Do You Think Antidepressants Are Good?

If you really need them, then yes they work. I take Zoloft, and it really works great for me. I was very depressed before I got on them, I would cry at the drop of a dime. I had no energy, just really down and out and they really did help. I had a chemical imbalance (That is what causes depression) in my brain and they balance them out. But not all anti-depressants work the same for everyone so you may have to try different ones.
P.S. Don’t listen to stupid people who don’t know what they are talking about, Anti-depressants are very effective, and its not something you need to take the rest of your life. Brooke Shields wrote a wonderful book “Down came the rain” and she credits Paxil for helping her with her Postpartum depression. And if you are feeling depressed I would talk to your doctor/psychiatrist about it and they can tell you more about them. Good Luck!

Iris- Sometimes depression doesn’t just go away. In most cases its not just a bad couple months. Its something that can really affect people’s everyday lives. And if it doesn’t get treated it can get worse. So please don’t act like because some people decide to take an anti-depressant they are taking the easy way out because there is nothing easy about depression, and I stuck it out for years and it didn’t just get better I had to treat it.

I can only give you a simplistic answer to your question. The question is a complicated one, and I’m giving you an answer that, I admit, is sketchy.

In recent years, research in two areas has raised doubts about antidepressants. A study published by the FDA and another in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that because some research was never published, the experts have been overestimating the benefits of the drugs. As it stands, many experts are saying that the drugs are only appropriate for severe cases of depression. Also, there is concern that minors with depression are too vulnerable to antidepresasnt side-effect risk for these people to be treated with the drugs.

Over Dose is a book by a University of California at San Diego psychiatrist. It criticizes prescription practices of doctors, saying that these practices make drugs less effective and increase side effects. The one-size-fits-all approach — a single dosage for all kinds of people — is criticized.

It’s crazy for us to tell you whether or not you should take one of these drugs, but if you or one of your friends or family members is depressed, you should know about other treatments. The use of cognitive-behavioral therapy in treating and preventing depression is established. There is also research in support of healthy lifestyle, especially the program by therapist/researcher Stephen Ilardi of the U. of Kansas. To that I would add proven self-help for insomnia, like the books by Peter Hauri and Gregg Jacobs.