If you have depression, or think you do, i don't think there's any hard in at least getting an assessment. Even if they suggest medication, you don't have to take it.

Look up prebioatics and probioatics there is a lot of research that they help with depression.

It needs to be spelled correctly find information. probiotics.

No. They work for a lot of people. Most (SSRIs) block the reuptake of serotonin, leaving it in the synaptic cleft a little longer. It’s been life changing for a few of my friends, but they don’t work for everyone.

This is because the idea that serotonin is the sole chemical imbalanced and fixing that should fix depression was not a scientifically backed hypothesis but rather an idea pushed by big pharma to sell their new SSRI class of drugs when they originally were formulated. In 2018, we know that is blatantly false through other study, but also directly through the lack of efficacy shown by various different SSRIs.

For some, whose depression may be caused by serotonergic pathways they can help (although, even then the efficacy is average at best and may come at the cost of various unwanted side effects, some serious) but the problem is the way we both diagnosis mental health (via the rigid DSM) and then how we prescribe these drugs, or should I say the over prescription of these drugs.

Depression and mood disorders are extremely complicated diseases and relegating it down to one neurotransmitter and marketing drugs as such is a horrible and deliberately carried out agenda by big pharma.

they do work. for some people. just like some placebos “work” for some people.

the conspiracy is that more effective and way less harmful medicines: mdma, psilocybin, lsd, marijuana, dmt, ketamine etc are illegal

have you ever heard of the side effect “death” or suicidal or homocidal thoughts or actions from psilocybin?

cause i haven’t.

Two thoughts:

1. A lot of my depression seems to have been exacerbated by misuse of MDMA and I tried microdosing LSD for about two months, however I didn't care for the results after about a month; I felt more emotionally volatile and distracted despite the energy increase I experienced.
2. Antidepressants do work for some, but my experience was that they made things worse regardless of what I tried and I think pharmaceutical companies are more concerned with perpetuating treatment rather than curing or identifying the roots of specific problems. The impact of side effects on the patient is sometimes greater than that of the drug's benefit and may require more medication to combat.

Psychoactive recreational drugs are good for allowing yourself the occasional life lesson, and weed has helped with my depression but is easy to abuse and is just another way to drain your income as much as I support it.

TLDR: Try to find other things besides drugs that will help you, I've regretted both my drug habits and my prescriptions almost every step of the way.

Antidepressants do work for some, but my experience was that they made things worse

Just a possible suggestion. Try looking into things that are expected to do the opposite (depress you). You may be reacting opposite. Actually MJ is a depressant and you mentioned it improving your feeling, so there is that. You might be actually suffering from some sort of stimulation fatigue like adrenal fatigue which stimulants would make worse.

Actually MJ is a depressant and you mentioned it improving your feeling, so there is that. You might be actually suffering from some sort of stimulation fatigue like adrenal fatigue which stimulants would make worse.

I'm always leery regarding giving medical advice to someone over the internet - we literally don't know their lifestyle, family history, diet, etc. I think it is better to give general advice so they can decide for themselves.

To /u/_Dingus_Khan: make sure your diet and exercise regimen is in place before experimenting with different substances. If you are reluctant to try antidepressants, which is understandable, try your hand at some nootropics. Ashwagandha is a touted example (though it didn't work for me; it exacerbated my anxiety after a while, possibly due to its effects on thyroid hormone). Racetams are another. Fasoracetam has personally been a silver bullet for me personally (take this with a HUGE grain of salt - people respond differently).

Oh, and MJ isn't a depressant in the classical sense. It can be both a stimulant and a depressant, depending on the ratio of cannabinoids and terpenes present in the herb. Hence the distinction between Sativa and Indica (although, most strains are a hybrid; you'd request a "sativa dominant" hybrid or "indica dominant" hybrid in many cases).

I am not a doctor. Why would I be giving medical advice to anyone? I wasn't. I was merely suggesting something to research. I didn't give any specific advice.

But thanks for the concern.

Not sure why you are so defensive, I was just being cautionary, not being super critical of you. I suggested nootropics, which are by in large safe (like most racetams and adaptogens like ashwagandha). It's like suggesting a sativa strain for someone struggling with depression and fatigue - do I need to be a doctor to do that?

Anyway, sorry for any misunderstanding.

Not sure why you are being so defensive.

Because you scolded me for giving medical advice which I didn't and then went on to give specific medical advice yourself.

I'll tell you what: If you want to talk to the OP, talk to them directly, not through others. Don't respond to me basically telling OP not to listen to me while talking about me in the third person.

Why would you even think to do something like that? Who taught you how to interact with others?

Holy cow, I think you need to turn off the computer and go outside.

Nah. I think you need a lesson in human interaction.

Not really, doing just fine myself. I'm not the one shitting himself over a reddit comment.

You do you booboo

Seeya

Thank you both for the thought and advice. I've tried a handful of SSRIs from two different providers and had no luck with any of them. I've received one prescription for anxiety medication that made things worse. I've found that I have the most luck with sativa-dominant hybrids, as I am a low-energy person and prefer the stimulating effects of most drugs to the depressing. I think I'm finished with experimentation where pharmaceuticals are concerned, though, as my skepticism and paranoia have lead me to think that the pursuit will prove unfruitful or too time-consuming, and ultimately I'd rather remain creative than become numb. If I do decide to revisit medication, though, I'll consider what both of you have mentioned as an alternative to SSRIs.

u/retroplayer74

No problem. I feel the same way about sativas - indicas slows me down, and fatigue brings out the depression/anxiety in me.

I went through about 20 different psych meds. Stay away as much as you can. The cure is worse than the disease. Unless you’re actively trying to kill yourself they will make you fat / tired sick and then dead.

Also, my diet sucks and my exercise is usually nonexistent so you're probably on to something there lol.

I understand this view as i always refuse medications amd vaccines for myself... my daughter is vacc because i have no hard 100% proof of issues and id rather play with my life than hers until i can explain my views to her and she can make her own informed decisions. But regardless. My buddy has clinical depression and smoking pot has helped him (im also against this but it works) granted thats legal in co.

May i ask why you dont believe cannabis to be a medicine?

Its not that i dont believe it to be a medicine at all thats why i suggested it it works. Its just more natural and viable. I dont personally like cannabis because i dont like substances that alter my mind including alcohol caffeine ect. However it does help my friend with his depression.

Its not that i dont believe it to be a medicine at all thats why i suggested it it works. Its just more natural and viable. I dont personally like cannabis because i dont like substances that alter my mind including alcohol caffeine ect. However it does help my friend with his depression.

Its not that i dont believe it to be a medicine at all thats why i suggested it it works. Its just more natural and viable. I dont personally like cannabis because i dont like substances that alter my mind including alcohol caffeine ect. However it does help my friend with his depression.

People downvoted your post? For what?

Marijuana activists?

JFC. So tired of all the activists running around social media. It's as if they have some trigger words set up that will point them to posts with those words and then they show up and start attacking.

Try talking about something like homosexuality randomly and just watch how they flood in.

Dunno im basically agreeing that marijuana has medical benefits i just dont use it for personal reasons that i dont like putting anything fda approved or not in my body. So a viewpoint that will piss both sides off i suppose

Side note im pro gay rights and pro 2nd ammendment. Watch the downvotes come!

Same. I am a conservative that supports gay rights. I detest activists of any kind, though.

I dont hate the activists i hate the methods most activists use now a days. Labling anyone who doesnt agree as an enemy and shaming them instead of as a person and talking with em

Good point. I agree.

Hey, we may not agree, but I wanted to let you know that I think your “play with my life, not hers” stance is SERIOUSLY respectable. Props to you.

There is no factual way to properly diagnose mental illness or no factual way to tell with certainty the medicine is effective. Its all trial and error.

The bigger conspiracy is the pharma companies, they make billions and billions of dollars each year just off the military saying anyone and everyone with a 90% rate has ptsd. Which was coined to basically blanket diagnose our military. You could say , “sarge im having a tough day”. Then he tells you to go see the doc, doc asks you a few questions then hits you with the ptsd card and bam you now taking meds and usually more then one.

Its really fucking depressing what they are doing but its a huge system that is too big to fail. Its funny back in the day psychiatrists used to be the laughing stock of the medical field until the conned the military. You wouldn’t believe the experiments they used to try and diagnose mental illness.

Now its about money and nothing less, these military doctors jobs are to get you hooked on medicine and to waste our dollars on some diagnosis that is impossible to tell if its really effective.

The good is hopefully with advancement of technology they’ll be able to scan our brainwaves and actually be able to diagnose people with accurate results.

They work for some people

But then again, all mass shooters were on some form or another of SSRIs, so I think it's most likely a double edged sword depending on the individual

I think they're dumb, we give them to "treat" depression, but all you're doing is trying to fix the symptom, not the cause

Two people in my life whom I am extremely close with both have depression. And they have both told me the same thing concerning their drugs and why they don't take them- because they'd rather feel the Depression than nothing at all. Which is what the SSRI's do. They strip away your humanity and its feelings.

It does work for some people. But in my life's experience- it usually doesn't work at all.

nothing at all. Which is what the SSRI's do

Yep, never taken any but I realized that's what they do when I saw that video of a 16 year old girl who crashed her car killing her sister in the process.. the way she acts afterwards is simply incomprehensible, oh and she was livestreaming the whole thing

Not feeling anything is not something I'd wish even on my enemy

they stripped away my wife's feelings for me.

Sorry man.

They stripped away your wife's feelings for anything.

I saw this firsthand, my Mom tried half a dozen different meds for depression when I was growing up. You could always tell when she was on them because she was just lethargic and numb.

Two people in my life whom I am extremely close with both have depression.

I'm willing to bet that given the criteria for diagnosing depression, you could pretty much diagnose anyone with depression. There needs to be actual medical tests performed instead of treating it like a psychological issue that can't be tested.

That's why it's "treatment", not cure. Usually anyone who is knowledgeable about the medications they're taking (And I realize there are a lot that aren't) know that the medication by itself will not fix you, nor is there really a true fix.

Changing the dose of SSRI is what's dangerous, and leads to suicide, violence increase. You need to be extremely careful with coming off, you need to follow a tapering protocol slowly decreasing the dosage.

crazy that we even have to do that lol

You can't really treat "My life fucking sucks. No one loves me. I haven't had sex in years. I have no friends. I'm broke. My job sucks. It seems like the world is going to hell. I have no goals or plans for the future. The only joy I have in life is jerking off and playing video games. We're just evolved apes, living infinitesimally short lives, on a tiny speck of dust, in an infinite void." with a pill, but you can treat the low mood those feelings create with a pill.

What about legalized prostitution?

Have you considered that the mass shooter thing can be a correlation not causation?

Think about it, if a person is taking an SSRI they probably have some mental issues that they treat with them. Is not more likely that it's their mental health that's causing them to go out and become a mass shooter, not the SSRI itself?

I wouldn't use antidepressants. Yes they do change you. (my opinion)

I can't say if they are bad on purpose or not, but to me it's just like lobotomy.

"Hey I ran an ice pick into this depressive guys brain and now he isn't depressive anymore, but still alive. YAY! Succes!"
Antidepressants might be better than lobotomy, but just like lobotomy they come at a cost, I think. You need to decide if it's worth it though. The better/ lighter antidepressants won't leave you as a complete vegatable... I don't think "they" will have you under controll when you take AD's, but they might have you where they want you. (In a state where you don't think too much about abstract things anymore and don't ask too many undesired questions anymore.)

But still, if you feel like you might be/ get suicidal, AD's can help for sure and you can live your life without constant emotional pain. Still better being only 95% you instead of being 0% you (dead). But I would suggest you trying to find other cures. Just 2-3 posts away from yours in the /new tab is one post about depression and probiotics...

try natural anti anxiety products first. benzodiazepines are VERY addictive and a slippery slope to go down. look up valerian root and cbd. benzos turn people into zombies.

source:

Add Rhodiola rosea to the list.

5HTP and SAMe also help.

Anecdotal results here but when my wife left me, my therapist wanted me to go on an SSRI and an anti-anxiety medication (I was in a very dark place). I refused since that is basically what my wife was taking and I blame it in part for the destruction of our marriage. I did start taking cbd twice a day and working out/exercising like crazy. Was it one or the other or both? Dont know, but I am in a much better place now. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

So, I am 30 and lived with severe anxiety my whole life, thinking it was just "normal". Last year I got on a low dose because I got so bad I wouldn't leave the house and my thoughts were just nuts. For me at least, the low dose I take just makes the anxiety not so bad, I'm not so freaked all the time and the thoughts in my head quiet down. My doc was very insistant on starting with a low dose though and seeing where it went.

hey, this might be a Boring answer.. but you could try guided Meditation on YouTube. takes 10 min a day instead of just consuming something but i promise you it will change your life. you might accept your anxiety and in the light of true acceptance fear isnt that Bad. you also feel it and so it does not effect your thinking To much. warm regards from a social anxiety companion but take care and dont get overconfident, im serious

I commented with my experience earlier in the thread but this really brings up one of my "theories" about depression. It's not really mine exactly, but look up social defeat in humans, there is a wikipedia article. Basically I think that due to the structure of modern society, as well as the breakdown of the family, all but the most successful people are constantly perceiving social defeat. Instead of only a few at the very bottom of the hierarchy being stressed in this manner, we are all constantly inundated with the message that we are the loser in the social exchange taking place. This is done for marketing, politics, manipulation by employers, and many other reasons. The results are relationship breakdowns, depression, drug addiction, high suicide rates, low savings rates and high credit card debt (keep up with the jones to avoid social defeat), and more.

What sucks is that even if you're aware of social defeat and the forces driving it, it's a constant battle to not let it get to you. I think that is why some people become hippies, to just not always feel that way.

I wouldn't use antidepressants. Yes they do change you. (my opinion)

I can't say if they are bad on purpose or not, but to me it's just like lobotomy.

"Hey I ran an ice pick into this depressive guys brain and now he isn't depressive anymore, but still alive. YAY! Succes!"
Antidepressants might be better than lobotomy, but just like lobotomy they come at a cost, I think. You need to decide if it's worth it though. The better/ lighter antidepressants won't leave you as a complete vegatable... I don't think "they" will have you under controll when you take AD's, but they might have you where they want you. (In a state where you don't think too much about abstract things anymore and don't ask too many undesired questions anymore.)

But still, if you feel like you might be/ get suicidal, AD's can help for sure and you can live your life without constant emotional pain. Still better being only 95% you instead of being 0% you (dead). But I would suggest you trying to find other cures. Just 2-3 posts away from yours in the /new tab is one post about depression and probiotics...

I would seek out a professional to talk about your sadness and depression. If you go see a therapist/psychologist they are not allowed to prescribe medication so they won't prescribe you anything. Also, any kind of mental health treatment is going to change you. Right now you are sick just like having the flu or a cold. Just instead of rest and fluids the treatment is goal focused therapy, improving self esteem, and talking to someone about stuff.

They're full of FLUORIDE.

My hovercraft is full of EELS.

My fanny pack is full of COURGETTES

90% are indeed. Recently Harvard Medical determined fluoride is a "neurotoxin" and should not be consumed, not even in water supplies and there is absolutely no benefit to teeth or any other body function.

ITT: Tons of anecdotal evidence and people that haven't tried SSRIs.

I have what is known as Dysthymia, a chronic, persistent form of depression with bouts of severe double depression.

SSRIs helped me. They are not intended to be a "cure" for depression, as others have suggested. They are intended to alleviate the symptoms while you work through the causes of your depression. For some, they work, and for others, they don't. Many people have to go through many different combinations of meds before they find one that helps them, because depression isn't always caused by the same chemical reactions in the brain. For some, they do have a decreased amount of Serotonin, but that is not always the case. But I know that the average doctor wants to help people. Talk to your doc.

Also, ignore the idiot saying "all mass shooters were on some form or another of SSRIs." It's patently false and misleading.

accuses people of giving anecdotal evidence, proceeds to give anecdotal evidence.

Here's some for you. SSRI's nearly ruined me and many people I know. No one talks about the withdrawal some of these drugs can cause.

It can be almost impossible to get off them, and patients aren't told this so when they try to get off, they think it's "Just their depression and anxiety coming back" Some articles about this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/health/antidepressants-withdrawal-prozac-cymbalta.html

https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/370338

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/06/dont-know-who-am-antidepressant-long-term-use

There have been little to no long term studies on these drugs. Any study that says they work only measured that for 8 weeks after ingesting the drug. If you're on more than one psychiatric drug, the combined use of them has never been studied properly. Or how about the other side effects they can have like, that they can actually cause long term treatment resistant depression if you're on them long enough -

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21459521

They can cause a symptom called Akathisia which is one of the worst feelings you could ever experience (trust me) -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x86aCDtvbT0

There are people who have permanent sexual dysfunction from antidepressants, even after they come off the drug -

https://rxisk.org/post-ssri-sexual-dysfunction-pssd/

a forum dedicated to people with permanent sexual dysfunction after antidepressant use - http://www.pssdforum.com/viewforum.php?f=5

And despite more people being diagnosed and treated with antidepressants than ever, disability continues to rise from mental illness, and things are actually a lot worse.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-mental-health-declining-in-the-u-s/

There is definitely a stigma towards treatment for mental health, and I think that is shitty. But an unfortunate truth we're going to face up to is a lot of our treatments aren't amazing. We need mental health reform big time. I have first hand experience with this. There's a narrative going on that you see a psychiatrist and you just get better, but it's not the case. These drugs barely out perform placebos in clinical studies. It's fucked up what's going on.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172306/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5299662/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5650127/ (read the conclusion on this one)

The whole thing that low serotonin causes depression is a myth. Ask any respectable doctor. "Chemical imbalance"is bullshit.

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020392

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12115-007-9047-3

I overcame severely debilitating depression and anxiety with acceptance. Therapy, and time.

I completely agree and I'm very glad to see someone else who shares this perspective. I took antidepressants for about four years on/off throughout high school and early college. I've never felt the same. I feel constantly dull and empty. And sex feels like nothing. I really don't know what happened to me. There was a lot of other shit going on in my life at that time so I'm not certain precisely what caused the change; but honestly, antidepressants are my best guess.

I really sucks because, not only are the symptoms horrible, but people couldn't be more dismissive. If you even mention in passing that you think antidepressants have harmed you, you'll be written off as crazy before you even finish explaining what happened. People are stuck in this mindset that there is this disease called "depression" which can pretty much cause any conceivable symptom, yet cannot be measured by any empirical test. If you claim that an antidepressant harmed you, your symptoms are immediately attributed to your "underlying depression".

this happened to me literally yesterday, here.

I agree that what's going on in the pharma industry is fucked up.

I have to be honest, I didn't know about several of the points you brought up. Specifically the permanent sexual dysfunction thing. That's fucking terrifying. I haven't had sex since I got off antidepressants. Now I'm terrified my dongle won't work.

Thanks for this post, honestly. I'm going to have to do more research.

Gonna chime in - it's always good to see someone admitting to being wrong; good on you.

IME, exercise, a healthy diet (ruling out food allergies is absolutely huge), meditation, and simply facing the anxiety are the best ways to overcome it. "Follow the anxiety" is the advice I remember reading, and I had great results with it. Therapy is also invaluable; often times, we simply need an outside party to pick apart our often skewed inner thoughts.

I overcame severely debilitating depression and anxiety with acceptance. Therapy, and time

If people just knew how powerful paternalism and self guidance is.

Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternalism

Wow, great post. I love to see so many links being used to inform the public.

I used to argue via logic, and realized no one cares... All they want is links from "authorities."

Make sure you're in top shape first. Exercise is everything.

Yes OP, hit the gym or run.

Like most conspiracies I think it ultimately has to do with money. Antidepressants won't make you any more of a sheep than you already are. By which I mean if you believe official MSM narratives you will probably continue to do so and alternately if you believe the illuminati are making frogs gay then you're still going to.

What is going on is that deaths that may have resulted from SSRIs being prescribed (a lot the school shootings) are ignored or straight up covered upped. All medications have side effects but when you have a reaction to penicillin the only one at risk is usually just the patient. When you have side effects to something that messes with your brain chemistry you put the public at possible risk. It gets even more gross when pharmaceuticals companies and law enforcement agencies then work to ban medications (drugs like MDMA, LSD, ect) that may be just as or more effective as conventional antidepressants with less side effects.

You couldn’t pay me to take them.

I wish they worked.

I took Zoloft for three months at 150mg.

Then I took Wellbutrin 300 mg for a month.

I noticed literally no difference. Might as well been taking a Flintstones vitamin.

Nowhere near enough time to see if they work. Figuring out an SSRI regimen takes a lot of trial and error, and is not a magic bullet.

For sure. There was a really good documentary posted a week or two ago on just this topic. I'll try to dig it up.

I have depression and anxiety, I used to take xanax but stopped. I was starting to become impossible to deal with. I would go into angry mode every time someone tried to have a conversation with me.

I went to the doctor and he prescribed me antidepressants. It changes me less than a weed joint would, but overall makes my moods more stable.

For the first weeks I noticed the effects, I would have very light sleep and wake up multiples times during the night and would wake up super early. When I stop taking them because I forget (two to three days) I get these electric shocks and dizziness.

But overall I rarely get anxiety and I am in my normal mood again. I have days where I'm angry because I get pissed off like any other person would, I have my lazy stay at home days and I have active days where I go outside with my friends. Without the medication I would have anxiety, be angry all the time and would oversleep trying to avoid life.

So from my experience until now they haven't changed my personality, just made me more stable like I was before being depressed.

Sorry I'm Portuguese, the best description I could give is like brain zaps? You could search lexapro withdrawal.

It might change you in that it makes you more functional, less prone to depressive episodes, and more in control of your life.

if only they worked that well ... what it will do is fuck with the balance of chemicals in your brain (since "chemical imbalance" from depression doesnt exist ... its a buzzword invented with the creation of SSRIS .. no study or test or scan or anything ever shows a chemical imbalance), turn your dick to swiss cheese, lower your vibrations so youre more affected by microwaves and GMOs .. theres a lot better options, even of meds, than ssris/snris

I don't think they are used to control people, but they are a scam. The evidence for their efficacy is practically nonexistent. Check out this paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172306/

I'm very confident that Psychiatry in general is a farce. There is not a single psychiatric "disorder" which has a biological basis. Everything is done based on categorization, committees, and questionnaires. Its about as far from a "science" as you can get. I do think that a lot of people with mental health issues actually have real biological problems (particularly in regards to schizophrenia - if someone is hallucinating, clearly they are suffering from a biological abnormality), however, modern medicine really has no meaningful understanding of what those problems are. Imagine going to a doctor with a sore throat and him concluding, "well, it looks like you have Throat Soreness Disorder" and declining to perform any empirical tests. Would you be satisfied? No, of course not. That's not a diagnosis. It's a tautology. Everyone can see that this is a completely illegitimate practice. However, when it comes to depression, people failed to see the similarity.

I firmly believe that in 100 years, scientists will look back on our psychiatry with the same bewilderment and disgust as we feel when we look back on medical practices like blood letting and leeches.

It's obviously a scam. Sadly, these drugs are so absurdly profitable that it will take a while for the industry to acknowledge this blatant fact

The profitability is driving the diagnoses. It's highly unlikely that the industry will ever acknowledge any of what you've said (all of which I completely concur). It's particularly troubling that children are being prescribed medications for "mood disorders" at such young ages. The long term effects are not known; yet we allow children with still-developing bodies & brains to ingest chemicals in order to emotionally "stabilize" them. As if normal adolescent angst and hormonally-driven mood changes are a flaw, something to correct, rather than allowing children the opportunity to learn self-regulation and strengthening their internal locus of control as they've done for millenia.

I've taken medications for depression and anxiety myself, and (not that an anecdotal case means much of anything) in my opinion they were not worth it. I developed an emotional dependency on the drugs in my early-mid 20's. I tried several types and while some did apparently "help" me (in that my mood/positivity improved and I had increased energy) the effect was NEVER lasting and would decline with ongoing use over time.

I haven't taken medications in years; I have discovered a sugar-free (keto) diet and regular exercise has had a much greater impact on my mood and overall well-being. I actually was a bit shocked how much of an impact those simple changes had. I feel pretty strongly that the standard high-carb/high-fat diet and sedentary lifestyles are the root cause of many of the physical ailments but also the "emotional" issues many believe they experience.

I'm very confident that Psychiatry in general is a farce. There is not a single psychiatric "disorder" which has a biological basis. Everything is done based on categorization, committees, and questionnaires. Its about as far from a "science" as you can get. I do think that a lot of people with mental health issues actually have real biological problems (particularly in regards to schizophrenia - if someone is hallucinating, clearly they are suffering from a biological abnormality), however, modern medicine really has no meaningful understanding of what those problems are. Imagine going to a doctor with a sore throat and him concluding, "well, it looks like you have Throat Soreness Disorder" and declining to perform any empirical tests. Would you be satisfied? No, of course not. That's not a diagnosis. It's a tautology. Everyone can see that this is a completely illegitimate practice. However, when it comes to depression, people fail to see the similarity.

This should be a copypasta.

100% agree with this person. "antidepressants" including SRIs, SNRIs NRIs and NDRIs.

Cocaine is an SNDRI. Serotonin–Norepinephrine–Dopamine reuptake inhibitor.

These drugs cause extrapyramidal symptoms such as akathisia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x86aCDtvbT0&t=20s

Extrapyramidal symptoms include Parkinsonism (characteristic symptoms such as rigidity)dystonia (continuous spasms and muscle contractions), Akathisia (motor restlessness), , bradykinesia (slowness of movement), tremor, and tardive dyskinesia (irregular, jerky movements).

These drugs cause the body to have symptoms that resemble parkinson's, a neurodegenerative brain disorder. Neurodegeneration is the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons.

There are great books by peter breggin on this topic. Also david healy or Peter Gøtzsche.

STAY AWAAAY FROM THEM

Not sure about SSRIs, but Wellbutrin has been an absolute godsend. I still have highs and lows; I'm not a robot. But I don't wake up every morning extremely depressed for no reason anymore. Not all depression meds are the same.

The cause of depression is usually considered an issue with serotonin uptake or dopamine issues. But I think there are other forms.

Adrenal fatigue can cause depression.

High cortisol levels an can also cause anxiety/depression

So little seems to go into research of hormonal levels. Most doctors will not diagnose depression by taking samples and instead just prescribe treatment.

All of the above are things that could actually be tested. But they are usually just assumed instead and pills are prescribed. It is treated as a psychological issue instead of a medical issue.

Try Tai Chi, it's a good balance of discipline mentally and physically.

Yes, they are. They “work” by artificially inflating serotonin or dopamine levels, they do not fix underlying problems like lsd ketamine mushrooms or mdma can.

They are very addictive and cause long term problems for people who use them.

No, depression is mostly due to a lack of certain "happy chemicals" like dopamine. That's one of the reasons why dope can make people happy or calmed. It's ironic though, marijuana is a depressant but you can use it as an anti depressant.

Look up the rate of success with antidepressants compared to placebo. That will tell you all you need to know(if you’re lazy, placebo performs better than antidepressants).

work wonders on me...

Shrooms got me thru some tough times in my life as a teen. Now looking back on it, it really change who i was and helped me achieve a mind state past depression and feeling like a victim. I havent touched shrooms in about 10 yrs and im happy i did them at an early age.

Fix your diet and your gut first. It helps immensely. Consume more bone broth and get plenty of exercise out in nature. Try a fast. Meditate outside in the sun. Write down the things you are appreciative for. Do something creative every day. Cut down on the booze, your tummy and mind will thank you.

No, I don't think they are a conspiracy to control you. They can work for some people, for others, they'll lead to suicidal or homicidal behavior. The problem with them is that we don't really understand depression, and we don't know why a lot of these medications work. With some more complicated illnesses (such as bipolar), everyone is a guinea pig, and the process of getting you on the right meds can be hell, and may not work at all. We still have a lot to learn about medicine, especially when it comes to mental health.

The real conspiracy, if it can be called that and not simply a coincidence of stimuli, is that we live in a society where we are far more prone to depression. And few want to observe this. We didn't evolve to live like this and I suspect a lpt of depression os due to our natural animal instincts misfiring. this happens a lot w/other instincts ie road rage is often caused by our flight or fight response gone awry-one reaaon bad traffic is so stressful-its like a constant state of determining whether we are safe or not for our brains

Antidepressants seem to be more of a band-aid. They tell you your neurotransmitters are too low/high and give you drugs without testing your levels or even trying to address any cause. The new thinking is that depression could be a reaction to chronic inflammation. Not every depressed person may have inflammation but there is definitely a need to study this angle more. Doing a keto diet and taking anti-inflammatory supplements helped me more than Wellbutrin and Clonazepam for 10 years ever did. Turmeric and CBD oil, good stuff.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/201701/new-research-shows-depression-linked-inflammation

At times in my life, antidepressants (mainly SSRIs) have helped me, but it is my opinion that the prescribed dosages are usually too high. I now take half of the dose for the SSRI that I am prescribed, and I have found that it is actually more effective for me and causes me less drowsiness. Of course, it depends on the person. Regarding whether antidepressants are part of a conspiracy, I am honestly not sure. I did try to fight my last depressive episode without a pharmaceutical antidepressant, but I was losing the fight and became extremely suicidal, so I started taking an SSRI again. I'm less depressed now and I'm far less suicidal than I was. I did what I felt I needed to do to survive....

Antidepressants are supposed to work by fixing a chemical imbalance, specifically, a lack of serotonin in the brain. Indeed, their supposed effectiveness is the primary evidence for the chemical imbalance theory. But analyses of the published data and the unpublished data that were hidden by drug companies reveals that most (if not all) of the benefits are due to the placebo effect. Some antidepressants increase serotonin levels, some decrease it, and some have no effect at all on serotonin. Nevertheless, they all show the same therapeutic benefit. Even the small statistical difference between antidepressants and placebos may be an enhanced placebo effect, due to the fact that most patients and doctors in clinical trials successfully break blind. The serotonin theory is as close as any theory in the history of science to having been proved wrong. Instead of curing depression, popular antidepressants may induce a biological vulnerability making people more likely to become depressed in the future.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172306/

Personality and the sense of self is fluid. We tend to ignore and gloss over the fact that we act.are different in different situations. We have an internal narrative that gives us a felling that we are consistent through time.

That being said, anti-depressants can lead to noticeable changes in personality and feelings. It's a trade off for not being depressed. A common experience is feeling "better" after taking medication and then deciding you don't need it. Often people discover being off anti-depressants how truly sad and incapacitated they have been.

Your entire upbringing and most of your everyday experiences (advertising, entertainment, interaction with others, media, etc) put you under "their" control.

Your life will play out regardless of you feeling of authenticity. Depression "feels" so real. To be happy often fells like a lie.

"I think I'm dumb or maybe just happy" ~ Cobain

I'm diagnosed ADD, generalized anxiety disorder (or some form thereof), and (allegedly) ODD and i've had three different/doctors psychiatrists insist Strattera is the best option for my problem, no matter what the problem was at the time. It doesn't feel like a natural endorsement to me; one said that studies showed it as a successful remedy, and immediately got hostile with me when I inquired as to who was funding such studies.

I think the only conspiracy there is drug companies overstating results and understating side effects. I took some SSRIs years ago, and at first it was effective (I think). I felt like things were brighter colors got better, literally. Then came the side effects. The sexual dysfunction is bizarre, it's not a decrease in libido, or even ED, more like some kind of extreme delayed ejaculation problem. The vivid dreams sound fun when you are just talking about it but it's not if it persists. It's not so much that you have nightmares, it's that the memories don't fade normally. I would find myself 2 or three days later thinking I had definitely done something, told somebody something, and then find out I hadn't. Worse sometimes I would feel distinct and real guilt about something that hadn't happened, and not be sure if it had. You start to doubt yourself and you can't really ask, because it would make you seem crazy. I stopped taking them, had more problems with depression about a year later. I briefly started again, and had even more problems. All the same but then additionally my suicidal ideations just turned into constant anger and homicidal ideations. I got scared of that and just stopped and didn't go back to that doctor. It took a long time but the thing that really pulled me out was an long and difficult struggle to improve my life situation. I now have a lot of theories about depression, but none of them involve this crazy random happenstance where you just need drugs to make your brain balance right.

I have the same problem with mistaking dreams for reality, except for me it wasn't caused by anti-depressants. It can make daily life incredibly confusing and it's difficult to explain it to other people because it seems like a problem almost no one has dealt with to the extent I do. I have had dreams that left me distraught for days. Marijuana before bed is the only thing that helps, but only because it seems to stop me from dreaming altogether.

I was depressed and they helped me by not allowing me to think too deeply. They allowed me to go through the motions. Eventually I said fuck this.

I’ve always had a personal conspiracy that they lower sex drive because they don’t want sad/weak people to reproduce. Same thing with the gay agenda. Subtle population control.

The main ingredient is like fluoride dude dont do it just realize life is one big trip and get through it

Check out /r/badpill

It's pretty much just the blog of one guy, but most of it is quality content on how fucked the pharma game is.

Regarding the topic of anti-depressants specifically; Oxford scientists published a meta-study in The Lancet of 522 anti-depressant trials comprising 116 477 participants32802-7/abstract0. That's a fucking lot. They found:

46 (9%) of 522 trials were rated as high risk of bias, 380 (73%) trials as moderate, and 96 (18%) as low; and the certainty of evidence was moderate to very low.

And that bias/uncertain evidence was demonstrated in studies that didn't examine treatment-resistant depression. If the lower-hanging-fruit is that hard for them to hit, what does that say about their efficacy against treatment-resistant depression?

Anti depressants saved my life, they gave me the ability to finally get off my ass and work on myself. I lost 10 years of my life to extreme depression and anxiety and became agoraphobic. However, they aren't for everyone and they are wayyyy over prescribed in America. I consider my case an an extreme one and it was the last option available. They arent a magic cure-all and you will still need to put in the effort to make yourself feel healthy like exercise, eating and sleeping right, and confronting your problems.

Try therapy. When your depressed your body stops producing serotonin.(serotonin is what chemically makes you happy)Antidepressants gives your body a boost to help you make serotonin again. But that's one peice of the puzzle. What ever trauma that has happened to you that has caused your depression. Has also rewired your brain, that is your brains coping method, and you do it unconsciously. Therapy really helps but it really matters what type of therapist you get, and how good is he. After a long while you will not need the antidepressants.

There's no conspiracy as such, except Big Pharma's need to sell anti-depressants. Depression is real, don't get me wrong. But what's happened is that some uncomfortable emotions that can cause depression -- grief, isolation, disillusionment -- have become pathologised in themselves.

We now go to the doctor to get our emotions "fixed."

It's a real dilemma for the vast majority of deeply unhappy people. They cannot withdraw from the world entirely, so they need something to keep them functioning. A "damper" on those painful feelings serves that purpose fairly well and can keep you ticking along.

The alternative is to just quit the thing that is making you so unhappy, if you possibly can. But most people are tied so tightly to their miserable jobs, doomed marriages, toxic friendships, and what-have-you, that this isn't an option.

It's a problem of modernity, and it's far older than anti-depressants. Ever wondered where the complimentary saying "well-adjusted" originated? Look it up, you'll be surprised.

Two thoughts:

1. A lot of my depression seems to have been exacerbated by misuse of MDMA and I tried microdosing LSD for about two months, however I didn't care for the results after about a month; I felt more emotionally volatile and distracted despite the energy increase I experienced.
2. Antidepressants do work for some, but my experience was that they made things worse regardless of what I tried and I think pharmaceutical companies are more concerned with perpetuating treatment rather than curing or identifying the roots of specific problems. The impact of side effects on the patient is sometimes greater than that of the drug's benefit and may require more medication to combat.

Psychoactive recreational drugs are good for allowing yourself the occasional life lesson, and weed has helped with my depression but is easy to abuse and is just another way to drain your income as much as I support it.

TLDR: Try to find other things besides drugs that will help you, I've regretted both my drug habits and my prescriptions almost every step of the way.

accuses people of giving anecdotal evidence, proceeds to give anecdotal evidence.

Here's some for you. SSRI's nearly ruined me and many people I know. No one talks about the withdrawal some of these drugs can cause.

It can be almost impossible to get off them, and patients aren't told this so when they try to get off, they think it's "Just their depression and anxiety coming back" Some articles about this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/health/antidepressants-withdrawal-prozac-cymbalta.html

https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/370338

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/06/dont-know-who-am-antidepressant-long-term-use

There have been little to no long term studies on these drugs. Any study that says they work only measured that for 8 weeks after ingesting the drug. If you're on more than one psychiatric drug, the combined use of them has never been studied properly. Or how about the other side effects they can have like, that they can actually cause long term treatment resistant depression if you're on them long enough -

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21459521

They can cause a symptom called Akathisia which is one of the worst feelings you could ever experience (trust me) -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x86aCDtvbT0

There are people who have permanent sexual dysfunction from antidepressants, even after they come off the drug -

https://rxisk.org/post-ssri-sexual-dysfunction-pssd/

a forum dedicated to people with permanent sexual dysfunction after antidepressant use - http://www.pssdforum.com/viewforum.php?f=5

And despite more people being diagnosed and treated with antidepressants than ever, disability continues to rise from mental illness, and things are actually a lot worse.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-mental-health-declining-in-the-u-s/

There is definitely a stigma towards treatment for mental health, and I think that is shitty. But an unfortunate truth we're going to face up to is a lot of our treatments aren't amazing. We need mental health reform big time. I have first hand experience with this. There's a narrative going on that you see a psychiatrist and you just get better, but it's not the case. These drugs barely out perform placebos in clinical studies. It's fucked up what's going on.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172306/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5299662/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5650127/ (read the conclusion on this one)

The whole thing that low serotonin causes depression is a myth. Ask any respectable doctor. "Chemical imbalance"is bullshit.

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020392

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12115-007-9047-3

I overcame severely debilitating depression and anxiety with acceptance. Therapy, and time.

Not really, doing just fine myself. I'm not the one shitting himself over a reddit comment.

You do you booboo

Seeya

this happened to me literally yesterday, here.