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on antidepressants for life?

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  • 04-10-2010 4:12pm
    #1
    LegacyUser
    Registered Users Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭


    i wondered how people feel about having to be on anti depressants drugs all the time or 'for life'. I weaned myself off but may have to start again as am down/anxious again.

    i am not sure they are specific treatments for depression or if they just mask feelings but what if the feeling are so bad as to need masking

    thoughts welcome


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    #2
    Plautus
    Registered Users Posts: 759 ✭✭✭Plautus


    There's a couple of things to bear in mind; anti-depressants aren't nice to be on long-term if they bring you negative side-effects, and so it can be a good idea to try several anti-ds with the help of your GP/Psychiatrist so as to reduce the side-effects and maximise beneficial outcomes. So, this is very much a case-by-case situation with everyone responding differently.

    Certain medications may make you feel zoned-out or 'zombified'. I had that experience with one medication in particular but then I found another that suited me better. Medication ideally should be used as part of a multi-faceted approach; helping you to make gains in counselling or psychotherapy that you would otherwise not have been able to make. So I wouldn't say it 'masks' emotions but rather makes them more manageable (ideally.) If underlying issues aren't broached in some form of talking therapy then yes, you could feel like the medication was merely papering over the cracks.

    It's also worth remembering that most people who suffer from depression do wonder if they'll ever get better: goes cap in hand with the negative thought patterns (I too wondered if I would ever get back to my 'old self'.) Most people recover from depression - it's just that there's a reporting bias; people are more likely to surface on the internet and in the media to talk about negative outcomes than to publicise the fact that 'hey, I'm okay now'.


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