going to therapy for the first time, what's it like?

I don't think that you can really generalize about medication being good or bad. It's really both. Yes, I have known people who found that antidepressants had a terrible effect on them. They felt worse and more troubled than they did prior to taking an antidepressant. Some people have a better response to medication than others. Some have none. However, there are many, many people who have benefitted greatly from antidepressant medication. I'm one of the ones who had very little success with antidepressants until recently.

Finally, after many years of talk therapy and numerous antidepressants, in various combinations, I am having some sucess witih lexapro in combination with strattera. This combination is new. I am posting this so that others will become aware of this combination.

With regard to old antidepressants-- they are still used with success. They don't tend to be prescribed now b/c they have significantly more undesirable side effects than the next generation of antidepressants.

Studies have shown that those who take medication in combination with talk therapy have the best outcome.

Yes, I have read Breggin. I thinks he makes some valid points but not enough to justify eliminating medication that helps to alleviate suffering.

Yes, inducing an insulin coma seems barbaric, given our greater understanding of the human body. But then there was a time when it was thought that the world was flat.

There are no simple answers here.

mermaidmo,

"A brain-imaging study (Leuchter, 2002) found that depressed patients who responded to the placebo effect showed changes in cerebral blood flow, which were different to the changes in brain function seen in patients who responded to anti-depressant medication. Other studies such as (Khan, 2000) have shown that up to 75% of the effectiveness of anti-depressant medication is due to the placebo-effect rather than the treatment itself."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo_ef ... depression

mermaidmo, do you have your lab test result that shows the level of your seretonin imbalance? You should probably have several seeing your such an anti depressant expert. Can you post your results here?

Moreover, anti- depressants are one thing, anti- psychotics are another, you don't speak for the forcefully drugged.

Woh, I think mermaidmo had a point and she does not need to be insulted no offence to anyone. Although I do agree with the placebo effect. All I know is my experiences were terrible on all of them. I've been on Ritlin, Rispridaul, Prozac, Abilify, Seroquel, Lexapro, Geodon, Zoloft, and Trileptal. I've seen several others messed up by them. And I've read many things aginst them. You have a point though they all might not be bad for all people. I've seen many changed by these drugs. I just don't believe they can help somthing like mental illness by "here pop a pill". It seems now a days like some thearipist and doctors take the opinion of "Got a hyper kid give him Adderall. Depressed teen then its Paxil. Axiety pop some Xanax. And if you dare to argue then your delusional and I'll give you seroquel" We used to expect teens to be mildly rebellious now it means their bipolar or ODD or ADHD. I'm not saying mental illness doesn't exist....just that their are alternatives to medication. ....I have Tourette Syndrome and OCD as well as panic attacks, I cut, depression, social axiety and so on. I probley have more then they diagnosed But I know that medication can't help me, I was forced to take what I took which is part of what triggered my tourette syndrome (curse seroquel!). I believe that every mental illness can be overcome with intense therapy and god.

I hope I didn't offend anyone. On my site I have a servey I'm taking about psychiatric drugs http://www.freewebs.com/butimnotcrazy/people.htm if anyone could fill this out it would be a great help!

Anonymous wrote:mermaidmo,

"A brain-imaging study (Leuchter, 2002) found that depressed patients who responded to the placebo effect showed changes in cerebral blood flow, which were different to the changes in brain function seen in patients who responded to anti-depressant medication. Other studies such as (Khan, 2000) have shown that up to 75% of the effectiveness of anti-depressant medication is due to the placebo-effect rather than the treatment itself."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo_ef ... depression

mermaidmo, do you have your lab test result that shows the level of your seretonin imbalance? You should probably have several seeing your such an anti depressant expert. Can you post your results here?

Moreover, anti- depressants are one thing, anti- psychotics are another, you don't speak for the forcefully drugged.

here we go again...

I agree w/ Sadgurl...."here we go again". Did I miss something in mermaidmo's post...I apologize if I did...but I don't see where she (he?) is trying to speak for everyone ...those forcefully drugged or otherwise. Why is it that someone w/ a positive experience having used medication for their mental health issues can't speak out here w/out getting slammed by someone who feels their treatment was forced. Both sides of the issues have arguments. Both have a place on the board. I've had good success in treating my "issues" w/ medication. Some have not. I'm not going to argue for someone that feels medication is not right for them that they should reconsider and use medication. If it didn't work for you, I have no problem w/ that. But I'll be dammed if someone is going to take away my right to be on medication because their experience was so negative they feel all meds should be done away w/. That's your experience, not mine. You have a right to feel as you do based on your negative experience just as I have a right to disagree based on my positive experience. What works for one will not and cannot and should not work for another. We are different.

Do I think there are problems w/ our mental health industry....certain medications? Certainly. and they need to be addressed and corrected. Not simply wiped out.

What is distressing to me is the generalization that some posters engage in. If they have had a bad experience with medication then it is bad for everyone. To people who seem on a crusade against psychiatry are you now or in the past been in so much pain emotionally that you did not want to live anymore or have been afraid to go outside your house. Having experienced these things myself and with family members, waking up in the morning can be a living hell. If someone finds relief from their pain from medication that is a wonderful thing. Yes medication has side effects but so does just about every medication used in "medical" conditions. That a psychiatrist can diagnosis a mental disorder without tests that are diagnostic is nothing new in medicine, MS until MRIs can out was not able to be diagnosed by the use of any medical tests yet it exists, the same is true for several other neurological conditions. In medical disorders there are numerous ones that can not be cured but can be controlled by medication. The idea that medications don't cure but only cover up symtoms is rather naive. Do people believe Scientology cures mental disorders or that they are ethical in dealing with people who are in opposition to them. Yes there are therapists and psychiatrists who are unethical or abusive to patients just as in any other area of medicine. For someone going the first time to a therapist etc my best wishes to you. Most of them are helpful and are individuals who will keep your confidence and listen to you reveal what may be embarassing to the point where you have never told another person. If you experience a therapist who is rude etc or you just don't feel comfortable with, get another one, just like if you went to a family doctor who you don't like. It may be a generalization on my part but most of the people I met who are antipsychiatry are intolerate or others feelings and beliefs like Tom Cruise was to Brook Shelds on national TV. I hope Mr. Cruise never has a occurance of a severe mental illness as he would find his beliefs to not serve him well. Lastly to people who do not want to be controlled by medication like a friend of mine with OCD, your symtoms are controlling you more than anything else in your life. I don't consider living that way acceptable to me but if you can live with it you are a better person than I am.

World Health Organization studies have shown that outcomes for people with mental health problems are much, much better in the poor countries of the world. By the way, the results of their first report was so startling, they repeated the study, and they came up with the same results.

How can this be?

The use of antipsychotic drugs is much less in those poor countries where people were infrequently kept on the drugs.

So here you had this disparity. You have our medical paradigm here in this country, which says continual drug treatment for those diagnosed with schizophrenia is absolutely essential. And yet outcomes and recovery rates are much, much higher (up to 90%) in poor countries where they didn't follow that paradigm.

I'm not trying to take sides here. Just pointing out something that's been overlooked. There are no drugs without side effects. If you take a little trip through the current PDR you will see this is true.

When I was in nursing school about 20 years ago, one of the courses we took was called pharmacology. We were all really surprised to see that a newer drug called Ibuprofen was listed in the PDR as having no side effects. It didn't STATE there were none. It just didn't have any listed. But if you look now, you will see Ibuprofen does have side effects, just like all other drugs do. If you find new anti-depressants with none listed, it's simply because it hasn't been circulated in the general populace long enough for them to be verified and listed yet.

shadoe