Posted by bleauberry on February 18, 2008, at 15:43:48
In reply to Suicide and Antidepressants, posted by your#1fan on February 18, 2008, at 13:12:14
Yeah, what the therapist said is the standard line most medical professionals use. I think maybe in some cases it holds merit, but mostly not. Just my opinion.
They should try an antidepressant themselves. Someone who does not have a serotonin deficiency who takes an SSRI is probably going to feel dyphoric at a minimum and suicidal at the extreme.
I can say many psych meds have made me feel so much worse than I was before starting them. It wasn't side effects, it wasn't energy, it was deepened depression bigtime. When someone feels real depressed, they start a new drug their doctor says will help, they feel magnified deeper darkness instead, the next appointment isn't for a month, this drug was supposed to help...I mean, yeah, maybe that person is just going to give up.
If the theory of brain chemical imbalance is true, then if one is to tweak that chemical imbalance in the wrong direction and make it even worse, not cool. Who is to know if someone's chemical imbalance is low serotonin or not?
People are near giving up to begin with. When their drug doesn't help or makes things worse, that's when they actually do give up. Many of us here have learned or been gifted with extreme endurance that not everyone has.
All one has to do is look at the side effects of drugs. All of them show depression as a possible side effect. The instructions warn to keep an eye out for worsening of depression.
It is hard to find the detailed information of clinical trials of exactly why people quit the trial or who got more depressed. With some deep digging, it is there. Depending on the drug, the number of people who get severely worse on any drug ranges between 5% and 15%.
People here for years have said how Lamictal made them feel suicidal. I'm not picking on Lamictal, just using it as one example of many. Were those babblers just making it up? I think they genuinely felt a lot worse. These drugs all twist the mind powerfully. Hopefully in a good direction, but sometimes not.
The therapist you talked to is out of touch with reality, when it comes to the power of these drugs to alter the mind in an undesired direction.
poster:bleauberry
thread:813448
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080207/msgs/813464.html