Posted by Elizabeth on December 10, 2001, at 11:31:13
In reply to Anti-depressants: Why do they work (or not)?, posted by Cloud 9 on December 10, 2001, at 6:55:13
> Why after a set amount of time can you stop taking anti-depressants?
You can't always (well, you *can*, but you might relapse). And it's hard to predict who will be able to stop them and who won't.
> I've heard of some people discontinuing their ads after a trial period of 6 months or 9 months or 2 years (second attempt) and some having to stay on them for their entire lives.
I think that if the depression is recurrent (more than 2 episodes) or chronic (more than 2 years) the advice is usually to stay on the AD "indefinitely." The thing is, you can't tell if it's going to be recurrent until you've already had multiple episodes. Now there's also some evidence that staying on the AD longer after a first episode can help prevent subsequent episodes (i.e., slow or halt the progression of the illness). So it's probably not as simple as either you have a single isolated episode or you have lifelong recurring depression.
> What happens during this period that allows us to stop taking the meds and feel better? Does a light switch that was turned off somehow get turned and stay on?
I think the hypothesis is that the AD has a stabilizing effect, getting things back to the way they were before the depression (pretty much), so that unless you are just generally predisposed to depression, you can stop once you've been well for a while. But the truth is no one really knows. I know it's frustrating (it is for me too), but right now we don't have any definitive answers to your questions.
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:86436
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011202/msgs/86460.html