Is anti-depressants suppose to be forever?

  • This has little to do about weight gain or loss, but I've been feeling miserable. I think I'm losing my boyfriend because his doctor gave him a few extra happy pills. Now he doesn't want to do couple things and seems like a complete zombie when I try to be deeper with him.

    I understand that he feels sad since his grandma passed away earlier this year, and that his parents are being less than kind to him.. but the pills seems to inhibit his ability to become happy. It's like there's nothing I can do to make him happy anymore. What can I do? Is there even anything I can do?
  • Talk to him about this. There are many types of anti-depressants out there, he doesn't need to feel like a zombie on them. He should talk to his doctor to see about switching if he is unhappy with the drugs.

    As far as if he has to take them forever, probably not. In his situation, I'm making assumptions based on your post, I'd say that he only needs them for awhile to cope with the circumstances. Long term prolonged drug treatments are helpful in cases of clinical depression, but this is not true for everyone.

    Just be there for him right now. Understand that it takes awhile to bounce back from these things. Losing loved ones can be very difficult (I've lost both my parents) and it can take months to adjust to life without them. Give him time and make sure he communicates with his doctor. I know not all men are good at that.
  • I have pills . I dont take them cause I know why I am depressed.
  • Sounds like his cocktail is not doing him any good.... will he see his doctor if you ask?
  • That was me. I just never responded well with those happy pills. Sure they took the depression away but left me with nasty side affects. I now do the program from the book Depression Free Naturally. Works with no side affects.
  • Well, a couple of things.

    He should be seeing a therapist along with taking the pills. He can't just take the pills and expect to be healed. If therapy is done in conjunction with the pills, he might be able to let go of them eventually.

    The pills should be helping and if they are not, maybe those are not right for him and he needs a different brand or something. The doctor can try to switch him onto something that might work better.
  • Well, I'm pretty much counting on being on A-Ds forever. I've gone off them at several points in my life but ended up needing to go back on them. And to a certain extent I do feel zombified, but I still want to do things most of the time. As others suggested, he should ask about different pills because there are so many out there.
  • Men tend not to deal with feelings so it may not be due to the pills at all. Have you spoken with him gently about how he seems more remote than maybe a year ago? Suggest a therapist to get him back to being himself & even better than before. It sounds like there may be family of origin issues. Depending on the person, meds may be required for a short time or "forever," but they do need tweaking. Of course, the person may need someone to tell him that he seems "off."
  • Well, hun, unfortunately, I can't be a whole lot of help... I've been taking anti-depressant medication since I was in sixth grade. And now I'm in the ninth grade... If you think your medication is not working right, I would go talk to your psychiatrist and therapist. I got mine switched to Effexor from Prozac when I was in a hospital. Different medications don't always work on everyone. I really hope you feel better though. :] I know switching meds helped me a lot.