Anti-Depressants

[InbetweenDreams]

I'm not discouraging anyone from seeking help, but prescribed antidepressants never helped me. I'm usually depressed for no obvious reason, and my wife is similarly happy all the time. It's clearly a biological thing, but if a pill can help, I haven't found it.

It is also very discouraging when the pills do nothing, make you sick or whatever and then the doctor tells you there's a bunch more they can try as if they're playing a game of darts.

I flushed my pills down the toilet in my 20s - I forgot what they were called but they made me feel like I was the walking dead. 

I chose psychotherapy and daily workouts twice a day as my path forward back in the 80s and it has been successful for me. The depression has been gone for a very long time and for the anxiety I use the tools I learned to give myself therapy and it works 85% of the time.

At the end of the day, doctors may be knowledgeable, but we decide what we put in our bodies. I do think psychotherapy can be by far superior to any medication. After all, medications are not a silver bullet, you still have needs to fulfill to be "complete" (can't think of a better way to describe it). Unfortunately, my work schedule pretty much kills off my ability to seek psychotherapy unless I can do something online. Last I knew insurance doesn't pay for online stuff, but that might have changed due to the pandemic. I used to see a therapist which entailed a 55 mile drive from work and a 35 mile drive back home. The therapist was great but she ended up leaving the group and I decided to stop going at that point.

I could definitely use some plan or motivation to get exercise on a regular basis and yes I do think that helps stave off depression. I don't care for gyms or treadmills though. So when winter comes it usually means depression gets worse. Perhaps I should move to Florida lol.

As long as the stuff I'm on doesn't make me feel like the walking dead or want to drive my car into a tree and actually seems to help I'm fine with it. At least until I can find a way to keep myself on the horse.

I have read and heard many accounts of anti-depressants being either the thing that saved their life or the thing that nearly ruined it. I think the problem is simply not knowing what medication will have a positive effect, one that doesn't cause side effects and addresses the problem. One thought I did have was that we were not meant for this modern world. Where we're expected to adhere to all these things that society expects us to, but perhaps I am wrong. There is something seemingly unnatural about sitting in an office for 10 hours a day looking at monitors.

I just want to feel good, feel good about life and not feel as if I should just give up and throw the towel in. And it's hard to give a fuck about anything, to find motivation, to love yourself enough to pull yourself out of the current. So I do think whether it is medication, psychotherapy or both are things that can help someone pull themselves up. Some folks need this stuff for a short time, others need more help. Likewise, I do think if you can do it without medications you're probably better off but don't turn your nose to them if you need them. Plus there's sort of a stigma about taking medications for mental health reasons, like as if I'm "damaged goods" or something. So there's plenty of reasons why we wouldn't want to get on these medications, whether it's the stigma, the side effects or whatever it is.

At any rate @eastofeden I am happy you found a way to stay off this stuff. Definitely a healthier option working out alone. I know a lot of the older SSRI's like Prozac came out in the 80's but going backwards from that, it seems like the medications were much less effective and more intoxicating.

Speaking of the online therapists, has anyone had experience with those services like Better Help and such?