Wing of Madness FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Below are answers to some questions that I am frequently asked.
Remember, these answers are my own opinion on these matters (and I can
be very opinionated).
- Where did the title of your page come from?
- What medications have you been on, and what has worked for you? How long will you be on medication?
- What do you think of Prozac?
- I have a low income, and no insurance. How can I get treatment?
- How do I find a support group in my area?
- I have a friend/spouse/relative who suffers from depression, and I feel helpless. What can I do to help him or her?
- I have a friend/spouse/relative who I am sure has depression, but who refuses to get help. What can I do to make him or her go to a doctor?
- I was going to write my own page about depression, but it looks like you've covered everything.
- How do I go about finding a good psychiatrist/therapist?
- Do you know of any ways to treat depression with alternative medicine?
- I was just diagnosed with depression, and I want to talk to other people who understand what I'm going through.
- After reading your page, I think I may have depression. What do I do next?
- What happened to the newsletter?
Q.Where did the title of your page come from?
A. What inspired me was this passage from William Styron's Darkness Visible, a recounting of his own depression:
One bright day on a walk through the woods with my dog I heard a flock of Canada geese honking high above trees ablaze with foliage; ordinarily a sight and sound that would have exhilarated me, the flight of birds caused me to stop, riveted with fear, and I stood stranded there, helpless, shivering, aware for the first time that I had been stricken by no mere pangs of withdrawal but by a serious illness whose name and actuality I was able finally to acknowledge. Going home, I couldn't rid my mind of the line of Baudelaire's, dredged up from the distant past, that for several days had been skittering around at the edge of my consciousness: "I have felt the wind of the wing of madness."
I have seen other translations of the line since then, but for me this passage captured how I felt when I realized that something was wrong with me that I could not banish on my own.
Q. What medications have you been on, and what has worked for you? How long will you be on medication?
A. I started off on Norpramin, which is a tricyclic antidepressant, and that is what I am currently on. I was on Prozac for one year, but it didn't work for me as well as Norpramin. I still went through bouts of low-level depression on Prozac, and it also had the side effect of making me anorgasmic (unable to achieve orgasm). The reason my doctor put me on it was that he felt it would alleviate my obsessive-compulsive tendencies, which it did. When I went back on the Norpramin, he prescribed Klonopin for my OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Klonopin was very effective in suppressing my OCD. I went off it a couple of years ago, but if my OCD gets particularly troublesome, I will start on it again.
I switched to Wellbutrin in fall of 2000, which seems to work well, and has fewer side effects.
I had my dosage of Norpramin raised three times, since my body seemed to become accustomed to it after a year. I also was on double the initial dosage of Prozac when I was taking it. I'm not sure if this is due to a speedy metabolism, or something else, but it illustrates the fact that everyone is different, and a dose that works great for one person may be too low for someone else. This is why it's a good idea to try a higher dosage of an antidepressant before giving up on that particular medicine entirely.
When it became obvious that I still needed medication after a year of being on it, my doctors told me that I would probably be on antidepressants my entire life. When I go through particularly stressful periods, my dosage may be temporarily increased.
Q. What do you think of Prozac?
A. As I mentioned above, I have personal experience with Prozac
(generic name is Fluoxetine). Basically, Prozac is just another antidepressant.
There are three reasons why it has become a household word. One is that it is
one of a family of antidepressants (SSRIs) which have more moderate side-effects
than the older antidepressants. Many patients are put off by side-effects from
an antidepressant (which are often temporary) and will therefore will not stay
on it long enough for it to have an effect. This is one reason why doctors are
often inclined to prescribe Prozac over older antidepressants.
Another reason Prozac is so well-known is simply because it was marketed extensively
by the drug company that produces it. Finally, Prozac is a household name because
of the stories in the news about people who apparently exhibited violent behavior
while on it. The explosion of stories was primarily due to media sensationalism.
While violent thoughts and behavior could be a side-effect for some people, it
is very rare. Here
is a link that has some in-depth information. Of course, a side-effect like this
should be reported to your doctor.
