Mental Health

5051 readers

89 users here now

Welcome

This is a safe place to discuss, vent, support, and share information about mental health, illness, and wellness.

Thank you for being here. We appreciate who you are today. Please show respect and empathy when making or replying to posts.

If you need someone to talk to, @[email protected] has kindly given his signal username to talk to: TherapyGary13.12

Rules

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

No promoting paid services/products.
Be kind and civil. No bigotry/prejudice either.
No victim blaming. Nor giving incredibly simplistic solutions (i.e. You have ADHD? Just focus easier.)
No encouraging suicide, no matter what. This includes telling someone to commit homicide as "dragging them down with you".
Suicide note posts will be removed, and you will be reached out to in private.
If you would like advice, mention the country you are in. (We will not assume the US as the default.)

If BRIEF mention of these topics is an important part of your post, please flag your post as NSFW and include a (trigger warning: suicide, self-harm, death, etc.)in the title so that other readers who may feel triggered can avoid it. Please also include a trigger warning on all comments mentioning these topics in a post that was not already tagged as such.

Partner Communities

To partner with our community and be included here, you are free to message the current moderators or comment on our pinned post.

Becoming a Mod

Some moderators are mental health professionals and some are not. All are carefully selected by the moderation team and will be actively monitoring posts and comments. If you are interested in joining the team, you can send a message to @[email protected].

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

If it applies to you, how did you engage with the instinct that drug-based treatment would make you not feel your real feelings? (feddit.de)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

22 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I have been living with depression since a teenager and after so many years, I recently finally started receiving psychotherapy (CBT). While I'm already seeing some modest changes in my thinking patterns, my therapist noted that in the last few weeks the severity of the condition is worsening and it might be a good time to talk with my primary care provider about antidepressants as a combination therapy.

This got a reaction out of me, specifically that I don't like the idea of chemically altering my mental state and losing access to what "I really feel" (as I perceive it).

I know that the logic behind this sentiment is not very solid, but we can't reason ourselves out of our feelings that easily. For me this is also challenging because I don't take any recreational substances that affect my mental state, so I can't tell to myself that it's like e.g. smoking weed only more targeted and supervised.

I'm curious if this sentiment is familiar to anyone else, and how you dealt with it (whether you decided for or against medication).

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

What makes you feel that your current state is what you "really feel"? Who decides that? I tend to feel the opposite way; that my currently depressed, anxious self isn't the "real" me, and that any treatment I seek- whether through therapy or medication- is just a course-correction so that I can move closer to reality. Maybe it would help to reframe it that way? When you challenge your thought patterns and work on developing healthier ones, you are making changes but you aren't changing who you are, nor are you denying reality. Medication is just another tool/aid in the same way that therapy is.

It might be helpful to talk to your therapist about why you're worried about losing access to your current feelings. How are they serving you right now?

Maybe you'll find it comforting to consider that antidepressants generally aren't that powerful and aren't likely to change your mental state to the point I think you're worried about. Anecdotally, I've been on a variety of antidepressants; some made me feel worse physically, some made me feel worse mentally, some had absolutely no effect, and some have made me feel better or more functional but in subtle ways. I'm currently on medication that isn't the cure I'd hoped it'd be, but has enough of a positive effect that it's worthwhile for me. Not saying that medication is for everyone, but I hope hearing others' experiences helps you make the right decision for yourself!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

What makes you feel that your current state is what you “really feel”? Who decides that?

That may be the most crucial question my therapist should ask me. The answer that's top of mind is "this is all I ever was since I can remember, so it has to be real even if it's bad". I can tell how shaky the logic is but it's convincing to me.

Thanks, you provided me with some great questions and I'll discuss those with my therapist.