Mental Health Why as a significantly depressed person do antidepressants do nothing for me?

[falsifiedhypothesi]

Most antidepressants are no better than placebo. bottom line is they don't work and when they do work it isn't genuine. It is either placebo or just treating some anxiety caused by the depression. antidepressants are just very inefficient anti anxiety meds. This is not true for all of them but for ssri's it seems pretty accurate.

Also I am not depressed for "a real reason", just to clear that up. Just because antidepressants don't work doesn't mean your depression is situational. I have examined myself and my mental state for a long time. Therapists also seem useless to me because they assume I am not very self aware and haven't examined my mental state further than just saying I'm depressed. Anyway with that being the case I still don't have a damn clue why I'm depressed, I just am.

I'm not saying antidepressants won't help some people, but I don't believe they are any less crude than using opiates or stimulants for depression. Even people on the cutting edge of neuroscience still have no idea where depression is in the brain. All they can do is guess which chemicals will work best to relieve depressive symptoms.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Well I know they're damn safe, have generally benign side effects in low-moderate doses, are in widespread use (so must do something), and aren't nearly so addictive as benzodiazepines in most cases.

The antidepressant effect of stimulants decreases dramatically over chronic use. Opiates are damn difficult not to abuse when the antidepressant effect fades greatly, too. Both of these classes of drugs are unsuitable for all but the most treatment-resistant depression because if one is in a depressed mood they're a lot more likely to seek quick relief (abuse). I'm not saying that's bad in and of itself, just that it's definitely not healthy to do and will lead to worse problems than before as we've probably all read in TDS and other places.

People know more about depression than you think. They know it's associated with various amino acids, peptides, and monoamines as well as NGF, BDNF, and other neurotrophins in specific regions of the brain (particularly the hippocampus, which SSRIs increase the growth of).

They know, to the best of the knowledge of science today, what works and what doesn't. They know it can't be cured with something which simply induces euphoria. They know it's a psychological/therapeutic adventure in addition to a psychiatric one. They know it takes hard work to overcome, really hard work.

You're right though in that psychiatry is a lot of guesswork. I don't see that as necessarily bad, though.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

Well I know they're damn safe, have generally benign side effects in low-moderate doses, are in widespread use (so must do something), and aren't nearly so addictive as benzodiazepines in most cases.

Ok fine I'll give it to you, they are physically safe, but so are opiates it reasonable doses. Benign side effects? Some of the listed side effects include suicidal thoughts and new or worsening depression. For someone who is already depressed side effects like that are the farthest thing from benign.

At least you seem to recognize that they are addictive. Most articles I've read about them hail them as non addictive even though they can give you withdrawals, aka "SSRI discontinuation syndrome". In some cases the backlash from withdrawal can last months. The risks for taking these meds is near equal to most other drugs that help depression, and that's just if they actually work. IMO

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

The problem with that is people rarely take opiates at reasonable doses when not taking it by prescription for pain.

They include some rare side-effects to legally protect themselves.

No doubt they're addictive if used daily for months. What isn't? I've taken several SSRIs for months and experienced withdrawal, but I'd honestly take that over the withdrawal from taking an opiate daily for two weeks. Many would agree.

Discontinuation Syndrome is a euphemism for withdrawal.

If the withdrawal lasts for months after a few weeks of use that's different than the withdrawal lasting for a few months after a few months of use; it also might mean the depression has returned. Still, SSRIs don't produce post-acute withdrawal syndrome.

There are plenty of drugs that can be sued for depression. I tried eight pharmaceuticals specifically for depression, as well as numerous supplements, hard exercise, and lengthy meditation before I finally earned a drug which worked. People are just cautious, and for good reason I'd say: decades (if not more) of documenting abuse and serious adverse side effects from prescribing opiates and stimulants for depression as a first-line defense.

When it comes down to it, if you really want help, you'll jump through the various hoops; that means telling your doctor exactly what you're experiencing and trying drugs which you don't expect to work.

 

[lemongaga]

Anti-depressants were designed for depression caused by imbalances in the brain. If your depression is circumstantial, YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE DEPRESSED. Try CBT.

That's a nice thought.


(no medication has ever worked for me)

 

[tum1919]

You may not have clinical depression, i am persistently depressed, but i have BPD (borderline personality disorder). Antidepressants actually make my condition WORSE. I take lithium (mood stabilizer) and abilify (antipsychotic), and they work wonders. Talk to ur psych doc and discuss mood or personailty disorder... You may find help that way. I hope for you! Good luck!

 

[seacidal]

A large part of the problem facing the treatment of depression is that we do not possess the tools needed to determine which treatments are appropriate for which patients. Depression is unlikely to be the same in everyone. Similarly, different antidepressants work for different people. When the right treatment is matched with the right patient, very good results can occur. The challenge is in figuring out how to speed up that process.