get some zoloft in these frustrated and depressed young men. if it doesn't cure the depression it will at least remove sex as their only desire / signifier of success, which would probably force some perspective... is that what chemical castration is? have i chemically castrated myself?

  • very_poggers_gay [they/them]
    ·
    4 months ago

    Neither depression nor anxiety are reliably treated by an SSRI

    While this is true (depending on what "reliably" means), it's important to know that the effectiveness of SSRI's at reducing depressive symptoms is about on par with therapy. Combined, medication and therapy are like 15-25% more effective than either treatment alone (which have 50-60% success rate).

    Also compared to a lot of standard, or even 'gold-standard' treatments offered by other medical professionals for health issues in their field, a 50% success rate is not rare.

    Not trying to be a debater, but I hope that if there's someone reading this who is on the fence about trying an antidepressant or SSRI isn't scared off from a treatment that could potential change (or save) their life, you know?

    • dualmindblade [he/him]
      ·
      4 months ago

      I don't think we have any fundamental disagreement. I think SSRIs are over prescribed not because people shouldn't be trying them but because their doctors aren't taking them off of it when they don't work or don't work well enough to justify the side effects.

      • very_poggers_gay [they/them]
        ·
        4 months ago

        Yes, true and true. I admittedly get hypervigilant about topics like these. There are already so many hurdles for people to start getting help, that I wanted to balance the convo towards a more "critical support" kinda vibe, instead of only criticism.

        For a long time I only ever heard about why SSRIs are bad, and that stopped me from pursuing medication after years of being severely depressed and therapy failing me multiple times. It turned out I was in the lucky 40% whose first try with an SSRI works out matt

        In a similar vein, the discourse against "self-diagnosis" had me gaslighting myself about my very obvious and debilitating ADHD, so I never sought an assessment until I was so burned out and cognitively drained that I could only work at like 25% of my capacity. Once I got over those help-seeking hurdles, and received my diagnosis and a prescription, I bounced back in a major way that I could never have fathomed.