27 MILLION Americans on Antidepressants

These things only have a short term effectiveness, much less that what they are marketed and prescribed to be. As a patient, I have had first hand experience with this.

Since age 8, I had experienced depression. This led to suicidal thoughts by age 10. Bullies were a primary problem at this point. I got very angry very quickly.

At age 11 and 12, these feelings subsided. The kids I had problems with before had left the neighborhood. However, at age 13, I transferred schools and was taken away from this girl I had a huge crush on. My calssmates at the new school took no interest in me and I took none in them. My grades plummeted and the suicide thoughts were back to the point that I took out knives to kill myself with but I was always too scared to end it. I had decided that everyone in my life hated me and would rejoice when I was found dead.

On a trip to Rome, where I was closer to these same classmates for a couple weeks, I actually began to create friendships and these thoughts subsided and have never since been nearly as strong. This was not long before I turned 14. Ages 14, 15 and 16 passed by with few problems other than some anger and the beginnings of random nausea attacks which I suffer from to this day.

By the end of age 16, I began to lose touch with some of the friends I had made in Rome. This led to a mild reinsurgence in my problems. I had begun to use weed with my closest friends but they were going accross town for college and I had no way of getting over there. I began to write about how no one cared for me anymore. These fell into the wrong hands, those of the principal at my highschool, who sent me to mental hospital. I was there for two days and it only served to make my mindset worse. It was in this time that I received my medication. It was 150mg Zoloft and 5mg Abilify(Abilify has side effects that can fuck you up and not in a good way) I was also ordered to stop using marijuana. This would not settle with me. Only when I received regular doses of marijuana did I feel any long term relief of all of my depression, anger and nausea symptoms.

For about a year, I lied about my marijuana use. I had, and still have, both a counselor and a doctor who are in charge of this. The counselor was and still is much more understanding of my marijuana use. The doctor began to treat me like total shit as soon as she found out I had been using marijuana. I still lie to her about my use. It is the only way I can get any kind of respect from her.

This doctor has since cut back somewhat on the Zoloft and has removed the Abilify (Thank God. That was freaking me out) Although I still have a perscription, I have not used the medication regularly for about a month.

I am 19 now, beginning my second year of tech school. Going to tech school instead of a university was the best decision I ever made. I was fed up with the snobs from the private gradeschools and highschool I went to. I am also doing the things I had first wanted to do when I was 4 years old and had no cares in the world. I am doing everything I wanted to do as a small child and couldn't be happier.

The pills did a decent temporary job of removing my depression for that small period of time in which I was able to make some big, good decisions that led me to take the direction I WANTED to take. They served their purpose but I have been prescribed them for much too long now. Marijuana and an improved, more mature state of mind has become my ultimate cure. For this I must thank my counselor and my closest friends. I also gave up heavy alcohol consumption, which allowed my anger to be provoked more easily in times past (This was no problem for me. Thank God for that.)

Pills might be a quick fix or an emergency fix. However, there are many more long term goals and solutions necessary. I believe doctors overlook this, as mine has.

 

Fuck the pharmaceutical industry. It's all about the money and not about making people better and curing illnesses.

 

27 million americans on antidepressants
Hunger Facts: International :: Bread for the World :: Have Faith. End Hunger

why are americans so sad if they can afford food every meal, every day?
we need to sit down all 27 million and educate them on things that could justafiably make them depressed.

 

Golgi, even though my situation and his are different, I understand. However, in my situation, I was never "normal" in any way. People have told me that I am "The most unique person that they had ever met." The pills subdued this abnormality quite a bit. I may have been "normal and healthy" but I certainly was not yet happy. I found a good medium now, since I get ideas from friends how to best display some of my abnormalities, and to hide others. Weed has helped me alot by refining my ideas. However, I have trouble acting on the ideas when I am high.

 

thats horrible...
people shouldnt be that sad unless theyre all in pure poverty.
even if you were in poverty you still have hope...

 

I agree. Many Americans, myself included for a while, get too caught up in stuff that DOESNT MATTER. Instead of rethinking their life, they go and freak out, then get pills which dont solve anything long term.
There is a reason I had problems. It was not brain chemicals. The solution stared at me right in the face once my mind was cleared. I had to take the direction that I WANTED. In a land like America that you can, for the most part, do whatever you want, why NOT do what YOU WANT?