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

[GoggleGirl17]

No. I find if I am depressed for months at a time, it means I have to start changing how I live my life in some way, even if I am unaware of what is causing the depression. The point is to force myself into a different perspective, which in turn gives me perspective about myself. I find depression usually to be a symptom of resignation due to a sense of hopelessness about something, so that's what I try to challenge.

 

[Schrödinger's Name]

No. I find if I am depressed for months at a time, it means I have to start changing how I live my life in some way, even if I am unaware of what is causing the depression. The point is to force myself into a different perspective, which in turn gives me perspective about myself. I find depression usually to be a symptom of resignation due to a sense of hopelessness about something, so that's what I try to challenge.

^This.

In my case I think it's a mix of having depression as a comorbid symptom of ADHD (though the diagnoses was "possibly chronic depression") but also the tendency to ignore how my own thinking pattern and lifestyle influences my mood. For a long time I refused to believe that changing my lifestyle could in fact help me feel better.

There's a time I did take Abilify to deal with the mood swings but it made me feel extremely sleepy, couldn't walk more than 30 minutes,...

So a while ago I did finally try to change my lifestyle, get out of bed, to do things even when I 'do not feel like it' and it has helped me. Now I neglected the lifestyle part again for a while and I can already feel that it in fact, does influence my moods. The difficult part about changing your lifestyle is that it's a very slow process. The effects of it are not felt immediately. I think especially that is what makes it so hard for people to change and to continue to do so.
(Right now, I especially have difficulties again with 'where to start' because there is so much that needs to change. :'))

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

Oh wow, been taking meds for 4 years now-

My thoughts:
Lexapro: Overall worked pretty well, I've taken it on and off for 4 years. It worked pretty well and stopped me from having panic attacks, but didn't stop intrusive thoughts. I stopped taking it because it made me want to throw up constantly.
Wellbutrin: Not that much different from Lexapro, tried it as an alternative for Lexapro but it didn't do much so switched back to Lexapro
Zoloft: It had the opposite effect and made me cry all the time and made me have

suicidal ideation.

I thought it was from the Maine shooting that I was so depressed, but I think if I was in the right state of mind I wouldn't have been so upset.
Prozac: The best one so far. It helps me focus and when I'm upset I feel like I can tackle it rather than let it consume me. It stops intrusive thoughts too and when I get them I'm able to channel it somewhere else. It makes me have bizarre dreams though? But I can't say no to a med that causes lucid dreaming.

 

[Vendrah]

I took none, yet I have 2 family members that took (and one of them hide it as a secret and doesn't know that I know). I, myself, just take a supplement that in Brazil is called 3-HTP, it helps depression but its not considered a MED.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I used to, and then I found out that something else was wrong with me.