Sensitive Question

[LivetoErr]

I'm just curious as to why so many people say, "I'm not going to take antidepressants".

I had this convo with a friend and she feels like they would make her someone else. Is that how people generally view antidepressants? I take them and am not ashamed to admit it. The prednisone made me a self entitled b* and I needed something to tone it down. I'm now back to who I used to be, personality wise.

If they're something that could help you, why not give them a try? Depression isn't as much of a stigma any more and it's pretty easy to say, "I take them for my...", if you're not depressed.

Anyways, I hope this turns into a good discussion.

 

[Whyfor]

I think antidepressants still harbor a very powerful taboo in our culture. To the mass public who has never experienced an emotional disorder, you might hear uneducated statements like, "Depressed people just need to think positive!" And, "Antidepressants mean you just gave up trying to be happy." Of course, we're talking about a condition that literally causes disruptions in normal brain chemicals, but when people hear the word "depressed," they may think of the innocuous sounding "sad." And so people who may need these drugs might think of those stereotypes, and end up in an internal battle with themselves where they feel the need to reject the drugs, thus proving to themselves that they are "strong enough" to not need them. It's a pride thing and a fear thing.

I went through this when I was first suggested antianxiety medication for my powerful social phobia. At first, I was staunchly against them, and refused their help. Eventually, I came to realize that refusing help was ridiculous, and it doesn't make me any less of a person just because I occasionally need some support when facing a very real disorder.

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can really say specifically to your friend to get her over her feeling of taboo and weakness. Saying that the drugs will make her into someone else may be a legitimate fear, but she is also using it as an excuse to not even try them. This is very much something she needs to go through internally. However, you can always mention how they are not a sign of weakness, and depression is a physical condition with very real, powerful symptoms.

Yet, by the end of the day, she'll need to wrestle her own ego and socially constructed perceptions on her own. I wish her the best, though. You're a good friend.

 

[Loftpat]

I agree, Whyfor. Well said. I fought against medication for years believing I could cope with counseling. I was terribly wrong. Granted medication alone is not the complete answer for major depressive and anxiety disorders. You still need to help yourself. No one would deny medication for other chronic disorders, why the stigma with mental health? Being sad or a bit blue is not depression. You cannot smile your way out of that darkness.

 

[Whyfor]

Being sad or a bit blue is not depression. You cannot smile your way out of that darkness.

Although I have never been depressed of my own body's making, I have, however, experienced a terrible, powerful mental darkness caused as a side effect to a muscle relaxer. I am naturally a pretty positive person, and within 2 hours of taking this medication, I was suddenly on a hellish nosedive into the deepest, meanest, and most self loathing places of my brain. Over the period of 12 hours, I contemplated the worthlessness of my life, the emotional and physical pain that seemed to never let up, and ever briefly, I wondered how easy it would be to just...end it all. Just thinking about it again gives me chills.

I was no longer in control of my own being or my thoughts, and while my horrible experience only lasted 12 hours, it gave me an incredible understanding of what depression truly is and can become.

 

[l3itch]

When I was younger I was fed anti-depressants like candy. I hated how I felt, like someone else living my life and I was just stuck watching it from the side lines. The doctor kept changing the medications and doses so fast my head was spinning and I was terribly sick for a long time. Because of that experience I'm very, very apprehensive to try anything that may have any affects on my mental status.

I also have a very, very, very addictive personality. I've struggled with drug addictions a lot and know if took opiates on a regular basis I would have a problem. For that reason alone I refuse to take any medication that even has the slightest possibility of 'habit forming'.

I have a feeling, at the rate things are going, that it's going to get to the point where I don't have a choice because I can't function any more. Until then, I'm just going to keep fighting through it without medication like I always have.