I've always been the type of person to be extremely hesitant towards antidepressants, thinking that it would completely change who I am and my creative process. Yet, with a bit of research, I found out that antidepressants can take care of the chemical imbalance that a lot of us with depression or other mental issues have. Recently, I went to a doctor to be prescribed on antidepressants and I'm currently on Zoloft and Trazodone. I've been feeling a lot better, I haven't had many negative thoughts and I don't feel like I'm panicking all of the time, I'm a lot more relaxed and the medicine helps me sleep at night (which gives me a regulated sleeping schedule).

So my question to you guys is, have you ever thought about taking antidepressants? Has anything prevented you from doing so? (Besides money/lack of insurance) Are you currently on antidepressants? How has it worked for you?

I personally think that anti-depressants are medications that straighten out the problems caused by the fact that modern living is shit. We have too much free time and luxury to sit and think about how lame everything is so we have to resort to taking medicine just to curb all of it. I'd say social revolution is in order.

I'm on Effexor/Wellbutrin/Lorazepam at the moment--I had some good times on Zoloft at the beginning of my trial, I rec' you stick with it and hope it keeps making things better.

I don't take these drugs in the hope of finding a complete cure/solution to my problems. I don't think there's a drug out there that can do that. I take them so that I have enough control to get out of bed and try to function and do things I used to enjoy.

I'm not worried about them making me "normal". There ain't enough pills in the world to un-weird me.

I take Celexa (generic citalopram) & so does my mom. It works well for my anxiety & well for my moms depression. It actually makes me more depressed, but that's because I have mood issues & I take a mood stabilizer to ease the depression caused by the Celexa. All I can say is that taking medication was one of the two best things I've ever done for myself. A lot of people say negative things about it, but for people who have problems going on in their brains (like me), anti-depressants & other medications can make a world of difference to their lives.

I'm dealing with bipolar disorder II so my experience may be a bit different from yours.

I've always been a creative person but as my depression worsened I found that I was too low to think of anything novel - let alone do anything. Increasing my antidepressants helped a little and got me back into producing some things, and I've been told that they're still creative.

I did, however, have to start some mood stabilizers to treat the hypomania and remaining depression.

Now that I'm more stable than I've ever been I've found that those crazy, fevered bursts of creativity are gone. At first I really mourned the loss; I didn't know how to make anything without it. As I've gotten used to it, however, I've discovered that the creativity is still there and that I can express it differently now. I am, for example, far more organized in my thinking/writing than I ever was before. This is a good thing for someone working on her thesis...

For reference: I'm on Wellbutrin XL (depression), Lexapro (depression; took away my suicidal thoughts/acts/obsessions), Lamictal (mood stabilizer), and Zyprexa (mood stabilizer).


ETA: The meds are the best thing that's ever happened to me. Getting my mood issues under control are helping my recovery as a hikikomori. Right now I'm still healing/getting things under control at my parents' house but I am slowly building the skills that will allow me to live on my own again.

Personally, I've never liked liked the idea of taking mind altering substances except for recreational purposes. They aren't necessarily wrong in every case but I don't think they're right for me. I don't believe my depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, but because life is actually bleak and hopeless and empty.
There's a theory called depressive realism which says that normal people tend to see things too positively while those with severe depression see things too negatively. People with moderate depression can have a more accurate perception of reality. "The bleak sterility of a life without illusions."
Antidepressants would make me forget, when what I need to do is come to terms with life as it is.

That's the theory anyway. Though I can't say it's working especially well.

I'm Bipolar II also, I can't even remember the names of every pill I've taken since I was 21 (First diagnosed as Major Depression). I was taking only Paroxetine, because the antipsychotic was too heavy for me and I used to sleep all day with it. But right now it stopped working, i think it may be that I'm into a hormonal disorder, extremely oily skin, hairloss, anger, sweatiness all the time. Basically antidepressants saved my life years ago, they never changed me to a happy person, but i was like able to deal with things better. Right now I don't know, I feel I can't take it anymore, I feel I'm in the bottom. I don't want to come back to the psychiatrist and psychologist, I'm so embarrassed because always the fallout is much much deeper, and the failure. I don't know what am i going to do.

ive been doing 150mg zoloft for a month now and the only thing it does is increasing my average masturbation-time-span to 30 minutes. i'll get new meds if 200mg dont start working starting monday next week.

I love the medication roulette wheel. I swear to god, 50% of the time I'm staging off or on something and feel all weird. -___-

Thought about taking them, and was told to take them by a counselor. But never went through with it.
Until a doctor prescribed me SSRIs and SNRIs (in the form of an allergy pill) and since then I sorta became a bit zombiefied even after stopping using them.

I am sensitive to antidepressants, I am almost on one quarter of standard dose for my antidepressant. They do not change me (I still love the slenderman) but they keep me from wanting to die every other day.

They've helped me a lot, they don't make me happy or anything, they just transition my mood from depressed to a more Neutral "I don't give a damn" kind of state.

I'm on 40mg Celexa at the moment. It mostly just kills off most of my emotions, which is fine by me. I don't need that baggage anyway. I need to find another psychiatrist since I have insurance so I can get back on my anti-psychotics, too.

Actually, my doc talked to me about antidepressants today...

I will NEVER take them. Even though they might help me. I don't want pharmacy to help me. (I also don't use aspirin and such, I don't trust them.)
They're not an answer to any problems. If you have no relationships or a bad past, pills won't come to your house and help you out of it. They're just drugs and free you from suffering for a while.