I had taken antidepressants for years, because I experienced a genuine Depression episode years ago. I fell into a deep depression after my son was diagnosed with type I diabetes at age 5. It got really bad, and after about a year I went to my doctor and begged for help. That was the start to daily doses of Prozac which eventually became Lexapro a few years ago.
I was sure I needed these drugs, but I had bad side effects. I also continued to experienced symptoms of Depression off and on. I had to learn coping skills, and I have learned to depend on friends and family to help me through difficult times and to help me celebrate wonderful times.
This all became critical in December when I was told by my insurance they would not pay for my antidepressant medication. They wanted me to use generic Prozac, but I did not have a prescription for that medication. I tried for weeks to get a hold of my doctor, but I heard nothing back. Meanwhile, I stopped taking the meds because we could not afford them, and I went through the withdrawal of no antidepressants.
By the end of January, I finally got a hold of my doctor. By that time, I had decided I did not need the antidepressants and I was actually doing better without them. I started losing weight, my migraines have all but disappeared, and I am much more alert.
This week, Newsweek published an important article entitled “The Depressing News About Antidepressants.” It details very good research that SSRIs do not actually treat the the cause of Depression because serotonin level problems are not really the root cause of Depression. The cause of Depression is not actually known. It is 2010, and we do not know why our brains reach levels of depression such that our cognitive abilities decrease and we cannot see why we are important. That is really scary.
It seems that for many, antidepressants work because of a placebo effect.
The moral dilemma was this: oh, yes, I knew of 20-plus years of research on antidepressants, from the old tricyclics to the newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that target serotonin (Zoloft, Paxil, and the granddaddy of them all, Prozac, as well as their generic descendants) to even newer ones that also target norepinephrine (Effexor, Wellbutrin). The research had shown that antidepressants help about three quarters of people with depression who take them, a consistent finding that serves as the basis for the oft-repeated mantra “There is no question that the safety and efficacy of antidepressants rest on solid scientific evidence,” as psychiatry professor Richard Friedman of Weill Cornell Medical College recently wrote in The New York Times. But ever since a seminal study in 1998, whose findings were reinforced by landmark research in The Journal of the American Medical Association last month, that evidence has come with a big asterisk. Yes, the drugs are effective, in that they lift depression in most patients. But that benefit is hardly more than what patients get when they, unknowingly and as part of a study, take a dummy pill—a placebo. As more and more scientists who study depression and the drugs that treat it are concluding, that suggests that antidepressants are basically expensive Tic Tacs. — Sharon Begley, Newsweek
I had wondered about a placebo effect for years because my little, daily pill did not seem to decrease some of the depressive episodes. In fact, they seemed to be worse than times before I took the pills. I believe that I am at least in a group that is not helped with antidepressants, even if they do work on others. I also believe the statistics that show no better help than placebo effect with these medications. That really frustrates me. How could we be in 2010 and not understand the mechanisms of Depression? How could that be?
I do not want to discourage anyone from getting help from the terrible anguish of Depression. No one should stop taking SSRIs without deep and thorough discussion with your doctor. I did this, and we both decided I would go off the medication. I am doing fine now because I have learned coping skills and I have the very best friends and family. I also have a strong spirituality that helps pull me through difficult times as I remember who I am. I hope this continues.
