Re: Deep questions about antidepressants and ACT

[Guest guest]

>

> What are your thoughts about antidepressants or

> anti-anxiety medications?

Hi ,

Welcome to the list!

Psychiatric meds, including antidepressants, are a touchy

topic for this list to try & grapple with. Some folks on

the list have had bad experiences with medications & oppose

their use on the grounds that they are dangerous; other folks

have had more positive experiences, or are currently taking

meds, and either way would rather not have to listen to

arguments against meds.

That doesn't mean your questions aren't good ones, however. One

possibility I can think of is that folks could email you

privately (using the email that is linked to your membership

via the Yahoo web interface) about their experiences pro, con,

or what have you. However you should be the one to indicate

whether this is welcome or not.

- Randy

[Guest guest]

>

> You can now all breathe a sigh of relief as this is

> my last post on this topic.

I imagine that if you printed out all your " last posts " on this topic,

you could wallpaper a fair-sized living room with them.

That's OK, though. I make similar vows which I later forget about.

- R.

[Guest guest]

Eh! I meant the last one in this period. This subject is bound to turn

up again.

Kv

> >

> > You can now all breathe a sigh of relief as this is

> > my last post on this topic.

>

> I imagine that if you printed out all your " last posts " on this topic,

> you could wallpaper a fair-sized living room with them.

>

> That's OK, though. I make similar vows which I later forget about.

>

> - R.

>

[Guest guest]

I think the upshot - for - is that sometimes medications can help in living a valued life, and can help people to drop struggles. But for other people the same medications can become part of the problem.It's all personal. xTo: ACT_for_the_Public Sent: Thursday, 6 October

2011, 15:13Subject: Re: Deep questions about antidepressants and ACT

People here will be aware that I've had, and continue to have, my predilections for some substances. That said, I want to say that for the kinds of life travails that afflict many of us here, such as depression, anxiety/panic attacks, various phobias, etc, medical and other substances are, at best, a short-term prophylactic, unless there is indeed a physiological condition causing the illness. While the latter is sometimes the case, most often it is not.I've experienced and continue to experience the panoply of miseries humans can be heir to, and have swallowed my fair share of antidepressants and other things, all of which I've found wanting. Personally, I don't think a really effective antidepressant exists, and consider the current bunch money-spinning rubbish produced by a few extremely wealthy pharmaceutical companies. The "science" these companies proffer as evidence for their shonky products' efficacy

is questionable, to say the least. Often they won't reveal trials that show their products to be no better, or even worse, than placebo. And I've yet to read a meta-analysis that I have found trustworthy.Which is all by way of saying, that in spite of my abovementioned predilection for various substances, I recognize them for what they are, and that for thoroughgoing change to occur, they are most definitely not the answer, whereby ACT and similar approaches may well be a way forward, if not to eternal happiness, then certainly toward a life worth living. My commonsense tells me this, and has told me this for a long, long time, ever since, decades ago, I read Ainslie Meares's book, Relief without Drugs, and even earlier, when I delved into Buddhist and related texts - apparently some of the wisdom of what I'd read seeped into my consciousness. Not that the words provided answer(s)

for whatever ailed me - to a large extent I didn't (perhaps still don't) know the question(s).One thing I would like to add, though, is this. When one is deep in the throes of relentless anxiety or panic, or even depression, there are some medications, applied judiciously, that can help a bit, at least until the storm subsides (as it almost always does) and one is able to get out of one's mind and, hopefully, into one's life, to purloin a phrase.Written on Friday, 7 October 2011, while under the influence of diet Pepsi and cigarettes.Kind regards,Detlef> > >> > > Thanks, and i'm sorry if i missed a similar topic.> >> > Hi again -> >> > It occurs to me that you can also search the list for "medication"> using> > the ACT interface and some of your questions may get answered that> >

way - here for example is one of Steve 's posts from a couple of> > years ago on the question of antidepressants - fairly informative:> >> > http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACT_for_the_Public/message/6364> >> > - Randy> >>