black box warning

[Former_Smart_kid]

shortly after my mom died I was diagnosed with moderate to severe anxiety and depression which I guess I’ve had for a while I just didn’t really realize it until then. I got into a bad place and it was really hard to ask for help and when I did people told me to take anti depressants. I agreed because I didn’t think there would be any downsides. Turns out there is a small chance that the Meds make everything worse called the black box warning. I became the worst I had ever been and had to go cold turkey off the meds. I’ve been off the Meds for a while now but there’s still a part of me that wants to try again and see if they work this time. I don’t really know what I’m doing and any advice is welcome for if I should or shouldn’t take my meds.

[LilyAnnepuppy]

I would talk to my doctor before making that decision. We’re not qualified to say whether you should take drugs or not. We’re here to support you as you deal with your anxiety and depression.

Sorry for the loss of your mom.

[designguy]

I think meds have been overwhelmingly more helpful for people than harmful and it's important to your doctors advice about taking them but with context. It's helpful to understand that we live in a litigious country (the US) and pharmaceutical companies have to disclose any potential side affect no matter how remote to protect themselves and it's highly unlikely you would experience them. I've taken over a half-dozen different meds over the years and only experienced a minor side affect (delayed sexual climax) on one.

[Darkhouse]

Any advice on taking or not taking meds needs to come from a physician. There is a lot of research out now that's saying that moderate exercise is more beneficial for depression than counseling or medications (psypost.org/2023/03/review-.... It's something to try without the risk of side effects of the meds, but everyone is different and meds do help a lot of people, so I'm not saying that they don't help. It's just that science is an ever-growing field w more and more data, and that's what the data is telling the scientists right now. Food for thought at least...