Do you take antidepressants/anxiety medication? (anonymous poll)

[Peter Deadpan]

I take Wellbutrin now for depression and ADHD and I'm a completely different person, for the better. It had been YEARS since I was able to be myself, apparently. I just didn't realize how bad it had gotten.

 

[highlander]

I take Wellbutrin now for depression and ADHD and I'm a completely different person, for the better. It had been YEARS since I was able to be myself, apparently. I just didn't realize how bad it had gotten.

I took that for about 14 months once when I had an episode of depression (which only happened to me the one time but it was awful). It was absolutely not a cure but worked pretty well and helped me get through it.

 

[prplchknz]

I need to change my answer as I am now on a low dose of remeron and it actually works or maybe it's because it's summer i actually want to get out and do stuff. plus my sleep has improved except the last 2 nights where i couldn't sleep if this continues i'll bring it up.

 

[Yara the Corpse]

Zoloft I think, it made me more extraverted and energetic and social, but with a side effect being that I always felt easy to anger. Maybe because I have Asperger's as well, I'm not sure where the aggression comes from.

Social anxiety and Asperger's was the issue mostly, depression I don't think was present. But it definitely worked 100%

 

[prplchknz]

Zoloft I think, it made me more extraverted and energetic and social, but with a side effect being that I always felt easy to anger. Maybe because I have Asperger's as well, I'm not sure where the aggression comes from.

Social anxiety and Asperger's was the issue mostly, depression I don't think was present. But it definitely worked 100%

yeah anti-depressants are sometimes used for other things other than depression. but i wonder if you weren't cuz i know when i'm depressed i'm introverted, low energy, and anti-social. But when I'm not I'm like what you describe social, energetic, and extraverted. but i'm more likely to be angry when depressed.

 

[Schrödinger's Name]

I use ritalin and St. John's wort (and Abilify in the past).

Especially the ritalin still makes me feel like a 'druggie' from time to time. As if I am not supposed to use it.

 

[Stigmata]

I'd suffered from severe depression and anxiety for years, to which I thought there was no end in sight. I'd done extensive research over several years, looking at both natural and pharmaceutical remedies to at least alleviate the night terrors (in my worst experience I awoke in the middle of the night, screaming and sweating profusely, and punched myself in the face in a state of supreme confusion).

I'd recently discovered an ancient Mayan herbal blend of crushed caterpillars, bull semen extract, all brewed together 3 liters of room temperature Flint, Michigan tap water. Other than the occasional seizure and the sudden onset of narcolepsy, this new blend seems to be working pretty well and gives me hope I be functional enough to resume pursuing my life's dream of following in my father's footsteps and a world champion Tetris player.

 

[Earl Grey]

A counterargument to medication for 'invisible disabilities' (mental illness) is that people get 'dependent' on them, but it is just as necessary as the diabetic whose body does not produce insulin properly. Dependent, yes, but for good reason- in order to achieve a hormonal balance that people without the illnesses do possess. Everyone is just as 'dependent' on the 'drugs' their brain processes, some just need help with the manufacturing because they may be impaired from doing so at all- it is an illness, after all. Medication is just helping achieve what is supposed to be (or what is preferable to be) there (be it insulin, or serotonin).

Taking advantage of a better state of being is not much different than exercising, which is changing your 'natural' self to build strength and bulk- there is no 'real you', no 'natural state', only what state you do choose to live in, and the healthier the better.

 

[Maou]

I started Zoloft like 2 weeks ago. Its largely took away my irritability and anger. Made it harder to feel emotion in general, and stopped my hypervigilence. But now I just feel dead inside, and my therapist is practically telling me to learn how to feel again in this state. I can't focus on things in my free time at all, and seem to be in a perpetual state of apathy and anhedonia.

 

[Mayflower]

^ A fellow Zoloft user!! I stopped taking it last year; made me feel worse in the long run. I had severe Social Anxiety (still do) and symptoms of depressions. Yeah, it made me less "on edge" but at the same time strengthened my depression symptoms. It sucked the life out of me. Currently trying to deal with things without pills with some success in regard to my anxiety issues, but I still generally feel apathetic.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

I'm still on 150mg bupropion (Wellbutrin), but it's such a low dose and I've come so far with my coping skills that I'm not sure how much it's helping. I also take 25mg CBD oil twice daily and supplement with vitamin D drops.

I can't say I'm "cured" or that there is even a cure for the pain and trauma that life inflicts upon us (that is after all the nature of scars, which we all bear to some extent), but the surface has healed enough so that I don't have to walk around hiding behind bandages worrying that the wound will seep through the edges.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

Also, I'd like to add that I think that some antidepressants work by numbing the ability to feel, which may be initially beneficial in a crisis, but after some time, if you are noticing a distinct inability to feel, I would consider a change in some direction as far as treatment goes.

 

[Luminous]

I love my zoloft.

 

[Maou]

The main reason I am giving antidepressants a go to begin with, is because I have tried everything else. I got tired of putting up with it alone.

Now if only my therapy wasn't so awkward. I keep spacing what I want to say lol.

 

[Mind Maverick]

My answer should change from "no, but used to" to "yes" but there's no way for me to change it.

 

[Mind Maverick]

When I was 15 they put me on antidepressants. My father convinced me I didn't need them and it was just a matter of circumstance and willpower, so I came off of them. A few years later I got fired from my job for depression issues. Some years after that I learned I was bipolar all this time. I had tried to fight it all on my own for years, but nothing I did ever worked. Eventually I accepted the fact that my father was wrong and I needed help.

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

I started taking Lexapro yesterday(10 mg). I thought I was having a placebo effect at first because it started kicking in like 17 minutes after I took it, but naw. I definitely feel more placid, and it feels like my legs are being restrained? My anxiety makes me really hyper, but now I'm not feeling that same urge to run around for the most part. It's a weird feeling for sure, but it's not a bad one. We'll see how things play out in the long run.

 

[Morpeko]

Therapists in the past have tried to get me to take it, but I've refused. I'm a bit afraid of any type of medicine and avoid taking it as much as possible. Also, I don't think anything can help me feel better at this point and I should probably stop trying.

I don't think there's anything wrong about taking it, I just don't think it's for me.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

I've been off of medication for quite some time now. I prefer it this way because having only numbed access to my emotional states can be frustrating and counterproductive to healing trauma. I also think I was basically on a near placebo level dose anyway. I'm stubborn, and I never wanted to rely on medication, so I just stayed at 150 (I believe a standard dose of bupropion is 300 mg).

I just use full-spectrum CBD now and make sure I'm getting enough sun exposure or vitamin D supplement. Limiting alcohol helps, buuuut I'm not necessarily very successful in that department, consistently. I go in spurts.

 

[RadicalDoubt]

Not currently, but I probably should be (and eventually will probably retry once I figure out where my issue lies, it it's required of course).