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[Enzo]

/cue rabid argument over whether anti-depressants are good or horrible, conducted by people on both sides who know jack shit about anti-depressants other than anecdotes

The erudite prediction is coming to fruition...

If you've been depressed for "about a month or so" I would highly discourage seeking out antidepressants. By all means, start a dialogue with your doctor and get his opinion. Heck, if it's only been a month if could very well be SAD. I was prescribed a rather common antidepressant after several years of depression and I felt like I was taking speed for the first month. This was "expected". Eventually, it kicked in and I felt a measurable amount better and eventually stopped taking them. But it should be noted that a large list of side effects is pretty common (Wikipedia, on what I was taking, because it never lies):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

    * Headache (34%)
    * Nausea (21-35%)
    * Insomnia (15-23%)
    * Sexual dysfunction (14-34%)
    * Dry mouth (12-16%)
    * Dizziness (11-20%)
    * Sweating (10-14%)
    * Decreased Appetite (8-20%)
    * Abnormal ejaculation (8-16%)
    * Hypertension (4-5%)
    * Vivid/Abnormal dreams (3-7%)
    * Akathisia (Agitation) (3-4%)
    * Decreased libido (3-9%)
    * Increased yawning (3-5%)
    * Apathy
    * Constipation
    * Ongoing Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    * Fatigue
    * Vertigo
    * Orthostatic hypotension (postural drop in blood pressure)
    * Impulsive Actions
    * Electric shock-like sensations also called "Brain zaps"
    * Increased anxiety at the start of treatment
    * Memory Loss
    * Restless Legs Syndrome

This does not include "Rare" side effects. I'm not saying they're always bad, but they should be a last resort.

[Cthulhu]

Keep in mind that anything that a person testing a drug develops they have to put down as a possible side effect.
 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Or so I've heard.

[qwertyuiopas]

Though it is at best vaguely related, http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000057.html *might* be interesting to read(starting at paragraph 6 if you aren't interested in the computer programming bits, and ending wherever it starts again), at least because the guy who wrote it has a decent sense of humor, but also because it mentions a bit of a psychology theory possibly related to depression.

For the relevant part, though it may be entirely false,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(Best read after the preceding few paragraphs)

And I started to learn that the days when I was happiest were the days with lots of small successes and few small frustrations.

Years later, when I got to college, I learned about an important theory of psychology called Learned Helplessness, developed by Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman. This theory, backed up by years of research, is that a great deal of depression grows out of a feeling of helplessness: the feeling that you cannot control your environment.

Edit: added a short paragraph preceding the quoted one. Better context.

[Askot Bokbondeler]

if you're depressed thats because you aren't enjoying life

play more dwarf fortress, read books, watch movies, be more irresponsible! you're the most important person in the world, do watever it takes to please yourself.

in my experience, depression is like being too lazy, you don't do anything, and the work acumulates and then you've got so much work that you don't have the willpower to start working, and you get even more work... when youre depressed, you feel too depressed to be happy, then you get more depressed, and you feel even more depressed to have fun...you feel it is meaningless to go out with your friend and instead stay in your bed crying, then you feel too sad to listen to a happy music, and listen to melancholic music instead, and that depresses you...

melancholly is dangerous, and one should experience it with a bit of irony, and only if you're sure you can come out of it any time you want

[Hawkfrost]

in my experience, depression is like being too lazy, you don't do anything, and the work acumulates and then you've got so much work that you don't have the willpower to start working, and you get even more work... when youre depressed, you feel too depressed to be happy, then you get more depressed, and you feel even more depressed to have fun...you feel it is meaningless to go out with your friend and instead stay in your bed crying, then you feel too sad to listen to a happy music, and listen to melancholic music instead, and that depresses you...

That's actually pretty true, depression tends to be a snowball effect. At least with me it is.

do watever it takes to please yourself.

If I did this the amount of "gangsta's" in my area would spontaneously decrease by a startling amount. But I catch what you mean by it.


Until recently I was borderline suicidally depressed. It's all a matter of perspective really.

[Jude]

Self harm is wrong. Thaughts about self harm are wrong.

Oh Jesus Christ what

you might as well tell 12 year old boys "sex is wrong; thoughts about sex are wrong."

The guy has problems, obviously the way to fix the problems is to tell him that he's "wrong" for having them and to stop having them, right?

Pills are dangerous and can cause permanent brain alterations.

More dangerous than letting suicidal thoughts go untreated? I bet. Also, this may be news to you, but EVERYTHING you do causes permanent brain alterations. Reading this post, for example. Your brain is your mind; it's not like talking to a counselor or having different thoughts aren't also altering your brain (or, more accurately, your brain is altering itself)

[Neonivek]

if you're depressed thats because you aren't enjoying life

play more dwarf fortress, read books, watch movies, be more irresponsible! you're the most important person in the world, do watever it takes to please yourself

One of the possible symptoms of Depression is the inability to gain enjoyment out of things you normally love.

All that extra time playing DF, Reading books, being irresponsible, and otherwise becoming self-absorbed not only may not work but it could just make things worse.

Though I am only saying this as a "Depression isn't so easy".

[Armok]

Ughm, this thread is full of horrible advice.
Just go see professional.

[Sonearage]

See a doctor or a councilor, people can help you.

[Hungry]

Self harm is wrong. Thaughts about self harm are wrong.

Oh Jesus Christ what

you might as well tell 12 year old boys "sex is wrong; thoughts about sex are wrong."

The guy has problems, obviously the way to fix the problems is to tell him that he's "wrong" for having them and to stop having them, right?

Sex is a natural thing and so are thaughts about it; people who have thaughts of suicide are not wrong just the thaughts... the way I elimanated them was realising that they dont work properly in real life, and derooting them in my head... the same way you would deroot a catchy song, drown it in its opposite... or in this case thaughts of success.

Also alot of advice you get from professionals only helps with the thaughts of suicide and not their cause; which means they may return.

[Cthulhu]

Looking for advice about a complicated and somewhat controversial subject on an intertubes forum was your first mistake.  Listening to any advice given on a forum other than "Seek professional help" could be your second.

Don't make two mistakes in a row.

[Neonivek]

Ughm, this thread is full of horrible advice.
Just go see professional.

What is interesting is that it isn't mutually exclusive. The Professional could put him on the pills

[Jude]

Self harm is wrong. Thaughts about self harm are wrong.

Oh Jesus Christ what

you might as well tell 12 year old boys "sex is wrong; thoughts about sex are wrong."

The guy has problems, obviously the way to fix the problems is to tell him that he's "wrong" for having them and to stop having them, right?

Sex is a natural thing and so are thaughts about it; people who have thaughts of suicide are not wrong just the thaughts... the way I elimanated them was realising that they dont work properly in real life, and derooting them in my head... the same way you would deroot a catchy song, drown it in its opposite... or in this case thaughts of success.

Also alot of advice you get from professionals only helps with the thaughts of suicide and not their cause; which means they may return.

What the hell do you mean "wrong", morally wrong? Factually wrong? What does that even mean?

[Hungry]

Self harm is wrong. Thaughts about self harm are wrong.

Oh Jesus Christ what

you might as well tell 12 year old boys "sex is wrong; thoughts about sex are wrong."

The guy has problems, obviously the way to fix the problems is to tell him that he's "wrong" for having them and to stop having them, right?

Sex is a natural thing and so are thaughts about it; people who have thaughts of suicide are not wrong just the thaughts... the way I elimanated them was realising that they dont work properly in real life, and derooting them in my head... the same way you would deroot a catchy song, drown it in its opposite... or in this case thaughts of success.

Also alot of advice you get from professionals only helps with the thaughts of suicide and not their cause; which means they may return.

What the hell do you mean "wrong", morally wrong? Factually wrong? What does that even mean?

Evolutionary, biologicly, socially...

[Askot Bokbondeler]

What the hell do you mean "wrong", morally wrong? Factually wrong? What does that even mean?

i think it is wrong in the sense that it wont make you feel better...if you do it for, say, masochistic sexual pleasure, its allright, but it wont heal your depression