Posted by emmanuel98 on June 3, 2011, at 0:04:54
In reply to Re: Do we expect too much of antidepressants today? » SLS, posted by hyperfocus on June 2, 2011, at 20:32:41
There are people in AA who object to psych meds as "happy pills" that keep people from the real, painful work of growth and change through the 12 steps. These people have obviously never themselves suffered from MDD. Anti-depressants are not happy pills. I expected them to be when I first started seeing a psychiatrist. I expected that they would substitute for my opiate and alcohol addiction. But they didn't make me happy. They just made me a little less angry and irritable.
My own p-doc has given up on anti-depressants for me. He is not into trying drug after drug. If an SSRI doesn't work, he doesn't then try every SSRI on the market. He goes to a new class of drugs. So far I have failed on SSRI's, SNRIs, TCAs and most mood stabilizers. I do well on AAPs, but get dangerously fat. MAOIs pulled me out of a near catatonic depression, but haven't made me feel happy at all. I still get severely depressed, but haven't spent days in bed since I started the MAOI.
My p-doc is now convinced that my only hope to stay alive is DBT. DBT is hard work. I called 40 people before I found a DBT practicioner willing to take on a patient with severe SI.
Now, my main fear is that I don't have the fight in me to commit to DBT.I get annoyed at these ads that suggest MDD is easily treatable with happy pills like lexapro. That hasn't been my experience.
poster:emmanuel98
thread:986896
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110529/msgs/986993.html