I would like to know member opinion on this subject. I know depression all too well. For me, it is always situational, but gets pretty bad.

I would like thoughts on use of the SSRI antidepressants alone, with no change in lifestyle, meaning work or living circumstance. I wish to know member thoughts on the subject use of SSRI antidepressants have hurt or helped people adjusting to a change in life, needed or completely unwanted type of change.

Do members feel that depression is a physical thing mainly or something of circumstance that people do not adapt to well, or a combination of both?

Should we be using SSRI antidepressants at all? Should we be changing our lives and skip the antidepressants? Are some people more prone to depression during stressful periods in life than others? Should antidepressant use be temporary or permanent therapy for a condition?

Lots of questions!!

Thanks, in advance, for your thoughts on this subject!

Hm. I have had deep fits of melancholia to the point where I have attempted suicide a few times - several times when I was younger.

Each time they put me on antidepressants; I have done the gambit each time there was little or no improvement. Lots of grogginess with some, some affected me in other ways.

I remain seasonally depressed to this very day, come winter (in a couple of months time) the short days and the long, long, long dark, dark nights will have me in a deep pit of despair yet again. No amount of drugs gets me out of there. Plenty of light, sticking to the routine, and plenty of talking gets me through.

It wasn't until I got therapy that I was given the tools to start working on the base issues which cause my other depression, such as the horrors of my childhood, the tendency to should myself to death, the self esteem issues, etc. etc. etc. Then and only then did that start to clear up, during the summer months I am a happy guy, my issues are under control - end of depression - summer time.

I believe that antidepressants should be part of the treatment, the other part is counseling and working through the issues, finding ways to deal and cope with the symptoms of depression and (hopefully) ween oneself off the drugs.

Drugs are not good for you, no matter what they are - you are adding chemicals to your body which, in my opinion and through years of experiences, is not a good thing to do. Dependency on drugs of any sort for better living is a terrible thing.

I have yet to find one person that likes to be on long term or life long medication program, it screws with one's head in many ways - independence from medication is always one of the big dreams of all folk who are taking medications of any kind.

When it comes to antidepressants there is much attached to being on that sort of medication which can, in my opinion, cause more deeper issues which start with the thought "I wish I was normal!" That thought is a "depressed" thought.

When ever possible I say Don't Do Medications - curtail your behavior, change your lifestyle, deal with the causes and not treat the symptoms.

In he case of stress related depression, I say get a therapist and get the tools to mitigate the effects of stress in your life. Not only will you get a neat tool to deal with depression, but you will be able to identify and "deal" with the stress in better ways which will up your immunity to stressful situations. Stress is a big culprit in other illnesses as well, so having the tools to deal with the cause (stress) will mitigate many symptoms, depression, heart stress, stroke, over eating, etc. etc. etc.

David