Peeej- wondering if I can live without Antidepressants

[peeej]

Is it possible to live without anti-depressants? I've heard the insulin/diabetes argument from my physician, and any time I've gone off of the pills, I end up filled with self-loathing and must surrender and go back on. I thought I might wait until my kids are grown up, then it won't matter so much about my ambient mood around the house. But I am worried about having to take these pills forever. And now my daughter who is seventeen and has chronic pain issues, is also taking them! and I'm really worried for her. 

[Petunia]

Welcome peeej,

Thank you for posting an introduction.  To answer your question, yes, it is possible for people to live without antidepressants after being on them, especially if you taper properly.  Many people come off these drugs too fast and experience withdrawal symptoms, these then get misdiagnosed as a 'relapse'.  How did you previously stop taking the pills?  What are you taking now?

 

Many people still believe the chemical imbalance theory of mental illness, but its not true.  Psychiatric drugs are nothing like insulin.  For a good summary of the evidence against this still prevalent idea see here:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4291-again-chemical-imbalance-is-a-myth-stop-the-lies-please/

 

I also recommend getting hold of a copy of "Anatomy of an Epidemic" By Robert Whitaker

 

Many people find that counseling and other natural therapies work well for sadness, grief and anxiety which are normal parts of life.

 

I would also be worried if my daughter were taking antidepressants for pain.  It doesn't really makes sense to take something to mask symptoms instead of find and cure the real source of the problem. 

 

If you tell us a little more about yourself and your situation, we will be able to help.

 

Petu.

[Rhiannon]

Ditto what Petu says.

 

The "insulin" thing is completely bogus. Insulin-dependent diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body destroys its own insulin-producing cells. So people take insulin to replace what their own bodies can't produce any more. That is NOTHING like taking a completely artificial drug that is unlike anything the body itself produces naturally.

 

Drug companies have tried and tried to produce some evidence that people need their drugs,that there's an actual chemical problem that needs to be fixed, and they have promoted that idea with billions of dollars and gotten people to believe it. But with all their money they have never been able to find any kind of proof that "mental illness" of ANY kind, even the most extreme, is caused by any kind of imbalance that their drugs can fix. 

 

What their drugs do is alter the chemistry of the brain in ways that cause people to behave differently (sometimes). There is a mountain of evidence that the drug companies are trying to keep people from seeing, which shows that these chemical alterations actually make people worse in the long run.

 

Once you start taking the drugs they do screw up your brain chemistry and then you do have a chemical imbalance. Your brain can heal and rebalance itself, but this is something that takes a lot of time. When people go off the drugs too fast, they end up hit with a bunch of symptoms due to the changes induced by the drug that their brain is now dependent on.

 

You have to taper slowly enough to grow a new brain. This is not something that can be done quickly. Most people and most doctors try to push it too fast, then people end up sick again and doctors say that is proof they need the drug. But really what they need is a very slow taper that will allow their brains to renormalize over time.

 

I highly recommend you get a copy of Anatomy of an Epidemic, and also check out the website "cepuk.org".

[Rhiannon]

Also, your instinct to worry about your daughter on psych drugs is right on. Her brain is still developing and will be for another five to ten years. During this time she is extra vulnerable to anything that changes brain chemistry, be it "medicine" or marijuana or alcohol or street drugs.  We see a lot of young folks here who were started on psych drugs young and end up really messed up as a result. I would explore ALL alternatives before using these drugs for pain and I can't think of any circumstances short of maybe life or death where I would give a psych med to a person younger than 30.

 

But don't yank her off the drugs either. Learn about proper tapering and taper her off slowly, if you choose to take her off them.