What to Do During the Middle Two Weeks You’re Waiting for Your Antidepressants to Kick In or How to do self-care when you have moderate depression
Chances are you’re not having quite so many devastatingly low days now. You’re functioning a little better overall, but you’re still not ready to run any marathons yet or run for public office. Don’t worry about it – this recovery takes time, and it happens so subtly you may…
Resisting Antidepressant Treatment
It may come as a surprise to anyone who’s read my writing to hear that I was reluctant to start antidepressant treatment for my depression. While I would not call myself “pro” medication, my life has been changed by antidepressants, and I know quite a few other people who…
What to Do During the Last Two Weeks You’re Waiting for Your Antidepressant to Kick In or Self-Care for Mild Depression
If it can be said that there is anything good about depression, this is when you’ll see it. Assuming that you are feeling much better than you did a month ago (and if you’re not, please read ), you may feel almost as if you’ve been reborn. After having…
What to Do During the First Two Weeks You’re Waiting for Your Antidepressants to Kick In or How to do self-care with major depression
The key words here are indulge yourself. Listen, you’re having enough trouble getting out of bed every day and going to work or school. You don’t need to push yourself. Think of yourself as an invalid recuperating from a very debilitating illness. You have to pamper yourself, body and…
Antidepressant Medications at a Glance
Generic Name Brand Names Drug Family Use amitriptyline Elavil, Typtanol, Saroten, Tryptizol tricyclic antidepressant bupropion Wellbutrin, Wellbutrin SR, Odranal aminoketone antidepressant citalopram Celexa SSRI antidepressant clomipramine Anafranil heterocyclic antidepressant desipramine Norpramin, Pertofran tricyclic antidepressant doxepin Adapin, Sinequan, Zonalon tricyclic antidepressant fluvoxamine Luvox SSRI antidepressant fluoxetine Prozac SSRI antidepressant mirtazepine…
Let’s All Trash Antidepressants (Not!)
I recently read an excerpt of the book A Brief History of Anxiety by Patricia Pearson, in which she more or less trashes every aspect of psychiatric drugs. She notes that people posting to websites comment on feeling emotionally flat or numb when they’re taking them, and says that they “yearn…
Your Mileage May Vary (with Medication)
The dentist was drilling one of my teeth down to get it ready for a crown the other day. Two and a half hours – not all the time spent drilling, of course, but long enough. By the end, I was ready to fight my way out of the…
What do you do if your antidepressant “kind of” works?
Does your antidepressant “kind of” work? If you feel better, but not good or normal, after starting a new antidepressant, or starting on antidepressants for the first time, you’re probably experiencing what’s known as a “partial response.” This can be very frustrating, and unfortunately many people assume that this…
What to Do (On and Off the Web) While You’re Waiting for Your Antidepressants to Kick In
I’ve been there; I’ve done that. I’ve suffered from depression nearly my whole life and wasn’t diagnosed till I was 27. I know all the stages you go through when you’re waiting those six interminable weeks for your antidepressant meds to start working. So, as my gift to you,…
A Note About Antidepressant Treatment
Finding the effective antidepressant for the depressive is at this point far from an exact science, although the outlook is improving as we discover more about depression. Doctors for the most part take their best guess based on their experience and the prevailing wisdom. They consider the type of…