Depression ( Archived) (37)

Sassy....I have a good bit of exposure to a lot of people that take these and to the many many levels of problems that occur.....most go on to lead a normal life (as I suspect you do)...but some of the very severe cases walk around as zombies and are not able to function day to day without help from very caring people who help to take care of these folks....so I agree in a way as to what Ginger says in is the level of the illness that would matter to me...but as we say in CS land ..JMO

I would the best i could,its a pity i was not supported the same way just recently dumped as too emotional or strange.

A while back some of you may remember I was in the hospital for what seemed to be a need for a stet as I was having bad pain and other things that pointed to a heart problem...add to that, that my parents died at 63 of heart conditions as did a brother that had a heart attach at 41 and another brother had one at 52 and both pasted...then two other brothers have had to have stets as well....so the signs where in place for my fate...or so it seemed....low and behold it was in fact Anxiety/ panic attacks......

The last woman I lived with suffered from depression and agoraphobia with panic attacks. We lived together for about 6 months happily. She had prescriptions to very high doses of zanax, and other meds for her condition. I admit there were times it wasn't easy. But I did love her and thought she loved me. Tward the end of our relationship, she got very moody, and we argued alot. I finaly moved out because she was going to lose her house and go live with her mother who lived to far away to keep any kind of stable relationship going. I asked her if she wanted to move in with me at my new place, but thats when I found out she had been seeing another guy while I was at work at night and sleeping during the day.

I myself was diagnosed with severe depression many many years ago. They wanted me to take medication for it, but I said no. You have to twist my arm to even get me to take asprin for a headache. My 2nd wife said one reason she left was because of my depression. I later found out this wasn't the biggest reason why. Anyway, it mainly comes down to how much you realy love and care for someone. This is why you hear stories of pople dioagnosed with a life threating disease, and their partner leaves them. Then you have those who stay with them until the end.

If I know someone is on meds for depression, I certainly do not let it scare me. I treat them with the same respect that I would anyone. When it comes to a relationship, it would still come down to personality and feelings tward me. Just like any other relationship, if the good times out number the bad ones, I stay.

Sassy you asked a generalised question in your OP, and one size answer does not fit all. One has to be cautious as to what illness the drugs are being taken for, because not all people taking anti-depressive drugs are like you.

Many are on them for much more severe conditions. I know this because I too worked in mental health for years and have seen people on similar drugs, often the same ones, for quite different conditions. Some of these were suicidal and some homicidal, some with milder conditions. Dosage and combinations of drugs alter people in often differing ways too. No two the same.

So to ask a generalised question and hope for a generalised answer is not feasable really. Every case is different. All uses of the same drugs are not for the same condition and can't be categorised that way.

The severity and type of illness is paramount when making an assessment about someone's condition.