I thought jimbo and thegelman were incredibly brave

It's really not easy to be open about mental health or things which affect you "down there" - which is silly, because we all have a mental health and we all have bits "down there", but that's just how it is.

I've taken SSRIs for quite a lot of years. I've had awful side-effects from some, less awful from others; some have worked a bit then stopped, others never worked, one sent me completely f**king loopy. I'm lucky enough not to have had the sexual side effects jimbo/thegelman described. I have severe depression but no psychosis (thankfully - a family member has suffered from that and it's not pleasant).

But psychotropic medicines are not sweets and it's good to get awareness of that out there. The research is lacking: we kind of think certain chemicals in the brain affect our mood and we kind of think some drugs affect the re-uptake of those chemicals, meaning there's more of them hanging around to make us feel good. We don't really understand what's going on with that, though, or why some drugs work and others don't.

There is no psychiatrist in the world who can diagnose me, or jimbo or thegelman, and say with certainty "this drug will help you". Rather it's a question of working down the list of drugs until either something does help or nothing does. It's the same with psychological interventions - each of which is preceded by a waiting list measured not in months but years. Oh, this one didn't work? Shame - here have another few years' wait for something else then.

I have been lucky enough to avoid "below the waist" effects but I have seen massive weight gain and weight loss; violent mood swings; terrifying nightmares; being unable to sleep more than 2-3 hours in one go; being unable to stay awake more than 2-3 hours in one go; addictive behaviours (citalopram in particular is known to elevate these in some people - but it's not on the drug label here in the UK, though it is in parts of the US). In return, I sometimes feel a bit better. But it's the best that's available.

We all know mental health needs far more resource - at the moment it's waiting list after waiting list. It also needs far more research - for something which affects so very many people, the research spending is quite pitiful, really.

Anyway, I popped on to say thank you to jimbo and thegelman for being so open and to congratulate them for having the immense courage to do that. The more these things are talked about the less awkward the conversations become. Talking about your own condition can only help others with theirs.

Posted By: Old Man, Aug 20, 22:53:25