Screws up your sleep cycle, is time consuming, causes you to not leave the house, makes other hobbies fall by the wayside.
That said, it does also exacerbate clinical depression, so this gets confusing quickly!
I have on many occasions beaten back total anhedonia and a desire to die with a few drinks. It's not an optimal solution obviously, but when your options are limited it is sometimes quite preferable to not drinking.
As someone who has suffered major depression, I agree totally that recreational drug use can be helpful in managing some symptoms of mental disorder. I do however feel like moderation is a very important aspect of this which can be harder for folks when they are already feeling down
otherwise most of them wouldn’t want to socialise at all.
Can you elaborate which one are you using? I was prescribed Wellbutrin/bupropion (along with some therapy sessions) about a month ago and I seem to notice no changes. I'm going to continue to be hopeful but it seems like this wasn't the one for me so just wondering what you were using.
"There is research to support common factors theory. One common factor is the client–therapist interaction, also known as the therapeutic alliance. A 1992 paper by Lambert showed that nearly 40 percent of the improvement in psychotherapy is from these client–therapist variables."
Quote from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo_bird_verdict
A second remote but local(because of covid) therapist was assigned to me as part of this Wellbutrin trial. A total of 10 sessions are to be done with this trial. So far she has only told me what I already know: that I should keep trying little steps every day like increasing my exercise. She gives me little goals but I don't like the fact that since these sessions are 45 mins with no way to extend, there always seems to be a time crunch.
There are tons of therapists in my area with no way to evaluate the differences. This is an expensive proposition as it stands and so I don't know how I will find the perfect one without evaluating each and every different therapist in my area. :/
This has been my experience as well, both personally and through friends.
An important point is that a therapist which works for someone might not work for you, it's rather personal.
I will say that the effect is permanent. It's rewiring your brain when you use it.
If it's helping you to spend some time on harder but more important self-improvement, then great.
If not, you should consider switching drugs.
I currently take ADHD medicine, which is helping in many ways, but a mixed bag in others.
All the drugs are going to grease the wheels in some way, but you'll have to experiment to find the one for you.
That would be a miracle if it did that. My doctor put me on this precisely because it is less strong than other drugs like Adderal. He does not want me going down an addicting road unless necessary. (my summary of what he told me)
So far I have been taking it for about a month although I have missed days here and there and while I try to take it at the same time, sometimes the window varies by +/- 1-3 hrs. I am on the 150mg XR version. What is typical time frame we are talking about before we notice changes? 1 month? 6 months? How long did it take you?
The fact that I am on HN/Reddit/youtube for a couple hrs each day instead of exercising/coding/tidying up/working on my life seem to indicate that no reward loops have been broken thus far. In fact I am slowly sinking in the other direction(but i'm not sure if buproprion is causing it). I have broken another all time record for weight gain despite increasing my exercise regime somewhat.
Was considering stopping treatment after a month if no changes are noticed and wait some time to clear it out of my system before trying something like ayahuasca or psilocybin.
I'm currently on Adderall. If you have ADHD, it has more benefits than drawbacks in my opinion, and the effects are not as subtle. It does give you focus for tedious tasks, though it's up to you to assure that those tedious tasks are actually important and not a rabbit hole.
Neither drug is going to make you stop browsing Reddit or HN. If you want to reduce browsing Reddit, turn off all the default subs and then subscribe to specialized subs catered to real, specific interests of yours. You will not miss the default subs. HN is only good for about 1 page usually, then it's scraping the bottom of the barrel.
If you want to do more exercise/coding/tidying up/etc. set a 5 minute timer, do at least that much work on that, then reward yourself with some HN. You'll find that starting the activity is the hardest part.
Re: weight loss, you can't outrun your own fork. All the fad diets have a kernel of truth to them, a lesson to apply or discard in your own life. Intermittent fasting is quite effective IME. Besides calorie reduction, it also resets your hunger signals. For me, it got me over this irrational fear of being hungry that I had, and also revealed just how much I was eating out of boredom rather than hunger. Also, you have to pick a problem and focus on it. Mitigate the weight situation, but don't force yourself to fight a 2 or 3 front war.
If you have ADHD, you should be on an ADHD med, unless you literally can't trust yourself to take only one pill a day.
If you have treatment-resistant depression, you can also look into ketamine, either intravenous or now intra-nasal. Pay the price to have it administered professionally, as it's not a good idea to develop a black-market hookup for something so addictive.
It took me months to find the right one for me though. Worth talking to your doctor about it if it’s not helping much!
Unfortunately, the side effects were so bad I gave up after a week. Horrible nausea all the time. Such extreme fatigue that i'd sleep 16 hours and still feel exhausted. Not to mention other side effects that are not appropriate to discuss here.
I am considering trying this nightmare of a drug again because I still remember that productivity but man that first experience literally felt like poison was seeping into all areas of my body.
But the side effects (and primary effects!) are also why I only ever stay on it for 3 to 4 months. The sexual side effects alone are enough to impede my recovery, let alone some of the other ones.
So I use it like a bandage to get through the worst parts, rather than a “take every day for years” drug. The “take every day” bit for me is CBT exercises to rewrite my mind, and it’s worked :)
The physical sides for Lexapro at least for me disappeared. I also got the nausea initially. It’s rough, I know.
There are other more modern SSRIs that might be worth trying too, but if escitalopram seemed to work then it might be worth trying to stick it out to see if the sides get better. They usually do
I gave up after the Lexapro until this year where I am trying to tackle this issue again with the Welbutrin. I keep reading that maybe ayahuasca or psilocybin might be the miracle key that solves the underlying issues.
If you're experiencing those, it might be worth talking to a psychologist or your doctor (to get a referral): you don't have to tough it out. But people who don't have clinical depression also have those issues too, which is why the diagnostic criteria is a little more involved.
For me, a short 3-4 month course of a particular SSRI lets me beat back the worst of it, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy keeps it at bay. I haven't had an episode in years now