wpainterw

Augustwest:
I'm a little confused. It is hard for me to separate "addiction" from "chemical dependency". Once chemical dependency has begun it has been customary to refer to the patient as having become "addicted".
In any case I am interested that, although some of those who responded to this thread said that they drank while taking antidepressants, no one seemed to indicate whether their physician customarily took urine samples while prescribing antidepressants. If alcohol is a depressant, do antidepressants really work on someone who is drinking? Do they work on persons who are taking prescriptions for bipolar medication? If the physician did not take urine samples, then was it naive to assume that the patient was telling the truth when he or she said she was not drinking? And if someone spends money for antidepressants and drinks is the money spent for antidepressants a poor use of funds? Like buying ice cubes at the South Pole or stocking up on firewood in the Belgian Congo?
Incidentally, one of the "reasons" I got into drinking when I was relatively young was something I haven't disclosed yet (Now the truth can be told!). When I was a lad I was very shy with women (back in those days we were allowed to call them "girls"). When I had a few drinks I found that that shyness disappeared. The more I drank the more interesting women became! Thankfully we did not use the term "to party" back then. But that's what we did! Thus began a lifetime of adventures, both good and, predictably, many of them bad!

W.