Even in the event you’ve by no means taken an antidepressant, you’re most likely acquainted with the criticism and controversy that surrounds these medicine. It’s not unusual to listen to issues like: “Those tablets are only a placebo.” “You’ll positively achieve weight.” “Once you begin, you’ll grow to be depending on them.”
Is any of this true?
Some of those statements have “a kernel of reality,” mentioned Dr. Gerard Sanacora, a professor of psychiatry on the Yale School of Medicine. And it’s vital to set the file straight as a result of the expectations folks have about their therapy — whether or not good or unhealthy — “actually do play a big function in how the therapy truly unfolds,” he added.
Dr. Sanacora and different consultants addressed some frequent questions and misconceptions about antidepressants.
Will antidepressants change who I’m?
When an antidepressant begins to work, you could really feel like a unique individual in some methods, mentioned Naomi Torres-Mackie, a scientific psychologist in New York City.
“Picture this big, darkish cloud weighing you down — as that lifts, the world goes to look totally different,” she mentioned, including: “But as you get used to it, you might even see that it truly lets you have extra pleasure in your life.”
On the opposite hand, up to half of people that take antidepressants might expertise some extent of emotional blunting or numbed feelings, and analysis means that the blunting is extra prone to occur with a better medication dosage.
