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Post by lucyrob on Jan 16, 2014 1:17:02 GMT
Here's an interesting article found on the NHS website. It discusses whether anti-depressants are handed out too easily, when maybe another form of support would be more beneficial. What are your thoughts? ow.ly/sD42N
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2014 0:27:35 GMT
Medication is being handed out like Valium was handed out like sweets to women in the 80's.
Is it laziness on the part of the doctors or is it pure uneducation?
Medication is just given out to so many people for so many unneeded reasons and that is something that really needs to be stopped. After all that's how addiction starts.
x
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Post by midnightstar on Jan 26, 2014 0:55:10 GMT
I think they are because my doc wanted to keep me on quietapine but I found it made no difference to me
Ive had no adverse effects from coming off it and I hope the doc will let me come off sertraline as well
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Post by Helen on Jan 26, 2014 9:13:52 GMT
We slightly discussed this on another thread but I do agree antidepressants are given out too easily. They are, however, immensely helpful tools that do a lot of good for a lot of people. BUT other avenues should be explored. Especially with mild/moderate depression. The NHS just doesn't have the money for it though. I've been through several antidepressants because I got terrible side effects from most of them. If possible it's always better for people not to be on drugs than to be on them.
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Post by lucyrob on Jan 27, 2014 16:30:15 GMT
I completely agree with you all!
I just posted this as a point of discussion to be honest. I think anti-depressants are such a good tool when used in the right way with the appropriate support in place and along side therapy.
Helen, it's so sad to think people aren't getting the help they may need due to lack of funding don't you think?
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Post by Toni-Louise on Jan 27, 2014 19:25:10 GMT
I think the first step if possible should be for therapies unless the patient is too severely depressed to make progress in therapy without medication to control their mood so that they can attend and work on recovery.research does suggest that the best way to treat clinical depression is with both medication and therapy.despite this ideal scenario therapy takes time and costs money,therefore it is easier to prescribe medication which can be more cost and time effective...in theory...not sure that's the case as in most likely many cases patients need the medication to live day to day and medication may not be fully effective which may mean symptoms may still be present or the patient may no longer display behaviours which were the very essence of who they are because they become masked by the medication...Sorry if this is rambling and if you do not see what I mean or find it offensive or anything
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 19:27:40 GMT
As a teen, I would have disagreed. I was suicidal and I got given nothing. As an adult, I would agree. I usually get given anti-depressants then maybe therapy would be an option later
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Post by Helen on Jan 27, 2014 20:15:59 GMT
That's true actually. As a teenager doctors seemed to think I couldn't be depressed as I was too young or just 'going through a phase' or had teenage hormones. Which is stupid.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2014 0:51:18 GMT
TRIGGER WARNING Helen, I actually had a youth counsellor describe to me the effects of puberty and tell me about life cycles. I was referred to her for being suicidal. I attempted a couple weeks later.
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Post by MissBlack on Jan 28, 2014 2:21:04 GMT
I have through all the SSRIs without a diagnosis, which is a bit shocking! In addition, I do think with anti-depressants there needs to be a diagnosis before medication is given. But having said that I have only recently felt ready to get diagnosed and even then it is still a work in process. Knowing what triggers me, had I got a diagnosis before I started SSRIs I would probably have gone into a complete catatonic crisis.
So, what may work for one person won't necessarily work for another and each case needs to be looked at individually. Unfortunately, this is not always the case due to time restraints and money.
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Post by lucyrob on Jan 28, 2014 14:55:56 GMT
I think this thread is making it clear that there's no consistency with this when it comes to different GPs across the board! I'd only just turned sixteen and was prescribed anti-depressants with my first visit to the GP.
Miss Black, I completely agree with what you just said too tbh.
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Post by Helen on Jan 28, 2014 22:40:09 GMT
Laura, I can't believe how unbelievably irresponsible that was. I know that there must be some good ones but I have never come across a helpful mental health nurse in all the times I've been through the system.
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Post by mia on Feb 21, 2014 15:01:48 GMT
Given my recent experience, I would lean towards agreeing that they are given out too easily! *TRigger Warning* I've been taking an anti psychotic for a year, which has helped immensely, previous to starting this I was very anti medication, having tried a number of different anti depressants and each one making me worse. However, the antipsychotic seems to put me on a much more even keel and helps with my sleep regime.
After spending time in hospital in January, I visited my GP to get my normal prescription refilled. Waiting with her was a letter from the a registrar at the hospital - who, I hasten to add, had never even met me whilst I was there - telling her to prescribe me mertazipine, an antidepressant. I told her I was extremely reluctant to take it given my previous experience with them, but she told me they wouldn't make things worse and to just give it a go and come back in two weeks.
I took one tablet that night, which knocked me out for 14 hours. When I woke up I was more anxious than I've ever been in my life, paranoid, angry and violent. Needless to say I did not take another tablet.
The fact that the person who prescribed this had never even clapped eyes on me not only makes me fuming that a health professional can be so irresponsible, it shows me many members of the profession still have a "dose them up and send them away" attitude.
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Post by Helen on Feb 23, 2014 21:07:00 GMT
I had a similar experience with an anti-depressant actually. *Trigger Warning* I took an overdose because I was exceptionally stressed and backed into a corner. But after that I went home and didn't continue with my university exams. Out of the situation a psychiatrist deemed I was healthy but my GP put me on strong anti-depressants. I hated the experience as it made me completely wired. In the end I stopped taking them because I ended up with a fever and other bad symptoms one night which can be from too much serotonin. It was completely irresponsible to put me on a strong drug I'd never taken before when it wasn't indicated.
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Post by mia on Feb 24, 2014 16:27:48 GMT
It seems we all agree that many dr's seem to act irresponsibly when it comes to handing out drugs. I think the main problem is, they have no other option. GP's generally don't have enough training in mental health to even know who to refer somebody to, so printing off a quick prescription is more often than not, they only way they know how. As with everything regarding better attitudes towards MH, it comes back to education. Heaven knows why mental health training isn't mandatory for GP's
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