4 ms·

As a dad with 2 girls who's been on SSRI medication for anxiety since I was a teenager, this makes me sad ;(

mr_overalls 8y ago
As another dad with anxiety problems: go easy on yourself. These kind of epigenetic effects are probabilistic - and even if they weren't, having anxiety isn't your fault. As a father, there are far more direct effects you can have on your children's well-being, like providing them with food, shelter, emotional support, life experiences, educational opportunity, etc. And I'm willing to bet that taking SSRIs helps you function better so that you can provide the environmental factors above.
- univalent 8y ago
  Thanks! Yes, Zoloft has been a God send. I cannot imagine functioning without it. I'm shocked when there are studies that claim that SSRIs have little to no effect.
  - Filligree 8y ago
    Funny you should mention that today. I was just reading an attempt at making sense of that: http://slatestarcodex.com/2018/11/07/ssris-an-update/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2018/11/07/ssris-an-update/
  - alleyshack 8y ago
    IANA doctor, but my understanding from years of trying every antidepressant on the market is that we don't currently understand why SSRIs help (some people) with depression. We know the mechanics of what they do, but not why that function has an antidepressant effect in some people. We don't really have a good idea what mechanically causes depression at all - in some cases, it's related to serotonin, in which case an SSRI might help. But there are a lot of other cases that aren't so obvious, and as far as my understanding goes, the "lot of other cases" is enough to make those who might be genuinely helped by SSRIs' mechanical function (as opposed to a placebo function, which is a whole 'nother issue in this research) be effectively invisible in the data. A very rough metaphor (and again IANA doctor or scientist, just someone who's struggled with this personally for two decades) would be, "Stitches help people who are bleeding!" Yes, that is true in some cases and under certain circumstances, but what we've been doing with antidepressant drugs is roughly the equivalent of treating every possible bleeding wound with some variant of stitches or butterfly closures. Very effective for some, not helpful for others, actively harmful for a minority.
hyperpape 8y ago
I can't comment too much on how to interpret this, but I recently read a paper that includes estimates of heritability for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder and Phobias. http://www18.homepage.villanova.edu/diego.fernandezduque/Teaching/PhysiologicalPsychology/zCurrDir4200/CurrDirGeneticsTraits.pdf http://www18.homepage.villanova.edu/diego.fernandezduque/Tea....

As another dad with anxiety problems: go easy on yourself. These kind of epigenetic effects are probabilistic - and even if they weren't, having anxiety isn't your fault. As a father, there are far more direct effects you can have on your children's well-being, like providing them with food, shelter, emotional support, life experiences, educational opportunity, etc. And I'm willing to bet that taking SSRIs helps you function better so that you can provide the environmental factors above.

univalent 8y ago
Thanks! Yes, Zoloft has been a God send. I cannot imagine functioning without it. I'm shocked when there are studies that claim that SSRIs have little to no effect.
- Filligree 8y ago
  Funny you should mention that today. I was just reading an attempt at making sense of that: http://slatestarcodex.com/2018/11/07/ssris-an-update/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2018/11/07/ssris-an-update/
- alleyshack 8y ago
  IANA doctor, but my understanding from years of trying every antidepressant on the market is that we don't currently understand why SSRIs help (some people) with depression. We know the mechanics of what they do, but not why that function has an antidepressant effect in some people. We don't really have a good idea what mechanically causes depression at all - in some cases, it's related to serotonin, in which case an SSRI might help. But there are a lot of other cases that aren't so obvious, and as far as my understanding goes, the "lot of other cases" is enough to make those who might be genuinely helped by SSRIs' mechanical function (as opposed to a placebo function, which is a whole 'nother issue in this research) be effectively invisible in the data. A very rough metaphor (and again IANA doctor or scientist, just someone who's struggled with this personally for two decades) would be, "Stitches help people who are bleeding!" Yes, that is true in some cases and under certain circumstances, but what we've been doing with antidepressant drugs is roughly the equivalent of treating every possible bleeding wound with some variant of stitches or butterfly closures. Very effective for some, not helpful for others, actively harmful for a minority.

hyperpape 8y ago

I can't comment too much on how to interpret this, but I recently read a paper that includes estimates of heritability for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder and Phobias. http://www18.homepage.villanova.edu/diego.fernandezduque/Teaching/PhysiologicalPsychology/zCurrDir4200/CurrDirGeneticsTraits.pdf http://www18.homepage.villanova.edu/diego.fernandezduque/Tea....