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This terrifies me. I've been trying to get up the nerve to talk to my doctor about my mental health for years now. I've been depressed on and off for a large po

This terrifies me. I've been trying to get up the nerve to talk to my doctor about my mental health for years now. I've been depressed on and off for a large portion of my life. I've always been really wary of pills though and reading things like this makes me worry even more. I wonder if the efficacy is actually there or if the withdrawal is worth it.

SolaceQuantum 8y ago
I've found that if you're firm that you want to explore non-drug solutions first, medical professionals are pretty receptive.
boomboomsubban 8y ago
Talk to your doctor and get a recommendation/prescription for therapy, it has a higher efficacy than medication anyway. If medication is advised, set a time line immediately for when you want to be off it. Withdrawal usually isn't bad, though worrying about it makes it worse.
avgDev 8y ago
Everyone should be skeptical about medications. I had suffered a reaction to an antibiotic, it is now documented by case studies, FDA, and EMA. I still have some side effects years after last dosage. I have seen maybe 30 docs over the years, ONLY ONE agreed that my symptoms appear to be a direct reaction to that medication. Few refused I even after I showed that information. Said "it doesn't really matter at this point".... Imagine this: You know arrays start at 0 in C#/Java even though you don't program but you saw a meme online. Now, you want to have an application developed. During the first conversation with a dev he says, ah "no problem we can use arrays and those start 1".......This has been my experience, the amount of doctors that just are ignorant, relying on knowledge from 80's when they attended school is saddening. Entering the medical system has been eye opening for me, I feel that developers could do a better job treating people with just google (obviously surgery is different, I am talking mainly about prescriptions)
gwbas1c 8y ago
Look up the history of heroin, or methamphetamine. They both were marketed as safe in the early days. Drug companies like to sell drugs like soda companies like to sell soda. The conflict of interest is so awful that sometimes I wonder if we should ban for-profit drug companies.
- CPLX 8y ago
  History? We’re still giving massive quantities of amphetamines to children, and massive quantities of opioids to large swaths of the country.
rhcom2 8y ago
I encourage you to talk to your doctor or a physiatrist but always keep in mind, it is YOUR body and YOUR decision to take a medication. I've been to psychiatrists that will be pushy with medication, gloss over side effects and ignore your concerns and you should feel like you always have the power to say, "No. I'm not interest in taking that" or even just taking their script and never filling it.
TossMeAmadeus 8y ago
Look into writing about your past. Self Authoring will guide you through it, it quite literally cut my own anxiety in half or more. Personally my anxiety/depression when it flares up is virtually always a direct result of poor diet/lack of sleep which compounds itself into lack of energy and lack of exercise. Once you find something that works, hold onto it for dear life because you need to use your good times to build good habits.
DanBC 8y ago
I'm not a medical professional (obviously) and you shouldn't take medical advice from anyone on the Internet. With any medical decision one of the important questions to ask is "What happens if we do nothing? What happens if we just watch and wait?" This isn't just for mental health. Whatever it is you should ask your doctor that question. Then you have to balance the risk of side effects and discontinuation against not doing anything. If you want evidence-based advice from a credible source you can read the NICE guidance: https://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/depression https://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/depression And here: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg90 https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg90 Personally - I liked venlafaxine for the first two years but one of the side effects was hard to live with. I was on a high dose for years, and coming off it was rough for two weeks. I'm currently on Mirtazipine which doesn't feel liek it's working, and causes me to feel hungry all the time, but I'm not dead so maybe it is working. I think I would have preferred a more active "off-boarding", although I can understand why in my case people were reluctant to take me off a med that appears to keep me alive. I had low-intensity IAPT (a UK talking therapy thing) which was not good, and I had high intensity IAPT (one to one, face to face with an experienced therapist using CBT for 14 weeks) which was considerably better. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has a good evidence base and is effective for about 60% of the people who do it (although those numbers are tricky). EDIT: I forgot to mention that whatever you do I hope things pick up, and good luck!!

SolaceQuantum 8y ago

I've found that if you're firm that you want to explore non-drug solutions first, medical professionals are pretty receptive.

boomboomsubban 8y ago

Talk to your doctor and get a recommendation/prescription for therapy, it has a higher efficacy than medication anyway. If medication is advised, set a time line immediately for when you want to be off it. Withdrawal usually isn't bad, though worrying about it makes it worse.

avgDev 8y ago

Everyone should be skeptical about medications. I had suffered a reaction to an antibiotic, it is now documented by case studies, FDA, and EMA. I still have some side effects years after last dosage. I have seen maybe 30 docs over the years, ONLY ONE agreed that my symptoms appear to be a direct reaction to that medication. Few refused I even after I showed that information. Said "it doesn't really matter at this point".... Imagine this: You know arrays start at 0 in C#/Java even though you don't program but you saw a meme online. Now, you want to have an application developed. During the first conversation with a dev he says, ah "no problem we can use arrays and those start 1".......This has been my experience, the amount of doctors that just are ignorant, relying on knowledge from 80's when they attended school is saddening. Entering the medical system has been eye opening for me, I feel that developers could do a better job treating people with just google (obviously surgery is different, I am talking mainly about prescriptions)

gwbas1c 8y ago

Look up the history of heroin, or methamphetamine. They both were marketed as safe in the early days. Drug companies like to sell drugs like soda companies like to sell soda. The conflict of interest is so awful that sometimes I wonder if we should ban for-profit drug companies.

CPLX 8y ago
History? We’re still giving massive quantities of amphetamines to children, and massive quantities of opioids to large swaths of the country.

rhcom2 8y ago

I encourage you to talk to your doctor or a physiatrist but always keep in mind, it is YOUR body and YOUR decision to take a medication. I've been to psychiatrists that will be pushy with medication, gloss over side effects and ignore your concerns and you should feel like you always have the power to say, "No. I'm not interest in taking that" or even just taking their script and never filling it.

TossMeAmadeus 8y ago

Look into writing about your past. Self Authoring will guide you through it, it quite literally cut my own anxiety in half or more. Personally my anxiety/depression when it flares up is virtually always a direct result of poor diet/lack of sleep which compounds itself into lack of energy and lack of exercise. Once you find something that works, hold onto it for dear life because you need to use your good times to build good habits.

DanBC 8y ago

I'm not a medical professional (obviously) and you shouldn't take medical advice from anyone on the Internet. With any medical decision one of the important questions to ask is "What happens if we do nothing? What happens if we just watch and wait?" This isn't just for mental health. Whatever it is you should ask your doctor that question. Then you have to balance the risk of side effects and discontinuation against not doing anything. If you want evidence-based advice from a credible source you can read the NICE guidance: https://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/depression https://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/depression And here: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg90 https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg90 Personally - I liked venlafaxine for the first two years but one of the side effects was hard to live with. I was on a high dose for years, and coming off it was rough for two weeks. I'm currently on Mirtazipine which doesn't feel liek it's working, and causes me to feel hungry all the time, but I'm not dead so maybe it is working. I think I would have preferred a more active "off-boarding", although I can understand why in my case people were reluctant to take me off a med that appears to keep me alive. I had low-intensity IAPT (a UK talking therapy thing) which was not good, and I had high intensity IAPT (one to one, face to face with an experienced therapist using CBT for 14 weeks) which was considerably better. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has a good evidence base and is effective for about 60% of the people who do it (although those numbers are tricky). EDIT: I forgot to mention that whatever you do I hope things pick up, and good luck!!