How do you not feel shame in taking anti-depressants long-term

We live in the 21st century...If it is available and makes you feel better, just rejoice you do! I resisted Citalopram for years, finally took it and feel so much better...Don't beat yourself up, I certainly won't stop it if I don't have to. Couldn't go back to feeling so worried all the time. We never know how long we have left on this planet, so you may as well enjoy it!!

I am not a writer nor a clinical psychologist, but I believe that my own personal experience of depression, with and without SSRIs is as valid as Johann Hari's. Believe me I have done my own research into the pros and cons, but would much prefer to put my trust in the highly qualified medical professionals who have advised me over the years than in an 'amateur' who is trying to sell a book.

Good point Granny23.

I think it should be remembered that Johann Hari isn’t a scientist or medical doctor, he lost his job as a journalist through plagiarism and went on to denigrate on social media anyone who had criticised him.
I think there is evidence that biochemical, genetic and environmental factors can all contribute to depressive illness.

So sorry, I hadn't noticed this second page! Thank you everyone x

Just read the book and check the references for what he says. It's not just about his opinions.

The Sunday Times treated the book with a degree of scepticsm.

Hello Cuppa,
I agree with the people here who say there is no shame in taking anti depressants as prescribed, but I think Nonnie makes a valid point about checking with the doc. Following a bad accident 2 years ago, I did an online free course about falls and was amazed to find that the number of pills taken by a person can be a contributing factor (along with things like prescription glasses, bad lighting and clutter of course) to falls in later years. Those of us on the course were encouraged to post anonymously on every sub-topic and it was amazing how many people had been on prescriptions for years for things which they either don't now need or need less of. They'd never thought of querying until the hospital specialists and physios running the falls course urged them to check with the medics. It might be worth a check with your doctor, even just to put your concerns at rest. Good advice here though and a very interesting thread, thanks.

Caledonail4 its the same with any illness ,my daughter has fibromyalgia and other debilitating illnesses,the first thing her GP did was prescribe AD's .Now she's taking 23 ...thats TWENTY THREE pills every day.I am sure they must affect each other but the GP wont get her a hospital bed and try to get her off some of them .Meantime she gets sicker and sicker and more things are added to the mix.It infuriates me ,she's bedridden most of the time already NOW they've upped the dose of her AD's ??

There is another thread on the book, which is not one that I think the OP would find helpful. It is always wise to be wary of books that have an axe to grind, as this one has.

I prefer balanced objective scientific inquiry myself.

Your illness is being treated OP and it is not a sign of weakness to take ADs. It is a sign that you recognise that you have an illness and that you wish to take the opportunities that exist for you to stay well.

I wonder if it might help you to seek the help of a counsellor to look at why you find it so hard to accept your need for treatment. I have to say that this sort of negative and self-deprecatory feeling can be a part of the illness itself.

I too take ADs - I have no problem with this. I was once very ill and now I have my life back. I am very thankful indeed for that.

Yes, you're right, Luckygirl, I do have my life back with the tablets, so I think I should just work on accepting this.

Hi Paddyann,
My old boss had fibromyalgia and was haunted by the amount/effects of medication. His wife told me they sometimes found they had far more knowledge of what worked/didn't than the specialists. I do hope your daughter gets some help to look at the dosage and contents of her drugs. Can she ask for a second opinion? I know that is not liked by doctors, but sometimes it can be the thing that makes them think again.

I didn't have to take them for long but, when my marriage broke up, I took zispin for a while, having tried to not use anything up till then. It was a life changer for me and I wouldn't hesitate to tell anyone to use an antidepressant if they needed to. Even though my GP had wanted me to go on them it was only when a friend said to me that, this is where you need to be, this is where you're at, and the tablets will bring up to the level where you can then function normally. When she explained it like that, it made total sense to take them.

Slight deviation - I am trying to get off steroids, it has taken me a year to get from 6mg to 2mg a day (I started on 15mg a day). I would love to be drug free but it is not that easy.

Steroids have side effects, do anti depressants?

Just seen your post Paddyann so sorry for your daughter. My problem is insignificant in comparison with your daughter’s problem.

I take them, and feel no shame whosoever. I have taken then for alot of years.
I am calmer and able to hold down a hard full time job because I take them.

In one psychiatric unit where I worked we used to have people admitted to get them off the drugs for the side effects of drugs for side effects! Sometimes we wondered if all the various prescribes really looked at the poor patients and their notes.
Our very good clinical director arranged for a specialist pharmacist to get involved. We had some surprising results.

Jane 10 I'm convinced the cocktail of drugs she's on is making her worse.She has 3 children and this is affecting them badly too.WHY dont some doctors actually LISTEN to their patients.The latest rise in AD dosage is massive ,doubling her dose.Mind you her doctor is an old school type who didn't think fibromyalgia existed until she was diagnosed at the hospital...only took nearly 3 years .He insisted for a long time it was depression with her that caused the fatigue ,muscle pain etc

Would you feel ashamed if you were a diabetic on insulin ?what’s the difference ? If you need them you need them and good luck
Paddyann I agree with you I think one tablet can work against another and cause more problems than it solves and 23 is an amazing amount can they be sure that there isn’t more harm than good being done would you daughter be open to ‘starting again’ and going back to the beginning and maybe changing her doctor
Its as much as I can do to make myself take a paracetamol i think all these chemicals in our bodies are the plague of outr time we need to find other ways to manage our health if we can

Very hard for your DD to go 'cold turkey' Paddyann and probably risky too. Could she find another GP? A younger more recently qualified one with up to date knowledge and an open mind?

We all get days when we feel down in the dumps and we all get anxious for example, before an exam, going to the dentist etc.

But how do you know when one or the other has taken hold to the effect that you require medication?

Can it be the problem is not shame in the medication but shame in the fact you have a mental health illness?

You can accept medication is needed for diabetics , asthmatics etc, yet not medication for depression ?

A friend of mine's mother was in a frail care facility practically comatose when we would visit. A new younger doctor came to work there, was horrified at her drugs regime, reviewed and adjusted and stopped drugs left, right and centre. She woke up so to speak, and improved so much she moved back into independent living in a flat and had many more years of normal life.

I don't think anyone should go cold turkey off prescribed drugs, I did that with HRT and made myself really ill, learnt a lesson. However that was because the doctor didn't hear me 're the terrible breast pain it was causing.

travelsafar - believe me you do know when you have depression rather than sadness!! The two are entirely different and there is no comparison.

I felt so very ill that I was desperate to make that terrible terrible feeling stop! - whatever it took. It is like nothing else I have ever experienced, dropped on me from a clear blue sky and in the context of a normally positive personality.

Suffering from depression or anxiety is completely different from being depressed or anxious. You can't function at all. You can't sleep, can't eat, can't concentrate..... and it goes on for months...... it takes your life away. With anxiety you can feel like the mad axeman is coming to get you (My doctor's phrase) for no reason at all. ?