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A comment on One Road Out of Depression. Parent comment

Re:One Road Out of Depression by Broken_Hippo on Tuesday November 08, 2016 @04:16PM (#12904009)
In a way, I think your doctor was correct. The meds change the way you see life - supposedly - even if you didn't actually feel better. My unprofessional opinion is that LSD and other hallucinogens function about the same way - gets you out of your mindset enough so that your perspective is different when you get back in.
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Re:One Road Out of Depression by Swizec on Tuesday November 08, 2016 @04:39PM (#12904178)
The meds[1] I had supposedly weren't made to change how you see life, but to numb your emotional response. You lose the ability to feel bad, but you also lose the ability to feel good. Debatable whether that's better or worse, really.

Fundamentally, I did have the meds and I did get better. Without a control, I can't say whether I got better because of the drugs, in spite of the drugs, or they had no effect. Considering they're approved meds, I can assume that statistically they work better than a placebo and do have a measurable effect. Whether they had causative effect my specific case is anyone's guess.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_serotonin_reuptake_i...

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Re:One Road Out of Depression by ianvanness on Wednesday November 09, 2016 @12:56AM (#12906537)
In general, I'd be cautious recommending any type of medication, especially those involving serotonin, to others given how we as individuals react differently to them.

For example, the first time that I took SSRI's (a decade ago or so, recommended by my primary care physician), I had a negative reaction, and roughly a year of CBT was a much better solution (with a diagnosis of major depression). Fast forward to a few months ago, after being diagnosed yet again with major depression, this time by a psychiatrist, the SSRI's that were recommended and that I took triggered bipolar disorder--not an uncommon occurrence from what I now understand--and my current diagnosis.

All in all, it sounds like you may likely benefit from therapy (individual or group based) in addition to the meds that you're already taking (for what it's worth, it's helped me immensely).

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Re:One Road Out of Depression by mistermann on Friday November 11, 2016 @02:06AM (#12928622)
Are there any "condensed" CBT resources you could recommend so I don't have to read this 600++ page book I've had sitting on the shelf beside me for 2 years?
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