http://thestreetspirit.org/August2005/interview.htm

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Note: Nobody should discontinue medication without consulting their doctor.

Pretty interesting. I am not one to deny that this could all be very true. I'm far from a scientist. But I can say that anti-depressants have helped me out of the some of the darkest depths. If someone can show me a better, healthier way....fine. But until then, I'm going to choose to feel better, even if that means suffering from some crazy brain disorder 50 yrs from now.

I never experienced a panic attack until after I tried Celexa for Depression & OCD. I definitely believe it made my condition much worse and wish I had never touched the stuff.

However, I am currently on Lexapro because the panic and anxiety I've been experiencing was too intolerable.

BTW, this doesn't mean I like or even really agree with Tom Cruise. Who I find extremely annoying.

I hate Tom Cruise for all of his snide comments about psychiatric medication! If it goes against his beliefs, that's fine because everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but don't go around espousing "knowledge" and "evidence" that is blatantly incorrect. Personally, I'd rather have possible side effects from my Zoloft rather than constant obsessions... I just found a picture in a tabloid the other day of him and Katie Holmes in straitjackets with the headline, "Celebrity Psychos." I'm putting it on my wall! :D
-GatsbyLuvr1920-

I never experienced a panic attack until after I tried Celexa for Depression & OCD. I definitely believe it made my condition much worse and wish I had never touched the stuff.

However, I am currently on Lexapro because the panic and anxiety I've been experiencing was too intolerable.

BTW, this doesn't mean I like or even really agree with Tom Cruise. Who I find extremely annoying.

Same here. I never experienced a panic attack in my life (40 years). Then I went off Zoloft I was taking for 2 years and 2 months later - non-stop panic attacks. Hmm, do ya think it messed up my brain chemistry? I feel like it left me with less working seratonin receptors or something. Anyway, I had to go on Lexapro for the anxiety. Sucks.

OK, I have a mind-boggling question that's eating away at me....Where does Tom Cruise fit into this at all, where does he play a role in any of this? Maybe I missed something or have not been up on the media information, but I don't understand the Tom Cruise thing. I read the whole damn article!

Anyways, I found this article to be very interesting and very good too. I agree totally with what this guy has to say about Eli Lilly and the drug companies and what not. It really does make sense when you think about it, money money money, it's all about money and companies growing by telling more and more people that they have a certain disorder or disease.

OK, so some people really do have problems, but I have actually thought of this before: Maybe, all those years ago, when I was told originally that I had social anxiety disorder, and started taking meds for it, it made things worse for me. What if I would have waited it out and let nature take its course? Might I have been better off? Maybe, maybe not! It's impossible for me to know, and that's a shame!

Well, I will say though, that even before reading this article, I have been thinking of just stopping any meds altogether and waiting a while to see if I feel better naturally, because you know what they say, "natural is always better"! Well, hopefully I have not been screwed up for life from taking different meds over time. I guess I will see when I stop taking meds for a while. Don't worry, it wasn't this article that made me come to this conclusion, I had already thought about this a while ago. All I have to say, is that regardless, I don't feel right most days, but I'm thinking that since I've started taking meds, nothing has really drastically gotten better for me at all.

There might have been one week where things were going great, but then it would go back to the way it was, feeling low, depressed, anxious, nervous, out of place, distant, etc. etc.....and all the while, still taking meds. So, what does that tell you? Well, that's what I think anyways. Who knows, maybe a doctor will try to convince me to keep taking meds, or will try me out on something different, and it could help more than it harms, but I highly doubt that. Well, thank you for posting that article...I think more people do need to be informed and aware of some of these real facts.

Although I loved the article and I agree totally with all he said, there is still the problems that I face, but the difference between me and some other people probably, is that things haven't ever gotten better for me from taking these so called miracle drugs. But, I'm afraid that if I don't take them, I will feel even worse. Hmmm, maybe it's intended to make us feel that way, so that we keep taking them, thus the drug companies make more money and stay in business! I just hope that one day, I will start to feel as 'normal' as possible, and someone will come up with a REAL solution to all these so called problems.

Good Luck to all, and I wish only the best.

Glad to hear some input and know that people are reading the article. I used Tom Cruise as a post line because of his recent comments; thought it would catch attention so everyone would read the article.

Tom's comments have been validated by many sources besides this one but the poor boy way-over simplified when he said vitamins would cure depression..... sure, our neurotransmitters actually come from protein synthesis (with aid of vitamins and carbohydrates) but depression can have so many causes other than chemical including situational so you really can't tell a person just to take vitamins and whaalaa, eh?

But is he annoying? ;) Hmm, I guess so to some degree. A little self-righteous but I suppose we all have our personality flaws?

I hate Tom Cruise for all of his snide comments about psychiatric medication! If it goes against his beliefs, that's fine because everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but don't go around espousing "knowledge" and "evidence" that is blatantly incorrect. Personally, I'd rather have possible side effects from my Zoloft rather than constant obsessions... I just found a picture in a tabloid the other day of him and Katie Holmes in straitjackets with the headline, "Celebrity Psychos." I'm putting it on my wall! :D
-GatsbyLuvr1920-

Amen, Gatsbyluvr1920

First let me say that everyone has an opinion and this is just mine.
If you agree fine if you don't that's fine too.
I've seen this posted so many times on this board...."Everyone is different and no one thing will work for everyone."
That is so true.

Like SirReal said, I'm not going to deny that what's in the article might be true, but I thank God everyday that I took the medication that I took...no it wasn't an SSRI, but still I'm sure Mr. Cruise wouldn't approve :rolleyes:

I don't have a problem with panic attacks or anxiety any more, but I lived with it for most of my 37 years.
I still live with OCD, but that's another post.
The one and only thing that saved me...and I do mean SAVED me was medication.

The "experts" can write all the articles they want, but nothing and nobody is ever going to change my mind.
If I hadn't taken that medication I wouldn't be here right now.
I didn't take an SSRI....I took a benzo (GASP) but the thing is I read post after post about how EVERYONE will develop a tolorance or dependence on them.
I'm living proof that it simply does not happen to EVERYONE.
I took it everyday for 7 years, never once upped the dose, never felt the need to, never felt like I HAD to have them.
When I didn't have the panic/anxiety problems any longer I weaned off of them without any trouble at all, I did not have one bad day.

Once I got off of them the attacks did not come back.

It's true that some people do have a problem with SSRI's and Benzo's, but not everyone does I just wish that everyone would understand that.
The first time I posted that I had taken a benzo all I heard was how it was going to do this to me and that to me in the long run.
It was like they were out to somehow "Save" me.

I'm just glad I did what I felt was best for ME, no matter what anyone else thought.
They could have their opinion, but I had mine too.
I'm just glad mine is the opinion that I listened to.

I already knew that some people have a problem with SSRI's and Benzo's, but I had to do something and if taking a pill was what I needed to do until I could cope on my own then that's what I was going to do.

As for that two bit actor, he's as entitled to his opinion as the next guy but until he's lived in my skin and knows what it feels like to be paralyzed with panic, anxiety or OCD his rantings and ravings don't even register a blip on my radar screen.

I'm not sure if SSRIs cause permanent damage or not, but can only go with my own experience. I had panic, but after taking an SSRI for a year and then going off it for over 2 years+, I developed major problems with panic/anxiety/depression - much, much worse than before - and I'm now on Lexapro. Basically, I spent 2 years waiting to see if my brain will heal on it's own; and for these problems to clear up, but they just kept getting worse. Not saying it will happen to everyone who comes off SSRIs, but I wish that I had never started them in the first place.

I'm not sure what to make of Tom Cruise, but he seems is taking a courageous stand against psychiatry. Notice how the media come down on him and make him look like a kook because he happens to disagree with psychopharmachology (a billion dollar industry).

I've been thinking about SSRIs in general - aside from the money part, aren't SSRI's the perfect mind/population control device? For a totalitarian regime like in 1984 - having a large segment of the populace hooked on a drug they need to stay normal would be a great advantage. That way if there is ever an uprising, you simply disrupt the supply of the drug, and large amounts of the population are disabled in days! Great huh?

By the way, I'm reading this book, "Prozac Backlash." It exposes the dark side of SSRIs. I've just read the introduction, and so far it's been enlightening. Check it out if you have the chance.

My opinion???? Tom Cruise is a self righteous, egotistical, pompus, who thinks he's all that controlling NUT! Poor Katie, she's so young (compared to him and doesn't know any better......yet)

Yes, thanks for asking, I do feel better!!! :bouncing:

If the theory in that interview article is true, then it's easy to cure depression--use some chemical to make you very very depressed for a couple months. Since your brain will counter act, once you get off the drug, you gonna feel very well.

If the theory in that interview article is true, then it's easy to cure depression--use some chemical to make you very very depressed for a couple months. Since your brain will counter act, once you get off the drug, you gonna feel very well.

But each different class of drugs has their own problems. Depressants like tranquilizers and alcohol, etc. effect GABA, the neuro that calms anxiety and makes us sleep. Since the brain will "counteract" or build up opposition to that.... GABA receptors will shut down /die off and when the person quits they will have, without the calming GABA chemicals, the opposite of calm and sleep which is high anxiety, elevated pulse and blood pressure ,severe insomnia, or at worst, mania (uh-oh here comes a bi-polar diagnosis) or a seizure(seizure from tranquilizer withdrawal is rare but not uncommon)

Not good!

I'm not sure if SSRIs cause permanent damage or not, but can only go with my own experience. I had panic, but after taking an SSRI for a year and then going off it for over 2 years+, I developed major problems with panic/anxiety/depression - much, much worse than before - and I'm now on Lexapro. Basically, I spent 2 years waiting to see if my brain will heal on it's own; and for these problems to clear up, but they just kept getting worse. Not saying it will happen to everyone who comes off SSRIs, but I wish that I had never started them in the first place.

I'm not sure what to make of Tom Cruise, but he seems is taking a courageous stand against psychiatry. Notice how the media come down on him and make him look like a kook because he happens to disagree with psychopharmachology (a billion dollar industry).

I've been thinking about SSRIs in general - aside from the money part, aren't SSRI's the perfect mind/population control device? For a totalitarian regime like in 1984 - having a large segment of the populace hooked on a drug they need to stay normal would be a great advantage. That way if there is ever an uprising, you simply disrupt the supply of the drug, and large amounts of the population are disabled in days! Great huh?

By the way, I'm reading this book, "Prozac Backlash." It exposes the dark side of SSRIs. I've just read the introduction, and so far it's been enlightening. Check it out if you have the chance.

Very good post! :wave:

OK, I have a mind-boggling question that's eating away at me....Where does Tom Cruise fit into this at all, where does he play a role in any of this? Maybe I missed something or have not been up on the media information, but I don't understand the Tom Cruise thing. I read the whole damn article!

Anyways, I found this article to be very interesting and very good too. I agree totally with what this guy has to say about Eli Lilly and the drug companies and what not. It really does make sense when you think about it, money money money, it's all about money and companies growing by telling more and more people that they have a certain disorder or disease.

OK, so some people really do have problems, but I have actually thought of this before: Maybe, all those years ago, when I was told originally that I had social anxiety disorder, and started taking meds for it, it made things worse for me. What if I would have waited it out and let nature take its course? Might I have been better off? Maybe, maybe not! It's impossible for me to know, and that's a shame!

Well, I will say though, that even before reading this article, I have been thinking of just stopping any meds altogether and waiting a while to see if I feel better naturally, because you know what they say, "natural is always better"! Well, hopefully I have not been screwed up for life from taking different meds over time. I guess I will see when I stop taking meds for a while. Don't worry, it wasn't this article that made me come to this conclusion, I had already thought about this a while ago. All I have to say, is that regardless, I don't feel right most days, but I'm thinking that since I've started taking meds, nothing has really drastically gotten better for me at all.

There might have been one week where things were going great, but then it would go back to the way it was, feeling low, depressed, anxious, nervous, out of place, distant, etc. etc.....and all the while, still taking meds. So, what does that tell you? Well, that's what I think anyways. Who knows, maybe a doctor will try to convince me to keep taking meds, or will try me out on something different, and it could help more than it harms, but I highly doubt that. Well, thank you for posting that article...I think more people do need to be informed and aware of some of these real facts.

Although I loved the article and I agree totally with all he said, there is still the problems that I face, but the difference between me and some other people probably, is that things haven't ever gotten better for me from taking these so called miracle drugs. But, I'm afraid that if I don't take them, I will feel even worse. Hmmm, maybe it's intended to make us feel that way, so that we keep taking them, thus the drug companies make more money and stay in business! I just hope that one day, I will start to feel as 'normal' as possible, and someone will come up with a REAL solution to all these so called problems.

Good Luck to all, and I wish only the best.

Very insightful. I don't blame you for taking the meds at all. It's just that you are right, they need to come up with real solutions but they are too busy pushing the current scheme which they favor. Maybe someday things will change, especially if more and more opposition forces them to do better research for alternatives that might even cure. Let's hope. :)

I do have to say that I believe they should be a little more careful about giving prescriptions to these drugs. I can easily go to any doctor in my area and ask for an antidepressant and they'd give it to me without hesitation and without other testing or an explanation of all the possible side effects.

[QUOTE=NiceguyEddie]

I'm not sure what to make of Tom Cruise, but he seems is taking a courageous stand against psychiatry. Notice how the media come down on him and make him look like a kook because he happens to disagree with psychopharmachology (a billion dollar industry).

QUOTE]

You have to remember though that Tom wasn't just disagreeing with the pharmaceutical industry - he was saying all psychiatry is crap basically. That means therapy, counseling anything. Do you think that is courageous? I don't think so.

I do have to say that I believe they should be a little more careful about giving prescriptions to these drugs. I can easily go to any doctor in my area and ask for an antidepressant and they'd give it to me without hesitation and without other testing or an explanation of all the possible side effects.

Exactly! :bouncing:

[QUOTE=NiceguyEddie]

I'm not sure what to make of Tom Cruise, but he seems is taking a courageous stand against psychiatry. Notice how the media come down on him and make him look like a kook because he happens to disagree with psychopharmachology (a billion dollar industry).

QUOTE]

You have to remember though that Tom wasn't just disagreeing with the pharmaceutical industry - he was saying all psychiatry is crap basically. That means therapy, counseling anything. Do you think that is courageous? I don't think so.

I think his main issue was with the use of drugs in psychiatry and the theories of chemical imbalance without real proof or testing, that's what I got from it, but maybe your right but I really couldn't say for sure....I guess we can't ask him his opinion on psychotherapy without drugs unless he gets on a talk show and people can call in.

Personally, I think therapy, counseling and lifestyle changes do wonders for many people.