Should Religious People Use Anti-Depressants?

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I have read a number of medical journals indicating that in scientific random clinical studies, up to 75% of people suffering from depression were cured when given placebos. Non-pharmaceutical psychotherapy also causes chemical imbalances in the brain to correct as pharmaceutical anti-depressants, and sometimes placebos, do. (Bipolar depression is different and usually only pharmaceutical therapy will heal it.)

As Grace and Glory states, it is better to correct a problem which is causing the depression, to heal the depression, than to simply cure the symptom (depression) of the problem. Always check with both your medical doctor and psychotherapist or psychiatrist, who uses both psychotherapy and pharmaceutical therapy, to see what mix of therapies is best for you.

Peace in Christ,
Steven Merten
www.ILOVEYOUGOD.com
 
Do you see the typology (forshadowing) of the Mass and the Sacraments in the following?:
Sirach 38

**[1] Honor the physician with the honor due him,
according to your need of
him, for the Lord created him;
[2] for healing comes from the Most High,
and he will receive a gift from the king.
[3] The skill of the physician lifts up his head,
and in the presence of great men he is admired.
[4] The Lord created medicines from the earth,
and a sensible man will not despise them.
[5] Was not water made sweet with a tree
in order that his power might be known?
[6] And he gave skill to men
that he might be glorified in his marvelous works.
7] By them he heals and takes away pain;
[8] the pharmacist makes of them a compound.
His works will never be finished;
and from him health is upon the face of the earth.

[9] My son, when you are sick do not be negligent,
but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.
[10] Give up your faults* and direct your hands aright,
and cleanse your heart from all sin.*
[11] Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice,* and a memorial
portion of fine flour,*
and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.
[12] And give the physician his place, for the Lord created him;
let him not leave you, for there is need of him.
[13] There is a time when success lies in the hands of physicians,
[14] for they too will pray to the Lord
that he should grant them success in diagnosis
and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.
[15] He who sins before his Maker,
may he fall into the care of a physician.**

kepha1>>a person with Bi-polar disorder.

see also:
drgrantmullen.com/
 
FYI - For those who don’t know,

Bi-Polar Disorder does not equal depression. Two different diseases, two different effects on the brains, two different types of treatments by two different types of drugs.
 
As a person with bipolar, I can tell you that it is different than just straight depression. However, often people with bipolar are given an anti-depressant along with their bipolar medication. People with bipolar aren’t necessarily even with their mood swings, such as two days up and two days down. Often, they tend to be either more manic or more depressed.

I take medication for the bipolar and, because my cycles tend to swing to the depressed side more than the manic side, I also take an anti-depressant.

I used to go to therapy, but I don’t anymore. For me, the bipolar is just a part of my chemical makeup, like having hazel eyes and red hair. I don’t need go to therapy because I have red hair.

Some people need therapy for their depression, and that is fine. Some people just need to take their meds. Some people don’t need meds and just need to “suck it up and deal with it”. Everyone is differant, and every situation needs to be deal with on an individual basis. I don’t think there’s a blanket answer.

Scout :tiphat:
 
I put that you should use them if you need to.

It reminds me of the story where a man gets caught in a flood and he is caught on the roof of his house. A guy passes by on a boat and asks if the man needs help. The man refuses and says, “God will help”. A little later a helicopter comes and the man says, “God will help”. Eventually the house washes away and the man dies and goes before God at judgement. He asks God, “Why didn’t you send help?” God says, “I did, I sent you the man on the boat, and I sent you a helicopter.”

My point is that God gave us things like these antidepresants to help if we need it.

Bipolar is rapid mood swings, from overly exstatic to extremely depressed. It can happen very quickly.
 
Meds don’t “cure” mental illness. Meds stabilize the symptoms so the person can get the therapy that will “cure” the illness.
Peace,
Linda (therapist)
 
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LindaS:
Meds don’t “cure” mental illness. Meds stabilize the symptoms so the person can get the therapy that will “cure” the illness.
Peace,
Linda (therapist)
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You can’t cure a chemical embalance with therapy. Yes, therapy will help in certain circumstances, but it’s not a cure-all. Neither is medicine. Some people need both, some need one or the other. Medicine is more than just a stabilizer for therapy. You wouldn’t tell a person with diabetes that they need to go to therapy along with taking their medicine. Just because a person need medication doesn’t necessarily mean that they also need therapy.

Scout :tiphat:
 
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rwoehmke:
Suicide is not infrequently the result of depression. Its fine to suffer and “offer it up” but with depression this could be a very poor decision. As those above stated, depression is an illness and needs medical attention and proper treatment which may include therapy and antidepressants. Like any drug they can be abused but that possibility should not prevent one from taking them if a doctor or psychiratist recommends them.
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Good point. I think it’s awful when someone outside the situation throws out a pat “offer it up” command without any compassion. I can offer up physical pain, but emotional pain is something else entirely. Depression is a horse of a different color.
 
For most of my life, but especially the past 5 years, I’ve had problems with depression, anxiety, and a form of PTSD. Unfortunately during my darkest days, the advice I got from some very religious people was “offer it up” and the implication that I was weak and immoral because I was so depressed. This horrible advice only made it more difficult to deal with my problems which were a combination of chemical imbalance and a traumatic situation in my life. Thank God for anti-depressants - they really helped turn my life back to normal. But they certainly were not a cure-all. I needed therapy as well, and part of it came down to my own self-control over my thoughts. It’s never a good idea to rely on medicine alone, at least when you are first starting treatment. My problems are caused by a variety of factors and required a variety of treatments.

Prayer certainly helps, but Catholics are not faith-healers. Just as we do not say to the cancer patient “offer it up.” or “you’re committing the sin of despair.” we should not treat depressed people the same way. Depression is a deadly disease and attitudes like the ones I experienced won’t help anyone with a chemical imbalance.
 
Detroit Sue:
Good point. I think it’s awful when someone outside the situation throws out a pat “offer it up” command without any compassion. I can offer up physical pain, but emotional pain is something else entirely. Depression is a horse of a different color.
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How about anxiety? I’ve been told that by I think well meaning Catholics and not the clergy…they were the ones who urged me to get help. I have offered it up… but that didn’t take it away and never will because my condition is inherited anxiety disorder…something in the genes. I take medication for it and probably always will have to from time to time. Point here is, that it has been very humbling and I sometimes feel that this is something that God has permitted to keep me close to Him…I have a lot of pride and this sure keeps my weakness ever in front of me…like St. Paul and his affliction. Annunciata:)
 
**Scout, **Thanks for your information about the Bipolar condition.

Can you say Lithium carbonate, Risperdal and Mirtazapine ?

Lithium at 900mg/day. Blood level at 0.90 .

Witthout it mood swings vascillate on a 5 week cycle.

*Also, did you know of a study done by School of Medicine at Univ. of Wisconsin (1988) that revealed that aprox. 70% of creative artists,authors and musicians suffer from various degrees of Manic-Depression?
 
Only if their depressed :D.

Seriously there’s nothing immoral about useing anti-depressants. My husband was on them for about 4 years (off now), he’d suffered from chronic depression since his teens. And he often would “self medicate” with things that were immoral until he was diagnosed. Now he’s been off them a year and doing fine.

I once saw a saying on the sign of a Catholic Church that said “Too blessed to be depressed”. I thought obviously whom ever thought that would be a good idea to place it on the sign had no understanding of real depression is, and I found it extremely insensitive.
 
One of the side effects of Prozac is the taking of one’s life. Read the warning label. Is that risk worth a twelve hour vacation to the tropic of Psycho? IHS Daryl
 
Just personally, I am negative on the whole antidepressant thing. That’s probably because my mother was always seeing shrinks when I was growing up, and they were always putting her on pills, and it didn’t seem like it helped any. She just got crazier and more emotional and made more a mess of our lives. The whole experience with the therapeutic psychology-worshipping world left a bad taste in my mouth. I realize this was in the pre-Prozac days, but back then things like Elavil were always being touted as the answer to everything too. Plus, whenever you hear about antidepressants in the news, it’s always negative. The thought that kids are on them now just seems crazy! What did people used to do before we had these pills? And many drugs like Prozac are contra-indicated for the elderly, but doctors prescribe them anyway.

My doctor used to try to put me on this and that, but they always gave me strange nervous tics and I didn’t have the dedication to keep taking them or let her adjust dosages.

Coffee is my antidepressant! 👍
 
Exporter said:
************ ****************** *****************
Thanks for posting your experience. Yes from my experience the doctors usually change the meds 3 or 4 times before arriving at the right dosage and drug.
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Very true, since even after determining that I was on a medicine that seemed to be helping, I probably had the dose itself changed 3 or 4 times.
 
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Calbreese:
One of the side effects of Prozac is the taking of one’s life. Read the warning label. Is that risk worth a twelve hour vacation to the tropic of Psycho? IHS Daryl
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What?:confused:
 
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caroljm36:
Just personally, I am negative on the whole antidepressant thing. That’s probably because my mother was always seeing shrinks when I was growing up, and they were always putting her on pills, and it didn’t seem like it helped any. She just got crazier and more emotional and made more a mess of our lives. The whole experience with the therapeutic psychology-worshipping world left a bad taste in my mouth. I realize this was in the pre-Prozac days, but back then things like Elavil were always being touted as the answer to everything too. Plus, whenever you hear about antidepressants in the news, it’s always negative. The thought that kids are on them now just seems crazy! What did people used to do before we had these pills? And many drugs like Prozac are contra-indicated for the elderly, but doctors prescribe them anyway.

My doctor used to try to put me on this and that, but they always gave me strange nervous tics and I didn’t have the dedication to keep taking them or let her adjust dosages.

Coffee is my antidepressant! 👍
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I agree…I can’t believe how many children are having these pills crammed in thier mouths. I wonder, too, what people did before they had these crutches?
 
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StephiePea:
I agree. I wonder, too, what people did before they had these crutches?
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The killed themselves or had mental break downs and up in psych hospitals. You obviously don’t know what severe depression is, I hope you never find out.

I’m sure you never take any pain medicine for headaches or other body aches after all that would be a crutch. Why is that it’s perfectly acceptable to treat physical pain but not emotional pain.
 
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rayne89:
The killed themselves or had mental break downs and up in psych hospitals. You obviously don’t know what severe depression is, I hope you never find out.

I’m sure you never take any pain medicine for headaches or other body aches after all that would be a crutch. Why is that it’s perfectly acceptable to treat physical pain but not emotional pain.
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Now hold on a second. I used Zoloft for 3 years because I was manipulated by the doctors and my mother into thinking I needed it. I didn’t. I’m not talking about people who have bi-polar disorder, or other phycosis. I’m saying they are over prescribed, and many people use them as a band-aide instead of dealing with the actual problem that is causing depression. Pain, both physical and emotional, is very real, and I know…I have experienced both. But medicating in order to avoid real life is not the answer. And they didn’t all kill themselves…suicide is the highest now with all the anti-depressants. They are starting to put warnings on these drug stating that the risk of suicide is high while on them…now isn’t that interesting?
 
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