Antidepressants

[Freeflowclass]

misusing of anti depressants or pills of any kind is not healthy at all.
Ive gotten my stomach pumped twice because of that. then again that was like 3years ago?
seek help at any clinics, even polyclinics and they will help you. [:

 

[shinobi]

yah man keep off those anti depressants, you never know if the ones that you bought from the brudder at the void deck are actually 'fake drugs' that are made in china using chalk, talcum powder and horse urine

if you are at least 18, the remedy is simple -

once again, do not consume together with your fake china drugs

 

[nebo1981]

There are varying forms of Depressive and mood disorders:
1> Major Depressive Disorder
2> Dysthymia
3> Double Depression (alternating periods of major depression & dysthymia)
4> Bipolar I
5> Bipolar II
6> Cyclothymia

Hi Is there anybody here who takes anti-depressants ? I just want to know if there is any bad side effects and which anti depressants really work ( ive only heard of prozac ).
And are there any suppliers willing to sell these medication without a prescription.

*Drugs should never be the only treatment ~!!!!*


There are 3 basic types of antidepressant medication:
1> Tricyclics
- Tofranil, Elavil

2> Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor (MAOIs)
- Nardi, Parnate
- Can have severe side effects, especially when combined with other medication
- constant monitoring is required

3> Selective Serotonergic Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI)
- Prozac, Zoloft
- newer and fewer side effects than tricyclics or MAOIs

"Because there is a high correlation between depression and anxiety, anti-anxiety drugs are often prescribed as part of the treatment of depression."

4> Benzodiazepines
- Xanax, Valium
- extremely addictive, causes high dependency and user builds a tolerance to the drug

The above mentioned drugs are for unipolar mood disorders (eg. depression).

For bipolar mood disorders (manic depression)
5> Lithium is usually prescribed.
Side effects are serious and dosage must be regulated.

*Drugs should never be the only treatment ~!!!!*

Just to mention afew more common Psychological treatments:

1> Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- learn to replace negative thoughs and attributions with more positive ones
- develop more effective coping behaviors and skills

2> Interpersonal Psychotherapy
- focus on the social and interpersonal triggers for depression
- develop skills to resolve interpersonal conflicts and build new relationships

3> Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
- For severe depression
- used only when other treatments have failed to show improvement

*Drugs should never be the only treatment ~!!!!*


Also note: feeling depressed is very different from clinical depression. Clinical depression is mainly cause by a chemical imbalance, and should be treated as soon as possible. Please seek a doctor or psychiatrist for a diagnosis.




Major Depressive Episode: DSM IV Diagnosis

A. Five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

Note: Do note include symptoms that are clearly due to a general medical condition, or mood-incongruent delusions or hallucinations.

(1) depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). Note: In children and adolescents, can be irritable mood.

(2) markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation made by others)

(3) significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. Note: In children, consider failure to make expected weight gains.

(4) insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day

(5) psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down)

(6) fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day

(7) feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick)

(8) diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others)

(9) recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide

B. The symptoms do not meet criteria for a Mixed Episode.

C. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

D. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hypothyroidism).

E. The symptoms are not better accounted for by Bereavement, i.e., after the loss of a loved one, the symptoms persist for longer than 2 months or are characterized by marked functional impairment, morbid preoccupation with worthlessness, suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms, or psychomotor retardation.

Major Depressive Disorder


Single Episode

A. Presence of a single Major Depressive Episode

B. The Major Depressive Episode is not better accounted for by Schizoaffective Disorder and is not superimposed on Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform Disorder, Delusional Disorder, or Psychotic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.

C. There has never been a Manic Episode, a Mixed Episode, or a Hypomanic Episode. Note: This exclusion does not apply if all the manic-like, mixed-like, or hypomanic-like episodes are substance or treatment induced or are due to the direct physiological effects of a general medical condition.

Recurrent

A. Presence of two or more Major Depressive Episodes.

Note: To be considered separate episodes, there must be an interval of at least 2 consecutive months in which criteria are not met for a Major Depressive Episode.

B. The Major Depressive Episodes are not better accounted for by Schizoaffective Disorder and are not superimposed on Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform Disorder, Delusional Disorder, or Psychotic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.

C. There has never been a Manic Episode, a Mixed Episode, or a Hypomanic Episode. Note: This exclusion does not apply if all the manic-like, mixed-like, or hypomanic-like episodes are substance or treatment induced or are due to the direct physiological effects or a general medical condition.


Diagnosis and Classification of Depression

hope this helps~

 

[pf]

Although one can read up and increase knowlege about symptoms and treatment methods, I feel that I must repeat that a doctor's independent, objective diagnose essential.

Self-diagnose doesn't work as it is subjective. In addition, if one is feeling low, there is increased likelihood of misjudgement.

I was told that even a doctor would not self-diagnose.

 

[TidesOfBlood]

lol i seriously hope that meant diAgnose.

 

[dir]

Depression : Self Diagnosis Is The Key
Posted By : Dr.AMBRISH SINGAL, MD PSYCHIATRY
Posted On : 30 Oct 2007 (Total Views : 591)
Contact By Email | Contact By Phone

Depression is most commonly used and misunderstood term. Every body has heard this word but nobody is aware what Depression exactly means and how one feels when he/she is depressed, or is aware how a loved one of his feels when depressed. The reason is simple- extreme lack of awareness about Psychiatric illnesses among common people and even doctors because Psychiatry covers very less portion of the medical curricula. The awareness is so less that a person who himself is suffering from depression does not knows what exactly has happened to him and where to go for treatment that has happened to him.

SELF DIAGNOSIS
I shall say that in today?s era every person should be aware of the common psychiatric disorders and should know how to self diagnose them. I shall mention here the major signs and symptoms of depression so that even a layman can diagnose himself as well as others of the world s commonest illness- Depression. To diagnose depression there should be presence of the following signs and symptoms for a period of at least 2 weeks. The intensity of depression varies from mild to severe depending on the level it affects your social and occupational life.

Depression consists of persistent sadness of mood i.e. not feeling happy [there can be or can not be some reason behind it]. He is unable to cheer up even in happy circumstances or in situations he use to feel happy before. He feels gloomy, talks less and there is no shine on his face or in eyes. He sits with a stooped posture and has a tense looking appearance.

The patient looses interest in the pleasure activities, in which he had interest before like going out with friends, watching movies, TV, sexual activities or sitting among the family members and talking leisurely. He even looses interest in the routine work /activities of life and like to remain aloof or away in his own. He starts avoiding work and take frequent leaves. He himself also feels dull and out of life but still does not know what has happened to him.

A depressed patient has recurrent body aches and pains and feels fatigued most of the time. He has a sense of general weakness and feels that now on working he gets tired easily than before. He also can?t work enthusiastically and at that fast pace as before. He for his weakness go on taking tonics / vitamin pills or anti-pain tablets but without any results. This weakness hampers even his day-to-day life

The victim has a disturbed pattern of sleep; there is either a delay in sleep onset or repeated awakenings at night or early awakening in the morning. Patient although sleeps at night but in the morning does not feel like he has slept and is not fresh so he wants to remain lying on the bed. Some patients even show increase in sleep, they can sleep at any time in the day and has a feeling of lethargy during the whole day.

A depressed one also has less appetite, basically there is lost of interest in eating. Although he feels hungry but does not have the ?mood? to eat. He eats forcibly as the mealtime approaches. Thus patient looses considerable weight. Some of the patients feel relaxed on eating and thus eat more and gain weight.

The patient has difficulty in concentrating in his work/studies. He finds that the mind go on wandering here and there when he tries to concentrate. There are many useless thoughts in his mind and he finds it difficult to control them. The thoughts are either without any meaning i.e. are about one has done in the day passed or is going to do in the day to come or the are pessimistic, not pleasant and are disturbing.

A depressed patient also has weak memory and forgets most often like about the routine works /chores, he forgets even after placing the household articles here and there. Again search for memory enhancing drugs is there and that too without any results.

The depressed person gradually shows a progressive loss in his patience and start getting irritable very easily. He easily gets angry and abusive at minor conflicts or even in routine talks. He has no patience to discuss the matters with others and on doing so gets irritated. The person becomes very touchy and if some conflict occurs with anybody he is unable to forget about that thing and the situation go on coming to his mind repeatedly and he feels a lot of mental pain and discomfort. He some of the time gets very emotional and weeps

There is also a new development in the form of headache, which is dull [not sharp], of continuous type and the patient feels as if one tight band is tied all around his head. The head aches, mostly in the temples, behind the head, in the neck and up to lower back even. But the underlying cause of depression is not diagnosed and patient and the doctor go on treating it superficially in the form of neck ache and backache.

Some of the patients complain heaviness of head, mind going blank and say they have no thoughts in mind. So they speak very less and there is a long pause before they respond back, as they take time to think and collecting the ideas. These people also have extreme slowing of the body movements and thus walk and talk very slowly and at a very low volume.

Patient of depression always has a low self-esteem. He loses confidence in himself and shows helplessness and inability in completing the jobs, which he use to do before. He feels he is not doing it right and there might be some mistake in it. On explaining he is unable to found any reason that why he is doubtful of his abilities now.

He grades himself inferior to others. One feels less attractive in himself, less appealing to others and does not talk much in a gathering/company of others, as he feels he will say something that others will not like He believes he cant succeed in competitions and can?t meet other challenges in life too. He treats himself a useless person and believes that he cannot do any thing, which can be productive for him and his family.

A depressed person has no interest in the sexual play and avoids it. Males develop either loss of erection or are unable to sustain in or premature ejaculation. Females give no response to her partner?s demands. Even if sexual contact takes place, it is without any pleasure. Thus the sexual life almost ends or becomes boring

He predicts a negative outcome of the future also and feels that nothing positive or good can happen to him now and in future. If he is facing a problem currently, he is not hopeful of getting it solved in the time to come. He even feel that there is no cure to his illness and does not go to the doctor for treatment or refuses to take the medicine.

Suicidal tendency: The patient start believing that there is no meaning left in the life now. It?s not worth living and the circumstances around him are so much worsened that its better he should end his life now and that is the only solution to everything. He would start planning how to end his life and soon the day comes when he tries to implement his ideas. If the patient is saved then there are chances that he can repeatedly do so. All such attempts are with planning and done whole-heartedly and most of times he makes it sure that he should die. In severely depressed cases even on willing the patient does have so much courage to fulfill his wish so in such cases the patient attempts suicide when he gains courage i.e. while he is under treatment. So one has to keep a close watch always.


hope this helps~

edit: now with pic

 

[pf]

I would term the "self-diagnose" as "self-awareness" for that article posted by dir.

The crux is determining whether is just feeling down or clinical depression which cannot be determined by oneself.

In the case of clinical depression, depression itself is a symptom of hormonal imbalance as mentioned in one of the previous posts.

 

[nebo1981]

Agreed~!
However, mood disorders are diagnosed differently from disease.

Mental disorder diagnoses are based mainly on the patients disclosure of feelings and their perception of events. That being said ... doctors,psychiatrists and psychologists are trained to differentiate between genuine cases and cases which try to feign mental illness for personal gain (eg. drug addiction, malingering).

The DSM-IV is the "checklist" that doctors, psychiatrist and psychologist use to diagnose mental disorders (eg. depression).
In fact... it is the only diagnostic manual for mental illness.

Although used as a diagnostic tool, it is also told to the general public so that the "common man" can identify tell-tale signs of depression in themselves, friends and family members, so that they can recommend or bring the person suffering for treatment.
A common symptom of depression is the lack of motivation and drive, feelings of helplessness and dispair, which could mean that the person suffering from the disorder might not want to seek help or treatment on their own accord. Making this bit of information invaluable in such situations.

But as agreed, a person should never rely soley on self-diagnosis, but seek professional advice.

 

[dir]

here's some more info i found.
hope this helps~

Diagnosis vs. Self-Diagnosis
Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. and Jolyn Wells-Moran, Ph.D.

One major benefit of seeking professional health care (mental or otherwise) is that a professional is often in a better position to accurately diagnose your problem, and point you towards the best treatments available for helping you get better than you are. You may have heard the term "diagnosis" before. A diagnosis is a label given to a particular illness or issue that you might have. Diagnoses are identified by their symptoms, which are the complaints that people make when talking to their doctors. Mental health diagnoses have been organized in a book called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or DSM, for short). In the DSM, each diagnosis falls into one of several possible categories, including, but not limited to mood disorders (such as depression and bipolar disorder); schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders; anxiety disorders (including panic attacks, phobias, post traumatic stress disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders); dissociative disorders (including multiple personality and amnesia); impulse control disorders (such as compulsive hair pulling, or fire-setting); personality disorders (such as borderline personality and narcissism); and substance related disorders (such as alcohol or methamphetamine addiction).





One of the first things that a mental health professional will do when you visit him or her is to diagnose you. He or she will listen to you describe your issues and complaints, and fit them into one or more of the known illness categories described in the DSM. Diagnosing your issues is important, because it helps professionals to know which interventions to suggest to you (from among thousands that are possible) that will have the best chance of helping you to get better. Professionals know which interventions to choose base

d on your diagnoses because they are familiar with the work that thousands of scientists and clinicians have previously done to match particular interventions with particular diagnoses.




For example, let's say that you visit a mental health professional and complain about the following symptoms: You're experiencing severe mood swings, are feeling overly energetic lately, can’t concentrate, are spending money recklessly, are increasingly irritable with other people, aren’t abusing drugs or alcohol and have gone through similar episodes before in your life. Your professional will listen to what you have to say, and will ask questions about your experience to clarify things or get you to talk about things that might be important but which you've not mentioned spontaneously. He or she will likely want to learn about your past history of similar problems and may request medical records from other doctors if any exist. He or she may want to order several medical tests be done to determine if there is a physical cause, such as drug abuse, brain damage, hyperthyroidism or similar problem


, that can explain your symptoms If no physical cause can be determined, you would probably be diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder that most closely fits with your presentation (in this case, possibly bipolar disorder). Your professional will know that certain treatments are known to be helpful for bipolar disorder (particular medicines such as "mood stabilizers" and "antidepressants", in this case) and will help you obtain those treatments, along with proper instructions and monitoring for their use. Other treatments that are known to be less helpful for treating bipolar disorder will not be offered. Alternatively, If you go to a professional and say that your major symptom is anxiety, that professional might diagnose an anxiety disorder, and create a treatment plan for you that includes interventions that are known to be helpful for treating anxiety disorders, including cognitive therapy, relaxation techniques, exercise programs, and anti-anxiety medication.

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Only a doctor or similar trained and experienced mental health professional is qualified to make a true diagnosis and therefore to make treatment recommendations. Diagnoses are complex and difficult to make correctly. It takes many years of concentrated study to learn how to accurately diagnose patients, and even then, different doctors will sometimes make different diagnoses for the same patient. For example, the family of psychotic disorders are characterized by a variety of symptoms, including delusions, hallucinations and regressed (or "primitive") odd behaviors. Psychoses occur across many different types of disorders, including substance abuse, sever



e depression; bipolar disorder as well as schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. When diagnosing schizophrenia, for example, it is necessary to rule out (or exclude) the possibility that other disorders (like bipolar disorder) or drugs (like cocaine) might be causing the problem. To make matters even more complicated, the very definitions of the different diagnoses change across time, as the DSM gets revised and rewritten. For example, not so long ago, homosexuality was a diagnosable illness defined in the DSM. This diagnosis was removed from the DSM in the 1980s when it became clear that it had been included there more because of cultural prejudice than for scientific reasons. Today, evidence from the biological sciences suggests that most homosexuality is biologically determined and thus a normal variation of human sexuality and not a disorder at all. It is rare these days to find a professional mental health provider who believes homosexuality is a mental illness.

Updated: Jun 26th 2006

 

[logicdroid]

I reckon your'e working, of age and not seeking attention?

Buy yourself a holiday to Amsterdam and try your very best to kill yourself or your depression with all the drugs you can find while you're there...

Drugs suppresses, it has never healed... period.

You need to get out of your usual routine, do something different, meet someone different.

Play your instrument, sing your song, find a way to heal yourself if you have the ability to self diagnose.

Best wishes and get well soon.

 

[Cheez]

Hope this thread ends soon....

Advice: If feeling unwell, please seek medical advice. There's more to depressed mood than psychiatric causes. Many other things (eg hypothyroidism etc) can also cause depression or depressed mood.

OK to read around. In today's world, patients are very well read. But you don't go diagnosing just by reading. You can't just follow the diagnosis criteria of DSM IV and come up with your own psychiatric diagnosis. If it's that simple, a computer can make that diagnosis. It's way more complex that just following algorithms! Reading can give you a clue to what is happening and should move you in the direction of seeking proper medical help.

That's also the reason why I don't give too many advices over the net. There's no way of properly diagnosing unless the patient is examined face to face. The only time I give advice over the phone or net is in a 3rd world situation when medical care is really scarce (where I'm working now). In a place like Singapore - seeing a doc is really easy.

So...read up as much as you can. But in the end, see a doc.

 

[puk]

=nebo1981

thanks man, you rock!

thanks everybody~

 

[serialninja]

there is no constructive reason why i am feeling depressed, its just a feeling that ive been getting lately accompanied with mood swings and all. And and my job is so dull its not helping

don't worry it's called puberty. we've all been through it.

 

[jeffsatriani]

im one of those patience.i took those shit.doesnt work,throw away all your worries.
worries is the cause of all sickness and dont listen to all negative word,dont let it clouded your mind and control you.

 

[Jugman]

TidesOfBlood is right. he's a nurse and he should know these things.

 

[ac]

Allo, if you've got insomnia, maybe a glass of warm milk would be good.

OTOH you could also try melatonin. It's for jet lag. But be warned, too much will promote loose bowels.

i prefer milk and cookies.

 

[MichaelAngelo]

maybe alcohol can work, i feel happyer even after consuming small amounts..dont take too much tho..drunken people always end up crying or sad or angry..something negative..

 

[shinobi]

maybe alcohol can work, i feel happyer even after consuming small amounts..dont take too much tho..drunken people always end up crying or sad or angry..something negative..

in my experiences (sometimes first-hand) they often end up wasted (100% docile)

 

[lordie]

u guys need to go green and stop with all those synthetic artificial stuff