Depression sets relationship traps for both partners. Everything can change quickly between two people, and it’s crucial to be able to spot these changes as soon as possible. Here are 11 signs of the illness that seem perfectly designed to undo the bonds of closeness. Humor, talking and doing things together, sharing special moments – […]
Antidepressants: My Personal 10-Point Guide
Trying to get a balanced view of antidepressants is becoming harder by the day. Supporters of antidepressant use shoot down the statements of those activists who reject the use of psychiatric medications. Those activists, in turn, debunk the simplistic claims that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, describe the drugs as useless or worse and go after the pervasive influence of the pharmaceutical companies.
Those who’ve used medications for years are taking sides as well. If your life has either been saved or shattered by these medications, you’ll talk and write passionately about your experience. You want others to get the information that’s guided you, but misinformation is everywhere.
How Does Depression Change You? Can You Ever Be Yourself Again?
Have you ever wondered if multiple episodes of depression change you so much that you’ll never get back to your old self? Most people I hear from say: I want to be myself again. That’s their definition of recovery. Can it happen?
I found an interesting discussion about long-term changes in an online journal called Medicographia. The editors posed a question to psychiatrists and researchers from around the world and printed their responses together.
Here’s the question: Is the patient really the same after a major depressive episode?
I Can’t Let You In
Depression isn’t a one-time disaster in a life relationship. You think you’re through the great crisis, but little by little you feel the weight pressing down again. The stone face that wordlessly says “I can’t let you in” is back. It kept coming back to me and my wife for decades, and each time it […]
Long-Term Antidepressant Treatment: A Strategy for Recovery or More Depression?
The more I get into the research on antidepressants, the more questions I have. In the last post, I raised issues about the endless search for the right medication; the discouraging record of relapse after becoming symptom-free; and the puzzling primacy of antidepressant treatment for an illness with complex causes that go way beyond biology.
Those questions are only the starters. I have even greater concern about long-term antidepressant treatment. Most psychiatrists consider it necessary for severe, recurrent illness, but others – apparently a small minority – are speaking out about adverse effects of using these drugs for prolonged periods.
3 Questions about Antidepressants
If you’re depressed, you will get a prescription for an antidepressant, sooner or later. In fact, medication is likely to be the first treatment you receive, perhaps the only one. Most people are fine with that. They want to feel better fast, and medication seems like the best route. Primary care physicians and psychiatrists prescribe […]
