Current Events > C/D antidepressants are personality suppressants

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ive been on them for years, and I dont think they work very well.

depression is a personality supressant.

A lot of loud and ignorant people like speaking on behalf of antidepressants without ever having been on any appropriate medication.

My only stint on them left with insomnia to the point that I couldn't function at all so had to come off them. Never tried them again.

Fluttershy posted...

depression is a personality supressant.

Truth.

PuppetPalClem posted...

A lot of loud and ignorant people like speaking on behalf of antidepressants without ever having been on any appropriate medication.

Well good for them!

Lucky Im not them, then.

Fluttershy posted...

depression is a personality supressant.

What if Eeyore is my spirit animal? Theyre not, but this comment is balls.

No like a regular ssri definitely isn't

But atypical antipsychotics, antispasmodics etc (bipolar meds) definitely are.

Is self-hatred and depression a personality?

Fluttershy posted...

depression is a personality supressant.

hockeybub89 posted...

Is self-hatred and depression a personality?

These.

Wait... what?

Get real, TC.

GrandConjuraton posted...

Wait... what?

Get real, TC.

I try to be, but I find myself forever flat and on a sliding scale of tired, no matter how much sleep I get.

i dont know how they are now, but i was on them for a short time as a kid and they absolutely killed any empathy or personality i had. in the time i was on them my mom's car was stolen and my dog almost died and i felt nothing at all...

No, and fuck off.

Perpetuating the stigma of psychiatric medicine is amoral as fuck.

Kakapo posted...

Well good for them!

Lucky Im not them, then.

What if Eeyore is my spirit animal? Theyre not, but this comment is balls.

What is so balls about his comment?

COVxy posted...

No, and fuck off.

Perpetuating the stigma of psychiatric medicine is amoral as fuck.

Seriously. This topic is in that woo woo shit.

COVxy posted...

No, and fuck off.

Perpetuating the stigma of psychiatric medicine is amoral as fuck.

Im not perpetuating any such thing, you silly sausage.

Im lamenting the fact that when Im taking my professionally prescribed medication, Im flat as fuck.

Sure, I get to sleep on time. Sure, Im not too anxious or depressed, but Im also not particularly happy or sad or annoyed or whatever, as the context actually demands. You know, actually experiencing any emotion other than

eh

Ever think that it might be because you're in an "eh" behavioral routine that was good for when you were depressed and anxious, and now that you're not depressed and anxious you aren't getting the negative reinforcement from that routine?

Maybe start talking to a therapist to see what you can do to make it better!

hockeybub89 posted...

Seriously. This topic is in that woo woo shit.

Lol no.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

It's because they really want you to just choose to get over them. They generally either view the medicine as a scam or as something actually making your problems worse.

COVxy posted...

Ever think that it might be because you're in an "eh" behavioral routine that was good for when you were depressed and anxious, and now that you're not depressed and anxious you aren't getting the negative reinforcement from that routine?

Maybe start talking to a therapist to see what you can do to make it better!

eh is perhaps the wrong word to use, since it makes it seem like its all some kind of extended ennui.

I guess what I mean is that after numerous discussions with medical professionals and more than a few mix-and matchings of legally prescribed pharmaceuticals, weve found something that stops me from being an anxious, depressive drain on society, without *too many* side effects and has instead just turned into an anhedonic, entirely productive member of society with a penchant for carbs and sugar.

The last time I saw a therapist, they were a massive adherent to transactional analysis. Their solution to insomnia was going to bed earlier.

Go see a therapist. Find one that people review well as using evidence based approaches and things like CBT.

Medication alone one solve the ineffective habits you have built up on the basis of your psychiatric conditions.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Well, no.

Im expressing frustration that it feels sometimes like Ive got the choice between experiencing a flat version of the world, or one thats a lot more vibrant, but I run the risk of ending up in an anxious and depressive spiral thats shitty for absolutely everyone around me. thats something I cant afford to these days.

Edit:

Ive got absolutely nothing against people who work in a psychiatric health setting. They do a freaking thankless job. Im just frustrated about the pharmaceutical side of things.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


For me its more neutral world or depressive-anxious bullshit.

Even when medicated, I get the OCD nonsense with the front door locks/car handbrake, where the fucks the cat, etc.

I place the blame squarely on my dad. He was a textbook example of someone who had manic and depressive episodes.

Even though I know that shits destructive AF, sometimes I wish hed shared some of the manic with me.

hockeybub89 posted...

It's because they really want you to just choose to get over them. They generally either view the medicine as a scam or as something actually making your problems worse.

I 100% agree with you but I do feel like I need to point out that meds sometimes CAN make the problem worse.

Every time I try to take an antidepressant I do a complete 180 and go completely manic. It's not fun. Supposedly it's due to something that's in most antidepressants, I forgot what it is, but it's also apparently in most cold medicines. Which sucks because, while I don't get sick often, when I do it's REALLY bad and I can't even take anything to help relieve my symptoms.

But that's a whole separate rant.

Anyway, all that said, it's all about finding the right medication. I now take a... I think they classified it as a mood stabilizer? And while I still get depressed and shit, it's a whole lot more manageable than without my meds, and it helps keep my manic episodes under control too. It ain't perfect, but really, no medication is, it's all about finding what works as well as it can for you.

COVxy posted...

Go see a therapist. Find one that people review well as using evidence based approaches and things like CBT.

Okay I just want to say that I know what you meant but it took me a second to figure out you weren't talking about the funny meme.

THAT version of the acronym is forever hard coded into my brain lmao

Saying depression (or any other form of mental illness, like schizophrenia or PTSD) is a "personality trait" is beyond moronic. It's a disease.

Kakapo posted...

What if Eeyore is my spirit animal? Theyre not, but this comment is balls.

People who say crap like "Eeyore is my spirit animal" are just attention-seeking dipshits who think they're funny

MarbyIsBack posted...

I 100% agree with you but I do feel like I need to point out that meds sometimes CAN make the problem worse.

Every time I try to take an antidepressant I do a complete 180 and go completely manic. It's not fun. Supposedly it's due to something that's in most antidepressants, I forgot what it is, but it's also apparently in most cold medicines. Which sucks because, while I don't get sick often, when I do it's REALLY bad and I can't even take anything to help relieve my symptoms.

But that's a whole separate rant.

Anyway, all that said, it's all about finding the right medication. I now take a... I think they classified it as a mood stabilizer? And while I still get depressed and shit, it's a whole lot more manageable than without my meds, and it helps keep my manic episodes under control too. It ain't perfect, but really, no medication is, it's all about finding what works as well as it can for you.

Totally. You have to find what works for you. Just saying that a lot of people view the meds generally as a crutch or part of the problem

Kakapo posted...

The last time I saw a therapist, they were a massive adherent to transactional analysis. Their solution to insomnia was going to bed earlier.

Shitty therapists exist, no denying that.

If I could make a recommendation, try to find one with LCSW as one of their assorted titles.

Psych medications arent great. They also work differently on different people and sometimes the best option is to choose the lesser of two evils (ie: not being depressed vs. being flat).

Although I am not a fan of using medications to counteract side effects of other medications, have you and your prescriber talked about considering stimulants in addition to your depression medications? Those can sometimes help counteract the blah feelings that people get.

also, what medications have you tried and which one are you on now?

I totally understand what youre saying and Im sorry youre not finding the right fit. It does get frustrating for people when they have various side effects from them.

HylianFox posted...

Saying depression is a "personality trait" is beyond moronic. It's a disease.

People who say crap like "Eeyore is my spirit animal" are just attention-seeking dipshits who think they're funny

Read between the lines, you silly sausage.

I didnt say that my depression was a personality trait. Its everything else the medication smooths over. It doesnt just smooth the lows, but also the highs.

If you thought the eeyore post was serious, you must be a real cranky kransky. Spoilers: it was being deliberately flippant.

Sorry to be a brat, but I like my plays on words.

I am tired constantly. Like, fucking bone tired, no matter how much I sleep.

This medication has turned me from a very trim 54kg to 67kg at last weigh, because its finally caught up with me.

As I said, Im tired constantly and the more tired I am, the more irritable I am. Its not worse than crippling depression to be around.

Im still fucking, well, tired of it.

You know how when you listen to the radio, it chops out the high treble and the high bass?

Kakapo posted...

Im still fucking, well, tired of it.

Reasonable.

People are missing the tone of your topic and reading it as villifying antidepressants instead of being a complaint about your own experience, I believe.

AdrianBeterson posted...

Psych medications arent great. They also work differently on different people and sometimes the best option is to choose the lesser of two evils (ie: not being depressed vs. being flat).

Although I am not a fan of using medications to counteract side effects of other medications, have you and your prescriber talked about considering stimulants in addition to your depression medications? Those can sometimes help counteract the blah feelings that people get.

also, what medications have you tried and which one are you on now?

I totally understand what youre saying and Im sorry youre not finding the right fit. It does get frustrating for people when they have various side effects from them.

To be honest, what I am on right now is an atypical antidepressant and fairly mild in its effects, so Id rather stick to having the highs and lows chopped out (and causing me to want to binge on choc chip cookies ) to experimenting with stuff that could make me non-functional.

Im a parent, so being a robot and having to fake it is preferable to being non-functional.

Maybe if your entire personality is being depressed

SSRIs do work for people with anxiety and with depression that's more in-line with how psychiatry diagnoses depression (the anhedonia, disruptions in sleep and appetite, the sluggishness).

This goes beyond medicine and more to my personal opinion that there is a subset of people who either feel miserable, or have existential crisis, or otherwise have certain expectations about "happiness" that are unrealistic that are more akin to negative thought patterns that are probably better treated with CBT than medication because they've primed their cognition to have a "negative" bias on their stimuli and environments. You see this a lot with how they comment about what their expectations of treating their depression is supposed to look like. "I still don't feel happy, just flat." Happy is a really tricky thing. I think in our modern times, a lot of people conceptualize happiness like that feeling when you're a kid and you open up a present you are really excited about. Or the first time you ride on a rollercoaster. Those are not sustainable sensations to have that kind of mood 24/7 and the pursuit of such a life is not unlike a drug addict that is quite literally just chasing the biochemical equivalent of that kind of life. And much like drug addicts who experience a higher "ceiling" of "happiness", the behavioral patterns that inevitably lead to creating such "happiness" automatically means the routine of every day life will simply feel "flat" or even worse, it's something to be avoided. Hence, they continually chase that high at any cost.

Happiness is really a philosophical concept that as cliche as it sounds is found within and can be more sustained with reflective thought and an acceptance of your station in life or what you are doing with your life and finding contentment. And so it's no wonder medication alone doesn't fix their problems, it's more cognitively based that is better addressed with CBT.

Sometimes you need both because the lack of motivation and anhedonia would preclude one from being able to even tackle the challenge of resetting those negative thought patterns. But for those people with those automatic thought patterns that just gives that "negative bias" on reality, taking medication alone might not result in the desired effect because like COVxy mentioned these problems are more rooted in established behavioral routines and habits. But for people with really bad anxiety or for people who truly suffer from a lot of the "SIG E CAPS" symptoms of depression do see relief with medication. The only unfortunate part being that it takes several weeks to see an effect and a lot of the times people need to try different medications and doses trialed over a long period of time before finding the sweet spot. At least that's what I gathered from my psychiatry rotations back in med school.

Kakapo posted...

To be honest, what I am on right now is an atypical antidepressant and fairly mild in its effects, so Id rather stick to having the highs and lows chopped out (and causing me to want to binge on choc chip cookies ) to experimenting with stuff that could make me non-functional.

Im a parent, so being a robot and having to fake it is preferable to being non-functional.

Are you on bupropion? Have you tried it?

Fuck off tc

Chicken posted...

Maybe if your entire personality is being depressed

Maybe you should go see the Colonel.
Jagr_68 posted...

Fuck off tc

No thanks.

Most that I've taken over the years made me just numb inside. They affect everyone differently though and they do help others.

BlameAnesthesia posted...

SSRIs do work for people with anxiety and with depression that's more in-line with how psychiatry diagnoses depression (the anhedonia, disruptions in sleep and appetite, the sluggishness).

This goes beyond medicine and more to my personal opinion that there is a subset of people who either feel miserable, or have existential crisis, or otherwise have certain expectations about "happiness" that are unrealistic that are more akin to negative thought patterns that are probably better treated with CBT than medication because they've primed their cognition to have a "negative" bias on their stimuli and environments. You see this a lot with how they comment about what their expectations of treating their depression is supposed to look like. "I still don't feel happy, just flat." Happy is a really tricky thing. I think in our modern times, a lot of people conceptualize happiness like that feeling when you're a kid and you open up a present you are really excited about. Or the first time you ride on a rollercoaster. Those are not sustainable sensations to have that kind of mood 24/7 and the pursuit of such a life is not unlike a drug addict that is quite literally just chasing the biochemical equivalent of that kind of life. And much like drug addicts who experience a higher "ceiling" of "happiness", the behavioral patterns that inevitably lead to creating such "happiness" automatically means the routine of every day life will simply feel "flat" or even worse, it's something to be avoided. Hence, they continually chase that high at any cost.

Happiness is really a philosophical concept that as cliche as it sounds is found within and can be more sustained with reflective thought and an acceptance of your station in life or what you are doing with your life and finding contentment. And so it's no wonder medication alone doesn't fix their problems, it's more cognitively based that is better addressed with CBT.

Sometimes you need both because the lack of motivation and anhedonia would preclude one from being able to even tackle the challenge of resetting those negative thought patterns. But for those people with those automatic thought patterns that just gives that "negative bias" on reality, taking medication alone might not result in the desired effect because like COVxy mentioned these problems are more rooted in established behavioral routines and habits. But for people with really bad anxiety or for people who truly suffer from a lot of the "SIG E CAPS" symptoms of depression do see relief with medication. The only unfortunate part being that it takes several weeks to see an effect and a lot of the times people need to try different medications and doses trialed over a long period of time before finding the sweet spot. At least that's what I gathered from my psychiatry rotations back in med school.

First may I say thank you for the well thought out nature of your reply (and that of others in the topic who arent basically just fuck you TC and took the time to think about what I was actually saying).

Putting the epistemology of happiness aside for a moment, I know that even though my life is both objectively and subjectively better than it was when I was younger and un-medicated (and between depressive seasons), my feelings of happiness didnt get this smoothed out as when Im taking my medication.

Its like, when I know its safe to do so Ill taper off and try to go without my medication. Ive discussed this with my specialist and they are ok with it.

From an experiential point of view, I can tell the difference between the range and intensity of emotions while on and while off. Those around me can tell the difference in my reactions to things when Im on and off.

It feels like I have to choose between staying at a stable baseline with the highs and lows cut off or a situation where I can feel the whole range of emotion, but I just cant sleep and I run the risk of going into an anxious/depressive shitstorm.

Its the opposite, I think

More often than not I think people make a whole life out of a kind of culture of being depressed and buy into it through no fault of their own because depression sinks them in lower feels

DrizztLink posted...

Reasonable.

People are missing the tone of your topic and reading it as villifying antidepressants instead of being a complaint about your own experience, I believe.

Thats understandable, in retrospect.

I should have probably provided more context to anchor the topic.

Edit: not sure what happened there.