what do you think about antidepressants?

antidepressants are just another tool. They may help, they may not just like therapy, CBT etc. Starting taking them does not mean you will always have to take them nor does it show any sign of weakness on your part.
if you have an infection you take antibiotics to help you get better maybe it would help to think about antidepressants in the same way.

You should try it and see if it works for you. I take them because I am bipolar. I am a mess without them, but I also have to do other thing like excercise. Working out does wonders for depression.

They can be very helpful for some people, disastrous for others. It depends on your personal situation. Ask lots of questions not only about the medication they want to prescribe, but the reason why. If they try to tell you you have a chemical imbalance in your brain.. (common thing therapists say) ask them how they know this. Did they take samples of your brain chemicals??? If you feel that medication is for you.. make sure you know what side effects to look for, and proceed with caution. Don’t let them write a script and write you off. Battling depression is not easy. It takes hard work, but you can feel better with the right treatment. I wish you well.

use them to help get your life back on track but you must work on the other areas that are broke. There are usually other issues contributing than just chemical imbalance.

monitor your mood changes very closely. There is a reason the FDA requires antidepressant adds to say that the medication may cause suicidal thoughts in young adults. Sure it is one in however many millions of people but monitor the effects and be safe. I say go for it. It it could help then you owe it to yourself to try right?

If it’s really a chemical imbalance in your brain, you need them, the same way a diabetic needs insulin. There’s no way around it.

If it’s a depression that’s situational, there are other approaches that you should try first, but if you’ve got a therapist, odds are you’ve already tried them. But before you take antidepressants, you need to get clear with your therapist that they’re temporary—and that you’ll have a way of evaluating whether or not they’re working and a plan for getting off them when you’ve recovered.

Depression is like pain. Sometimes pain is inexplicable and just happens, as in fibromyalgia. Other times it’s feedback from your body to tell you that something is wrong. When you figure out what’s wrong, sometimes you still need painkillers while whatever it is heals.

Sometimes depression is inexplicable and just happens. Other times it’s feedback from your brain to tell you that something is wrong. If you treat the latter case as if it were the former case, you’ll never get healthy. The best thing to do if the depression is caused by external factors is to use the antidepressants like you’d use painkillers with a broken arm: to get through the time when the problem is being fixed and through the healing period after, and that’s it.

Useful to some but generally overprescribed. Get a second opinion.

Can’t hurt try them! They’ve helped me in the past.

After trying them for a couple years, I found that they never really worked for me. It was like I was putting false hope into a cure for depression, which ended up making me more depressed. I have been off of them for a few months now, and found other, non-medicating ways of combating depression that seem to work for me.

I guess there are many types of depression, and different things work for different people.

And consider also that finding the right one and the right dosage is an art,or at least trial-by-error. Good psychiatrists always start w. small dosages and increase gradually. And they will know when the ptime comes to switch. I tried 5 or 6 during a time in my life that was excruciatingly difficult..Zoloft was the one that worked. I also stayed in talk therapy for several years.

They are helpful for some, and not for others. If your therapist recommends it, and you’ve had difficulty making progress, try it… but make the commitment to be consistent in taking them as prescribed. And be completely honest about any changes – good or bad – that you experience. As gailcalled said, it’s trial and error to find the formula and dosage that works best for you.

My personal experience was not good, but I would not recommend against them because of it. I know others who have been helped significantly by them. Take care.

over prescribed and over used

I work with people with depression, and people’s experiences usually range from “it saved my life” to “I’ve tried everything and nothing really worked”.

The people in the second camp I don’t really believe, because sometimes people take a dozen or more different kinds of antidepressants before they find one (or a combination of several) that work.

I think that for most people with depression, you risk NOTHING by trying them and EVERYTHING by refusing to.

Antidepressants are drugs that relieve the symptoms of depression. It works by increasing the activity of certain chemicals work in our brains called neurotransmitters. It would be advantageous in the first place, but there are some effects when using these. Tricyclics is on of these -
These commonly cause a dry mouth, a slight tremor, fast heartbeat, constipation, sleepiness, and weight gain. Particularly in older people, they may cause confusion, slowness in starting and stopping when passing water, faintness through low blood pressure, and falls. If you have heart trouble, it may be best not to take one of this group of antidepressants. Men may experience difficulty in getting or keeping an erection, or delayed ejaculation. Tricyclic antidepressants are dangerous in overdose.

@gatz333: Source?

I am an older person and feel nothing but gratitude for my daily small dose of Zoloft. I tried five others before I found one that worked for me. I have none of the symptoms: slight tremor, fast heartbeat, constipation, sleepiness, and weight gain… in older people…confusion, slowness in starting and stopping when passing water, faintness through low blood pressure, and falls.

As far as i know antidepresants contains chemical, thus chemicals are hazardous to our body..i have no idea of what type of antidepresant you are using right now…I’m just basing on my research of antidepresants and mostly of them have a disadvantageous effect..

@galz333: Everything – including the human body – is made of chemicals. The chemicals in antidepressants are intended to help compensate for imbalances of the chemicals (e.g. neurotransmitters) in the patient’s brain. They don’t work for everyone, but many people have been helped tremendously by them All medications have a list of side-effects, the drug companies must list every symptom that a certain percentage of people in their trials has experienced, which can include issues not actually caused by the medication itself.. If you do not have expertise or personal experience, or at least reliable sources which can support your opinion, spewing a list of potential side-effects is not helpful.

I don’t really understand this whole depression thing.. how bad can ones life truly be when compared to those that have nearly nothing. We live in a world where we are the makers of our own destinies, none are thrust upon us.. we make our choices on how to live our lives, so should we not be happy? if you don’t like the life you lead then take it into your hands and change it.

Depression is an excuse to hide yourself from life. Don’t misunderstand me, i don’t wish to look down on anyone but if people refuse to stand on their feet then they make us all look down to see them.