Bupropion is the anti-depressant I take! It is fantastic!
One of the things that frustrates me most about the way that depression is depicted in tv/film/books is how almost universally characters who suffer from it either say that their meds make them feel numb/nothing/unlike themselves or say that they don’t want to take meds because said meds “will” make them feel those things. I always want to jump into whatever I am watching/reading and yell at them - “No! You are thinking of a different kind of medication for a different kind of problem!” (I mean, as far as I know and in my experience with a couple different kinds of anti-depressants, at least.)
But like, think about it logically - the problem with depression is an inability to process emotion correctly/an inability to feel certain emotions. So supressing emotions isn’t really the solution one should be going for, so that’s not what the medications you’re going to be prescribed are going to be for. It’s far more likely that the medications you’re going to be prescribed are going to be aimed at helping unlock emotions you’re having trouble accessing/processing/feeling.
I think the way things are depicted in media is really important for this very reason - why do people think anti-depressants will make them feel nothing, when to me feeling nothing is actually a pretty good description of depression (or at least one of the ways it can manifest)? Because that’s what the media tells them anti-depressants will do. And so instead of reaching out for help, they assume help isn’t there, even when doctors or people like me (i.e. depression sufferers who take anti-depressants) tell them that it is.
#usually when i read about people complaining that anti-depressants make them feel dull and cloudy#they are people who are taking ssris like prozac semi-recreationally or for general sadness#like some study where writers were given prozac to see how it affected their art#and then they complain it made them feel cloudy and off#WELL OF COURSE IT BLOODY DID#YOU WERE TAKING A MEDICATION MEANT FOR A DISORDER YOU DO NOT HAVE THEREFORE IT IS GOING TO MAKE YOU FEEL LESS THAN GOOD#and then these assholes go off and write columns and stories about how medication ~kills your art and intuition~#and mentally ill people should just channel their illness into ~making good art~#instead of losing their artistic inegrity to ~the pills~#like it’s too bad about the whole thing where you’re miserable and crazy all the time but DON’T TAKE PILLS AND DEPRIVE US OF YOUR ART#also there are now SO MANY DIFFERENT MEDICATIONS for depression and other mental illnesses#if what you’re taking isn’t working you can try to find something else that does — it isn’t necessarily ANTI-DEPRESSENTS ARE BAD#sometimes medication really doesn’t work for some people or the side-effects do outweight the benefits#but that’s also personal and subjective much of the time#and not something people should be driven to by fear and shame and stigma#and making people fear all of the help — medication; counselling; therapy — for their problems is cruel and dangerous#keeping people from seeking help who do not have to be miserable who do not have to be driven to desperation and despair#but have been told that the cure is even worse than the disease#this is culturally irresponsible and needs to stop (plenilune)
The number of times I’ve had to explain this is sad.Dont ever suffer if you dont have to. There’s very little to gain from unnecessary suffering.