The Truth about Antidepressants.

7 Facts to Boost Your Mental Health and Increase Your Success with Antidepressants. 

Full disclosure,  I am pro-choice on drugs for mental health.  For the past 20ish years I have swallowed a wide arrangement of colourful psychiatric meds. 

They work.

But… you must own the recovery process.
Closing your eyes, swallowing, and hoping isn’t enough. You must leverage help, find support

And you must choose life over depression, every day, over and over again. 

This article shares the truth about antidepressants but there is more involved in a full recovery. Talk-therapy, social support, exercise, sleep, healthy eating, and finding a way to be at peace in your inner world are all major factors in recovery. 

It’s widely accepted and scientifically founded that antidepressants can help.  

They helped me. 

I was able to lift my lead-heart off the dirt floor to see the bright blue sky and feel alive or at least okay.  At a time when my diet was dragging me down, the meds gave me the motivation I needed to choose the crisp apple to crunch between my teeth over that fifth brownie to coat my teeth and mind in a sugary fuzz.   That fuzz starts in the brain, seeps into the mind, and pulls your life down like a block of cement. 

If those hazy, bleak, hopeless thoughts start to overpower you, …
There’s hope! A life-line, a ladder stretching up, out of the darkness of rock bottom.  

Antidepressants.

Here’s the Truth about Antidepressants

That’s right, these little pills when swallowed in appropriate doses and timeframes, under the direction of a doctor,  increase norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin in your brain (well actually the meds block the exits so the good neurotransmitters can stay present and do their job!) 

  When these antidepressants are in action, they are like bouncers keeping all the good neurotransmitters at the party which is your brain. When these  little superstars bounce around in the right locations, we feel better. Let’s take a look at the human experience of antidepressants. 

1. Unleashing your inner optimist –

BENEFIT – Improved Mood

My husband said, “I know you cooked but can you clean the dishes, I need to do some work.”  My nostrils flare, I feel my upper and lower lip cringe in unison, as the stale air of our COVID lock-down apartment rushes through my nose right to my my brain.  

My next move was messy.

Who loads the dishwasher? Rock, Paper, Scissors! A simple statement or request from a loved one shouldn’t trigger fight or flight.  

The meds can help.

2. Activate your inner fire –

BENEFIT – Increased Energy and Motivation.

I want to write a book, hike Kgale hill, and educate the world about mental health and wellness.  During depression, I want to feel better, I want to eat brownies, I barely want to shower or get out of bed and these feel like impossible tasks.  

A depression-hack I’ve used in the past.  Write a list of all the things you want to do, but only include things you have already completed.  Then check it off!

Get a degree – check!  Sweep the floor – check!  Eat a brownie (never check that one!)

Motivation and energy is required to get better. If you can’t find yours,

The meds can help.

3. Rest your way to success

BENEFIT – Better Sleep.

When I’m depressed I suffer from racing thoughts that attack and destroy me. They shake away all my strength and use it against me. I had a recurring and incessant disagreement with myself about my sister in law.

  “She’s pissed.  You messed up big this time, Sarah.  You think an apology is good? Apologize via email. She won’t respond. No! You’re not worth it. You are ruining your husband’s relationship with his nieces.  She hates you. How can I get her to like me? Send another email. No. Stop being so stupid. That never works.  You never do anything right. Yes, fuck, what were you thinking? No.  Oh  argh…i’ll just send another email.”  

All this from  cozy sheets, a dark room, with a sweet husband sleeping next to me.  My brain is yelling at me and my mind shrieks – I’m surprised it doesn’t wake him up.   My limbs are ferocious; my mind is doing this again.  They throw me to my feet and I’m walking to the kitchen.  It’s 2:07am and we have a long night ahead. I’ll just write the email, surely I’ll feel better. I hope.

While not everyone suffers from this level of anxious thoughts in the night there is also a physical component.  The added support of an antidepressant creates relief for the brain.   This relief is transferred to your body (just as the anxiety was previously).  Allowing your mind, limbs, heart, digestive track, all parts of your physical body rest too.

Sleep is critical for mental health recovery.  Uninterrupted sleep gives your body a break and lets your brain rebuild. 

Get to bed!

The meds can help.

4. Relief for the body and mind

BENEFIT – Reduced physical symptoms

This is a continuation from the sleep benefit really.

The biggie here is our annoying old buddy – A-town.  

Anxiety is different for everyone but for me, my throat tightens and my voice gets louder, my heart pumps blood faster, that same blood seems to suffocate me all while my eyes silently scan the environment for safety and the faster exit. All for seemingly no reason – anxiety is brutal.  

It will never go away and it shouldn’t. If we truly want to overcome depression, with or without medication,  we need to make friends with our anxiety, understand it and well, love it.   Our anxiety is a part of our being.  

Anxiety is our true nature trying to communicate with ourself. 

I believe that anxiety manifests in our bodies and whatever is going to cause us the most grief.  I lived a long time with the fear of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI).  Even when it was impossible based on the facts of my behaviour I still managed to convince myself otherwise and even physically manifest symptoms.  I’d even wait hours at a clinic to get tested.

Our bodies are powerful.  Our minds even moreso.  When our brain attacks with an chemical imbalance–

The meds can help with that.

5. Finding light in the darkness 

CHALLENGE – Suicidal Thoughts

If you have any thoughts of suicide call your doctor, call a friend, or reach out to a helpline.  When someone isn’t well, it’s the illness that talks, it’s the illness that thinks and sadly it’s the illness that steals the life. 

Please seek help. You have to do it now, before the illness gains strength.  

Sometimes talking about the thoughts is hard.  The helplines are very good.  People are trained in helping.  Sometimes when my thoughts race and the darkness overpowers my every breath.  I tell someone, “I’m having bad thoughts… it’s pretty bad”.  It’s my way to communicate out loud to myself and also plant the seed in others that I need help. 

I tell my doctor, “I’m having red flags.”    Which tells her (and reminds me as a currently depressed person)  that I need help. 

There is mixed results on the effect of  antidepressants on suicide.   My personal opinion is that if someone is in the darkest place and is placed on antidepressants without the right support (talk therapy, medical professionals, diet, exercise)  I’m afraid the antidepressants can increase the energy just enough to motivate the illness.  I believe this is unlikely but the drug advisory states that, sadly, it has happened. 

I only advise help from professionals for anyone living with the desire to die.  There is help.  You are not alone.  

The meds can help.

6. Managing the Unmanageable

CHALLENGE – Side Effects 

Weight-gain! Defunk sex drive? Is this some kind of sick joke?!  Happiness, at what cost?

 I can finally see the sun shine through my window. I feel my daughter’s soft curls press against my face when she runs into my arms excited to explain her recent discovery.  My ideas are stemming and I want fresh tulips for the dinner table.  Oh yes, and none of my clothes fit. I don’t want to be alone with my naked body. I haven’t had sex in 6 weeks.  The price of my new mental-health is 27lbs and chastity.  

The truth is, the pills work but too frequently the person/pill combo produces a challenging side effect.  

The good news is there are options.  Each prescription is different, there are many types and kinds, brands, and generics.  If you are experiencing a terrible side effect, it might be time to try a different pill.   In my life, I’ve been on and off a dozen different pills, plus the generic and brand version of each.  

I’ve dealt with weight gain  (if you are too, buy clothes that fit, you are beautiful and you should feel it too!),  tremor, insomnia, narcolepsy (no joke, from insomnia, to sleeping all day), rage,  dry skin, loss of sex-drive (devastating), oh yes, rashes!  Each time I presented a new challenging side effect, we (my doctor and me) tried a new antidepressant.  I eventually found one that worked for me and it made all the difference. 

Trust yourself first.  You are the person taking the pills.  You are the person who reports the side effects. Pay attention, write it down, talk to friends or family members about what has worked for their genetic makeup.  

You are the person who is responsible for working with your doctor to come up with the best solution.  Your doctor’s appointment is yours, bring your ideas, ask for help.

Recovery from depression requires a self-motivated healer! And that person is you.

7. The final Step Breaking Free 

CHALLENGE – Dependency

The meds help, they aren’t forever, but sometimes they hold on tight.  It’s best to talk to a doctor, dependence can be physical and psychological.  Usually the plan with these meds is to treat to remission.  Find stability on the meds without any symptoms of depression.  Then it’s time to find a way off.

Most doctors support a slow taper from the drugs.  The tougher those little bouncers hang on, the  slower the process.  Reduce by a half, reduce by a quarter, try every other day. Anything to break the grip. 

If you are struggling to get off an antidepressant lookup or talk to your doctor about the half-life of the drug.  A longer half-life means the symptoms of withdrawal don’t appear so quickly. 

For example, I was really struggling with tapering off of citalopram.  The headache and dizziness was nauseating.  Even during treatment if I missed a morning pill my body reminded me by lunch.  

I was lucky to have access to a wonderful psychiatrist who could give me some pretty great advice.  Swap out a longer half life for a shorter one. 

The meds can help.

The meds are tools to help you and me on our journey. 

The Art of Mental Wellness:

Cultivating a Healthy Mindset

Mental health and wellness is possible.

Remember your responsibility; you must be in control of your own health.

Initiate help, talk therapy, exercise, community, healthy food, and peace in your inner world.

You can do it.

What’s your experience with Antidepressants? Successes? Failures?
I love talk about this stuff, send me a message or comment below.