To medicate or not to medicate? That is the question.
7:27 p.m.
Anyway, after eating our soup and sandwiches, we went upstairs to the Loft, which has ceased being a bar (after a terrible accident a couple of years ago wherein a drunk student thought he could swing off the railing and ended up falling to the lobby floor below, hurting himself rather seriously in the process) and become a coffee shop. We bought lattes, which were pretty good, although served in styrofoam cups (that really should change), and chit chatted about this, that and the other. Lolly revealed that she was on anti-depressants. After arriving in L�ville, she was seriously depressed. She was not sleeping, but could not get out of bed, was not eating and her counsellor noticed that she had lost too much weight. She�s thin to begin with. So she sent her off to health services where the doctor prescribed an anti-depressant which has made all the difference. She has been on this medication for a couple of years now, and sees no reason to go off it.
I mentioned that I was also depressed when we first moved here, mostly because of being uprooted and transplanted into an area where I didn�t speak the language, or at least felt linguistically ostracized. This bleak period lasted about three weeks. However, unlike Lolly, I had a husband in a new job, and a year-old child to look after. I could not afford the �luxury� of falling into that kind of depression where I totally lost myself in a black hole. I had to care for others, and I believe that is what helped me stay sane in the long run. Also, I made the effort to integrate myself into my new community by shopping in Sh�brooke, making small talk in French with the clerks, and persevering, no matter how often I had to ask them to repeat themselves or just gave them blank stares.
Then I mentioned that I had once talked to my doctor about medication for my PMS-induced monthly insanity, something that affected my family more than myself, but which also made it hard for me to be happy in my own company. The doctor said that they were prescribing Prozac to women with severe PMS symptoms with a great deal of success, but that it was the kind of thing you had to take all the time, not just when you felt you needed it. In that case, I decided to forego it. I had heard that Prozac evened out the highs and lows, and I felt that as a performing artist, I could not compromise my ability to emote when I needed it. I have also heard from a dear friend who has now been on this particular drug for a while that her sex drive is greatly diminished and, since mine is not that high to begin with, I think it would cause more frustration in my marriage than my PMS does.
Lolly was a great advocate, though, of anti-depressants. She is not on Prozac, but something that is called an anti-anxiety medication, and after the initial month of dry mouth and sleeplessness, she got used to it and has no diminished sex drive. She also hasn�t had a boyfriend in ages, so I don�t know how she can tell. Anyway, after class today, she apologized to me if I felt she had been �pushing� me to take medication when I clearly felt I did not need it, and I said that she should not be concerned, it seemed to me more that she was trying to justify her own need for it than trying to steer me in that direction. To this she actually agreed.
The short spring we had is gone. The temperature did indeed drop, the heavens opened, and it snowed all last night and today, continuing to do so. I think 20 cm. was a conservative estimate. A wind has sprung up, and combined with the damp and cold, made it very uncomfortable to walk across campus. I am looking forward to getting away from this miserable climate and basking in the warm Caribbean sunshine for a week during March break. But the symphony must be done first.
from harri3tspy :
How strange! That�s nearly the same conversation I had with my friend today, except that we were talking about a mutual friend who was on the anti-depressants and her tendency to think others might need medication. We were discussing, in part, where you draw the line for anti-depressants and drug addiction for some people. Our friend seems to depend on them psychologically more than she actually seems to need them to function.
from teranika :
I believe that I would have made the same decision as you did, Elgan. There is a host of milder solutions to investigate. And, in your friend�s case, it sounds like she has made the right decision for herself, too, at least for now. (By the way, my adjustment to a new place usually requires 8 months to a year!)
zitagsd :
Your quote: I could not afford the �luxury� of falling into that kind of depression where I totally lost myself in a black hole.[/endquote] There is a difference between �depression with a reason�, and �clinical depression�. There are many reasons in life to feel depressed, and is not a reason for medication. Moving to a new place is a good reason, but a healthy person manages to overcome it and NOT fall into a black hole. People with clinical depression, fall into that hole even when they know they shouldn�t, or even KNOW that there is no good reason. It just happens. It�s like saying you can�t afford the �luxury� of having a broken leg. If it is broken, it needs fixing. I hope you understand my point. ON THE OTHER HAND...a friend of mine was diagnosed with skin cancer (the �good kind, mind you� ..if you can call it that) and, even though you could say she had a good reason to feel depressed, she asked her doctor to put her on anti-depressants, and once they kicked in, she says she loves them. There is something in this Prozac that seems to be a cure-all for all ills!!
from elgan :
I knew someone (I didn�t know whom) was going to pick up that particular line and take offence, or at least use it as the basis of an argument. I�m sure you won�t be the last. I know that what I had wasn�t clinical depression, it was brought on by circumstance and I knew that the situation would change and I would eventually learn to deal with my environment. It was not a depression that needed medication, but time. However, if I hadn�t had those responsibilities to keep me from doing so, it would have been very easy to fall into the �can�t-get-out-of-bed� kind of trap that afflicted my colleague. Even so, when we were having our conversation, she sounded to me as though she was trying to convince me that anti-depressants were wonderful and a cure-all for all of those different kinds of depression. And that is exactly what she thought she sounded like, judging from her apology a couple of days later.
from zitagsd :
I wasn't �offended�, I just felt that I had to make sure that you did understand the difference. People who haven�t EXPERIENCED it, don�t know how awful it can be. There is no luxury involved at all. I could go on forever, but dog wants OUT!! PS LOVE YA!
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