Antidepressant emotional blunting
SAMHSA’s National Helpline | SAMHSA
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SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.
Also visit the online treatment locator.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders.
This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.
Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you. Read more about the HELP4U text messaging service.
The service is open 24/7, 365 days a year.
English and Spanish are available if you select the option to speak with a national representative. Currently, the 435748 (HELP4U) text messaging service is only available in English.
In 2020, the Helpline received 833,598 calls. This is a 27 percent increase from 2019, when the Helpline received a total of 656,953 calls for the year.
The referral service is free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, we will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. In addition, we can often refer you to facilities that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicare or Medicaid.
If you have health insurance, you are encouraged to contact your insurer for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.
The service is confidential. We will not ask you for any personal information. We may ask for your zip code or other pertinent geographic information in order to track calls being routed to other offices or to accurately identify the local resources appropriate to your needs.
No, we do not provide counseling. Trained information specialists answer calls, transfer callers to state services or other appropriate intake centers in their states, and connect them with local assistance and support.
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Last Updated: 08/30/2022
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Psychiatrist Judy Holland told The New York Times how social and drug-industry behaviors force women to suppress their natural emotionality with the help of antidepressants. Emotions are normal, but pills make feelings synthetic, says Holland. T&P translated the most important thing from her speech.
Women are sensitive. They have evolved to be more sensitive to their environment, more empathic for the needs of their children, and more intuition for the intentions of their partners. Some research suggests that women are better at articulating their feelings because, over the course of their development, their brains have learned to spend more effort on speech, memory, and the perception of other people's emotions.
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These observations are based in biology, not feminist or anti-feminist ideologies, but have social causes. Women's sensitivity is a sign of health, not disease. This is the source of strength. But women are under constant pressure to control their emotions. They are taught to apologize for their tears, to restrain their anger and be afraid to appear hysterical.
Women are almost twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Drugs help many of them, but for others they do a disservice. The increase in prescriptions for psychiatric drugs, especially those prescribed by doctors from third-party specialties, is creating a new norm of behavior, pushing women to seek medication support. nine0005
The chemistry of the brain and body must be in harmony. Imagine that serotonin is responsible for positive thinking in the brain. Too high content of this hormone guarantees carelessness, too low - makes you see a problem in every situation.
Tears are not necessarily associated with sadness.
When we are frightened, confused, when we face injustice or are deeply moved by events around us, we cry. This does not mean weakness or loss of control. nine0005
Most antidepressants used to treat anxiety increase the production of serotonin. It seems that things are getting better, but this is far from always beneficial. Serotonin can not only drive away fears, but also cause emotional and physical numbness. As a rule, it suppresses negative emotions more than positive ones, makes a person feel more rational and dispassionate. But in some cases, antidepressants drown out many other human feelings: empathy, irritation, sadness, creativity, anger, mourning, anxiety, erotic desire. nine0005
Tears are not necessarily associated with sadness. When we are frightened, confused, when we face injustice or are deeply moved by events around us, we cry. This does not mean weakness or loss of control. With high doses of antidepressants, it becomes very difficult to cry. As a result, a person may be in the grip of apathy and indifference.
The need for change manifests itself through a feeling of discomfort and anxiety due to the fact that something is going wrong - we understand what is right only when we can feel it. If the cure is to increase complacency, it won't help anyone. nine0005
From an excess of medicines, human emotions become synthetic. For personal growth, happier relationships, and a more peaceful world, we need more empathy, compassion, responsiveness, emotionality, and sensitivity, not the other way around.
For more information on the blockade of female sensitivity from taking antidepressants, visit The New York Times website.
Alexey Pavperov
Tags
#antidepressants
#psychology
#emotions
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What are the side effects of antidepressants? Snob Part 1
Only a psychiatrist, neurologist, psychotherapist or therapist can prescribe antidepressants.
The prescriber must have a medical degree in psychiatry/psychotherapy/neurology/therapy.
How do you start taking antidepressants?
Usually no special tests or additional tests are done before starting therapy (unless the person is going to be prescribed drugs that affect the cardiovascular system). In this case, the doctor should inform the patient about the dose (usually taking drugs starts with half the dose), the importance of daily intake and side effects that may occur during treatment.
What are the possible side effects of taking the drugs? nine0049
In the first part of the material, it was said that doctors prescribe selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) more often than other types of antidepressants. They are effective for depression, anxiety disorders, OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), and panic attacks.
SSRIs are relatively safe, with fewer side effects compared to other drug groups. At the same time, some negative consequences from taking them may arise: some drugs cause gastrointestinal disorders in patients (diarrhea, nausea), some cause headaches and dizziness.
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Occasionally, side effects may persist even after three months of medication.
What else do patients on antidepressants complain about?
Some patients taking SSRIs develop a psychopathological disorder called asthenia. Symptoms include fatigue, mood swings, sleep disturbances, intolerance to loud sounds and bright colors. Sometimes patients complain of a decrease in mental activity and "emotional dullness", as well as a decrease in sexual desire. nine0005
Other types of antidepressants cause more serious side effects. So, for example, drugs from the group of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) in combination with foods that contain tyramine (for example, strong cheeses, processed meats and soybeans) cause a critical increase in blood pressure.
Side effects usually persist for the first two to three weeks after starting treatment, then gradually begin to "recede". But, again, everything is individual. It happens that in patients prone to suicidal thoughts, the condition may worsen, but there are no exact data on this issue.
nine0005
Can I drink alcohol while taking antidepressants?
Antidepressants and alcohol are incompatible things - when alcohol is used, drugs are absorbed into the blood worse - the effect of treatment decreases, and symptoms can resume with renewed vigor. Alcohol, like, in fact, some antidepressants, can lead to heart rhythm disturbances, increase blood pressure, thereby increasing the risk of serious consequences when taken together: heart attacks, strokes, cardiac arrest. Sometimes side effects from antidepressants can cause serotonin syndrome. nine0005
What is serotonin syndrome?
This is a life-threatening condition associated with increased serotonergic activity in the central nervous system - when there is too much serotonin in the brain - a neurotransmitter that is responsible for our mood, appetite, sleep.
The syndrome has various clinical manifestations, such as: anxiety, confusion and delirium (delirium), tachycardia, fever, sweating, vomiting, diarrhoea, tremors and convulsions.
