Anti-Depressants As One Line of Treatment for Depressive Disorders
Depression and Anti-Depressant Use
As a therapist in Palm Desert, I am often in the position of exploring a client’s thoughts on exploring the addition of medication with their prescribing physician. I found this blog and wanted to repost it here because I believe the original author, Dr. Praveen Tripathi, MD, does a great job of identifying the hesitancies that someone might have around using medication as an additional treatment to their mental health condition.
This is a post copied from Quora, a question-and-answer website where questions are asked, answered, edited and organized by its community of users. It was founded in 2009 by two former Facebook employees and launched to the public in 2010. Quora allows users to share their knowledge and expertise with others by answering questions on a wide variety of topics, including science, technology, politics, history, literature, and many more. Users can also ask questions, vote on answers, and follow topics and users of interest.
Author: Praveen Tripathi
Praveen Tripathi is a Psychiatrist and Faculty Member at the University College of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi
The full blog can be found here.
I am a Psychiatrist and every now and then, I have a patient who is reluctant to take antidepressants. I always try to understand the reason behind their reluctance and the following are the important ones-
Not sure about the diagnosis— A large number of patients with depression, especially those with mild to moderate depression, have doubts about the diagnosis. 'Doctor, am I really depressed or is it that I am just being lazy?’, 'Doctor, am I depressed or am I just being weak?’. I have heard these questions multiple times, not to mention of those, who have the same doubt but don't express it in front of their doctor. If you are not even sure of the diagnosis, obviously you would be reluctant to take meds.
Taking antidepressants is equivalent to being weak — A common thought, many feel that taking meds is same as being a weak person. Unfortunately a large number of patients with depression, have difficulty in accepting that depression is a medical illness. They somehow feel that since its ‘all in their head', they should be able to handle it on their own. And if they can't, that's a sign of their 'weakness’. In reality being strong or weak doesn't have much to do with development of depression. Anyone can develop a depressive episode. And not taking proper treatment for an illness is definitely not a sign of strength.
Fear of being judged by family members, friends and society in general — Although things have improved significantly, and stigma is lesser, nonetheless it still exists. I have had many patients who just wanted to get better, but the family members, were dead against use of meds. In a society like India, where parents often play a significant role in the lives of even their grown up kids, the influence of family members is even more. I remember a particular case where a 25 year old boy was told by his father in front of me that ‘meds won't help you, you should develop inner strength'. I tried telling his father who was wearing spectacles that ' sir , what you are saying is same as someone telling you that you don't need to wear glasses, use your inner strength and you will be able to see clearly’. It still didn't work.
Side effects— The fear of side effects is a much much bigger problem than the actual side effects . Many patients are convinced that they will become like a zombie or will sleep throughout the day or will loose memory and what not, if they take antidepressants. In reality none of these things happen. But the fear is very strong. The most common side effects are related to gastrointestinal system, like acidity or lose stools which usually last for a short duration and often can be taken care of with antacids. One of the problems that is actually troublesome in some patients is weight gain that may happen with antidepressants. In few it can be taken care of with dietary changes but in others it's a difficult issue to sort out. Another problem in some patients is the sexual side effect in the form of low desire or erection disturbances. If these occur, changing the antidepressant , usually helps. In some cases if the side effect is persistent, stopping the med may be required.
The long duration of treatment— the minimum duration is usually 6–9 months which is a lot of time. Many patients do not want the treatment for this long and hence are reluctant.
Overall, I feel that the use of antidepressants have so much more benefits that risks, in a patient with depression. That said, antidepressants are not the only treatment modality that works. One can always consider going for CBT sessions. In some patients they work really well.
I will just end this by saying that I must have prescribed meds to tens of thousands of patients in my career and I have seen so many great results that if I were to myself develop depression ever in my life, I would happily see a Psychiatrist and take meds as prescribed to me. That doesn't mean that antidepressants are some kind of magic pills that take way the pain overnight. No they don't. They take time and sometimes not all symptoms get relieved and they don't work in everyone. But overall, the chances of getting benefitted are quite good and one must not allow the biases ans stigma to come in between. Author: Praveen Tripathi
Lauren Fox, LCSW, PMH-C
I hope this blog from Quora about Anti-Depressants as a Treatment for Depression was helpful for you. Anti-depressants are considered most effective when used in conjunction with therapy. Read here if you’d like to know more about Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders. If you are looking for a perinatal and/or postpartum therapist, reach out to me! I can also help point you in the direction of local Coachella Valley doulas, physicians, birthing centers and vendors like photographers, balloons and catering for baby showers, etc, etc. We can schedule a 15 minute phone consultation to discuss what is happening for you and explore if more individualized mental health support could be beneficial for you. I would be happy to help get you connected. Feel free to call me at 805-930-9355 for a free 15 minute phone consultation. If you are looking for help with pregnancy, postpartum, pregnancy loss, infertility, birth trauma, hypnotherapy, or new mothers support groups, you can read more about how I can help within this website.
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