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But this doctor was doing NO analysis if he was only seeing her for ten minutes. He was just prescribing drugs and asking a few questions for his notes.
For cases of mental illness such as depression or anxiety-related disorders, the norm is to see the pdoc for the meds and a non-MD psychotherapist for talk therapy.
This type of "treatment" where they are only going halfway is the problem.
Exactly! The psychiatrist is basically a doctor who specializes in mental health drugs. The psychologist/talk therapist is the other half of the equation - often the far more important half!
So now I realize that everyone is different, some people may need depression meds. But do you think that maybe we are over medicating people? Maybe medicine is not the cure for depression?
Just want to hear some of your opinions and/or stories.
Honestly I think meds, in MOST situations, are for lazy people.
-If you do not exert yourself physically you might get depressed.
-If you eat poorly, you might get depressed.
-If you stay inside too much, and don't get enough sunlight, you might get depressed.
-If you are under-socialized or over-socialized, you might get depressed.
-Depending on your situation, all sorts of personal HABITS and ENVIRONMENTS in your life will affect your brain chemistry. My amateur recommendation would be to exhaust those options first, before you turn to medication. I mean you'd better be tan, with 7% body fat, and run yourself ragged physically. If you're still depressed, then maybe it's the time to start monkeying with your brain chemistry with medication.
For me, if I'm not allowed to retreat back into my "alone time", oversocialization makes me depressed. In college I lived in a wild fraternity house with 50 people, nothing but drinking and partying, and it was the most depressed time of my life. I tried an anti-depressant for maybe 3 months, before I quit.
Eventually I hit the weight room, and moved out into an off-campus place with some good friends, cut my social circle down to a size where I actually knew and trusted the people around me. We would go out and hang out at the river, or go shoot skeet and ride 4-wheelers on the weekends. My funk lifted, almost completely, and my mental strength has only increased steadily since that transition.
^ I'm going to disagree with your "MOST situations" analysis - though admittedly, it's a question of degrees.
There are a lot of people who, without some kind of medicinal help, will struggle horribly their whole lives. Identifying them as lazy people is not helpful. Some people's depression/mental illness really is beyond their power to control it.
^ I'm going to disagree with your "MOST situations" analysis - though admittedly, it's a question of degrees.
There are a lot of people who, without some kind of medicinal help, will struggle horribly their whole lives. Identifying them as lazy people is not helpful. Some people's depression/mental illness really is beyond their power to control it.
Yes, which I addressed very clearly. Now shoo, before you ruin another thread.
Yes, which I addressed very clearly. Now shoo, before you ruin another thread.
Ahhhh... Sorry, I didn't know you owned this thread.
By the way, you did not address it "very clearly". You cited a bunch of non-medical reasons people fall into depression, and what you did personally to work your way out of it.
My BF was on effexor, he swore it ruined his short term memory. Anyone else have that problem?
I did have a little of that, but what Effexor did to me was gave me horrible withdrawal symptoms if I forgot my dose. Shakes, racing thoughts, sweating. I was on XR but forgot the exact mg dose I was on. It was high though. That was about 7 years ago or so.
^ I'm going to disagree with your "MOST situations" analysis - though admittedly, it's a question of degrees.
There are a lot of people who, without some kind of medicinal help, will struggle horribly their whole lives. Identifying them as lazy people is not helpful. Some people's depression/mental illness really is beyond their power to control it.
And I agree, I'm not here to judge anyone at all. I just notice how fast doctors are to hand out depression meds and I wonder if it is always needed. I think we are over medicating instead of putting time into a patient to analyze them and find a more natural way of dealing with it. Sure many DO need the meds, just as a Cancer patient needs chemo, and that's fine.
And I agree, I'm not here to judge anyone at all. I just notice how fast doctors are to hand out depression meds and I wonder if it is always needed. I think we are over medicating instead of putting time into a patient to analyze them and find a more natural way of dealing with it. Sure many DO need the meds, just as a Cancer patient needs chemo, and that's fine.
I think one of the problems with anti-depressant medication is that doctors are sometimes too hesitant to withdraw it, and tell a patient to not take it any longer.
And that's understandable, in light of the fact that too many people think, "Hey, I feel fine - I don't need these stupid pills anymore!" so they quit taking their meds, and end up in a really really bad spot.
There's also the issue of medical liability. As has been mentioned earlier, woe be to the doctor who withdraws medication, and the patient then goes out and does something violent.
Some people are able to work through their depression and get off the meds, and others aren't. What's really great is that you HAVE been able to work through it! Congrats!
A large majority of kids that I interact with have been diagnosed with depression. And, frankly, they should be, all things considered. Most often though I see it in combination with other diagnosis. I think that the other diagnosis' are often over medicated. I am beginning to believe, and I wonder how I would go about verifying it, that it has more to do with insurance. The talk therapy is very much lacking. They have to find someone they trust and those people will often move on and they have to start over. Sometimes they are moved from placement to placement. I wonder if it is more of a: Yes, your life sucks and its going to continue to suck for a very long time AND it is going to be cheaper if we just medicate you because your not going to get what you need. I can see it, but I can't say aha! you slimy bastards.
A large majority of kids that I interact with have been diagnosed with depression. And, frankly, they should be, all things considered. Most often though I see it in combination with other diagnosis. I think that the other diagnosis' are often over medicated. I am beginning to believe, and I wonder how I would go about verifying it, that it has more to do with insurance. The talk therapy is very much lacking. They have to find someone they trust and those people will often move on and they have to start over. Sometimes they are moved from placement to placement. I wonder if it is more of a: Yes, your life sucks and its going to continue to suck for a very long time AND it is going to be cheaper if we just medicate you because your not going to get what you need. I can see it, but I can't say aha! you slimy bastards.
You're definitely onto something, regarding the insurance. Insurance will pay for a kid to see a psychiatrist, but often won't pay for the kid to see a good counselor/therapist.
Regarding kids... I have to wonder what difference it might make if there were no computer games, or Wii, and kids just spent more time running around and playing outside.
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