The Way Meds Make You Feel

[sarah_ab]

actually unlike washington, most states don't consider simply income as eligibility for health insurance...

most states you either have to be disabled, on welfare, or eligible for medicare in order to get state insurance.

Maine is one state where you qualify for medicaid simply by your income, WA you qualify for health insurance but based on your income you pay a certain premium...

not many other states offer this yet... but i know many are trying...

[curiositykilledthecat]

connecticut has a state insurance plan, I finally have been uninsured long enough to hopefully be elligivle

[curiositykilledthecat]

Wow, I faxed over more info today and they still are trying to deny me using technicalities and loopholes. They just awoken something fierce within me, I'm not even depressed over this right now, I am ready for a fight. I will make this pharmacy hate me, I will make them pray for my death. I rather enjoy being the nice guy and getting along with everyone, however they have burned that bridge and ransacked my village for the last time. I'm playing by their rules one last time, just one last time. After that I don't know.

[MilesPrower]

Eh, personally.

I know a few people who did a course on psychological drugs. Most say they make you more depressed than anything in the world. The best remedy is a person when it comes to emotions. If you feel as if you can't branch out to other people around you, in the town or city you life in, many of us on these forums are here to help you, or anyone, with their problems. I'm not sure about anyone else, but I would be more than willing to lend an ear.

Probably has nothing to do with anything involved, but skip the drugs, and talk.

[sarah_ab]

doing a course of psychological drugs does not make one an expert... any true decent doctor will tell you not all drugs work for all people... it is why some people need to try only one medication, and others need to try three or four before they find the one that works best for them.

but pharmacological intervention can be valuable in allow a person to stabilize their symptoms enough to beging working on treating the problem... and then again for some people, the only hope is to simply treat the symptoms, as there is no other way to work on the issue at had as of yet.

[KittenAB]

doing a course of psychological drugs does not make one an expert... any true decent doctor will tell you not all drugs work for all people... it is why some people need to try only one medication, and others need to try three or four before they find the one that works best for them.

but pharmacological intervention can be valuable in allow a person to stabilize their symptoms enough to beging working on treating the problem... and then again for some people, the only hope is to simply treat the symptoms, as there is no other way to work on the issue at had as of yet.

How about someone who has "been down that road" with prescription drugs? Don't forget, they are drugs, just like marijuana and cocaine which many of the prescription ones are no different from either of those. It's a trade off with all drugs, you don't get rid of symptoms with psych drugs, you just change them. It's also quite true that depression medications tend to make you more depressed, which is really stupid. There are some instances in which the trade off is tolerable, but not for most. Almost everyone I knew who was on depression medications have committed suicide while on them, scary but true (5 people out of 7 on the meds) and I almost did myself as well before I realized that the meds were making it worse. As for stabilizing ... since doctors really don't know (it's all based on circumstantial theory at this point) what is going on in the brain most times, prescribing meds is probably the laziest method for helping. Strangely, it was a counselor at the homeless shelter that helped me, who I saw almost every day, just by talking. Now I'm not cured, far from it, but now I know what's wrong and what it feels like when it is wrong, not because of meds, but because of talking to someone who was able to get through.

[sarah_ab]

i've been taking two SSRI"s for over a year now.. have had no adverse side effects what so ever, and while one is to treat IBS, both are treating the symptoms of the disorders I am taking there for quite well. So not causing any depression for me, not causing any side effects, and having great positive effects. Neither my IBS nor my symptoms of OCD can benefit much from non pharmacological intervention... so for some people, medication is necessary.... even traditionally 'anti depressant' medication

[KittenAB]

i've been taking two SSRI"s for over a year now.. have had no adverse side effects what so ever, and while one is to treat IBS, both are treating the symptoms of the disorders I am taking there for quite well. So not causing any depression for me, not causing any side effects, and having great positive effects. Neither my IBS nor my symptoms of OCD can benefit much from non pharmacological intervention... so for some people, medication is necessary.... even traditionally 'anti depressant' medication

Physical problems can often be improved with medications, so won't argue that point. The topic however is on psych meds, particularly anti-depressants, which is what I was addressing. As I have said, there is still too much guess work to be putting a bunch of chemicals that effect the brain at this time, there are always exceptions to every rule, so there will be some who do benefit. But because of the higher chances of mistakes they should not be so quick to use these. Better and longer term benefits are often found in non-drug forms. I could go into the whole "how society has changed" rhetoric but that would take a very long time to read, but basically it boils down to us as humans needing to replace things our modern conveniences have made unneeded now, not a bad thing, just means we as a whole have to change, not just the individual. Medication can be good for some, for some it helps in the short run, but to really fix a wide spread problem we need to look for better solutions than "take a pill" ... the doctors are acting like those con jobs of the past with "miracle cures" these days.

[sarah_ab]

SSRI's are psychiatric medication... they are most often prescribed for depression, so they are depression medications... so in taking them, although not taking them for depression i am subject to the same side effects as other people. OCD is considered a neuro psychiatric condition, as a part of it is quite behavioral and can be treated with behavioral therapy... part of it.. the other part is neurological and cannot be controled with behavioral therapy... much like anxiety... some of it can be controlled with behavioral therapy, some cannot, but it is still considered a psychiatric condition...

but the thing is most 'psychiatric disorders' including depression are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, and while some of the symptoms can be managed with behavioral therapies, others can only be managed by re'balancing the chemicals that are out of whack, and one way to rebalance the chemicals is through pharmacotherapy.

[KittenAB]

SSRI's are psychiatric medication... they are most often prescribed for depression, so they are depression medications... so in taking them, although not taking them for depression i am subject to the same side effects as other people. OCD is considered a neuro psychiatric condition, as a part of it is quite behavioral and can be treated with behavioral therapy... part of it.. the other part is neurological and cannot be controled with behavioral therapy... much like anxiety... some of it can be controlled with behavioral therapy, some cannot, but it is still considered a psychiatric condition...

but the thing is most 'psychiatric disorders' including depression are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, and while some of the symptoms can be managed with behavioral therapies, others can only be managed by re'balancing the chemicals that are out of whack, and one way to rebalance the chemicals is through pharmacotherapy.

Aaah ... but as we know, physiology among any species varies with each individual, therefore it is possible that many without such alternative ways of thinking also have the same unexpected chemical balances. To say it's imbalanced is to say we know for sure what it's suppose to be, but face it. all they are basing this on is averages. Chaos theory explains this best, that no matter how much we know about something, there are more questions with each answer and more possibilities of life within the universe than we could fathom. But this we do know, people with such alternative thought patterns have existed since humanity evolved, yet we did so without any medication and the impact these thought patterns has only increased recently. Something in our modern way of living is absent from what we once had as a species. Again, this absence is not a bad thing because look at all the wonderful things we do have as a result, but it is a difference in our living methods that has caused this sudden impact increase. The primary change is our survival instinct is almost useless now, there are so few threats to our existence it doesn't kick in as often as it once did, this lull in the triggering of our survival instinct seems (based on the same statistical data scientists use) to coincide with the increased impact of depression and other various alternative thought patterns. Many trigger this instinct artificially, sky diving, bungee jumping, extreme sports of all sorts, hunting even. These artificial triggers work, they work well. I personally have found that I can simulate the effect by setting goals, outrageous ones that I can never accomplish. This drive to complete something no matter how impossible gives me that same feeling a threat to life would.

Here's the reasoning, ever notice that even those who attempt suicide will suddenly fight to survive when faced with danger? Often they will feel that "rush" for some time after. A brush with death seems to actually put suicidal thoughts at bay for extended times. When I went through gallbladder surgery I felt that rush, it was eye opening, I'm still feeling it almost 3 months later. Suddenly I didn't want to die, wasn't afraid of death, just didn't want to do it. I had to face one of my biggest fears head on, or die ... I faced the fear in spite of being suicidal quite often in life. Waking up with a bigger incision mark and knowing something went wrong strengthened my resolve. The nurses were pleased with my recovery even, only three days in the hospital for a 3 hour surgery with bleeding out and a major problems with removal of the organ, may not be a record but it's pretty good. I was walking the first day after surgery to, needed help still but I pushed it. That resolve has kept me from even considering suicide for three months.

Observing things only gives you a small portion of a story though, living them gives you more, and the more times you live them the more perspectives you can get. But medical science doesn't use these insights like they want you to believe, they use statistics, something which time and again have been proven to fail.

Sorry for the long post.

[sarah_ab]

ehhh norms change, society changes... perhaps in 100 years people who aren't depressed will be medicated.. all i know is, i dont want to go through life not sleeping, not being able to work, or laugh, or go to class, or hang out with friends, or do any of the things i love to do, simply because my brain will not co-operate. So forget whats normal and whats not and just look at it from a "is this how i want to spend the rest of my life" scenario.... if it is, then don't seek change, but for many people it is not how they wish to spend the rest of their life... so they seek help, a way to change....