Anti-Depressants good or a bad thing?

Question

Do anti-depressants work or is it just a pill to make you think you are ok?

Answer 1

take no notice of the idiot ,will power ,my backside!!!!!!
its chemical imbalance in the brain ,im on my second week now ,side effects are crazy ,but now settling .i have done research ,and they do work alongside counselling therapy if u can get it .dont let doc fob u off with tablets alone ,insist you want therapy.good luck ..email if ur down matey!!

Answer 2

If you genuinely have a chemical imbalance causing your depression than the right anti-depressant can be a God send. I know I fought taking them but once I did, it made it so much easier to get my life back in order.

They do take a few weeks to work though.

Usually if they don't work you either need a different scrip or you have a different issue. Most of the people I know who were very depressed and the drugs didn't help were really undiagnosed maniac depressives (also known as bipolar disease). That illness requires a very different type of drug.

Anyhow...no, they are not like other kinds of drugs that mask your symptoms. Anti-depressants really change your brain chemistry so they can return to normal. You don't take them forever.

Answer 3

I think they work if you have a chemical imbalance in your brain - not enough of the brain chemistry that makes you feel happy. If you feel depressed because you have real problems & issues - well, I think you would still have these problems even if you took antidepressants. But, you would feel better and maybe more able to solve your problems. Or they would not bother you so much anymore that you can just deal with it. They do have side effects, and always remember it is your own decision to take them or not. But if you feel suicidal, then you should really seek help, and antidepressant might be part of your way to recovery.

Answer 4

I think its just a pill to make you think you are happy. they are designed to lift your spirits more even though you are feeling like s***. I was on anti depressants last year for about 7 months and they made me feel better at first, then made me feel a whole lot worse. I was on a medium dose then i went onto a higher one. Besides making me more emotionally worse it made me physically ill. Feeling shaky and dizzy and sick. The doctor said to carry on with them but i couldnt i was feeling worse than i was before taking them! I stopped taking them and i feel so much better! Anti depressants should only be used if the doctor strongly recommends them if your feeling theres no way out. x

Answer 5

Anti-Depressants are a little tricky in my opinion. If you are looking for a miracle pill to fix everything then you are going to be dissapointed. For me they give that little boost to get up and get your life on track again. Before I started taking mine I could not even get going. When I got on the right one it gave me enough of a start to get my life going myself. I found things that I was really into and figured out what I believed Spiritually and that is what has turned my life around. Not the little pills. They just help you do for yourself what you can't do on your own.

Answer 6

Broadly speaking, all antidepressants fall into the following classes: monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclics (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). There are also several newer medications that are unique in their mechanism of action.

The monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) were some of the first antidepressant medications developed. The neurotransmitters responsible for mood, primarily norepinephrine and serotonin, are also known as monoamines. Monoamine oxidase is an enzyme which breaks these substances down. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors, as the name implies, inhibits this enzyme, thus allowing a greater supply of these chemicals to remain available.

Tricyclics, also known as heterocyclics, came into broad use in the 1950's. These drugs inhibit the nerve cell's ability to reuptake serotonin and norepinephrine, thus allowing a greater amount of these two substances to be available for use by nerve cells.

SSRI stands for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor. These medications work, as the name implies, by blocking the presynaptic serotonin transporter receptor. This drug differs from the tricyclics in that it's action is specific to serotonin only. It's effect on norepinephrine is indirect, through the fact that falling serotonin "permits" norepinephrine to fall so preserving serotonin preserves norepinephrine.

Five newer medications which do not fit into the above categories are: buproprion (Wellbutrin), nefazodone (Serzone), trazodone (Desyrel), venlafaxine (Effexor), and mirtazapine (Remeron).

And yes they work...If you are depressed only......

Answer 7

Antidepressants work by altering the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain. They can definitely help someone who is truly depressed but they are not a panacea. Intrinsic depression, which has no circumstantial triggers, probably responds better than extrinsic depression although antidepressants in combination with counselling can help in that case.

Answer 8

Of course anti-depressants work. They regulate chemicals in the brain that have been proven to cause deppression, mood swings, etc. IE: serotonin, dopamine and others. Each drug is tested and approved by an agency that regulates effectiveness, to put it simply. Pharmaceutical companies really aren't out to get you!!

Answer 9

It depends upon the perscription and dosage.

Honestly, I would never take anti-depressants. If someone truly wants to be happy they can do it on their own. It's all about will-power.

Answer 10

No, they work.
Depression is to do with chemical imbalances in the brain. The chemicals in the drug sort it out. (Put very simply).
There are different ones/types, that's why they have to be prescribed by a doctor who knows what the person's problem is likely to be.
A placebo would not work for someone who is truly depressed.
That help?

Answer 11

I'm on Dosulepin for muscle spasms in my jaw. They help me sleep well and I feel relaxed the next day. I'm not depressed, but I do know that even though they're to help the spasms, I feel that's all they do for me. I don't feel that my "mood" has changed at all. I think it has to be on a person to person basis. Some people need them and some people don't. My sister was on them for a long time and her mood changed.... to a nicer one!!