Antidepressants

[Mayflower1]

Are antidepressants wrong?

 

[sbvera13]

Is allowing a depressed person to continue suffering without treatment wrong?

They may be overused (this is a diagnosis issue) but they are certainly not wrong.

 

[appleofhiseye]

No.
Antidepressants are just pills-tools used by Drs. to help people.. Misuse or Abuse of any substance, however is dangerous, therefore it is wrong.

 

[flicka]

No. What would be wrong about them?

 

[jamielindas]

I was depressed for a long time and had therapy for 4 years before going on antidepressants. It was a big decision and I felt like taking them was giving up. My therapy helped me to understand and evaluate my need for them. After 4 years of intensive therapy, there were still gaps I could not overcome and I most likely was chemically unable to overcome my depression. I started taking them and within a month, the world changed; my life was my own to live and I could see happiness in sight.

I DO think they are over prescribed. You shouldn't be on them unless you've been through some real therapy first to actually try to deal with the issues.

They are a tool to help you reach happiness, not happiness in a pill. The hammer doesn't build the house.

 

[jayem]

Are antidepressants wrong?

Has someone been reading too much Scientology?

I detect the veiled implication here that mental disorders are not really diseases. It's that age-old misunderstanding that mental illness is due to some maladjustment, or character defect, or spiritual weakness, or bad thought patterns. And that medication is just a crutch, or only masks the symptoms without getting to the "root" of the problem. That's a medically ignorant and pejorative view. The scientific evidence is overwhelming that major depression is a physical illness--a real chemical imbalance in the nervous system. And the same is true for bipolar disease, panic disorder, OCD, and schizophrenia. It's no more immoral to take antidepressants or other psychoactive medication than it is to take insulin for diabetes. Untreated major depression is the leading cause of suicide. The right medication, prescribed for a correctly diagnosed patient, and properly monitored by an experienced psychiatrist can be life saving.

 

[WatersMoon110]

I think that anti-depressants should only be proscribed to people already in therapy, at the request of their therapist. I think that General Practitioners should refer people to therapy, and not just give them anti-depressants without making sure they are getting the psychiatric help they probably need (and which most likely will not harm them if they don't).

Personally, I would be loath to go back on anti-depressants, because they never helped me (and I was on, at one time or another, all of the kinds available a few years ago). But I don't think they are bad. I think they are a tool.

 

[Washington]

Are antidepressants wrong?

Well, they're certainly morally wrong. That's for sure!

 

[jamielindas]

Is it morally wrong to take your insulin? Is it morally wrong to take your blood pressure medication? Is it morally wrong to have anesthesia during surgery? Is it morally wrong to have surgery?

what is morally wrong about treating an illness?
I think most people agree that you should undergo therapy along with antidepressants and some advocate doing therapy BEFORE antidepressants. The point of this being to find out if you're just going through a brief period where you've lost your way or if you actually have a illness worth treating...

It's true, many people run to them too quickly using them to fix any minor mood swing., but some people actually have a physical illness, like chemical/hormonal imbalance, that manifests itself in a mental way.
Why is treating this wrong?

 

[Belk]

Well, they're certainly morally wrong. That's for sure!

Why?

 

[gwenmead]

If it weren't for the availability of anti-dep's at crucial points in my life, I would be dead. I don't really care if they're wrong. When I needed them, they kept me alive.

As folks have already said, they're a tool. They don't indicate failure, unless you're fool enough to imagine that being unable to regulate your serotonin levels through sheer willpower indicates failure. They don't indicate weakness, either, anymore than anxiety disorder means you can't handle stress. They're a powerful tool to aid patients who live with mood disorders because their brains don't make enough of the right neurotransmitters at the right time.

I take a dim view of folks who consider mental illness a moral failing. (Tom Cruise can bite me.) What's really a moral failing is the inadequacies in mental health care in our society.

 

[Washington]

Why?

Click me

 

[MikeMcK]

Are antidepressants wrong?

Of course not. Why would it be wrong for a sick person to take medicine.

They're not wrong, at all, but they are often prescribed in circumstances where they're not needed and where there are better ways to treat depression.

For instance, I have depression and anxiety disorders and my doctor put me on antidepressants. They were OK, but didn't really do all that much.

One day, a family friend suggested that I see her doctor because my diet might be contributing to my problems.

That was a couple of years ago and ever since he convinced me to change my diet, it's extremely rare that I encounter any of the symptoms I had.

 

[Mayflower1]

-

 

[GrannieAnnie]

If it weren't for the availability of anti-dep's at crucial points in my life, I would be dead. I don't really care if they're wrong. When I needed them, they kept me alive.

As folks have already said, they're a tool. They don't indicate failure, unless you're fool enough to imagine that being unable to regulate your serotonin levels through sheer willpower indicates failure. They don't indicate weakness, either, anymore than anxiety disorder means you can't handle stress. They're a powerful tool to aid patients who live with mood disorders because their brains don't make enough of the right neurotransmitters at the right time.

I take a dim view of folks who consider mental illness a moral failing. (Tom Cruise can bite me.) What's really a moral failing is the inadequacies in mental health care in our society.

ABSOLUTELY.......I was diagnosed with severe depression 10 years ago, I've been through hell and if I didnt take my anti depressants...I take about 9 a day.....I would have been dead a long, long time ago. Mental illness is one of the most misunderstood illnesses in the world. You have to have experienced it to know the horrors of it. Thankfully I haven't been in hospital for 18 months, but I still need my meds.....but, they are carefully controlled by my doctor.

 

[Verv]

Depressed people who are in serious need of course should take them but the ultimate goal is to control yourself independent of them.

Depressed people should receive counseling and in extreme circumstances antidepresssants.

Depressed people should consider meditation and deep inward thought, work in low stress environments and search their soul for where their happiness is, eliminate problems in their life, etc.

I would support funding for bringing Buddhist, Christian and Hindu clergy (and any other relevant clergy) to places to provide emotional, spiritual and meditation support to depressed people. Cultivating the Spirit can lead to happiness and fill gaps in life.

 

[Battie]

I was depressed for a long time and had therapy for 4 years before going on antidepressants. It was a big decision and I felt like taking them was giving up. My therapy helped me to understand and evaluate my need for them. After 4 years of intensive therapy, there were still gaps I could not overcome and I most likely was chemically unable to overcome my depression. I started taking them and within a month, the world changed; my life was my own to live and I could see happiness in sight.

I DO think they are over prescribed. You shouldn't be on them unless you've been through some real therapy first to actually try to deal with the issues.

They are a tool to help you reach happiness, not happiness in a pill. The hammer doesn't build the house.

I agree.

My counselor explained that my depression/anxiety was like me treading water in a deep pool. With therapy alone, I could keep my head above the water. But with the medicine, I might be able to swim to the side of the pool and climb out.

Therapy helped me more than I can say and I still sometimes wish I could have kept it up (I saw a campus counselor and I graudated :-( ). But I am still on the medicine and it helps me keep an even keel from day to day.

 

[vajradhara]

Namaste all,

i'm fairly confident that antidepressents are not sentient beings and can have, in no way, the lable wrong or right attached to them.

metta,

~v

 

[PassionFruit]

I don't see anything wrong with anti-depressants, but in a sense I believe they should be used as a last resort. However I do feel that there are situations where people become completely dependent on anti-depressants. And as long as your doctor controls how much you're taking, I'm okay with it.

But what about those stories where people who have taken anti-depressants and it only increased their rate of suicide? Especially among adolescents?

 

[NoDoubt]

Clinical depession is a chemical imbalance. My brother committed suicide this past November and probably stopped taking his meds, went into a psychotic episode and 'did it'.

I myself am on anti-depressants because of the same inherited condition. I've come close...My doctor keeps changing my medication Now I'm bi-polar.

It's pretty scary but I'm trying my best to cope and so far I think Im doing ok.