Anyone ever been on 'happy pills?'

[guest123]

Has anyone here every been diagnosed with depression? If so, what pills were you prescribed? Did they make you happy? What was the effect they had on your mind, body, and spirit?

 

I knew someone that had really bad anxiety - so when they went to the doctor, they were prescribed Paxil. This was horrible. They went from being a worry-freak, to not having a care in the world, just lounging around all day, not going to school, not taking fun in activities they once enjoyed.

 

I always hear people talk about happy pills - but do they really make you happy?

[Michael2]

Personally, I am against these type of pills.

 

For about 65 percent of the population there is no need.

 

I guarantee , 8 out of 10 people on this board ( mind you, peiople that are experiencing great deals of pain and loss) do not need medication to get them through the day.

[QTpie87]

no they don't make you happy they just make you deal with things better...like make you think more smooth so you don't flip.

and they can take up to 4 months to work.

[avman]

Sorry Michael2 but I disagree. You can claim that 80% of the people do not need the medication but you have no evidence to back this up. In fact many people DO need these meds to help them through clinical depression.

 

And these are NOT happy pills. What they are is mood stabilizers. They even out the severe swings to prevent you from going into a crashing depression. They don't "make" you happy. You still have to deal with the issues that are causing your depression. This is why you need to combine counseling with the meds in order for them to really be effective.

 

And I personally did not find Paxil effective either. Different people respond to the meds in different ways. Paxil just made me angry. So then I was angry AND depressed. Once they switched me to Celexa things got much better.

[Michael2]

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They are over prescribed. Dont get me wrong, people do need them ,but the media makes them out to be a god send. Chalk it up to the pharmecutical companys bottom line.

[avman]

The Olfson data, indicating that there has been a 50 percent reduction in the use of psychotherapy alone over the 10-year period, probably results from obstacles that insurance companies place as a barrier to obtaining this treatment," says Meyers. He adds that depression is often best treated using a combination of medication and psychotherapy.

 

Straight from your data, this is just what I said. Combine meds AND psychotherapy.

 

Dr. Norman Sussman, a psychiatrist at New York University Medical School who has also studied the effects of antidepressants, says Fava raises several issues in his editorial that have been debated for years. The bottom line, he says, is that antidepressants work.

 

"The literature indicates they're effective, and I have seen them work," Sussman says.

 

He adds some of the clinical trials Fava uses to make his point were more rigidly constructed than a real-life treatment plan would be. Sussman says there's always an element of trial-and-error to antidepressant therapy to find what works best with the least side effects. In clinical trials, he says, researchers can't switch medications mid-trial, but in the real world doctors can adjust the amount of medication given.

 

This is also from your data. This states anti-depressants are effective.

 

Fava does, however, believe that antidepressants have a place in treatment. For patients who need them, he advocates a careful assessment after three months of antidepressant therapy, and then tapering the drug therapy down until the patient is off the medication. At the same time, he recommends cognitive behavioral therapy, lifestyle changes and more traditional well-being therapy.

 

Another quote from your data stating that anti-depressants should be combined with psychotherapy. Which again reiterates what I have stated.

 

None of your data claims that the majority of patients prescribed anti-depressants do not need them.

 

Ok I see you have added some comments. Yes I totally agree they are overprescribed. And the pharmaceutical companies are to blame for lining their pockets. Also the doctors and insurance companies are to blame for not insisting on psychotherapy to go along with them. Point well taken on that part.

[QTpie87]

yup i agree with avman...i think that some people really do need to be on anti-depressants in a lot of cases...and you should use therapy and the pills or you wont really see that big of a difference.

depression is a chemical embalance...and the pills help even it out.

[spring_piston]

i have been diagnosed with depression, and i take prozac for it. i usually require large doses of medcine because they usually have not much effect on me. so i take like 40 mg of this stuff. buy i might as well just be eating a little piece of plastic for all it does. nothing whatsoever. happy pills are a waste. i was almost put on paxil, which is an anxiety medicine designed to calm u down, but after reading that one guy killed his wife and kids while on the medicine, i decided better of it. i dunno, depression just takes time to get over i think.

[Michael2]

You are correct Avman, they work, for people that NEED them.

 

I am just against the pill pushing reps from pharm companies. I didnt mean to dissolve any correlation between depression and anti depressants.

 

They work, they definitely do. You just have to be careful, due to over prescription.

[murrayfaces]

I think the problem here lies in that many people see them as "happy pills", which in fact they are not. This is not MDMA/ecstasy we are talking about. I personally have been prescribed several antidepressants, and anti-anxieties, but take none, but that's just ME. I am choosing to deal with this naturally. Sure, there are many days when I think I may need to take them, or I need to something to help me out a little, I've just chosen otherwise. Let's not make this a huge argument amongst us, as we are here to help one another, and I think that recognizing that this is a touchy subject, maybe let's just agree to leave it up to the professionals - our doctors. You shouldn't be able to obtain these medicines anyway without an RX, so hopefully it is coming from a qualified, trained mental health professional(or an MD).

 

I'm not a doctor, a pharmacist, a pharmacologist, a medical researcher, or a psychiatrist. Nor do I always trust those people, so I've decided that I'm going to try this one on my own for now. I think that's just a decision EACH of us have to make.

[Eh Im Canadian]

Bah, you are mostly all right that these people do need them. It kind of makes me sad, that people need to rely on drugs to stay alive. Seeing old people taking 16 pills a day, just to stay in this world. And these people need to take the pills, not to stop from dying of old age / problems, but from themselves! It almost makes me cry. I can understand why some people need some pills to keep organs functioning, and arteries unclogged, but to stop from killing / hurting themselves? What has happened to them to make them like this. I just seems to happen to more and more people everyday, soon the whole globe will be popping pills every morning, just to stop from killing themselves. I'm not saying it is wrong to take these, it helps so much. Lives are saved, because while the drugs have side effects, they actually change the chemicals in your brain so that you cannot be really unhappy. I would have thought that I would consider this a good thing, but for some reason it just makes me sad. Oh well, I'd have to say the best happy pills would be Placebos. They probably work the best, since most people just take pills for the sake of taking pills.

[Darknova12]

altho i'm sure that theese pills help many ppl, i know 2 ppl personally that had their lives (nearly) ruined by theese pills!!

 

the first was "borderline depressed" they gave him "happy-pills" ...well the pills started casuing psychotic thoughts...so guess what?! they gave him more pills for that...those pills caused insomnia...guess what?! more pills..i believe he was on 9 separate medications before his mother steped in a stoped it....

 

the other was perfectly ordinary, but as usual the school psychiatrist got "pill-happy" over a minor fight (just words, no violence at all) and said his anger was probably from depression...well they gave him pills and he started acting like a 4 yr old...doin things like the hokey-pokey in class.

 

your dealing with very powerful medication, that when used incorrectly etc. (or at all in my opinion) can cuase serious problems, and make ur life even worse...i believe that u should avoid all of this medication unless you have a serious problem (suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts etc.)

 

 

my 2 cents

 

--darknova

[avman]

your dealing with very powerful medication, that when used incorrectly etc. (or at all in my opinion) can cuase serious problems, and make ur life even worse...i believe that u should avoid all of this medication unless you have a serious problem (suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts etc.)

 

I agree with this up to a point. The point being that you must be MONITORED while you are on these drugs. Thats the point of the weekly psychotherapy. You don't just start taking these pills and hope everything gets better. Because it wont.

 

Remember, these drugs aren't meant for normal sad moods. They are meant to help with clinical depression. For me, when I had this I would have crying fits like you wouldn't believe. I'm not talking regular crying. I'm talking about collapsed in a heap, hard to breathe, muscles locked, oblivious to the world around me crying fits. On top of that were the suicidal thoughts and the feelings that everything was worthless and I was way better off dead. The medication stopped the crying fits. There was no way I was going to get better if I kept having those. It evened out my emotions. I was still sad, but I didn't have those crashing lows that made me want to end it all right there.

 

What helped me the most was counseling. I went to a social worker at first and she was worthless. I may as well have been talking to a wall. So I went to a faith based counselor instead. My doctor was very supportive and said as long as you are TALKING thats the key. He told me straight out the drugs would not take my problems away. And that I needed to deal with things outside of medication. But the medication helped even things out enough so that I could work on things. Without it, I couldn't even talk to anyone without going completely to pieces.

 

I dont mean to be harsh, but if you've never felt that level of depression you could not possibly understand how serious it is. You really would do anything to rid yourself of that kind of pain. I agree these medications are overprescribed and given to people with just normal issues and sad moods. Then the medications do nothing and people call them a failure. But in my case, they've literally saved my life.

[Darknova12]

I'm really glad ur ok now avman, and I didnt mean to come off as saying theese medications are a failure, but they are a bit overprescribed and if u dont need em, they can screw u up...

 

I beg u to be careful, possibly get a second opinion before starting a course of medication, and u should absolutely check with ppl like avman, hear about their experiances. etc. I wish u the best of luck in the future regardless if u need pills or not!

 

-- darknova

[fusionoflove]

Since everyone is getting there pills worth in on this post I might as well. Through my personal experience I think that meds can be helpful. People are right when they state that most of the time pills become the frontrunner in recovery.

 

I'm a survivor of rape. To cover it up or to help me cope for over a year I self-medicated with drugs and alcohol. Did it help, on a minute-to-minute basis, yes it did. It allowed me to walk through life like a zombie. I became totally detached from reality and my feeling/emotions. Once I decided to stop abusing, my panic attacks, thoughts of suicide, etc., etc. became worse.

 

Once I entered therapy, things did get worse before they started to become better. About 3 weeks ago, in my therapist's office I told her that I think it was time for me to get on some "happy pills", but mentioned that I didn't really want to. I said this for two reasons. One, look where alcohol/drugs had gotten me. Two, when I feel happy I want to know I feel happy and why I do. I just didn't want to become dependent on anything again.

 

Something happened, I don't know why exactly, but about 3 days later the panic attacks stopped. I haven't had one in about 17-18 days. Sounds crazy just to say it. I was in a habit of having 4-5 a day for well over a year. My point is this, some people need the drugs and some don't. I think that people are always looking for a quick, sure answer to everything. I know I did, but for me I just couldn't let myself get on them. I always looked at them as a last resort.

 

A friend of my mother's who is around the same age as me is also a survivor of rape. They have her on so many different drugs that I can't remember all the names. She went to a psychiatrist on Thursday and they diagnosed her as bi-polar. What the hell? How can she go from being a somewhat normal adult two months prior to the rape to now being diagnosed as bi-polar? I just don't get it. I think that her problem is that both her and her family just want a quick solution to things so anything will do. For God's sake, I checked out the symptoms of someone who is bi-polar. They're practically the same as someone with rape trauma syndrome. Hell, with all the flashbacks she's had or I had I wouldn't be surprised if they diagnosed us with schizophrenia next.

 

The problem with pills is that once they start they are never going to stop. At the same though, I think that if I would faced up to what happened to me, instead of running away meds probably would've helped at the start. But after losing a year of my life to other drugs, I'm reluctant to try any. In some ways, I think that not using meds helped me oh so very much. I was able to experience every range of emotion and thought connected within me. Yeah, it sucks and it really sucked at it's worst. I was a prisoner in my mind and it made me feel like a caged monster. I don't find anything wrong with anyone that wants a little extra boost, but 75% of the time is becomes their entire life.

 

This is just from my own experience.

Take it easy,

Fusion

[acilis2k]

Pills are right for some people, and others not. For examlple I am on prozac after i went through a 4 month depresion period. The pills dont make me happy, dizzy, or feel druged they just make me feel like i did before. But on the other hand my sister took prozac a few years back and she got loopy on it she said it made here feel druged and dizzy and very peped up. she got off of it after a month.the problem is after one bad experiance people are not willing to try other anti-depresants and go around and tell people that they are just "happy pills."

[Cheap and easy]

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Look at MAOI's if you wanna know about them. They are the only ones i know of that are legaly prescribed in australia.

 

I hear some bad things about them, Never though can you base a persons personal experience on them to what you will go through. Metabolisms are different in most people and chemical balances in everyones bodies are different.

 

and yeah i know out of 6 billion people there are gonna be people who have the same metabolisms and chemical balances, but if anyones gonna be that pedantic about the minor issues when this persons just trying to understand what is going on... nah not even worth it.

[Angel21]

My father's side of the family suffers from depression, passed through each generation. Most of my auntie's, uncles, and cousins are suffering from manic depression or bipolar disorder, most are on meds and those who are not are complete alcoholics with no care of putting themselves into an early grave.

 

My father is manic and so is my little sister, recently my little brother was diagnosed, and they have to take different types of medication to chemically balance themselves every day. My sister and brother both see a therapist, all of them struggle daily with the will to survive.

 

Manic depression or bipolarity varies in different degrees from one person to another, and one medication may work great for one and worse for another. Usually, as in our case, a relative/ someone of the same genetic ancestory has been taking a medication for years that works great to keep them balanced, so we were able to start on meds that we knew had a better chance of working. When my auntie was diagnosed with manic depression she went through a year of complete hell trying medications, to really know if a medication is working drs need you on it for a couple months, so her first medication put her into an even worse depression, the second gave her unbarable migrains, and finally started on one that completely balanced herself. We knew to try that medication first for ourselves, my family has been doing well, as long as they don't stop taking their medication.

 

I was recently diagnosed with mild depression and was able to start on medication and start seeing a therapist. I was on the meds for 6mns, then I moved and just stopped taking them for whatever reason, I could barely sleep and would be up for days just crying and feeling more alone then ever before and if I did fall asleep I could barely wake up, to leave my room was an obstacle and all of my positive thoughts were gone, I was so negative about every aspect of my life and had no reason, didn't even know why I felt the way I did, I had completely shut out everyone. After 2mns my sister, my mom, and my fiance were able to get me back on track, I am on my meds regularly and feeling a lot better about my life.

 

There are different degrees of depression, some being quite severe to the point of suicide, some being more mild. I was lucky my depression is not as severe, I am able to stabilize my anxiety and depression with just one prescription. My sister is not as lucky, she has being in the hospital quite a few times for attempting suicide, when she has an episode she loses herself completely, for me it's like watching my sister being possessed, she has described her mania as almost a blackout, like she's having a complete nightmare and has no control over her anger or anything that is going on. When she snaps out of she has broken furniture and holes in the wall to show her that she was not dreaming. She has to take 3 different types of medication to keep herself in balance , so she will not lose control.

 

Medications are not great to have to take, and sometimes people just may need some therapy or counseling to help themselves. To some people medication is the easy way out, no work necessary, well in my own experiences you can take all the medication you want to get better, but until you want to meet it half way, meds are only a temporary effect, you really need to search within youself, to learn, to grow, to be a much stronger you and the medications will help you to want to do that. Like any addiction, until the person suffering wants to help themself (sometimes it's only a very little bit), they will keeping falling, the support of family and friends around them will influence that a bit, let them know they are loved and important and just try and catch them if they fall, me and my family seem to keep catching each other and we keep on raising them up.

 

Quote: "As hard as life may seem to be, pause for one look at another persons life around yourself, then life may not seem to be as bad as you had thought it to be."