Depression.

[lexity]

That too, but not what he was asking. Withdrawal is a gradual process (Prozac survivor here), so better to keep taking them until she’s fully ready to come off them.

Prozac... wow... well done for surviving that one.

 

[lexity]

Sadly, you can’t. It has to come from them, because you can’t legally force them anymore.

Are you able to corroborate?

I was under the impression the situation had only gotten worse, over the last few decades.

 

[The Voice]

Prozac... wow... well done for surviving that one.

Yeah, not the best years of my life. I was clinically depressed. Only way I made the change was that I had to realise I no longer wanted to feel dead inside. The way it worked on me was by killing all of my emotions: I was no longer depressed, but I couldn’t get happy, sad, angry, etc, either. I was an automaton. It was like being depressed without being depressed?

Anyway, it was ****, so I started the long ass process of coming off of it. 5HTP definitely helped.

 

[The Voice]

Are you able to corroborate?

I was under the impression the situation had only gotten worse, over the last few decades.

Snap, I was thinking of the UK. Not sure if SA has caught up with mental health yet, but we have the right to refuse any treatment here.

 

[lexity]

Yeah, not the best years of my life. I was clinically depressed. Only way I made the change was that I had to realise I no longer wanted to feel dead inside. The way it worked on me was by killing all of my emotions: I was no longer depressed, but I couldn’t get happy, sad, angry, etc, either. I was an automaton. It was like being depressed without being depressed?

Anyway, it was ****, so I started the long ass process of coming off of it. 5HTP definitely helped.

Wow. Thanks for sharing your story.

I think everyone is different in terms of effects. Not everyone is as lucky / determined as you. I have read some horror stories that will never see the light of MS press. It's bit like Russian Roullette.

I believe Evander Holyfield was the victim of a Prozac user. Somehow he seemed to laugh it off. Minus a chunk of one ear.

 

[lexity]

Snap, I was thinking of the UK. Not sure if SA has caught up with mental health yet, but we have the right to refuse any treatment here.

Hm... you're not referring to the change that happened under the guise of increased protection, are you? During the lockdowns. There was a change that was made to sound humanitarian, but was a rather brutal knock to individual rights.

 

[lkswan747]

My neighbours wife suffers from heavy depression and I can see how much of a toll it is taking on him. At least he is able to unbottle his emotions whenever him and I speak. I may not be able to do anything for his wife, but at least I am able to listen and perhaps make him feel a bit better. He is 80+ and his wife is in her late 70's. Sad.

 

[airborne]

Yeah, not the best years of my life. I was clinically depressed. Only way I made the change was that I had to realise I no longer wanted to feel dead inside. The way it worked on me was by killing all of my emotions: I was no longer depressed, but I couldn’t get happy, sad, angry, etc, either. I was an automaton. It was like being depressed without being depressed?

Anyway, it was ****, so I started the long ass process of coming off of it. 5HTP definitely helped.

For interest sake what kind of doses where you taking per day?

 

[The Voice]

For interest sake what kind of doses where you taking per day?

Gosh, that was years ago now, but it was OTC stuff and I just dosed what was on the label (1-2 a day I think). I started by taking it with my Prozac, and continued until long after I’d weaned off.

 

[RedViking]

Sadly, you can’t. It has to come from them, because you can’t legally force them anymore.

Is there a technique of sorts that can help them get to their point. Surely there must be some sort of method. Hopefully something works because MIL is very sick and that's the last thing we need.....

 

[RedViking]

Wow. Thanks for sharing your story.

I think everyone is different in terms of effects. Not everyone is as lucky / determined as you. I have read some horror stories that will never see the light of MS press. It's bit like Russian Roullette.

I believe Evander Holyfield was the victim of a Prozac user. Somehow he seemed to laugh it off. Minus a chunk of one ear.

I think the meds can be terrible, but I think worse are the Doctors not spending time with patients. They should monitor and adjust and not just textbook everything.

 

[RedViking]

Exactly the same thing happened to a family member of mine last year. End November he began acting strangely, started spending money like crazy, insulted everybody and kicked his girlfriend out. Said he felt invincible.

Sorry to give you bad news but he deteriorated over the next couple of months until we literally ambushed him and had him involuntarily committed to a psych hospital. He was assessed, received treatment and meds and was sent home after 2 weeks. He's still on meds.

It's been a flippen tough few years for some of us

EDIT: In fact I threw my toys at Lifestyle Garden Centre last week. Made a spectacle of myself but I just did not care and I still don't.

It's not like her at all. So 99% because she stopped taking the meds. The things she saying is insane. We spoke to her just before she went away for a weekend for an event and she was "fine" , still taking care of mom till we arrive, although we realised she is up to doing funny stuff with mom's meds. She Came back last week from the weekend event and all hell is loose. It's not the first time she just stopped. Mom was the one who could talk to her and get her back on the meds. But now mom is very sick and can't take care of herself.

As you said, typical bipolar symptoms.
Making stuff up. Everyone is wrong.
Spending money like crazy. (had to stop all accounts).
Even got rid of her phone because she says her husband is tracking her.

Completely bonkers.

 

[RedViking]

Yikes. Just dropping some meds without tapering them off can induce some really negative side effects.
And if you throw in bipolar on top of that then it becomes a serious problem.

Absolutely.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

let me ask this, do you get diagnosed as depressed and then treated for it, (do you get a record of it somewhere, that employers can check)
or is it a case of they went and did something, like attempt suicide that made them get diagnosed as depressed.

as I felt depressed many times through my life, never once taken drugs/treatment for it,
and things always get better, it never rains everyday sort of vibe, one month I'm down in the gutter, and month after that sunshine and roses.

is that the right way to deal with things, or is it a case of if you go and get treatment , they never treat you 100%, just enough to get you to come back.
or is it a many shades of grey sort of vibe, some people get better while others need drugs and happy talk to get better.

 

[The Voice]

let me ask this, do you get diagnosed as depressed and then treated for it, (do you get a record of it somewhere, that employers can check)
or is it a case of they went and did something, like attempt suicide that made them get diagnosed as depressed.

as I felt depressed many times through my life, never once taken drugs/treatment for it,
and things always get better, it never rains everyday sort of vibe, one month I'm down in the gutter, and month after that sunshine and roses.

is that the right way to deal with things, or is it a case of if you go and get treatment , they never treat you 100%, just enough to get you to come back.
or is it a many shades of grey sort of vibe, some people get better while others need drugs and happy talk to get better.

For me it was a permanent state of not knowing what the point of getting out of bed was. Making sure I stood up against the platform wall when the train rolled into the station when I did get out of bed to go to work. Surviving on coffee, cigarettes, and chocolate digestive biscuits. A friend asking my Mrs if I had cancer because I weighed 60kg at the time. For years.

I think a major issue with mental health is others brushing actual depression off as a case of the “blue Mondays”. It’s not a day, week or month on and off thing - it’s permanent unless you get help or end your life. I’m in no way saying that’s what you’re insinuating btw, or that you weren’t actually depressed at any stage. But your case probably wouldn’t be classed as clinical.

Treatment for me was as simple as getting myself to my GP. Listened to my symptoms, didn’t even question anything and I left with a prescription of schedule 5 antipsychotics on repeat. No referral for further counselling, etc, which in hindsight would have been beneficial.

 

[The Voice]

I remember going with my friend to the Groote Schuur psych ward every month to collect her Lithium prescription. She would have to sit through an hour-long evaluation every time before they gave her the next lot.

 

[Splinter]

Following me around like an abandoned puppy... calling me 'ponderer'.

You refuse to deny it. I wonder why....

As for following you around, it's more like stepping into a puppy-turd inadvertently; you drop so may post-turds around this forum it's hard to avoid them.

 

[Splinter]

I don't know for sure, ofc.

But psychiatry is a pseudo-science. It has admitted as much, at the highest levels.

So the chances the meds have made her life worse, not better, are quite high, I would say.

Any links to where the "highest levels" have admitted such?

Psychiatry is a complex discipline requiring years of training as I understand it, but I'm willing to learn from an expert such as yourself.

 

[ISP cash cow]

You could call it an educated guess, yes.

I have too many miles under my belt, to ignore the most obvious scams.

If it's coming from you, it's not educated

 

[Splinter]

It's not like her at all. So 99% because she stopped taking the meds. The things she saying is insane. We spoke to her just before she went away for a weekend for an event and she was "fine" , still taking care of mom till we arrive, although we realised she is up to doing funny stuff with mom's meds. She Came back last week from the weekend event and all hell is loose. It's not the first time she just stopped. Mom was the one who could talk to her and get her back on the meds. But now mom is very sick and can't take care of herself.

As you said, typical bipolar symptoms.
Making stuff up. Everyone is wrong.
Spending money like crazy. (had to stop all accounts).
Even got rid of her phone because she says her husband is tracking her.

Completely bonkers.

Stopping some of these anti-anxiety/anti-depression medications can cause huge personality changes and the paranoia you speak of. And not for the best. It's like the original person disappeared and a whiny, unpleasant little child takes their place.

By the why - anxiety and depression are apparently quite interlinked, and thus the medications to treat these conditions (and their side-effects) are very similar.