I was recently told by a therapist to start medication for major depression/anxiety.

I lash out all the time over the stupidest things and feel like shit afterwards. I question everything I do and end up not doing anything.

I only spoke to this woman for 45 minutes before she told me I should start on xanax straight away. I feel like I was kind of written off. "Feed her some pills, she'll get better", type of deal.
Personally I see medication to be a last resort after you have exhausted all possible issues/causes with a professional counsellor/therapist.

Anyways, I wanted to ask the GS.c public.
Did antidepressants help you? Or do you feel like they were more of a band-aid?
Have you noticed an improvement?
Do you think that if the doctor tells you to wean off them that you'd just crash right back down again?

That's what I'm afraid of.

Thanks.

hey man, as a person who has social anxiety disorder i can say the meds do help. Xanax tho is very very very addictive make sure u take it ONLY when u need it and not daily regardless what the directions say. Dont combine it with other drugs as this well make it behave as a sedative and finally consult your MD b4 coming off of xanax as it has been known to have horrible withdrawal effects.

Ive tried quite a few anti-anxiety meds. I don't think i will ever not need them my anxiety is so bad i've had sitcoms trigger it. I have tried to do without in the past and even tho my superior will can cope there are still subtle changes in my behavior. I become withdrawn irritable ect.

I have resolved myself to taking them for the rest of my life along with all the other stuff you will find yourself taking as you grow older. If you want to be med free try therapy or religion.

It's different for everyone, I'd say. I was depressive (undiagnosed at the time, probable in retrospect) for about two years and though I struggled through it without meds, my grades went down the crapper and maybe I could've avoided some miserable periods. At the same time the bad decisions I made and what I went through was a learning experience of its own.

Some people very close to me have been on meds for depression & bipolar disorder (diagnosed) and made the decision to get off them because the meds were hurting, not helping. They're doing fine now, but at the same time I know other people who've benefited a lot from meds. You've got to decide what's best for you.

Agreed with Saiya though-- at all costs, only take them as directed...or less! Sometimes you might hope they can solve everything at once, and they don't-- they only give you a boost, and in the end you still have to make changes to your life yourself.

if you ever need anyone to talk to, AIM: Celiraofwind (IMG:http://www.glowsticking.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

they helped me, but they are addicting, and hard to get off of. if you get on them, your going to have to deal with getting off them later.

so basically they postpone your depression untill you can deal with it better.

start dissecting your life to try to figure out what's making you so upset. i think that situational depression is waay too often diagnosed as chemical depression. but i'm not a doctor. having something like xanax on hand for panic attacks is useful but benzo dependency is probably not something you'd want to be nurturing in the long run.

ssri's i'm opposed to because they only treat symptoms not underlying causes and are difficult to get off of. my recommendation is taking a more meditative approach to being sad.

ALSO, that seems to be what psychiatrists like to do; that's the same thing that happened to me. they prescribe an ssri and shoo you out the door. bummer you're feeling down, man. but i think you can work through it!

I really just wanted to talk to a therapist who could help me look at my issues, not have pills shoved at me on the first visit. That's what put me off so much. I have no doubt that they help a lot of people, but I don't think it's for me. At least not at this stage in life.
I'm seeing another doctor who will hopefully find me a therapist who won't tell me off the bat to take some pills.

Thanks everyone for the advice (IMG:http://www.glowsticking.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

im so incredibly against all those pharmacutical meds.
honestly i know were not supposed to talk about drug use on here.
but its true DMT works amazing.

i mean for almost two months i was thinking of killing myself, and what do you know one use and i was better.

alot of those drugs cause more problems than they solve.
the amount of damage they do to your heart and liver.
just gah i hate it.

i havent been on anything. i was told so many times to be. but yea never did.
and i hate doctors like that even more.
like wtf 45 minutes and you know? thats it no test? no further work? just right away DRUGS?
i still feel all this garbage is just for them to make more money. i bet like the more people the perscribe meds to. the bigger their salary will get.

what he said ^^^

Awesome, a thread on this. I was actually thinking about getting some sort of help with my anxiety. I'm undiagnosed and I've never seen a therapist but I have some straight up serious stress issues. I freak out about anything and everything. I also felt like taking medication would be last resort for me but the stress is starting to affect me in other medical ways and I feel like I should get some help ... immediately.

Well I guess I should share my experience, because I am on the fence that antidepressants can be a wonderful, amazing tool necessary to help you get your head straight when your life seems a bit "fuzzy," ya know?

After I had my daughter I was in a bad mindstate. Coupled with a shitty relationship, I was in a personal hell. I could not see how bad I was, but others could. I was moody, stressed as hell, I LOVED parenthood but that was about all that I really could do without feeling like I was about to freak out. I went out and danced, I went to poetry readings, I did things for me but my head was far from clear.

I went to the doctor and they diagnosed me with post postpartum depression. I was advised to take medication coupled with therapy because of the severity of PPD and how I could unintentionally hurt my child. I do not believe that it was a "lets give this girl drugs!" deal, I truly do understand the severity of PPD and why medication is a MUST with severe PPD. I took zoloft, which really was a lifesaver. I could concentrate, I was able to enjoy myself and my daughter, and it cleared my head enough to have me leave the shitty relationship I was in. I kicked ass in school because I didn't feel like shit, and I stopped lashing out at others. For a few months my doctor advised me to get my head and life in order, and get into therapy. I was advised not to stop medication until my life was on a set, clear path, and then I would taper down my dosage.

I took the medication for about 9 months, and then I got off the meds. I haven't needed them since, but would not hesitate to go back on them again if needed in a heartbeat. I think they are necessary and shouldn't be condemned as many people do.

I do think it shouldn't be a "OMG Im having a bad day, give me drugs" deal, but if there is a mental problem which is effecting your quality of life, medication can help and should be looked at as an option. I will never regret my choice, Im glad I was on the medication, it allowed me to enjoy the best months of my life.

I am allergic to most anxiety meds, so I had to find more natural ways to calm down. My suggestions are two fold. First, keep a pair or two of ear plugs near by. If a situation gets heated, leave the area, pop them in, and just chill somewhere else for a bit. Extract yourself from the situation, and look at how it could have been handled differently. If no change can be surmised, be happy with that.

The second suggestion is to take melatonin as a regular dietary supplement. It's risks are non-existent, and helps with several mental and emotional swings. Please talk to your doctor before taking any medication, even melatonin. It has helped a ton of my issues.

Otherwise, if you need a prescription, I recommend doing so under very controlled circumstances.

I think people are so quick to prescribe meds if something's wrong, in more cases than just depression. Too many people think all you need is a pill to fix things.

I don't doubt that there are many people out there who benefit from these drugs, but I don't think everyone who's on them now actually needs them.
Personally I think a lot of teenagers who get put on meds for depression and such probably don't need them. Maybe this is just something hormonal? I mean, you're going through puberty, your body is experiencing so many changes and you are starting to have more responsibilities in life. It can be tough. I really don't think the brain should be messed with when it comes to prescription drugs unless you're really sure you could use/need them.

Like I've said before...if it is a matter of stress causing this anxiety then you need to do three things:

1. Try to remove yourself from as much as possible. If you can push a responsibility or something off on someone else so you don't have a heart attack or brain aneurism at the age of 18 then do it. Just be polite about it and say "hey, I'm super busy and stressed out can you please help?" People understand...trust me

2. Do something to relieve stress! I start every day by running...and then eating twice the calories I burned because I'm a fat ass, but thats neither here nor there. Try exercise, or like NeoMeeko said...dance or another hobby. I like the exercise because you can REALLY just let out anger and frustration that way...maybe join a gym and hit the punching bag for 30 minutes a day.

3. Surround yourself with positive energy. Don't put up with negative energy flow...if you are already frustrated and stressed out the last thing you need is another person telling you how/where you messed up or making you feel bad. Seriously just tell them to talk to the hand (yep said it). Think of how much more relaxing it is to just escape and go to the park with a couple friends or enjoy a drink and a movie with a loved one. You have every right to be happy just like everyone else...if they aren't happy then they shouldn't be trying to bring you down too.

I don't like Rx meds...anxiety and depression meds made me feel like a zombie. I had no emotion, couldn't have fun and I'd come home from work and lay down in bed for an hour before going to sleep at 6. There are other healthy ways of dealing with stress, anxiety and sadness. Rarely do you find a drug that fixes the problem and doesn't cause another..."oh you have ADHD here is some aderrall." Awesome! Now I have no appetite, increased sweating, problems sleeping, constantly anxious and overly outspoken...but I do my homework. Personally, I'd rather just take an extra hour to get my work done than put up with those side effects.

If you do get prescribed medication I think that it's important to couple that with therapy, so that you associate changes you make in reality with the chemical changes in your brain.
A therapist can talk you through life issues causing your anxiety- and maybe dispel some worries that just needed to be talked out.

to be honest with you i had awful ugly anxiety and meds did help 4 like 3 months and then i started getting just hooked on the pills i was becoming dependent on the pills everytime i would just start feeling wierd..
so i just quit the pills and just started focusing on things i like to do and just focus on hat and not in how i am feeling..well it helped..now i am not as bad as i use to be..i am way better than before and without the pills..
i still have anxiety once in a while to the point i break down but that only happens like once evry six months when somehting really crazy scared me or stressed about but then i listen to music and it changes everything or if u have someone to talk to it helps...
but trust me just have other things distract you...
it works..meds are not as good as ppl say you just become realy dependent on them...