View on Antidpressants

[AVL1984]

The reason I am asking- my doctor prescribed them for me. I am on the fence as to whether I really want to take them or not. I hate medication. I am already on enough for HBP and Diabetes at age 31. I will admit that I have been severely depressed for a while- some recommend exercise- for go the meds. Others recommend the meds. This is why I am confused.

If your doctor prescribes them for you, I would have to say for you to take them.
I've been disabled for over six years and have been on anti-depressants several times. People who try and tell you that depression is "just a state of mind" are not only uneducated on the subject, they have no right to be telling you anything about it, because they are not your physician. And, besides, it's not between you and them, it's between you and God and your physician.

 

[Trotter]

Again, blindness is a physical ailment. Not mental instability.

Just as chemical depression is a physical ailment with mental symptoms. If it caused your face to turn green or something, the world would be much simpler.

Some depression IS just in people's heads, but not all (as you and James want to try and make it look like). That your doctor wanted to prescribe you an antidepressant because you MIGHT get depressed was gross negligence on his part. That a doctor would prescribe an antidepressant for someone who is showing/telling the signs of chemical depression isn't.

Just because someone feels down one day, or blue for a week, is not a sign of chemical depression. Chemical depression goes much further than that.

A person sufering from Chemical depression feels that life is too heavy a burden. They cease to function with family and friends. Things that used to be a joy for them become drudgery and woeful. They let their appearance and hygene go to pot, feeling it is no use and too wearisome. Their entire world is repainted in greys and black.

Simple depression is just the blues. Everyone has them from time to time, and they pass quickly. Chemical depression doesn't pass... it only grows deeper.

Claiming chemical depression is not a physical ailment is like saying that a blind man who's eyes look the same as everyone else's, is not a physical ailment. After all, nothing is visibly wrong with his eyes, so it must just be "all in his head." if he had faith...

 

[DHK]

All those are Physical ailments. Docs know what the pills do for those ailments. They do not fully know what the pills do for brain functions. What kind of damage it does.

SFIC,
First, your previous quote:

Let's all put our faith in the happy pill.

is totally uncalled for.
Secondly, are you a doctor? Do you know whereof you are speaking? From what sources do you base your information. The first Baptist distinctictinctive is that the Bible is our final authoriy in all matters pertaining to faith and doctrine.
Notice it is not our only authority.
Notice that it is only our authority in matters pertaining to faith and doctrine.
It is not our authority in medicine, algebra, trigonomety, physics, and a host of other subjects.

You say that the sicknesses and ailments that I listed are all physical ailments. That is not so. I challenge you to do a thorough study on eplilepsy, a disorder of the brain of which to this day there is no known cure. It is controlled by drugs. Without those drugs many thousands of people would die an early death. There are some that undergo brain surgery now and are "cured," but that is very high risk. It could have side effects like permanent paralysis. And in spite of it seisures may continue. In other words even then there is no guarantee that the surgery will work. Contrary to popular belief children just don't outgrow. It is a very common disorder among adults controlled by very strong drugs, drugs that should any other person take would send them to the hospital.
In no way can you say that this is purely a physical ailment. It is a disorder of the brain. So is a chemical imbalance. Be sure you know your facts before you start posting things that you know nothing about.
DHK

 

[standingfirminChrist]

Not one of us has the same gentetic makeup. Our DNA is our own private fingerprint.

So, we are all chemically imbalanced.

 

[Linda64]

Tots Used as Human Guinea Pigs?

May 17, 2006 9:35 AM

Joseph Rhee Reports:

ABC News has learned that a Massachusetts hospital is currently recruiting pre-schoolers to test the safety and effectiveness of a powerful antipsychotic drug called Quetiapine.

The study, conducted by the Department of Pediatric Psychopharmacology at Massachusetts General Hospital, is testing subjects from four to six years of age with Bipolar Disorder. An earlier Massachusetts General study of the antipsychotic drugs Risperidone and Olanzapine recruited children as young as three years old.

These antipsychotic drugs are only approved for use by adults and are so toxic they carry a "black box warning." The drugs have been found to cause diabetes; a life-threatening nervous system problem called Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome; low blood pressure; and have also led to higher death rates in the elderly. Despite these serious potential side-effects, a patient recruitment video obtained by ABC News contains no mention of any of these risks.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/tots_used_as_hu.html

If you don't think that these antidepressant drugs carry risks, read this article. To treat the nonphysical mind with drugs that are meant to "balance so called chemical imbalances", which are "physical" in nature, is ludicrous.

 

[Magnetic Poles]

Not one of us has the same gentetic makeup. Our DNA is our own private fingerprint.

True, but that does not lead to:

So, we are all chemically imbalanced.

 

[James_Newman]

I'm still just hearing a lot of emotional rhetoric. When you say "chemical depression" and "chemical imbalance" you might as well be speaking in an unknown tongue, because you aren't edifying anyone. Here is another article that everyone needs to read, unless your 'faith' might be made shipwreck.

SSRI ads questioned (link)

"Biological psychiatrists have looked very closely for a serotonin imbalance or dysfunction in patients with depression or obsessive compulsive disorder and, to date, it has been elusive," says Dr. Wayne Goodman, Chair of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee. Although an SSRI may work well in an individual, this "doesn't prove that there is an underlying imbalance, defect or dysfunction in the person's serotonin system," he added.

What do you guys know that the FDA doesn't?

 

[Brother Bob]

Do you think the people in mental homes that are just staring into space are faking it? I would be careful about listening to the Feds about anything, they pay $500 dollars for a toliet seat. I know I got better sense than that.

 

[James_Newman]

Do you suppose they were staring into space and drooling when they got there?

 

[Linda64]

FDA considers new warning on labels of antidepressants
The Boston Globe - February 09, 2006

Feb. 9--WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration is again considering revising labels of popular antidepressants, this time in response to an article in today's New England Journal of Medicine that linked use of drugs like Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft late in pregnancy with a condition that can endanger infants' lives.

During a hastily called press conference yesterday, the FDA called the results of a study cited in the article "very concerning."

The agency will issue a public health advisory within days, said Dr. Sandra Kweder, deputy director of the FDA's Office of New Drugs. Its regulatory options include updating drug labels, searching public and private databases to corroborate the drug link to the lung condition, and requiring additional trials from drug manufacturers.

http://www.psycport.com/stories/kni...bn_0000-0017-GL-ANTIDEPRESS-20060209.xml.html

Brother Bob--

That is pretty much what these people do who are in these mental hospitals---I have visited people who are in those hospitals--and it's so sad---they are MORE depressed there --

Do a google search using "Clinical or Chemical depression in the church" -- I found alot of stuff.

 

[Brother Bob]

Come on James;
Get real, you know there are mental retarded people in this world. If you don't, where have you been?

Linda64;
I agree, and I am sure if I was put there I would stare in space but there are for the most part those who cannot function in there and I see them all the time in the world. It surely is sad. It is the same as some born deformed or two joined together and with a non functioning brain. What about "strokes" that leave people in a terrible condition. Yes, I feel very sorry for them and those that are not just right but in wheel chairs and seem like they all look alike for some reason take up with me always and I treat them as best I can for they seem to have fallen in love with me, and I mean that in a good way and not bad so don't no one make a remark. One day, they will sing as loud as all of us, I been redeemed both soul and body in Heaven.

 

[pinoybaptist]

The reason I am asking- my doctor prescribed them for me. I am on the fence as to whether I really want to take them or not. I hate medication. I am already on enough for HBP and Diabetes at age 31. I will admit that I have been severely depressed for a while- some recommend exercise- for go the meds. Others recommend the meds. This is why I am confused.

You're not confused.
You're depressed.
Take them.
I know I will be depressed if I had to take pills for HBP and have diabetes at age 31 when I'm supposed to be in the prime of life.
(At 31, by God's grace, I was still running 10 miles nonstop six days a week and ending it with at least a halfhour of free style swim in the pier in the Philippine city we were staying in)
But we have to realize we're not all the same physically.
I'm sorry to hear about your condition, but one thing you got going for you is still, believe it or not, youth.
Put your depression on check, and then work on your blood pressure and diabetes.
With God's grace, you can do it.:thumbs:

 

[Linda64]

The mind is non-phisical, it doesn't "get" a disease. Mental illness is a myth. You can't treat something which is non physical with a drug. Doctors and scientists don't know what these "chemicals" do to the brain. The brain is physical and very complex. If a doctor told me that I need to take any of those anti-depressant drugs, I would refuse. The risks outweigh the benefits--if there are any benefits at all.

 

[Charles Meadows]

James,

Although an SSRI may work well in an individual, this "doesn't prove that there is an underlying imbalance, defect or dysfunction in the person's serotonin system," he added.

That's just it - they do work well in some people!

And for Linda and SFIC - I'm still waiting for your answer of:

1. Where in the Bible does it say taking antidepressants is wrong?

2. What do you do with proverbs 31:6?

 

[Brother Bob]

Linda64;
Do you feel the same about "pain killers" or "nerve pills"?

 

[DHK]

The mind is non-phisical, it doesn't "get" a disease. Mental illness is a myth. You can't treat something which is non physical with a drug. Doctors and scientists don't know what these "chemicals" do to the brain. The brain is physical and very complex. If a doctor told me that I need to take any of those anti-depressant drugs, I would refuse. The risks outweigh the benefits--if there are any benefits at all.

My mind is very physical. Let me find a surgeon and ask him to operate on your brain, and remove it. If he removes you appendix you will be fine. If he removs your tonsils (if you still have them) you probably will be better off. If he removes a kidney your body will still function. But if he removes your brain, guess what? You cease to live.
The brain is the mind. It is very physical. It is the center of operations for all the body. That is where the conscience mind and the subconscience mind is located--in the brain. It is a complex mini-computer, more complex than the computer that you are typing at now.
You say we all have a chemical imbalance. On what authority do you say this? Are you accusing all these posters that you are interacting with as being chemically imbalanced. There would be many that will take offence with that statement. A chemically imbalanced person usually needs some "chemical" to keep the balance that his body needs. If he doesn't get it, it will affect his body in some way or another, whether in epilepsy or in some other disorder. Again, I ask what makes you an authority on this subject? What are your credentials?
You have claimed some strange things here that cannot be verified scientifically. Where do your facts come from?
DHK

 

[Brother Bob]

Linda64 & SFIC and James;
I was wondering if you ever get a head ache and do you take medicine for it or do you just suffer it. Do you ever have migraines and do you take medicine for that.

 

[Brother Bob]

double post

 

[standingfirminChrist]

Linda64 & SFIC and James;
I was wondering if you ever get a head ache and do you take medicine for it or do you just suffer it. Do you ever have migraines and do you take medicine for that.

Brother Bob,

I have only had a headache one time in my life, and I did not take a thing for it. I laid down and rested and prayed that God would remove it and waited it out. Now, it may have only been one, but it kept me incapacitated for nearly 5 hours, so it was not just a minor headache. Migraine? May have been.

I am reminded of Brother Paul who said, 'I rather glory in mine infirmities.' He did not say he took medicines, but rather that he sought God for relief and if God said, 'My Grace is sufficient,' I am sure Brother Paul continued working for the Lord in those infirmities, knowing God was in control and God knew what He was doing.

 

[standingfirminChrist]

The brain is the mind. It is very physical. It is the center of operations for all the body. That is where the conscience mind and the subconscience mind is located--in the brain. It is a complex mini-computer, more complex than the computer that you are typing at now.

The mind is located in the brain, but it is not the brain. The brain houses the mind. The heart is in the ribcage but it is not the ribcage, now is it?

The brain is physical, the mind is not. One can remove a brain and hold it in one's hands, but one cannot hold a mind in one's hands. The mind is non-physical.