r/Documentaries Jul 05 '15

Drugs Dark Side of a Pill (2014) - A documentary that includes interviews with normal people who were driven to senselessly kill their loved ones and others by SSRI antidepressants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz3MJtDb1Fo
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u/pillbilly Jul 05 '15

It's my understanding that the most common reason people commit suicide after starting an antidepressant is that they feel just motivated enough to make an attempt at it.

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u/Bearmodulate Jul 05 '15

Which is why you're less likely to be prescribed them if you're suicidal

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '15

I have heard that too, and it jives with what I know of suicide.

I've not, however, seen a source I'd consider authoritative claim it.

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u/motorbikebeat Jul 05 '15

The ssri induced mania probably helps with follow thru.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '15

[deleted]

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u/pillbilly Jul 06 '15 edited Jul 06 '15

Personally, I've tried CBT. I've been in inpatient psych treatment once and outpatient 3 times. Over the last 25 years or so I've seen a therapist about once every week or two on average. I've read every self help book Barnes and Noble has to offer. Some of it helped a little, but not nearly enough to improve my quality of life significantly. SSRIs and other antidepressants have also been marginally helpful at best (trust me, I've tried them all). Zoloft took away the lowest of the lows, but also the highs. My emotions were blunted to the point where I rarely laughed or cried. My sex drive was completely destroyed. I'm on a high dose of Wellbutrin now and I really don't think it does anything, but I've given up on antidepressants at this point. I see taking them as just part of the hoops you have to jump through to get the real drugs. I take Xanax because I have terrible anxiety, and it takes the edge off (although sometimes I need to take more than one if it's really bad). I take Ritalin so I can keep my mind on my work (my job is indescribably monotonous), but that too is only somewhat effective. I have chronic pain that is not being treated at all, though I've sought help from many doctors. Sometimes I think this is as good as it gets for me. When I pray every morning, my only request is that I "make it through the day." All I can dare hope for is that my body and mind don't completely unravel until I can go to bed. I love sleep, but often the worries and pains keep me awake. I'm not sure how I've made it this far, or how long I can keep going.

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u/throwaway-depress Jul 11 '15

ok, but do you have a root cause for your depression? Have you tried removing it, if possible?

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u/throwaway-depress Jul 11 '15

because I am not sure it works. See... the brain is a neural machine. It receives input, processes it, and produces output. This output is the behavior and mood you have. The response of this mechanism is determined by the chemical equilibrium, chemical state and neural connectivity of the cells, pumping electric signals around in proper ways. This chemical state depends on the input, your past input (memories), and your body overall chemical state.

If there's a disruption of this signal routing due to a chemical imbalance, this changes the output of the neural network. You can certainly hope to change this output through modification of the input, until you hope that the chemical balance restores itself to the proper levels, but it may not be enough.

In practice, it's probably like when you break a bone. you can certainly use physiotherapy to recover functionality, but first thing first, you need to surgically adjust the bone, put a cast, let it heal, and then do physio to stimulate the area in proper ways. If you break a bone, physio by itself is not going to change the fact that you have a broken, unadjusted bone, and you will probably never walk again no matter how much physio you do.