Posted by bleauberry on August 31, 2018, at 7:13:54
In reply to Were you apathetic and indifferent on SSRIs...?, posted by Hordak on August 27, 2018, at 11:47:58
Apathy is maybe the biggest complaint of SSRIs, or maybe equal to the sexual side effects. It happens a real lot. People get emotionally numb with too much serotonin.
The excess serotonin is mopped up by norepinephrine and dopamine receptors. That isn't supposed to happen. That's my hypothesis of how the apathy is caused. There are clinical studies that show that is exactly what happens.
That's why I don't call them antidepressants. They aren't antidepressants. They are 'emotional anesthetizers'. They numb the emotions to depression - which is good, right? But the problem is they also numb the good emotions. They make your hobbies boring. You recover from depression in some ways, but not in your interests in hobbies or social activities. You can take a test that says you no longer qualify as depressed, and yet you have no interest in life. And a psychiatric will call that successful treatment. NOT! A clinical study would call that an effective antidepressant. NOT!
The problem is that our medical system is designed to manage disease but not to restore wellness. SSRIs only manage a slice of the depression spectrum but worsen other parts of it.
That said, you can find small numbers of people who have been on prozac or Zoloft for 10 years with great effect and no apathy. So the negative effects are not totally universal. But they are extremely common.
If you like a particular SSRI and the only remaining complaint is apathy, then a quick fix is to add Ritalin or Adderall to it. Most people will respond very well to one or the other and very bad to one or the other. So you have to try both to see. Some people might suggest norepinephrine meds such as TCAs but I disagree with that simply because I have experienced and witnessed those meds making apathy worse also, not to mention the considerable side effects which make tolerating difficult for many people.
> Somehow I can't get my a$$ up while being on SSRIs. It's just so... "meh"... I feel indifferent and apathetic. I don't get things done anymore: I was more productive without SSRIs... :afr
>
> DID you experience something similar?
poster:bleauberry
thread:1100644
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20180728/msgs/1100718.html