I don\'t like having to rely on medication but I am finally at the point where I know I will have to probably the rest of my life.

I didn\'t like how the medication made me feel at first...I didn\'t feel like..me.. but after a while I felt much better.

I still have times that are difficult but I am alot better on my medication.

I guess for me I thought I could control my moods and felt weak if I needed medication.

Hey there
Thanks for your reply...so many of my patients feel the way you do..that is it \"weak\" having to take a med...most believe depression is rational and you can talk yourself out of it so to speak. I also think SSRI\'s were stigmatized in the mid to late 1990\'s. Now that we know more about depression (from imaging like PET scanning and good clinical trials) and the poor prognosis associated with chronic untreated depression it appears antidepressants +/- therapy (cognitive behavioral psychotherapy) is the way to achieve remission. I really appreciate your input as should others...remember in developed countries depression is the number 1 cause of disability.
dr o.

I think there is a stigma attached to going on antidepressents. I didn\'t want to go on mine the first time and when I felt better I immediately went off of them. I didn\'t really tell anyone either. I think I felt a little bit better about going on Lexapro for postpartum depression. Like it wasn\'t my fault. Weird. It\'s like you can\'t handle your own emotions, you feel helpless and it\'s not something you want to face or you think you can control it on your own without drugs.


I\'m begninning to wonder if I needed them at all. We are about to go through IVF and I\'m on birth control pills right now and I haven\'t felt this good in a long time (I\'m off the Lexapro). Seems like my issues were hormonal or something. Does that make sense? Isn\'t that what postpartum depression is about? Hormones?

Monica... I\'ve read that hormones DO play alot with depression, I really wish that was my problem but it\'s so great that there is medication to get women through the rough spots if it is hormonal.

I hate being on any kind of medication...in fact when I first start taking an RX I get all freaked out and am afraid to sleep the first night because I\'m scared of side effects and that I won\'t wake up... it\'s a phobia I believe...lol.. I used to know that name of the phobia.

You\'re very fortunate and I\'m happy for you.. that is great you found the problem! I\'ll have to stay on my meds cuz not only will I be misserable, I\'ll make everyone else around me unhappy and worried.

Good googly moogly... our bodies are so complex aren\'t they?

I concur with Dr. O and I am happy that she elaborated about the medical aspects of depression. While it is certainly true that there are often circumstantial reasons for depression, such as loss or life stressors, many times the origins are physiological and like any medical problem may require the use of medication to treat. I often see patients in my practice who have suffered with depression that can\'t be simply talked through. In fact, the work of therapy can be greatly stymed by untreated depression and once medication is introduced the patient is better able to deal with their feelings and set clearer goals. There should be no shame around the need to use meds for depression in the same way that people don\'t feel shameful about taking aspirin for a headache. It is my hope that as people become educated about how anti-depressant meds work and how frequently they are prescribed the stigma around their use will be diminished.

I was just talking to my husband about this last night. His dad and my dad are on Paxil and they take their selves off whenever b/c \'they\'re men and they don\'t need no dern medicine\"(my impression of my VERY southern daddy). But I know people that are TOTALLY opposite, too. They think that medicine and ONLY medicine will help. Whrn they don\'t get better in a day, they switch. Is this normal??

I think somewhere in the middle there is a balance. Personally, I resist taking medications of any kind. Partly because of my stubborn independence - I grew up in a rural area, so Dr.s are more for serious injury and life-threatening situations, not to \"feel better\". I also resist medications because my mother is one of those who thinks there is a pill to fix anything, and Lord knows what concoctions she gave me, and what damage has already been done to me. She told me I once swallowed a half a bottle of aspirin, so I could have some liver damage already. Also, as difficult as it is for Dr.s to admit, a lot of drugs have at least some possible life-threatening side effects, although their incidence is usually pretty rare. And it is an ego boost for them to be able to hand you a prescription and make things all better. Ultimately, it is important for you to inform yourself. I just commented on this in the \"Prozac or Zoloft\" topic.

thanks for the info.. i'm gonna look for it...jaime

I highly recommend this book as well.

i have been on and off treatment most my life...doesnt seem to help in the long run

I do not want to accept treatment. I do not want a doctor to tell me something is wrong with me and I don't want a doctor to tell me nothing is wrong with me. I do not want to take medication. I am taking birth control and I find that dangerous enough. Seeking treatment made me feel weak, hypocritical and melodramatic. I find it embarrassing. I am also worried that a doc will listen to me complain and think, gee my last patient lost a child and is rightfully upset, this patient is self-loathing and throwing a pity party and she has no idea how good she's got it. I'm afraid of judgement and I'm afraid of the stigma associated with depression. I am afraid I will use my condition to make excuses in my life even though I know that ultimately I am responsible for my mistakes and not my depression. Quite frankly, some days I honestly feel I don't need treatment. This inconsistency makes it hard for me to make a decision and stick with it. One day i think treatment might help the next day I'm in a better mood and I think I'm beating this thing. I'm always wrong.

I think they may be in denial about it and they don't believe it will happen to them.

How would you define comorbid depression? I have not being diagnosed with depression because I have yet to speak to a doctor about it. I tried to once while I was in college and I explained the anxiety and stress that came with it and the doctor told me she would not give me drugs and advised me to go to a therapist. I was losing my insurance and I could not afford a doctor or weekly sessions. The depression is so horrible now, 3 years after I spoke to that physician. I am so horribly bad off I am about to quit my job and stay with my boyfriend whom offered to support me while I get help. I feel humilated and scared. I think I would need therapy for the rest of my life and I am not convinced I can fix myself.

I personally, for reasons not many understand, like to be depressed.It's not the pain I love, it's the fact that I'm not one of the others.

I guess I feel bad for people who haven't been through anything.I would rather be depressed than blissfully ignorant.I've noticed most of my friends on medications stop having philosophical conversations or thoughts and after a brief period of being happy, get MORE depressed.

Also, therapy just isn't my thing.I don't like the idea of paying someone to hear you out.I have radical friends for that.

Great book!