Why Antidepressants Don't Work for Treating Depression - Page 2

[liqzierda]

I think the problem is that there isn't one illness that is "depression." Depression is the symptom, it's not the illness itself. If a person has the right kind of depression and gets the right antidepressant drug, maybe it will help. But there are lots of people with lots of depression that get nothing out of anti-depressants. I also think there are lots of environmental factors that cause depression and the terrible thing is that it's extremely difficult to address them when one is in the depths. True purely physiological depression can be triggered by things that anti-depressants do nothing to address, physiological mechanisms that allopathic medicine has no interest in addressing because all the professionals know to do is to shove a prescription for an anti-depressant at the patient.

I struggled with severe depression for a long time and no drugs helped me, unfortunately. In many cases, I felt much worse taking them because of the various side effects. Years had to go by and circumstances changed to lift me out of what was an abyss. Having a much greater understanding of my body chemistry has helped immensely as well. Kudos to anyone who can take anti-depressants and see positive results. I had to learn the hard way that little things like a strong dose of caffeine in the morning could push me into despair and near suicidal depression 12 hours later. Since I'd been ingesting caffeine first thing in the morning since I was about 13 years old and had a horribly dysfunctional family, it wasn't as easy to figure out as it sounds.

[punkrockmomma]

I would love to see the doctor who wrote that article. My problem is that I can't afford it, and I don't have the disapline to follow a treatment plan like that without a doctors supervision, that's just how I am. I also feel I need some testing done to find out what my real problem is.

This is why I have settled for AD's, it's what my insurence pays for. I hate it! I still haven't found one that really works, and now I feel stuck on the one I'm on because of the terrible discontinuation symptoms the one I'm on has. It p's me off to no end that I can't get the care I need, or would like to try. I'm also seeing an allergist for cronic hives, and I feel like I'm seeing a drug dealer when I go to see her, because all she does is perscribe me meds. (It's been determined that my hives are an autoimmune thing, not a true allergy)

The one shining light in all of this is that I am going to acupuncture twice a week, because we have a community clinic in my city that makes it affordable for everyone to get acupuncture. It seems to be helping, but I feel I really need to go more often, but again I can't afford it. It's so frustrating! I really hate our countries health care system, it really sucks!!

[Oubliette8]

Since it appears this thread has been revived a bit, I thought I'd share. I finished Anatomy of an Epidemic" by Robert Whitaker a few weeks ago. It was EXCELLENT and thoroughly cited- there are 20 pages of citations at the end of the book, all corresponding to footnotes. The studies he uses are reputable. The whole thing was a fascinating read. There's a lot more out there than just the Tuner study cited in the article from the OP's post. If anyone's interested, I'd highly recommend it as an important read. I got my copy from the local library. He has also posted many of the studies online so anyone can read them here- http://madinamerica.com/madinamerica...0Epidemic.html

[paintedfire]

Originally Posted by femalephish

Although I DO agree that drug companies selectivly publish articles and we need to be wary of their claims (particularly the 'too-good-to-be-true' type) I think it's dangerous to say that anti-depressants don't work. And the author of the article, a doctor, I think it's irresponsable for him to say that.

People die from deppression. Please don't tell us we can't get better. Antidepressents can and DO help people. Just my .02cents

I suffer from depression, anxiety, and OCD. If it weren't for my medication and therapy? I don't know where I'd be, but it certainly wouldn't be about to get married and have my first child.