Depression

[dan494]

Well they obviously had a crap GP, the right antidepressant in low does can kick the mind into action, needs monitoring weekly, takes 10 -14 days plus to work, obviously need therapy on top. other suggestions on here are good.

 

ask to see local ATS if things are terrible can be seen by psych, ask gp for referral

Unless you've seen this it's hard to believe a pill can do so much damage but believe me these pills can be very dangerous. They effect everyone differently and no gp is trained to a high level. They will give anyone who asks these pills and the damage can be catastrophic. They hand out sertraline or similar which alters the serotonin in the brain. Sometimes this works, in others it makes things worse. If you come off of it without a long weaning period you get brain zaps which can be incapacitating. It took a year from starting on a low dose antidepressant which caused severe depression and sleep problems, switched those pills to another which bought on 'brain zaps' a more depressed state due to the side effects leading to a suicide attempt. A good 6 months of cbt and therapy and adjusting doses to get the person back to how they were before taking the pills but now the prospect of taking them for life in fear of a depressive cycle.

I'm writing this to hope to save someone else going through all of this.

 

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[dan494]

 

ask to see local ATS if things are terrible can be seen by psych, ask gp for referral

 

I'd also like to add on this point that a gp referral to see a psychiatrist will take around 6 months if you are very lucky

 

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[Taupotreeman]

Unless you've seen this it's hard to believe a pill can do so much damage but believe me these pills can be very dangerous. They effect everyone differently and no gp is trained to a high level. They will give anyone who asks these pills and the damage can be catastrophic. They hand out sertraline or similar which alters the serotonin in the brain. Sometimes this works, in others it makes things worse. If you come off of it without a long weaning period you get brain zaps which can be incapacitating. It took a year from starting on a low dose antidepressant which caused severe depression and sleep problems, switched those pills to another which bought on 'brain zaps' a more depressed state due to the side effects leading to a suicide attempt. A good 6 months of cbt and therapy and adjusting doses to get the person back to how they were before taking the pills but now the prospect of taking them for life in fear of a depressive cycle.

I'm writing this to hope to save someone else going through all of this.

 

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I see both sides of this. I was misdiagnosed with Bipolar and given lithium for it. The meds had a devastating effect on me, put me into a deeply depressive state and at times, a suicidal one. I recognised that something wasn't right and went back to a different doctor who referred me on to a shrink. He figured that I wasn't actually bipolar and weaned me off the lithium and replaced it with a high dose of sertraline. At first I was taking it at night but had issues with sleep disturbance etc. switched to taking it in the morning, a referral to a psychologist, a course of vitamin B12 injections and folic acid and the turn around is evident. More self confident, less anxiety, less stress. Obviously there are side effects and I would always recommend talking to a specialist before taking and SRI, SSRI or anti depressants prescribed by the GP.

 

 

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[dan494]

. Obviously there are side effects and I would always recommend talking to a specialist before taking and SRI, SSRI or anti depressants prescribed by the GP.

 

 

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I don't think GPs should be giving out these pills at all. Fully agree with seeing a specialist, mental health needs much better understanding. If anyone reading this is thinking of taking them please research them first and don't take the doctors word for it

 

 

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[Taupotreeman]

I don't think GPs should be giving out these pills at all. Fully agree with seeing a specialist, mental health needs much better understanding. If anyone reading this is thinking of taking them please research them first and don't take the doctors word for it

 

 

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In hindsight I agree with your first statement. Half the battle anyway is talking to someone who actually understands what's going on, that being the specialist.

 

 

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[Gerbutt]

I heard about a study that showed that the best results with antidepressants were only 10% more effect than the placebo!

 

It's fairly recently that science has discovered brain plasticity and the positive effect meditation/mindfulness does have. I'd say in years to come very few people will be popping pills anymore.

 

 

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[Mull]

I don't think GPs should be giving out these pills at all. Fully agree with seeing a specialist, mental health needs much better understanding. If anyone reading this is thinking of taking them please research them first and don't take the doctors word for it

 

 

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In hindsight I agree with your first statement. Half the battle anyway is talking to someone who actually understands what's going on, that being the specialist.

 

 

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I think to be fair, in this country at least, GPs have a job to do, part of that job is to take the pressure off the specialist departments of the NHS, I'm sure the majority of them do their best, they are, after all, general practitioners not specialists, maybe we have to cut them some slack.

I'm not sure about the "pill pushing" point, it sounds dangerous, but who am I to say it doesn't happen! I guess you'd have to have a statistic of the number of GPs guilty of this?

 

 

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[dan494]

I'm not knocking the GPs they're doing their job but I think body and mind are 2 different things and need to be treated as such. Mental health really does need a more specialised approach.

 

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[Mull]

I'm not knocking the GPs they're doing their job but I think body and mind are 2 different things and need to be treated as such. Mental health really does need a more specialised approach.

 

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Yep I agree, but there has to be a starting point, an assessment I suppose, often that's down to the GP.

We'd all like specialist treatment from the start, but due to the amount of time wasters/worried well, it just can't work that way.

 

 

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[dan494]

Yep I agree, but there has to be a starting point, an assessment I suppose, often that's down to the GP.

We'd all like specialist treatment from the start, but due to the amount of time wasters/worried well, it just can't work that way.

 

 

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The thing is there just aren't the specialised centres. Again not to give.an indication to whom I'm talking about someone else I know threatened suicide and was taken to a & e one Saturday night around 6 months ago. Was referred to the local NHS specialised department to get further help and still waiting on a first appointment. If it were a broken leg you'd be seen the same day [emoji26]

 

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