Medicating Grief

[Halsyon]

Hello,

 

I did an (admittedly brief) archive search for this topic and didn't find much, so I don't *think* I am being repetitive here. But if I am, apologies and it can be taken down.

 

Something I've noticed in my own personal life is people being given antidepressants for grief. I have known four people personally who have lost a loved one, and who were prescribed a drug for their mood while grieving (and these are just the people who have disclosed this to me). This is absolutely baffling to me. Grief is a normal reaction to loss. They do have a supposed diagnosis of "complicated grief" as well, but that is considered protracted and debilitating grief (and who knows how valid the diagnosis is, like so many other mental "illnesses"). But at least one of these people I know had only been grieving the death of his wife for a few months when he was put on an SSRI; the other people, I'm not sure. 

 

This disgusts me. Why are doctors giving drugs to people experiencing a painful but universal and normal part of being human? Should we all be drugged to get through the inevitable grief we will experience in life? This is a rhetorical question. It's just, this realization hit me today as I was mulling over SSRIs, the psychiatric system in the West, my own history with it, and so forth. 

 

Let people experience the depression, anxiety, and every other feeling that comes with grief, because it will usually run its course in time and they will adapt. Don't f***ing drug them up to cope with painful feelings regarding loss - what is that teaching people? Surely not resilience, but dependency and victimhood.

 

Ok, rant over.

[BigCat]

Many grief stricken people turn up at their doctors seeking support.  I guess for some people the emotional support isn't there in friends of family, and there are lots of others who are already overwhelmed by life events and responsibilities.  

Some people have unrealistic expectations and think that they are ill and come looking for medication. 

In defence of GPs in the UK, they are so overworked and have so little time that the days are gone that many would allow 20 minutes or more to support a person.  Just like medicating adverse life events, drugs become the only option other than saying "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do".  Some GP surgeries have MH support staff, most don't, but still, it is not an illness.

I totally agree, though, people ought not be medicated for loss.  

 

[Embi]

This is interesting to me because I’m going through grief now and honestly, I just want to bring my dose back up and have that slightly numb calm back. I don’t know how to combat the grief and I can’t face living like this for an unknown period of time. Anything to avoid that. So I can see why people want it and why GPs prescribe them. I wish there was a better alternative.

[Halsyon]

2 hours ago, Embi said:

This is interesting to me because I’m going through grief now and honestly, I just want to bring my dose back up and have that slightly numb calm back. I don’t know how to combat the grief and I can’t face living like this for an unknown period of time. Anything to avoid that. So I can see why people want it and why GPs prescribe them. I wish there was a better alternative.

 I'm so sorry you're feeling that way. I hope you begin to feel a little bit better soon.

[Embi]

8 hours ago, Halsyon said:

 I'm so sorry you're feeling that way. I hope you begin to feel a little bit better soon.

Thank you, I appreciate it. 

[Halsyon]

I was a bit aggressive with my first post I think. I was reacting to the realization that SSRIs seem to be handed out for so many things that seem to be a normal part of life that we face and usually learn to cope with, painful as they can be. But I acknowledge that sometimes people have a longer or more difficult struggle, or lack support, or may just desperately want something to blunt the intense pain while they try to cope. I suppose it's not so black and white.
 

I do wish we knew more about how SSRIs worked though, and had better protocols for managing patients on them.  

[Embi]

Just now, Halsyon said:

I was a bit aggressive with my first post I think. I was reacting to the realization that SSRIs seem to be handed out for so many things that seem to be a normal part of life that we face and usually learn to cope with, painful as they can be. But I acknowledge that sometimes people have a longer or more difficult struggle, or lack support, or may just desperately want something to blunt the intense pain while they try to cope. I suppose it's not so black and white.
 

I do wish we knew more about how SSRIs worked though, and had better protocols for managing patients on them.  

 I completely agree. I wish we had more support and resources to help grief and I wish we understood medication better.
 

I have had a difficult time as antidepressants did actually help me a lot and allow me to be the most stable I had ever been in adulthood. However, my symptoms from withdrawal and learning about sensitisation has made me realise how unsustainable they are. Not to mention how many people react so badly.