I must agree, if its helping you, why would you want to get off of it?

Maybe. Some people stay on anti-depressants for the rest of their lives.

That's.. Pessimistic I'm with 1 that OP will be off them soon

Pills... And more pills... If you don't like that, go to a psychogist maybe, and try different ones. They take a different approach.

Maybe not too soon.

the movie "It's Kind of a Funny Story" is definitely something you should watch. it's about a kid who battles depression too and how therapy and such helped him through. maybe you can relate to this and feel better?

Smoke some bud. That'll make you happy lol

98: Anywhere else your comment might be funny, but you are nothing short of a ******* idiot for suggesting that the OP treat a serious illness by self-medicating, you ******* idiot.

111 - you beat me to it, I was going to say the same thing.

Hate to be "that guy" but depression is one thing treated by cannabis in states where it's legal.

#17 is right after I should know since I will be on anti depresstion for my whole life since my brain doesn't make serotonin naturally

C134: It's not "legal" in any state, only decriminalized--except for legally prescribed marijuana, in which case you're using it under the supervision of a doctor. The problem isn't weed; the problem IS prescribing your own medication.

Jesus what got your panties in a wad? Take a joke

There actually is, not only because you must have something wrong with you to have the meds perscribed, but also because of potential side effects.

Exactly 72. medication dosn't solve your problems, it only hides them. If your psychiatrist is giving you meds and not trying to figure out why you 'need' them then you should find a new one, because he obvously doesn't care about you

There is a thing called a chemical imbalance in the brain. Google it.

72 & 80: It's dangerously naive to assume that medication can't help the OP or anyone else. It's a useful tool for combating depression and other mental illnesses. 81: The "chemical imbalance" theory has long been known to be a scientific fallacy. Drug companies use this theory to explain how their products work, but it's a gross oversimplification of brain chemistry. That said, relying on medication alone is a foolish way to approach any mental illness. Point is: depression should always be taken seriously, and sufferers should always consider seeking both medication and talk-therapy as treatment. Also, always speak to professional practitioners--it's dangerous to try to treat yourself!

Thank you for all of your wisdom. Silly me... Chemical imbalance.. Next time I will be sure to pinpoint the exact areas of the brain and neurotransmitters that are affected.

120: Excellent plan, Dr Sarcastic.

"There's nothing wrong with needing a little medication"? Putting synthetic chemicals in your brain and body kind of bothers some people. Do research on SSRIs and their horrible side effects.

141: If synthetic chemicals are what you're worried about you'd best take off for Antarctica or the moon, because everyplace else nearby is already totally contaminated: your food, your water, all the streams and rivers and lakes and oceans, and all the plants and animals. Some of the worst culprits are synthetic estrogens leaching from plastics over the past 60 years: these have been linked to massive drops in the fertility levels of animal species around the world... It's scary shit. If you're not ready to give up civilization and technology yet, then chill out about SSRIs. No, they're not perfect, and yes, they have side effects--but that doesn't mean they can't be used safely nor that they aren't useful in some cases. Moderation mixed with expert supervision is the best policy for your health.

^^ this ^^ I'm speechless. Well said sir

Because they're trained and experienced doctors...

Congrats on having the strength to do that. :)

Uhm, if you take yourself off of meds there could be some serious consequences. Not everyone reacts the same after taking medications that affect your brain. If anything you can go into a deeper depression. Listen to your doc.

Unless you have had to take medication like that, you don't know the feeling. I felt weak because I had to rely on the stupid medications and honestly they didn't even help. I was better when i didn't take them. It doesn't sound that bad but I hated it so much. I agree, most of the time you should listen to your doctor but sometimes listen to your body.

Stopping any medication, especially the SSRI family of antidepressants without the consultation of a doctor can be very dangerous. Anywhere from headaches to seizures or worse.

Actually SSRI's, SNRI's and MAOI's are all non-addictive substances. What you may be referring to is the psychological effect known as SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome, which a platitude of double-blind experiments have proven has very little neurological basis. Even then however symptoms are never so severe as seizures and typically include things like dizziness, electric shock-like sensations, sweating, nausea, insomnia, tremor, confusion, nightmares, and vertigo.

Medications didn't help me, instead I almost killed myself with them. I dind't stop taking them because I had the "strenght" to do it, but becuase that I was smart enough to understand that I don't need stuff that prevents me from feeling stuff. It's not like they take away the pain and the things that saddens you. Oh, and those shitty psychiatrist just gave me stronger medications and bigger doses when I told them they didn't help. When I was sent to a new doctor, he agreed that it was better to just stop if I felt it didn't help, that to eat a shitload of medications for no good reasons. It's just that some doctors aren't good enough for anything else than writing recepies for medications.

This just happened to me yesterday. I stopped taking my ssri for 3 days, because of a chemical reaction with an antibiotic. The consequences were horrible I swear. I've just been to the doctor and I'm weaning myself off. Guys don't ever just stop our medication, you'll wish you were dead.

Do you know what you're talking about? Have you ever experienced something like this? If you haven't, don't just read the books. The books don't mean shit unless you've been through it.

78: I've been where you are. Just know that it's going to get better...but don't discount the use of medications altogether. There are a lot of different meds with a lot of different effects, which can be very useful. Unfortunately, as you know, some doctors rely on chemical prescriptions instead of providing actual care. I don't know what issues you've had to deal with, but my advice is to think twice about trusting any opinions about your care...including your own opinion. I wish you the best of luck!

78 - did you wait at least 6 weeks? They take that long to kick in. If you didn't, and just decided to stop taking them, you gave up too soon. If you did wait six weeks before quitting, I would try again with maybe a different family of medicines. It took me three tries to get the right mix

As a matter of fact I do know what I am talking about and believe me any "withdrawal" symptoms that you may have been experiencing were most likely linked to factors besides the medication. That is unless you were on anti-anxiety meds opposed to anti-depressants. Anti-depressants, specifically SSRI's act to prevent the re-uptake of the hormone serotonin. They do this by blocking the receptor sites so that the serotonin stays in circulation and allows you to feel better. Even if there were adverse side-effects to quitting this process (I assure you there are not) the pills work in a time release which would naturally ween you off anyways. Aside from being a graduate-level psychology student I have used medication in the past to treat depression and I do have first-hand experience. What you might be experiencing is more of a placebo effect where, because you expect side-effects you "experience" them.

Such a rebel, you.

Mifflicious-- I went to several psychiatrists after gettin diagnosed with PTSD. I got Celexa (antidepressant) and atenolol (heart med & anti-anxiety med). They both didnt have any noticeable effect except make me a zombie. I was never in a good mood or a bad mood. When i pulled myself off both, and without my doc's approval, people were tellin me i should listen to the doc and stay on the meds. People were sayin im mentally ill. When i got off the meds and lost my temper a few times, people thot it was coz i shud be on the meds...when really it was coz i forgot how to control anxiety and anger. Now, I'm free from PTSD according to doctors. And no drugs. I tell my friends to get off their meds (zyprexa, lithium, halidol, etc) all the time. People need to realize PHARMA's goal and need to fix their diet & exercise regimen.

135: You're right: meds will never cure someone of mental illness...but curing isn't really what the meds are good for (no matter what some drug companies' will try to make you believe). The meds can TREAT SYMPTOMS so that people can learn to deal with their "bad" ways of thinking and behaving that are causing the problem. You learned to deal with maladaptive thoughts, and thus you got through PTSD without meds. That's great, man! But others' cases arent necessarily the same as yours--it's dangerous to assume that meds aren't helping those people. If you want to help your friends, tell them to confront their thoughts...then maybe they'll be ready to kick the meds sooner too.

If you're going to go off your meds you MUST wean down slowly. Half and quarter the pills if you must. And take at least 3 weeks for your body to adapt to each new dose level. Sadly, many docs are not trained to get you off your meds safely. In fact in my country most are taught that psyc meds are a lifetime treatment. They do not believe the brain can heal.

Just because they broke down crying doesn't mean they need to be medicated, some people are just extremely emotional and doesn't mean they are depressed and need to take a chemical substance to improve their life. Those medications can actually cause more bad then good such as creating suicidal thoughts that some people may act on. This is just my opinion of course some people may have a different opinion.

True. Or they need meds. I'm gonna go with the second option

Yeah!! And depression makes it harder for some people to cry!!!!

They worked for me and going off them earlier than I should have just made things worse. If OP needs them, then s/he needs them. That's nothing to be ashamed of.

It is true that the wrong antidepressant can make your symptoms worse. And just because the pills are prescribed to you doesn't mean you HAVE to take them. Clearly OP needs to be on something.

You don't just 'stop' taking them. The withdrawals are horrible. I felt like a heroin addict or something.

nuh-uh. I made that mistake when I was on Prozac and the withdrawal was VERY bad. It makes you feel worse and just thinking about it makes me sad. but for OP they should stay on their medication or slowly ween off of it. you can't just stop cold turkey. Meds do help mood a lot; unfortunately they don't get rid of the problems in your life

Wow, there you go again for a second time telling him/her to "just stop taking the pills" and "congrats for being able to stop taking them". Do you know this person? How in the world can you tell him/her to stop taking a prescribed medicine? Are you a doctor? I bet not. So drop it!! It's obvious op needs the meds, maybe not the ones he/she is taking, but he/she must need something or the DOCTOR wouldn't have prescribe them to him/her.

I apologize, you told someone else congrats. However, my position stands, you shouldn't be telling people to stop taking meds and praising the ones who do.

Stopping the meds is a freaking longer process than just "stopping". It's a lot harder than you think because you've grown dependent on them. We do praise the people who have been able to stop, if they can get through it, good for them. The side effects and withdrawals make you feel like a hardcore addict and it's not fun. This is pissing me off when people don't know what they're talking about. If you HAVE NOT experienced it, don't say anything.

I wasn't telling anyone to stop, I suggested that she could. She obviously wants to. As well as congratulating the other person, the meds were doing her no good at all and ceasing to take them had a positive affect. She almost killed herself while taking them. Honestly, we just have different opinions. Only I'm respecting yours.

Wow -23!! Wtf!! Since when did people get so ignorant about the mental health industry?? Fact: Each student who has drawn and fired a weapon in school was prescribed an Anti-Depressant or Anti-Anxiety. Meds are very detrimental. Wake up people. Look at who is profitting from the mental health industry!

88) you need to stop assuming that your particular experience can represent every possible outcome. I understand and agree with your opinion but you're getting just as bad as the people you're condemning.

Just stop.

137: You wrote "look at who is profiting from the health industry!" lol. The answer is "the health industry" obviously. That's not a bad thing...it's just something that needs to be balanced with the public interest. Every kid who every shot someone at school was on meds? Bullshit and illogical. It's bullshit because there've been school shootings since long before there were meds, you just wouldn't hear about it all over the media. It's illogical because you're implying that kids on meds shoot other kids at school, which obviously isn't true in 99% of cases.

No.. Not good for you. You shouldn't ever take anti depressants for a bad mood

Since there is documentation on the fact that 50% of people diagnosed with a depression are not depressed I see no reason to take medication, espescially when it comes to teens and young adults, where the amount of misdiagnosed patients skyrocket. Lots of people apparently need medication for beeing in puberty...

Antidepressants are not for people who are depressed for little things like breaking up with your boyfriend. If this is what makes you depressed, obviously do not take them. Antidepressants are for people with severe depression that are results of chemical imbalances of the brain.

?? I'm getting thumbed down why?? I was being serious and sympathetic Except for the video game one, I was joking on that one