stop using antidepressants
>>38332589
I probably will, been on Zoloft a month and I feel terrible, Im dead inside and have zero motivation
first week was great though
>>38332609
That might go away if you stick with them. I used to take zoloft and the first couple of months were exhausting but then my serotonin levels adjusted and I was fine.
>>38332628
do you now feel better than pre-zoloft?
I feel like it helps with anxiety and racing thoughts but motivation got much worse and am still plenty depressed
Been on sertraline for 7 years now, senpai. What should I expect if I stop taking it?
No thanks. I'm completely non-functional without my lexapro and modafinil.
>>38332741
Probably depression, do they tell you how long to be on it
>>38332791
No, they just told me to be on it. My current doctor advised me to finish my college before getting off of it.
Honestly, I'm already depressed anyway, will dropping the meds reduce the brain fog or something?
I just started.
a month in I felt great
I'm starting month two and now I want to die
>>38332708
Well, it kind of killed my sex drive so I stopped taking them. But it did help with my anxiety and it pretty much got rid of my suicidal thoughts. I did have the same problem as you with apathy and lack of motivation. It wasn't too bad, though, because I wasn't that upset by it. Does that make sense?
Well now that I'm thinking about it, I guess zoloft does kind of suck. Maybe you can try switching to something different, but in my experience the other antidepressants I tried did the same thing. At the very least it's better than crying and wanting to die. Sorry I'm not very helpful.
>>38332741
I took it for 7 years, too. I tapered down from 100 over the course of two years so I didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms. If you do it faster, you can expect mood swings, dizziness, and zaps. Then your depression will return but it will be WORSE than it was before you started the zoloft because your body won't be producing serotonin the way it's supposed to. Expect to feel shitty for at least a year, maybe longer since you took them for so long. I really wish doctors would have explained that to me before I took them.
>>38333352
Well fuck. I'm already pretty shitty as is.
I'm not on zoloft, though.
>>38332589
Antidepressants have been a literal lifesaver for me. I was sort of forced onto them shortly after I was hospitalised and I have felt a lot better since I started taking them.
>start using sertraline
>normies saying I should be doing dude lmao medical marijuana
>they don't understand
Antidepressants (more specifically, SSRIs, as I only know how SSRIs work, but it is probably similar for other antidepressants, too) work by preventing your body from metabolising serotonin. With that, there is more serotonin in your body as (duh) your body doesn't remove as much serotonin.
This is great for people who are depressed for chemical reasons. i.e. their bodies do not produce enough serotonin, or their bodies metabolise it too quickly. If you're depressed for chemical reasons, then SSRIs should work well.
However, if you are depressed for a more "legitimate" reason (tfwnogf, no money, no friends, etc), then SSRIs will work temporarily. When you first take SSRIs, your serotonin will not be metabolised as quickly, and you will have more serotonin in your body, which will make you feel happy. However, since serotonin is a neural transmitter, you will likely suffer from several side-effects such as heart palpitations, headaches, stomach pains, gritting your teeth uncontrollably, insomnia, and a few others. Basically, you are overdosing on serotonin. Your body doesn't like overdosing on serotonin, so what does it do? It stops producing as much. So after a few weeks, the effects of the SSRIs are nulled, and you feel as you did before taking them. Except now when you come off the SSRIs, your depression will hit harder than it did before until your body realizes your serotonin is low again, and starts to produce a normal amount once more.
I've been put on almost every SSRI there is until a therapist explained this shit to me.
Basically, if you're depressed for normie-tier reasons then antidepressants will probably work. If you're depressed because you're a friendless loser virgin... then they probably won't work. Try them anyway, though. It doesn't hurt to try.
>>38333653
>genetic/physical structure causing depression is normalfag but WAAAAHHH MUH GF is not
keked
>>38333793
Huh? If you're depressed purely because of genetic chemical reasons... then you're a normal person. It means there is nothing that is severely upsetting you, and the only reason you feel upset is because of one simple chemical problem.
Tell me, what is more normalfag out of these two?:
>I am not particularly upset about anything. I have a good life. I am just depressed because I do not produce enough serotonin. Luckily I can take a tablet that will fix my problems. God bless modern medicine
>I have no friends, no one likes me, my parents low-key hate me, I have no hobbies, I am scared of people, and I think about killing myself every day. Because my brain produces enough serotonin, no pill can fix me. The only escape I have from this is in death.
>>38333928
>It means there is nothing upsetting you
So you're saying it's impossible to both be naturally predisposed to low serotonin AND have something wrong with your life making it worse?
Fascinating...
>>38333999
>So you're saying it's impossible to both be naturally predisposed to low serotonin AND have something wrong with your life making it worse?
Huh? I never said that. I even said in my original post itself that you should try antidepressants regardless.
I'm certain that at least 99% of people who are depressed are depressed due to both chemical and "legitimate" reasons. Of course, from person to person the primary reason will be different, and in different amounts. But I have no doubt that most people are depressed due to a combination of both reasons.
But basically put, if SSRIs treat your depression well, then you are depressed for primarily chemical reasons. If SSRIs do not treat your depression in the long-term, and you know what is bothering you, then you are depressed for primarily "legitimate" reasons.
When I say "legitimate" reasons, what I mean is would your reasons cause depression in otherwise healthy people? Let's say you've never had a girlfriend and that is bothering you. Is that a legitimate reason? Well I would guess that one of the most common reasons people commit suicide is because of a bad breakup. Because of that, I would say that having never had a girlfriend is certainly a "legitimate" reason.
Hey friend, I too love Mount and Blade. I'm currently enjoying Prophesy of Pendor.
>>38334135
How is having depression due to a chemical imbalance any less "legitimate" than just having a few problems?
>>38334337
Well what word would you have me use? There's a reason why I put "legitimate" in quotation marks.
When I say, "legitimate", I mean a reason that you can express, put into words, and something which would affect otherwise healthy people in a similar way. "Legitimate" is the word that comes closest to what I mean.
"I am depressed because I have no friends" is a "legitimate" reason because not having friends is a common cause of depression. If you take Average Joe and take away all of his friends and make him unable to get new friends, it is very likely that he will become depressed.
"I am depressed because my big toe has a scar" is not a "legitimate" reason because Average Joe would not become depressed because of a scar on his big toe. If you're depressed because of a scar on you're toe, then you are probably suffering from another mental illness.
"I am depressed but I am not sure why. I live a great life" is not a "legitimate" reason because Average Joe does get depressed when he has a great life.
working out is the best and only antidepressant you need