If you're curious: (Left to Right) Wellbutrin (NDRI-Depression, Anxiety, ADHD), Paxil (SSRI-Depression, Anxiety disorder), Laxapro (Also 'Cipralex' SSRI - Depression, Anxiety), Effexor (SNRI-Anxiety, Panic disorder), Zoloft (SSRI- Depression, OCD, Anxiety), Pretty sure the one on the far right says "Fluoxetine" which is Prozac (SSRI-Depression, OCD, Panic disorder)
Anti-depressants within themselves are a controversial topic in pharmaceuticals, mental health and psychology. But as a more social matter, people who lie about being on anti-depressants can be a huge issue.
When I was diagnosed in April 2011 with severe depression (one step below clinical) by a registered psychologist using a BDI-ll (Beck Depression Inventory II, Beck Depression Inventory revision circa 1996) I was prescribed 25mg of Apo-Trazodone (an SARI anti-anxiety medication, treating sleeping disorders as an off-label use) and 5mg of Cipralex (Lexapro in the US, most modern SSRI on the market today) and after telling a few of my friends most of them spit out the statement "Anti-depressants don't work, I've been on them before and they didn't work."
This wasn't the first time I was told this. I used to hear this back when I was as young as 14, 15, and 16 years old.
Unless a friend can show you a physical copy of a diagnosis for a mental disorder such as clinical depression, bi-polar disorder, borderline personality disorder, etc and your friend is under the age of 18, and says they have been or are on anti-depressants they are lying.
In both my prescription pamphlets I received for Trazodone and Cipralex, and the same with any other anti-depressants out there, they will all tell you that "the use of this medication is discouraged and not recommended for people under the age of 18, may increase suicidal thoughts in those under the age of 25. If this medication was prescribed to someone under the age 18, health professionals are cautioned when prescribing this medication" Let's even back-track to the diagnosis stage (before a pill would even be prescribed) because the DSMV and DSMV-ll (the bibles of mental health) caution metal health professionals about, and even discourage diagnosis for any mental illness in people under 18.
Now, that is not to say that doesn't happen. My mother has been a teacher at an elementary school for children with special needs for nearly 30 years. And trust me, there are kids on Zoloft by the time they reach the 4th grade because of extreme anxiety disorders. (Which is unfortunate, because the earlier a medication is introduced the quicker and stronger a tolerance to the drug will build up because the body is still growing and so is the brain developing - and mental health professionals are aware of this, that's why that is only likely to happen in a severe enough case where it interferes with a child's ability to integrate into a regular social setting, it's a "quick fix" for the school day)
But there's a big fat line between severe and rare cases such as this, and all the 16 year old girls running around with their raging hormones saying that after they broke up with their high school boyfriend they dated for two weeks they miraculously developed bi-polar disorder and had to go on anti-depressants. People like that are attention seekers and are looking for a made up scheme to feel as if they have more knowledge of a subject people find fascinating than everyone else to fill the void of their confidence. "I am on anti-depressants, therefore I experience which you do not, therefore you do not understand" I could pull off a statement like that and have it be true, but everyone wants to be a rebel nowadays, right?
Honestly, going around telling people you have been/are on "anti-depressants" doesn't make you seem better than anybody. Especially the person who is actually suffering from clinical depression or bi-polar disorder. (Which is another thing people lie about a lot as well, I can go off into a whole spiel about what it truly means to have borderline personality disorder, living with it myself) Because the worst thing someone can do is ruin the excitement for somebody actually suffering that they are going to start (possibly) getting better. And also because medications react differently in every individual, giving false information (weather it actually applied to you or is made-up) before one starts taking an anti-depressant and is new to the whole experience might scare them and prevent them from treating themselves as needed. A friend is not supposed to make up lies about false life experiences to make themselves seem better than somebody else. If someone is going on medication to treat a mood disorder, that was prescribed by a mental health or health professional, that person obviously knows what they are doing.
I didn't have this problem so much with going on Trazodone because I was prescribed it by the off-label use for insomnia. But when I went on Cipralex, a lot of people made me feel as if it was something to be ashamed of. Especially after taking it for the first time, I had an overlap side effect with mixing it with my other pill and threw up and ended up going to an urgent care centre as a precaution I wasn't allergic to it. And after telling that to some people, they criticized me saying "Oh, you're on more medication? Can't you do something else?"
And there's something else to get into. When people say medication won't help, and to stop taking it suddenly, they need to take these things into consideration:
1) Correct yourself. Medication alone won't help but medication + talk therapy is proven very effective
2) You don't know why this person is suffering from depression. Depression can in fact be genetic and certain life events in early adulthood can trigger these genes to be active in the brain - which is part of my situation personally, my grandfather suffered deeply from depression before he passed away of cancer - so really, medication is a great route to go in a case of depression in genetics to balance the brain chemicals (which is what an anti-depressant is designed to do)
3) A medication cannot be stopped suddenly without the advisory of a doctor (unless in a case of allergic reaction to non-medicinal ingredients) These medications work with brain chemicals. The same way streets drugs and alcohol would, in fact, most times the same brain chemicals. Especially serotonin (the 'happy' chemical). When one is on the appropriate dosage of medication, serotonin balances itself out to be similar to someone who is not diagnosed with depression so they can go about their day without feeling super-blue or anxious (to the disorderly level of course) about certain situations and to bring down temper. Can you imagine what happens when this procedure is suddenly self-stopped without a doctor's instructions on slowly tapering off the medication? It's called SNRI/SARI/SSRI (depending which class the individuals medication belongs to) withdrawal syndrome. Everything will go opposite, as if the person was back to how they were before starting meds, or even worse. Or something deathly called serotonin syndrome. Anybody can get this from substance abuse (mixing your 'uppers' and your 'downers at the same time) where there is too much serotonin activity in the brain and the brain basically intoxicates itself with the chemicals. You can end up in the hospital or dead.
If you ever hear someone say they got addicted to anti-depressants they are lying. Anti-depressants do not have an addictive chemistry like narcotics such as oxycontin. Unless somebody was on one of the two only "take as needed" medications (as apposed to 'take daily' medications which is the criteria for most anti-depressants) - which would be benzodiazepine (anti-anxiety), or Xanax (panic disorder - these are addictive because they are quick-acting and can be taken any time of the day when the person feels they need it). But other than that, you can't really get addicted to anti-depressants.
I guess my final conclusion could be that unless you are educated on a subject such as this, then don't lie about it - especially to somebody who is actually living in the world of depression, and also before you jump on the bandwagon of assuming medication won't help an individual get better, then don't do either of these things. You make yourself look stupid and will ultimately lose a friend.
Educate yourself, first.
