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Author Topic: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!  (Read 18666 times)

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Offline GSOgymrat

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Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« on: July 10, 2007, 09:33:39 am »
According to the CDC antidepressants are the most prescribed drug in the United States. I work in mental health and I'm not sure how I feel about that statistic. On one hand I'm glad that people are being treated for depression. On the other hand it looks like we have a lot of unhappy Americans. It says something when more Americans need an antidepressant then need antibiotics or cholesterol medications, particularly with America's obesity problem. How many people who are on antidepressants are clinically depressed and how many are looking for happiness in a pill? I know the difference but I'm not sure a lot of primary care physicians, who prescribe a lot of these meds, understand that being unhappy doesn't mean someone is clinically depressed.

One thing is perfectly clear though: I should be working for a pharmaceutical company.

Offline woodshere

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2007, 10:33:51 am »
I agree with much of what you say. Not sure if I am clinically depressed, but one thing is for sure function much better since starting Wellburtin 300XL.
"Let us give pubicity to HV/AIDS and not hide it..." "One of the things destroying people with AIDS is the stigma we attach to it."   Nelson Mandela

Offline ubotts

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2007, 10:53:07 am »
When they first told me i was hiv I didnt take any antidepressants
Years later, when my lover of 12 yrs wanted to leave me, because i just started meds , plus i was going
though menopause, i started freaking out..
So my therapist put me on lexapro..It did nothing for me so i got off..Iam on enough meds and really dont
want to be on any more than i have to..
Iam off antidepressants and feel the same way without them..........The mind is a powerful tool if you know
how to use it..
This is for some people  not all..capeesh???
Live Love Laugh and dance like no ones watching.
Laughter is the best medicine, so try to have a laugh everyday..Even if your not feeling your best, think about something that was funny at one time in your life and work with it..   :o)

Offline Miss Philicia

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2007, 10:56:56 am »
For one thing I don't believe Primary Care Physicians should prescribe these things, a psychiatrist should.  How many PCP's really know what they're doing.

I'm off of them myself for the past year.  After trying about 6-7 of them over an equal period of years I've decided they do absolutely nothing for me.  My depression is too situational, directly related to lipo.  I never had depression issues previous to that.  HIV diagnosis did NOT make me depressed.  Looking at Skeletor in the mirror did.
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline Iggy

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2007, 11:23:06 am »
I already wrote in another thread why I have passed up the opportunity to be placed on antidepressants as I feel I need to work through my issues without medication. I think that the medications are over prescribed and I blame both the pharmaceutical industry as well as a population that constantly looks for "cures" to everything.

On a related note however I must admit I am taken back to read that you work in mental health as based on your one thread entitled, "There are a lot of miserable people here" in relation to what you perceived as people being too dark and negative and you drawing a correlation between HIV and mental health issues. At the time I thought it was rather uneducated a view, but now with you stating your mental health background I really find it sort of shocking that that you would use such a choice of words to initiate a discussion on mental health and HIV.

While I agree with you on the anti depressant point, I do implore you to avoid labeling people as miserable (whether on this board or in your work) if someone is having issues with darkness. As someone who does battle it I can tell you that such labels are damaging to the overall discussion and the ability to help a person who faces such things.

Offline GSOgymrat

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2007, 11:29:05 am »
I already wrote in another thread why I have passed up the opportunity to be placed on antidepressants as I feel I need to work through my issues without medication. I think that the medications are over prescribed and I blame both the pharmaceutical industry as well as a population that constantly looks for "cures" to everything.

On a related note however I must admit I am taken back to read that you work in mental health as based on your one thread entitled, "There are a lot of miserable people here" in relation to what you perceived as people being too dark and negative and you drawing a correlation between HIV and mental health issues. At the time I thought it was rather uneducated a view, but now with you stating your mental health background I really find it sort of shocking that that you would use such a choice of words to initiate a discussion on mental health and HIV.

While I agree with you on the anti depressant point, I do implore you to avoid labeling people as miserable (whether on this board or in your work) if someone is having issues with darkness. As someone who does battle it I can tell you that such labels are damaging to the overall discussion and the ability to help a person who faces such things.

Point taken. I shouldn't have used the word miserable.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2007, 11:48:06 am by GSOgymrat »

Offline Iggy

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2007, 11:44:37 am »
I was just signing back on to modify my post too as I was gonna just answer your thread question directly and send you the other part in a pm as I really didn't want to repeat what happened in the last thread.

I do however greatly appreciate that you understand where I am coming from on this. 

I think there are two problems with mental health issues in this country and they are both tied together - We (in the U.S.) are loathe to actually deal with darkness unless it is via a mea culpa type of vomiting all that is bad in a sort of breakdown way - whether through a public spectacle akin to bearing our souls on a tv talk show or through sort of just losing control of ourselves and letting everything out all at once - unfortunately both aspects of this become a sort of spectackle vs. a therapeutic experience.

The second problem is what you have stated in this thread about the over prescription of medications....and in my mind that is because many people don't want to face the darkness and would rather soften it's call to them that they have to deal with it.  Unfortunately I think all that does is put off the above mentioned explosion until the issues that are being suppressed with medications just can't be hidden anymore.

This is why I find it important that on boards such as these that people be allowed to delve into the darkest feelings that they have as it is part of self examination that can help them get through it - that said I do recognize that it needs to be in conjunction of a professional therapist as otherwise a person can get stuck in a self perpetuating trap of darkness....which is what I think your original miserable thread was trying to say.

Again - my great appreaciation of your willingness to hear my Point of view on this.

Thanks




Offline GSOgymrat

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2007, 12:43:42 pm »
There are a lot of different dynamics going on when depression is involved. Unfortunately many people don't get help until their lives are a complete mess. I see people in the emergency room who have overdosed on 100 Tylenol "to try to sleep" and still insist they don't have a problem with being depressed. Men especially are loath to admit they have any problems.

As far as overprescribed medications, in my experience antidepressants are not the problem, it's attention deficit medications with children and teenagers. I see so many kids who have behavioral problems and parents who don't want to take the time to learn how to manage the behavior. Many parents would rather think their is something biologically wrong with their child then admit they don't have good parenting skills. Many PCPs cave to parents demands because it is easier to write a prescription than telling the parent what they don't want to hear.

Offline thunter34

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2007, 01:08:36 pm »
miserable:

1. Very uncomfortable or unhappy; wretched.
2. Causing or accompanied by great discomfort or distress


I'm not looking to get into any grand argument about it, I'm just saying that I never did (and still don't) get what the big deal about that word is/was.  In a one-on-one therapy type environment perhaps, but in general usage?  If you say so.  I always just thought of it as another way of saying "unhappy".
AIDS isn't for sissies.

Offline pozattitude

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2007, 01:12:34 pm »
I'm on Cymbalta and I needed it!
I do believe that many doctors now days are prescription happy. The other day I just read an article that said that prescription drugs now make up the majority of cases of drug abuse, not cocaine, marijuana...PILLS!!!
I also feel that many people are looking for the "fix" in a pill, weather it is for loosing weight, depression, etc....
There is a major difference between depression and just feeling blue.  It is normal to feel sad and pain and it is healthy to work through those issues on your own; however, "real depression" is a serious condition and it needs medical treatment.

Rich
(who was depressed for 10yrs of his life)
POSITIVE PEDALERS... We are a group of people living with HIV/AIDS, eliminating stigma through our positive public example.

Offline GSOgymrat

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2007, 02:08:48 pm »
I also feel that many people are looking for the "fix" in a pill, weather it is for loosing weight, depression, etc....

I agree. We live in a quick fix society. This was particularly evident when I was researching bodybuilding. There are a lot of people who want a short cut and there are so many companies making a buck off of that kind of thinking. Products to help you lose weight, gain weight, recover faster, melt your ab fat... most of which have no proven efficacy. Then there are illegal steroids and hormones, which work but often at a price. The reality is if you want to look like you workout and diet you have to actually spend lots of hours working out and dieting.

Offline Iggy

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2007, 02:17:43 pm »
miserable:

1. Very uncomfortable or unhappy; wretched.
2. Causing or accompanied by great discomfort or distress


I'm not looking to get into any grand argument about it, I'm just saying that I never did (and still don't) get what the big deal about that word is/was.  In a one-on-one therapy type environment perhaps, but in general usage?  If you say so.  I always just thought of it as another way of saying "unhappy".

The difference is in the context.  

To use selective dictionary definitions out of context may indeed make my point seem trivial, however in the context of starting a thread entitled that there are a lot of miserable people on this board and to discuss mental state of those with HIV paints a much different image.

If you don’t get it still then so be it, but I ask that we both not hijack this thread any further.



Offline carousel

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2007, 03:15:32 pm »
Ford

Thank you raising this issue.  I think that there would be many who might think again, if they were to know the basis on how their diagnosis was made.  I think that many believe that there is something biological or there is some kind of chemical imbalance.  The word disorder seems to me terribly overused and is making the drug companies very rich.

A generation of children comatosed in the system's fight on ADD and ADHD, when support and help for the family and school could be equally beneficial.  The problem is that parents, often at their wits end are so glad when they get the diagnosis.  We're not to blame, the medication works, help and services kick in.  Sorry, but you're drugging your children.

Depression is a horrible experience.  I am beginning to find my way out of a depression that has been with me for about four years.  I never want to go back and sympathise with anybody who is in the middle of it.  Medication wasn't for me, it may have shortened that experience.  That so many people are on antidepressants worries me.  I'm not sure what the alternative is, but it is something we need to debate.

I also just wanted to say that I think it is unfair to have a go at somebody for using a word in another thread, in particular when they removed their own responses in that said thread.

Offline Cliff

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #13 on: July 10, 2007, 03:51:55 pm »
If we could take a pill that would make physical therapy obsolete (or much shorter in duration), would people have an issue with society jumping on that pill?

I took Effexor for a year.  It was a mistake.  That drug was only marginally helpful and the side effects were too significant.  If people say that antidepressants don't work, then I can see that angle.  Or that the side effects are too great, I could see that angle.  But I just don't like the "easy way out" Tom Cruise line of reasoning.  Choosing the more difficult option doesn't always make you a better person.  Taking the easy road doesn't always mean you are just lazy.  There's just something about mental issues, that makes people uncomfortable with medical intervention.

Two months ago I had a bad sprain.  I was on crutches for almost 4 weeks.  It was hell commuting to work everyday, as well as extremely painful.  The physio sucked.  If there was a pill that would have made my life easier that month, I probably would have taken it.

Offline GSOgymrat

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #14 on: July 10, 2007, 04:38:06 pm »
If we could take a pill that would make physical therapy obsolete (or much shorter in duration), would people have an issue with society jumping on that pill?

I took Effexor for a year.  It was a mistake.  That drug was only marginally helpful and the side effects were too significant.  If people say that antidepressants don't work, then I can see that angle.  Or that the side effects are too great, I could see that angle.  But I just don't like the "easy way out" Tom Cruise line of reasoning.  Choosing the more difficult option doesn't always make you a better person.  Taking the easy road doesn't always mean you are just lazy.  There's just something about mental issues, that makes people uncomfortable with medical intervention.

Two months ago I had a bad sprain.  I was on crutches for almost 4 weeks.  It was hell commuting to work everyday, as well as extremely painful.  The physio sucked.  If there was a pill that would have made my life easier that month, I probably would have taken it.

I'm not blaming other people for wanting a quick fix-- I want a quick fix! I wish I could take a pill and get rid of my HIV infection or my lipoatrophy or hairloss, etc. It would be wonderful if pills did fix everything but unfortunately they don't and healthcare workers and patients need to remember that. I do think it is lazy for a physician to just write a prescription instead of listening to the patient and figuring out the best recommendation. I think it is unproductive for parents to push for their children to be given ADHD medication when the child hasn't even been tested. I think it's wrong for pharmaceutical companies to advertise "happiness in a pill" both for depression and HIV infection. Everyone on this forum who has been on medication, especially those of us who have had serious side effects, know pills alone are often not the answer.

That said, I completely support people taking appropriate medication for properly diagnosed problems. Without HIV medication I wouldn't be here and I know without antidepressants a lot of other people wouldn't be here.

Offline thunter34

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #15 on: July 10, 2007, 07:13:45 pm »
The difference is in the context.  

To use selective dictionary definitions out of context may indeed make my point seem trivial, however in the context of starting a thread entitled that there are a lot of miserable people on this board and to discuss mental state of those with HIV paints a much different image.

If you don’t get it still then so be it, but I ask that we both not hijack this thread any further.


I hardly think making one comment BASED DIRECTLY ON THE ONES ABOVE IT constitiutes a hijack, but so be it.  Push your point all you want to.  I'm bored with this bit anyway.
AIDS isn't for sissies.

Offline bobino

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #16 on: July 13, 2007, 10:06:54 pm »

As someone who is clinically depressed, I can assure you that people like me are not usually looking for a quick fix.  What we are looking for is something that will relieve our depression and anxiety enough to allow us simply to function.  Anyone who's clinically depressed and on antidepressants will tell you that the drugs are anything but "happy pills."  It's not like you start taking them and then you spend the rest of your life walking around in a constant state of euphoria.  One psychiatrist described the goal of role of antidepressant treatment as "getting to zero."  In other words, the objective is to move the patient from a negative state of overwhelming despair to a state in which the despair is mostly absent.  This is not the same as being happy.  It just means the patient will no longer be crushed by depression.

For me, I've found the right drugs and I'm doing great.  They've lifted me out of depression and allowed me to work on being happy.  Talk therapy, regular exercise, and a really, really, really good man have allowed me to find contentment happiness after years of struggle. 

I strongly agree with philly267 that primary care physicians should not be prescribing these drugs.  Ideally, anyone thinking about going on antidepressants should see a psychopharmacologist (a psychiatrist who specializes in these kinds of drugs).  That's how I found the combo I'm on now.  At the very least, antidepressant therapy should be done in consultation with an experienced psychiatrist.

My basic point is that, while I am sure that these drugs are overprescribed, some of us really do need them.  When properly administered, they can literally be life savers.

John
Suivons les rivières
Gardons les torrents
Restons en colère
Soyons vigilants

Offline J.R.E.

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Re: Antidepressants - everyone is doing it!
« Reply #17 on: July 14, 2007, 02:33:56 am »
John (BOBINO)


Very well written post ! Wishing you the very best...


Ray
Current Meds ; Viramune / Epzicom Eliquis, Diltiazem. Pravastatin 80mg, Ezetimibe. UPDATED 2/18/24
 Tested positive in 1985,.. In October of 2003, My t-cell count was 16, Viral load was over 500,000, Percentage at that time was 5%. I started on  HAART on October 24th, 2003.

 As of Oct 2nd, 2023, Viral load Undetectable.
CD 4 @676 /  CD4 % @ 18 %
Lymphocytes,absolute-3815 (within range)


72 YEARS YOUNG

 


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