Antidepressants: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Part Two


Have you seen this old 1966 movie? It was a glorified bounty hunter story. The title became a memorable saying and many have used it since, including me, today.

 In the movie, Clint Eastwood plays an enigmatic loner in search of a cache of stolen gold. He represents the good. His bad rival is Lee Van Cleef a ruthless bounty hunter, and his ugly rival is Eli Wallach, a Mexican bandit.

 And what does this have to do with antidepressants? Well, I am just using that title to show you that I plan to tell you some good, some bad and some ugly sides of antidepressants in this series. Why? 

 Because there good, bad and ugly sides of antidepressants!
I will begin at the beginning of my own journey into the world of depression.

It was 1996, I was going through an unwanted divorce and so of course, I was not too happy. BUT, for awhile I managed. One of my stress relievers is walking. 

 During this particularly stressful time, I increased my walking from 30 minutes a day to over an hour a day. But one day I found that I was too tired to walk. Just putting one foot in front of the other required a concerted effort. It reminded me of the time a few years previous when I was anemic.

 So off to the doctor I went. She tested me for anemia and found that I was NOT anemic. So she suggested that I was suffering from depression, which was not surprising under the circumstances. So she prescribed an antidepressant and sent me home saying that I should notice an improvement in my mood in two to three weeks.

 AND I DID!

 It was wonderful, almost magic. I went home, took the pills, and waited to feel better, and I did feel better in just two weeks. I knew nothing about depression, its causes, its symptoms, its treatments. I treated it like I might treat a headache, with a pill.

 Oh that it was all that simple and that I took that pill every day and I was cured!

 Stay tuned for the next installment.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling today? Do you remember the first time antidepressants were prescribed for you? Did you know anything about antidepressants? Did your doctor explain anything about depression to you? Did they work?

 Don't give up! There is hope for depression.

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