Re: Meds need vs addiction?? what do you think?, posted by linkadge on May 29, 2005, at 15:33:32
> But I would also disagree with that.
>
> My own experience with these drugs say that yes they do entirely fit the category of "addictive"
>
> 1. Initially they produced a false sence of wellInitially, they do little or nothing at all to elevate mood or produce a sense of well-being. That takes 2-4 weeks to happen.
> being out of proportion to reality.
> "I was giggleing at my grandmothers funeral
> because of the way her pretty coffin looked
> so psycadellic"I never experienced this when I responded well to antidepressants. Everything actually seemed rather matter-of-fact. It was I who decided how to proceed with life, not the medication. There was nothing "false" about my sense of wellbeing.
> 2. Tollerance is built to the mood elevating
> effect of the drug.Perhaps this is true for you. More often than not, it has been true for me as well. However, this is not true of many, many others whom do not fit into a treatment-resistent category. That's why we don't see them here.
> "Anyone I have talked to who has taken an
> antidepressant for more than 1 year (even
> off this board) say that tollerance to the
> AD effect has almost completely developed.You need to meet more depressed people!
NOT.
:-)
> I will try to locate the article I recently
> read that gives (catch this) "an animal model
> of antidepressant poop out", whereby if the
> foot shocks continue, even a near leathal dose
> of antidepressant will not reverse the
> behavior....scarry !!!!
PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS MUST BE MINIMIZED IN ORDER FOR THESE DRUGS TO WORK LONG-TERM, OTHERWISE, BREAKTHROUGH DEPRESSION IS INEVITABLE!
The animal models represent an extreme form of chronic psychosocial stress. How the intensity of the experimental paradigm equates to the human condition can only be guessed at. However, the lesson is there to be learned: Reduce psychosocial stress. For many people, this will include psychotherapy.
> 3. Significant withdrawl symptoms occur,
> that force the user to reinstate the drug
> even if the initial reasons for starting the
> drug no longer exist.Accomodation by the body to pharmacological substances is common. That the body must therefore accomodate to the absence of these substances is not surprising but predictable. To reduce the exposure to a drug faster than the body can accomodate to its loss yields withdrawal symptoms. Physiological dependence to a substance is not sufficient to deem it addictive.
You haven't mentioned cravings anywhere, nor psychological habituation.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:504713
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050527/msgs/504826.html