are anti depressants bad for your mental health?

not to suggest that i am healthy - mentally, but for the longest time now i have been against taking anti depressants. i read that the main ingredient is sodium fluoride, which (studies have shown) lowers your IQ. I don't want to pretend that i'm an expert on the subject, but i do not plan to ever take them, and for anyone who is on them, i strongly suggest you do some research for your own good before proceeding. Ultimately, i dont care what anyone decides to do, but it is in my opinion that being miserable is better than being dumbed down.

peace.

 

Hense the saying "Ignorance is bliss".

Anyway, citation on it reducing I.Q?

At the end of the day if people are truely depressed enough to need the meds the chances are they're also so apathetic or driveless that they'll do better on the pills anyway.

 

Do you really need to care about your IQ if you are depressed? I mean, I dont take any ADs, and I dont know if I will take in the future, but, being dumb is not so bad. At least you will be not so worried about your problems. Sometimes I think that those people in menthal institutions are living a better life than me, because they live in their world and they are happy, not carrying what others think of them.

 

Nahhh

 

I take a number of meds, not all antidepressants, and have not noticed a dropping in my IQ level. I have noticed more lethargy, both physical and mental. That just means it take me a bit longer to pull together a thought or come up with that certain word.

It's interesting to note that most people don't hesitate to take meds for migraines, cancer, pain, osteoporosis...but there is a stigma with regard to taking antidepressants.

I would propose that many of the men and women to whom we look with respect are taking or have taken antidepressants. Certainly many great people suffered depression before a.d.'s were available. Would their IQs have been affected by taking meds? I think probably not.

If I believed that my IQ were being affected by my meds, I'd certainly have a talk with my psychiatrist who prescribed them, as well as to my primary care doctor and the psychotherapist who is counselling me. Yeah, there are side effects, but for the most part, the benefit has far outweighed the inconveniences. A case could be made that medicated people just have to work a bit harder to maintain their equanimity.

Don't be paranoid about antidepressants. Certainly, be informed. There may be a point at which you need to place some trust in a doctor who can help you with medication therapy. Don't avoid it simply by a fear of being dumbed down. Maybe avoid it because of allergies, but don't let fear drive your decisions.

 

Quite the contrary, if you need medication and do not take it, this will be bad for your mental health...it is true that medications react differently for different ppl, however, your Pdoc will be sensitive to your reactions and adjust/change the medications accordingly...all the best, J

 

I take anti depressants, mood inhancers,meds for irrational thinking,sleep meds and a few others. It took my Doctor a couple of years to get the right combination. They don't just start working as soon as you try them. MY problem is I think about death all the time. You just have to take it a day at a time.