Well, this is a topic I have some experience with ...
I just got a Quora notification regarding a question posed, the question being "Are antidepressants worth it?"
Unfortunately, that was the extent of the inquiry, which was frustrating to the psychiatrist answering, but I totally got it. Are they "worth it," meaning "Do they actually work, or are they yet another medical money-suck? Are they a band-aid or a cure?"
In my own mind, the answers are as follows: Sometimes, yes, and Johnson and Johnson band-aids are on about the same level as antidepressants, except you can get J&J band-aids with Disney Princesses on them.
I won't argue that they save lives; properly prescribed and dosed correctly, they can keep a person who might otherwise try to not be alive, up and kicking enough to seek further help for their condition. They have also been shown to give very depressed people just enough energy to attempt - and sometimes succeed - in committing suicide. Improperly prescribed or obtained, or the wrong dosage, and it's like any other drug - a bad scene all around.
I can't say definitively that they are worth it, or that they aren't. All I can say is that mine (and I've been on almost all of 'em) have helped take the edge off my anger and have slightly helped my anxiety. Slightly; I don't call my daily panic attacks having my anxiety under control. But for me, my anger is my biggest problem.
Anger turned inward becomes depression, they say, and I am here to tell you that for me, that is 100% true. I have fury buried so deep that it will probably never get expressed, and if it did, it would absolutely detonate my life. I know this, and try to keep it down to a dull roar, for everyone's sake. If the brilliant people in lab coats come up with an anger suppressant, well, sign me up for 100 mg a day forever.
Unfortunately, that was the extent of the inquiry, which was frustrating to the psychiatrist answering, but I totally got it. Are they "worth it," meaning "Do they actually work, or are they yet another medical money-suck? Are they a band-aid or a cure?"
In my own mind, the answers are as follows: Sometimes, yes, and Johnson and Johnson band-aids are on about the same level as antidepressants, except you can get J&J band-aids with Disney Princesses on them.
I won't argue that they save lives; properly prescribed and dosed correctly, they can keep a person who might otherwise try to not be alive, up and kicking enough to seek further help for their condition. They have also been shown to give very depressed people just enough energy to attempt - and sometimes succeed - in committing suicide. Improperly prescribed or obtained, or the wrong dosage, and it's like any other drug - a bad scene all around.
I can't say definitively that they are worth it, or that they aren't. All I can say is that mine (and I've been on almost all of 'em) have helped take the edge off my anger and have slightly helped my anxiety. Slightly; I don't call my daily panic attacks having my anxiety under control. But for me, my anger is my biggest problem.
Anger turned inward becomes depression, they say, and I am here to tell you that for me, that is 100% true. I have fury buried so deep that it will probably never get expressed, and if it did, it would absolutely detonate my life. I know this, and try to keep it down to a dull roar, for everyone's sake. If the brilliant people in lab coats come up with an anger suppressant, well, sign me up for 100 mg a day forever.