jkb

Mtn-
Read your blog/reply. It seems you had a terrible time and I am sorry. I cannot take anitdepressants. You know how the warnings on the commercials say "...if you become agitated or angry.." well I tried to strangle my boyfriend once in his sleep (and me half asleep) while taking zoloft. The benzos on the other hand.. well I dont know Panic Attacks are rough....Psch drugs in general are unpredictable. jkb

bbthumper

I cant speak for everyone, but I personally have never met someone whose life did not improve greatly after applying the 12 steps to their life.

jennikate

I utilize both. I don't necessarily feel a difference but my husband can tell within a few days of my stopping them. He'll comment that something isn't right. So for now, I'll continue.
As for AA, I too feel that anyone truly working the steps will have an improved mental state. I sure do.
Ultimately, if I had to give up one, the pills would be out. AA is part of my life forever.

MyTimeNow

Luckily here, we don't get commercials as we can only get medicine prescribed by a doctor. I say luckily as if I were in a position to self medicate that way I could not see it ending well.

With regards to the other posts. I think peace of mind can be achieved without AA or indeed AD's. It may not look like that from my last post (blog) but it's something that has been dealt with. I've had counselling (good) psychotherapy (bad) and CBT (very good) throughout the course of my lifetime and I build on those. I'm also an old hippy. I take joy in the sunrise and the sunset, I appreciate the spring, the autumn, the seasons and all that comes with them.

I'm learning from friends here how to stop the Grand Prix that is my mind and centre and relax... (just writing those words has given me pause to (not) think)

I'm quietly confident that I can achieve contentment with my life.

TrixMixer

Thank You was not enough, Anna!

I hate when people go all "Scientology" on you. Like antidepressant's are evil. I would not be alive today if it were not for my wonderful doctor working with me to find the right drug.

Some people do not need therm, agreed, but they are lifesavers for others.
Thank you for your input, I would not have said it as well.

TrixMixer

Prayer does not seem silly to me, but as you said, to some it is. What would you suggest someone who is not spiritual do in place of seeking medical help--and not Benzo's?

....and let me ask you this if you have appendicitis and within 74 hours your appendix will burst if it is not removed--would you tell that person prayer will correct that problem? My point being, for some , they have a bad appendix (chemical imbalance) and no amount of prayer is going to help relieve that problem. Sometimes prayer is not enough. I feel we should at least keep an open mind when it comes to anti-depressants to correct what prayer alone cannot.

Would you agree?

Coldfusion

You show a sober date of 2-2-2013. Do you think your addiction affected the Zoloft and your behaviour?

MyTimeNow

It doesn't have to be all or nothing for everybody.

Some people, I thought I was going to be one of those and resigned myself to it - AD's for life. Nothing wrong with that.

Nothing wrong with prayer either (I don't pray)

Nothing wrong with trying all of the above and a healthy lifestyle plus counselling.

I'm 37 and have just experienced my first meditation experience. If I knew now what I did when I was 18...

Everybody is different.

Joe Nerv

That's a tough one. For many reasons. A lot of other ailments and diseases are much more clearly defined. Removing ones appendix will absolutely solve the problem, nobody will debate it... But the antidepressant thing isn't as clear cut. People talk a lot about chemical imbalances, but no psychiatrist I ever went to checked my brain chemistry. Nor anyone else I know who's on ADs. There's a ton of guesswork involved, and I truly believe a huge percentage of people who believe they need antidepressants, could find other, more healthy alternatives. That doesn't apply to everyone, but it applies to many. And I don't think our society is becoming healthier because of these scientific advance, I believe it's becoming more dependent... And I believe it has a lot of other negative effects I won't get into.

My conviction with all this again comes from a great deal of personal experience. I've known panic that is truly indescribable, and depression that nothing in the outer world could possibly fix. I was a completely useless being who couldn't get to the corner store to buy a quart of beer to get off the couch. I literally cried and begged my brother to do this for me.

I have recovered from that. I'm completely free, and while it took more than a year, I'm sure it would have been much longer had I been medicated. There are things I don't have time to get into that would have been impossible on medication.

There are also lots of things outside the idea of "god" that I could write about, but not now. Will elaborate when time allows...

Dee74

I think this thread will work best if we stick to our experience and keep away from hypotheticals and opinions on what others should do...the latter will almost certainly impinge on the no medical advice rule.

Thanks
D

Joe Nerv

My apologies for somewhat crossing that line... Will stay out of this until I'm in a setting where I can more thoughtfully respond.

jkb

Well...idk... that was two years ago... I never took an anti-d again. I was one of those peolple who reacted VERY badly to them. However, I never needed them again either thankfully. I am a pretty optomistic type by nature. At the time I had just dealt with a "traumatic incident" and the depression was very situational. I know a lot of people who take them and they do help. A close friend of mine (in recovery for 8 years now) swears that anitdepressants saved his life and I believe him.