WHAT IS DEPRESSION? ; depression can be described as an illness of the feelings . it has both physical and emotional symptoms . In its mildest form , life can appear hard and pointless with nothing to look forward to :people around you might describe you as moody or introverted . it is well documented that mild depression responds as well to counselling as it does to drugs , but this is often overlooked . if dedression is severe it can cause prostration or severe anxiety and can result in self harm or even suicide . many people particulaely those who have always been ‘copers’ , often fail to recognize that they are depressed and it will be the physical manifestation such as fatigue , muscle pain and changes in sleeping patterns , which will eventually take them to the doctor .
GOING TO THE DOCTOR WITH DEPRESSION :
It is vital that you give your doctor a clear picture of your symptoms .do not be embarrassed by the number of symptoms you have . write them down before you go to the surgery . include in your list any changes in eating , bowel or sleeping patterns :whether you are exhausted or so agitated that you can not keep still :any changes in normal behaviour such as irritability , lack of concentration , panic attacks, compulsions or phobias . these can be such part of the illness and nothing to be ashamed about—they will vanish as you recover . if you say you are depressed and omit to say you are also very agitated you might be given a drug which could send you up the wall :you risk being given a stimulating drug instead of one which calm you down .
ANTI-DEPRESSANTS:
Nine million prescriptions for anti depressants are filed each year . you are not alone !they can be life saving for some , and cause distress , or even be life threatening , for others , as you will save later . they are for many very good drugs , but even very good drugs , can be so carelessly prescribed that they can cause harm . it took the majority of doctors 30 years to discover that trnquillizers were highly addictive and that withdrawal reactions were a lot more than feeling ‘of
colour ‘for a few days . in fourteen years of taking calls from
people in trouble with tranquillizers and sleeping pills there has been a steady stream of calls from people suffering from withdrawal from anti depressants –many of them from people who have never taken benzodiazepines , i agree that the symptoms are not as protracted as those from benzodiazepine . i agree that the symptoms are not as protrcted as those from benzodiazepine withdrawal , but they still cause a great of distress and god alone knows how many suicides ! until the past few years the drugs commonly used were the tricyclics antidepressants . many doctors are under impression that it is quite safe to use the phenothiazines instead of the benzodiazepines . however and any doctors who claim that these drugs need to look at the mountalns of documentations on this subject .
MAIN SIDE EFFECTS OF THE ANTI-DEPRESSANTS:
*over sedation *increased anxiety *confusion *dry mouth *blurred vision *rapid weight gain *constipation *digestive upsets *urine retention *palpitations
WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS : If you reduce your drug slowly you should avoid many of these :Flu like symptoms , increased anxiety difficulty walking insomnia nightmares skin changes . if you have been on drugs for more than eight weeks these symptoms often last several weeks , and can persist even if you are given another anti-depressant drugs . there is often a confusion between withdrawal effects of the first drug and side effect of the second . your doctor will probably deny there are any withdrawal effects from anti-depressant dugs . THIS IS NOT SO and there is a wealth of medical documentation to spport this . if you are in doubt , look up the drug you are on the British national formulary.
