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  • EADD Moderators: Pissed_and_messed | Shinji Ikari

The EADD Mental Health Support Thread

^ indeed - in fact all SSRIs are thought to, although this is the most notorious for it - although not in people without pre-existing suicidal ideation. the theory is that antidepressants increase your motivation and energy before they improve your mood, so instead of feeling suicidal but lacking the drive to carry it out you are suddenly able to focus on it and act out your fantasies.

SSRIs are incredibly subjective - what suits one person does not necessarily suit someone else. that's why doctors like to try a couple of SSRIs on you before moving to a different class. they all do tend to knock out your sex drive or ability to orgasm though. mirtazepine or bupropion (if you can get it prescribed as an antidepressant here) are a lot better in that respect.
 
I'd avoid ever being put on SSRI's for the horrible withdrawal effects alone...
 
^ they are actually not too bad - not as bad as the internet would lead you to believe, anyway, possibly due to reporting bias. SSRIs with a long half-life such as fluoxetine have a lower incidence of discontinuation syndrome (14% of cases compared to 60% for sertraline in this study). it usually starts within a few days of stopping the antidepressant and resolves spontaneously in 3 weeks or so and it's usually (although not always) pretty mild. I get brain zaps, headaches and a weird anxious fuzzy feeling when I stop venlafaxine (v short half-life, notorious for discontinuation symptoms) and it is unpleasant but within 2 days they have gone.

SSRIs are not to be thrown at everyone who is feeling a bit down by any means, but if you have clinical, moderate-severe depression then it may be worth trying them and I wouldn't like to see a fear of withdrawals stopping anyone (it's all about risk:benefit anyway, what is lifting your depression worth to you? may well not be worth the sexual side effects, for example, or it might be worth any amount of physical uncomfortableness) - it's not like benzo or opioid wds and you can switch to fluoxetine and do a slow taper if you develop a discontinuation syndrome from another SSRI/SNRI.
 
cherrycolouredfunk said:
Yeah, dealing with the death of my Mother when I was 21 just a few months before uni finals, and having to look after a drunk dad, and off the rails younger sister. I couldn't handle it, and went off the rails myself, took two years before I was put on medication.
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Sorry C the remark was inappropriately flippant.

Loosing your mother at such a young age is a terrible thing I am fortunate enough to still have mine but Mrs atm lost hers to cancer a good few years ago now after a 7 year battle and it was truly dreadful, and one of my few close friends lost her mum to the same when she was 8. They both had some support at least but still both carry a huge amount of grief for varying reasons.

We all know life is a terminal disease but IME that's absolutely no conciliation when you lose someone, when they are people you love I believe a little piece of you goes with them, I try to leave the guilt and the regrets they serve absolutely no purpose other than being able to feel the pain, although from time to time it's not a bad thing to remember.

I'm not going to go into a big ramble (BL sighs with relief ;)) but my spiritual beliefs are such that I believe one day I will be with them, not in a form that I can understand or comprehend now but as part of the dust, the particles the very essence of the the universe. we are merely waves rising up out of that sea of consciousness and will return back into oneness with the rest of everything....there endeth this evenings sermon...sorry feeling a bit inward today.

I'm going to go watch some meaningless TV to settle my soul.
 
knockando said:
has a post been removed? I'm confused!

or is atm23 hearing voices??
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TBH it could be either, I can't be trusted to give an accurate answer, but thanks for the spot I shall delete my seemingly lonely and odd post;)
 
^^^

I'd get paranoid as I'm sure there were posts from Monsta and Sam but since they're all out to get me there not point :sus: is keeping an eye on tings anyway;)
 
Hmmm...

Been avoiding this thread for awhile now but is quiet and am a lil bit beboozed and bebenzoed so will add a tuppenceworth.

Not read all the thread cos there's lots of it and I suspect much of it may tell similar stories... So here's a similar story:

Been diagnosed with more variations on a theme of one or two mental health issues than I can remember for almost as long as I can remember. Mostly various forms of depression but variform anxiety-related stuff has become their apparently permanent ally these last coupla years. Disinterest in labelling aside, I'd probably agree with both really. Especially the depression side which is somewhat hard to ignore sometimes (got the extensive bloodstains all over the floor, walls and ceiling as a semi-permanent reminder 8)) but the anxiety stuff really took me by surprise. Fuck me panic attacks really are as bad as folks say. Never had 'em at all until a few months back and then damn near collapsed several times over the course of a few days as a direct result of 'em. Ick :|

Was definitely a bit wonky of head long before I even knew what drugs were. Don't remember much of my schooldaze from ~12-14 (when I left school) other than intense depersonalisation and lotsa lengthy visits to various psychologists and therapists and that. Again, no drugs of any kind involved cos MamaShambles wouldn't allow such things being a homoeopathist hippy and that. Leaving home at 15 and discovering me droogies was my saviour <3

Opiates definitely were (and to a far lesser extent still are) a massive help. Psyches (MDMA included under the psyche banner for convenience) even more so. Self-medication ftw <3

SSRIs/SNRIs (work of the fuckin' devil :|) seem to be all that's on offer from the medical profession. Cos elevated risk of suicide is clearly a handy side-effect when it comes to antidepressants... And not working for shit too.

I really do wish I could go to me GP and between us decide upon a treatment that not only works but doesn't make things infinitely worse... never gonna happen though. Self-medication may well be ftw but only cos there's no other game in town. Ain't no doctor me so definitely fuck up me own script sometimes :\

Effie: Please don't go all doctor on us and use that vile phrase "discontinuation syndrome". It's a fuckin' insult. SSRIs cause insane withdrawals. Truly insane. I'd slit my fuckin' wrists before ever going through that shit again. They also don't increase motivation or energy or improve mood: they just kill you slowly then break you painfully if you ever dare try come off them. Fuck SSRIs/SNRIs.

PS: On the 23 thang, that was probably one of my favourite years <3
 
Shambles I've said it before and I'll say it again. Fuck, sorry, I've forgot what it is I was going to say. But I like you and you make massive sense for the loony freak you so obviously are. ;)

Boo to SSRI's. Or maybe we just share the same make-up. And I'm not talking eyeliner. Though I may be.

<3
 
I have not been on SSRIs but have been offered em from the doctor before. I saw what they did to my mum over a half year period. Shocking from an outside point of view. She cut herself, gained a load of weight and was transformed into a totally different person. A walking shadow of her former self :( Devoid of emotion and personality. Thankfully she saw this herself after a while. Needless to say I am firmly in the anti ssri camp. I am sure they must help some people... but from my experience they are shit. She is on lyrica now which is an improvement.

I guess being on anything daily isnt ideal but thats life. I can relate to depression and anxiety. I self medicate with various substances... is that any better? Meh. Life is a series of fuck ups and if you are lucky you might get to where you hope to be after much trial and error. I am certainly not there yet... Just keep swimming on though.
 
Hmm... That PS to Ms Eff came out a tad more aggressive than intended - I blame the booze, benzos and being a loony freak ;)<3

On the SSRI thing, I know it's the done thing to add the "I'm sure they must work for some people" bit to any slagging they get, but I've yet to meet one tbh. Met a shit-tonne of folks on them who they totally fucked up worse than they ever were before starting on 'em though. I honestly can't see any possible use for them other than maybe a very narrow range of people, short-term and low-dose. Taken longterm - especially at the fairly high dosages that most docs seem to favour - they are pure evil in pill form. As TD said, they just destroy the personality, stifle all human feeling, and are - without a shadow of a doubt - right up there fighting hard for top spot in the most vicious and brutal of all possible withdrawals stakes.

I have noticed that my mental state is considerably less... "stable" since quitting the trams a while back. SSRIs/SNRIs definitely work inasmuch as they iron out all emotion and feeling but empty contentment with nothing is hardly a viable way to live. It's horrid. And deeply depressing. Shithouse all round really. I prefer to be a loony freak with all the jarring highs and lows that entails (which is also pretty shit all round I - and many others - can confirm) cos feeling anything is better than feeling nothing.
 
Well,sertraline has certainly smoothed out a few rough edges. I awake in the morning for work and it's seems to have rid that feeling "uughh,here we go again" i just feel a kind of inner calmness. I have to go to sleep late though,even though i take my dose in the morning.I have insomnia/disorganised sleep issues anyway. These seem to also block/weaken the effects of etizolam.Could be tolerance.

It's the tricyclycs that i cannot get on with.I've been looking at this restlessness i suffer with these.I believe it's known as akathisia "inner restlessness,a constant urge to be moving". I have suffered this with many,many antidepressants/antipsychotics,the last one being mitrazapine,supposedly prescripted to also help me sleep and sedate me. I could feel the sedation very strongly so tried to lay down to sleep,as soon as my head hit the pillow,i had to sit up,get up and pace around.This was going on for hours and is an absolutely horrible feeling.The worst for this was indeed the depixol.

I seem to tolerate ssri's far better.
 
Shambles said:
On the SSRI thing, I know it's the done thing to add the "I'm sure they must work for some people" bit to any slagging they get, but I've yet to meet one tbh. Met a shit-tonne of folks on them who they totally fucked up worse than they ever were before starting on 'em though. I honestly can't see any possible use for them other than maybe a very narrow range of people, short-term and low-dose. Taken longterm - especially at the fairly high dosages that most docs seem to favour - they are pure evil in pill form. As TD said, they just destroy the personality, stifle all human feeling, and are - without a shadow of a doubt - right up there fighting hard for top spot in the most vicious and brutal of all possible withdrawals stakes.
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Mine seem to be working for me! But it's hard to tell really, it's only been a couple of months and how do you distinguish drug-mediated effects from natural response? I dunno. You scare me a bit, Shambles, with all this talk of destroy, stifle, vicious and brutal! Those aren't words I'd use to describe my situation just now but given time, maybe I would! Hmmm.

The state of the NHS here is pretty fucking awful. My GP referred me to clinical psychologists two months ago and I'm still waiting for an initial assessment appointment, I'm lucky, quite a few of my family are/were psychiatric nurses. My cousin and brother have given me good advice, told me what I need to do to get help, and I've got some savings so I can afford to pay a therapist privately. But I fear for the poor bloke or blokess who doesn't know anything about the system, and doesn't know people who know about the system, and doesn't have any money. Maybe there are safeguards that kick in for those who are most vulnerable and I just don't see that? But I suspect not.
 
^^ Tricylyclics are actually even higher on my antidep shitlist than SSRIs but mainly just cos I get horrendous side-effects whenever I've been on 'em. Never known headaches like it. Have known plenty peeps who get on okay with 'em though so am less inclined to bitch 'bout 'em than I am 'bout SSRIs.

Mirtazapine was the only drug other than paracetamol I was allowed in detox. Got a melt-on-the-tongue orange-flavour one every night to help me sleep. Didn't help me sleep at all really (hardly a surprise under the circumstances though) but did take the edge off a bit and provided a modicum of relief on the mental/emotional side overnight. Is another one I've known quite a few folks get along reasonably well with compared with SSRIs.

Dunno about sertraline cos I've never been on it or known anyone use it. You been on it long, Scrooloose? I'd take a wild guess at probably not all that long and hope that I'm wrong and you're one of those folks who apparently do benefit from such things. Good luck - horses for courses and all that <3

Knock: Hehe. Hyperbole R Us ;)

I'd actually agree that SSRIs are great in the short-term - first 6-12 months are great. It's what happens when you "lose the magic" as it were that's the big issue. You pay for those 6-12 months at a rather extortionate interest rate :\

Or at least I did (with every one of the buggers I've ever been on) and so did everyone else I know who's been on them long(ish) term. I'm sure there are exceptions. YMMV and all that. Hope you're one of the exceptional ones <3
 
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missing old pills said:
I suffer from PTSD and often think of posting in this thread but I know this is going to sound crazy but I stop myself because I think people will think I'm crazy with what I have to say!

So I think I'll just stick to people thinking I'm crazy in other threads if that makes any crazy sense.
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It doesn't surprise me that you hold back. Deviation from the societal norm is swept under the carpet. Not being "normal" is taboo, even in open-minded places like Bluelight. Our culture makes us wear blinkers. A person who is not fitting in is classified as ill and isolated from mainstream society; perhaps physically in a hospital but more often the isolation is in our minds. We don't talk about certain things. People get uncomfortable, can we change the subject...

Please post what you have to say. Self-censorship is just another obstacle to people getting together and sorting things out.
 
knockando said:
It doesn't surprise me that you hold back. Deviation from the societal norm is swept under the carpet. Not being "normal" is taboo, even in open-minded places like Bluelight. Our culture makes us wear blinkers. A person who is not fitting in is classified as ill and isolated from mainstream society; perhaps physically in a hospital but more often the isolation is in our minds. We don't talk about certain things. People get uncomfortable, can we change the subject...

Please post what you have to say. Self-censorship is just another obstacle to people getting together and sorting things out.
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love you man :)

I'm a nightmare at being cryptic but it will flow out eventually
 
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