Very interesting! I heard recently from someone else that they are now acknowledging that the whole serotonin thing is not true. Thanks so much for this very readable article as well as the great links you put in. I remember being told that many people need to be on these drugs in order to be in a space where they can access therapy. You pointed out that in fact the opposite is true-that folks need to be able and willing to feel their feelings in order for therapy to really work. I found your writing about the blunting affect particularly interesting. So what are the implications of this for social change? So if I no longer feel strong feelings or just don't care and am apathetic I'm not going to be motivated to change the dysfunctions and destructive forces at work in society. I guess that's a whole other subject of how a drugged society is a very effective tool of social control. Thank you for this enlightening article Sarah.
Thank you Sarah; your explanation on withdrawal symptoms is useful! I am the chairperson of the Dutch Association Tapering Medication and work voluntarely more than fulltime helping patients to come off their psychoactive meds in a safe way. I surely will recommand reading you article!
As a long time antidepressant user I must say it is one of the most precise descriptions of the 'symptomology' af taking antidepressants. "The same old problems, but I do not care any more" is an almost entirely overlook feature of antidepressants, and often it is not obvious to the patient. Thank you for this article. I am now a subscriber.
I knew it would come out that anti-depressants were bad for us one day. I have been resisting the pressure to take anti-depressants for 25 years - one by one most of my friends fell, and they never got any happier. It never made any sense to me, science has come a long way since stealing cadavers and trying to do alchemy and everything, but unpronounceable drugs for the feelings? That Drs give you? And you don't know what's in them and they do stuff to your brain? No thank you....I'm good with the depression, those pills sound really dodgy.
It is sad that it requires courage to share the kind of critically important information you have shared here, but in this world, it does. Thank you for your courage!
Sarah, your article resonates in many ways through my life experiences. I have a dear friend that needs psychological help but every point of assistance we've tried to connect him they want him on psychotic drugs before they will even speak to him. He tried them once last year and it was a disaster. Tons of details to go with a his story as there always is.
I know people with your heart and skill can help him but finding you/them has been impossible. Do you know of a group or association of like minded therapist that we can engage? Do you offer virtual services? This man is a father, husband, business owner and friend to many. I want to help him but our pathway unknown for how to help him.
Very good! I can attest to all of it! I felt like I was teaching the doctor, PA, nurse. They don't work I kept saying. They increased the medication, added medication.......really didn't know what they were doing and quite frankly didn't care. I ended up in an ambulance going to the hospital that resulted with a diagnosis of serotonin syndrome. They overloaded my system. Now I'm serotonin sensitive, whatever that is and haven't touched any antidepressant since. How awful the medical community has been to so many people all of these years. And the pharmaceutical companies. Mere words aren't adequate.
My mother has been given these drugs for depression and anxiety for years. I never saw any positive change in her. I was finally able to convince her to stop taking them. So far she feels no worse than she did while taking them so I consider that a win.
On a separate note due to some significant losses over the last year I’ve found myself in a rather dark place. Just started ketamine therapy and sessions with a coach to help with the process. Anyone here have personal experience with this? All the data I’ve looked at is very positive. Thx.
Please also write about PSSD (post SSRI/SNRI sexual dysfunction). Nearly everyone who takes an antidepressant experiences sexual dysfunction. It is not known for how many there is a return to the pre-antidepressant state - most or all who use antidepressants may be left with permanent after-effects to some degree, the prevalence research simply hasn't been done.
The term 'PSSD' is a misnomer - sexual dysfunction is only part of the distressing syndrome. Symptoms include: genital numbness, erectile dysfunction, anorgasmia, loss of libido, genital shrinkage, loss of lubrication, bodily numbness, cognitive dysfunction, emotional blunting/anhedonia, visual disturbances/visual snow. People who suffer this condition after antidepressant use describe it as a living hell, far worse than anything the drugs are prescribed for. The condition was recognised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2019 yet government action to warn patients or to provide research funding has been completely absent.
This is a life-changing injury. There are multitudes of young people who are facing lives without the prospect of being able to form a relationship or to have a family - including my son. We need your help!
Please check the following for further information and reference lists:
TY for interesting piece. Here's my little case study: I am a non-therapist psychologist and in retirement teach Intro to Psych. I have taken paroxetine for 30 years. and have experimented with stopping for last 5-6. I think my depression was very minor so first psychiatrist started me on it (30 mg) for work stress, compulsive worrying. the drug really helped me. I experienced none of the side effects you mention. I have tapered down to zero several times but always notice I become cranky. so have maintained 15 mg per day for 3-4 years. Then tapered down to 0 mg. In July a family situation occurred and I started feeling anxious again, sleep deteriorated. after talking with my current psychiatrist I restarted at 30 mg and will taper to 15 mg. I assume I will take it forever as life is much more comfortable with it. Peter Breggin's book is quite illuminating; he addressed some of the issues you do. esp, PCP's over-prescribing. I tell my students to always use a psychiatrist to confirm PCP advice. fwiw
psychiatry and psychology both simply reduce humans into consumers. thats what made us sick to begin with. furthermore, girl bosses are completely incompetent in this field.
Very interesting! I heard recently from someone else that they are now acknowledging that the whole serotonin thing is not true. Thanks so much for this very readable article as well as the great links you put in. I remember being told that many people need to be on these drugs in order to be in a space where they can access therapy. You pointed out that in fact the opposite is true-that folks need to be able and willing to feel their feelings in order for therapy to really work. I found your writing about the blunting affect particularly interesting. So what are the implications of this for social change? So if I no longer feel strong feelings or just don't care and am apathetic I'm not going to be motivated to change the dysfunctions and destructive forces at work in society. I guess that's a whole other subject of how a drugged society is a very effective tool of social control. Thank you for this enlightening article Sarah.
Thank you Sarah; your explanation on withdrawal symptoms is useful! I am the chairperson of the Dutch Association Tapering Medication and work voluntarely more than fulltime helping patients to come off their psychoactive meds in a safe way. I surely will recommand reading you article!
As a long time antidepressant user I must say it is one of the most precise descriptions of the 'symptomology' af taking antidepressants. "The same old problems, but I do not care any more" is an almost entirely overlook feature of antidepressants, and often it is not obvious to the patient. Thank you for this article. I am now a subscriber.
Thank you I love this. Please can we have more therapists & doctors like you x
It is preposterous to think that a medication can decrease the emotion of sadness but have no effect on positive emotions.
Sadness may be a signal to change something in your life.
I knew it would come out that anti-depressants were bad for us one day. I have been resisting the pressure to take anti-depressants for 25 years - one by one most of my friends fell, and they never got any happier. It never made any sense to me, science has come a long way since stealing cadavers and trying to do alchemy and everything, but unpronounceable drugs for the feelings? That Drs give you? And you don't know what's in them and they do stuff to your brain? No thank you....I'm good with the depression, those pills sound really dodgy.
It is sad that it requires courage to share the kind of critically important information you have shared here, but in this world, it does. Thank you for your courage!
Sarah, your article resonates in many ways through my life experiences. I have a dear friend that needs psychological help but every point of assistance we've tried to connect him they want him on psychotic drugs before they will even speak to him. He tried them once last year and it was a disaster. Tons of details to go with a his story as there always is.
I know people with your heart and skill can help him but finding you/them has been impossible. Do you know of a group or association of like minded therapist that we can engage? Do you offer virtual services? This man is a father, husband, business owner and friend to many. I want to help him but our pathway unknown for how to help him.
Very good! I can attest to all of it! I felt like I was teaching the doctor, PA, nurse. They don't work I kept saying. They increased the medication, added medication.......really didn't know what they were doing and quite frankly didn't care. I ended up in an ambulance going to the hospital that resulted with a diagnosis of serotonin syndrome. They overloaded my system. Now I'm serotonin sensitive, whatever that is and haven't touched any antidepressant since. How awful the medical community has been to so many people all of these years. And the pharmaceutical companies. Mere words aren't adequate.
My mother has been given these drugs for depression and anxiety for years. I never saw any positive change in her. I was finally able to convince her to stop taking them. So far she feels no worse than she did while taking them so I consider that a win.
On a separate note due to some significant losses over the last year I’ve found myself in a rather dark place. Just started ketamine therapy and sessions with a coach to help with the process. Anyone here have personal experience with this? All the data I’ve looked at is very positive. Thx.
Please also write about PSSD (post SSRI/SNRI sexual dysfunction). Nearly everyone who takes an antidepressant experiences sexual dysfunction. It is not known for how many there is a return to the pre-antidepressant state - most or all who use antidepressants may be left with permanent after-effects to some degree, the prevalence research simply hasn't been done.
The term 'PSSD' is a misnomer - sexual dysfunction is only part of the distressing syndrome. Symptoms include: genital numbness, erectile dysfunction, anorgasmia, loss of libido, genital shrinkage, loss of lubrication, bodily numbness, cognitive dysfunction, emotional blunting/anhedonia, visual disturbances/visual snow. People who suffer this condition after antidepressant use describe it as a living hell, far worse than anything the drugs are prescribed for. The condition was recognised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2019 yet government action to warn patients or to provide research funding has been completely absent.
This is a life-changing injury. There are multitudes of young people who are facing lives without the prospect of being able to form a relationship or to have a family - including my son. We need your help!
Please check the following for further information and reference lists:
https://rxisk.org/post-ssri-sexual-dysfunction-pssd/
https://www.pssdnetwork.org/
TY for interesting piece. Here's my little case study: I am a non-therapist psychologist and in retirement teach Intro to Psych. I have taken paroxetine for 30 years. and have experimented with stopping for last 5-6. I think my depression was very minor so first psychiatrist started me on it (30 mg) for work stress, compulsive worrying. the drug really helped me. I experienced none of the side effects you mention. I have tapered down to zero several times but always notice I become cranky. so have maintained 15 mg per day for 3-4 years. Then tapered down to 0 mg. In July a family situation occurred and I started feeling anxious again, sleep deteriorated. after talking with my current psychiatrist I restarted at 30 mg and will taper to 15 mg. I assume I will take it forever as life is much more comfortable with it. Peter Breggin's book is quite illuminating; he addressed some of the issues you do. esp, PCP's over-prescribing. I tell my students to always use a psychiatrist to confirm PCP advice. fwiw
psychiatry and psychology both simply reduce humans into consumers. thats what made us sick to begin with. furthermore, girl bosses are completely incompetent in this field.
Without antidepressants the feminist mind virus would drive women completely insane.