--- Quote from: Iggy on July 10, 2007, 02:17:43 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.
--- End quote ---
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.
bobino:
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
J.R.E.:
John (BOBINO)
Very well written post ! Wishing you the very best...