Posted by Racer on July 18, 2006, at 18:54:07
In reply to Without emotion, posted by mike lynch on July 18, 2006, at 18:37:21
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> I almost feel like a meth addict who, after abusing drugs for a long time, is no longer able to experience emotional pleasure from doing things because the drugs wore out his or her receptors, can this happen, can the constant tinkering with brain chemicals wear them out,Well, it's not that the chemicals get worn out, but the receptors they interact with can down-regulate their response. So, for instance, if you are on an SSRI like Prozac, when there's a lot more serotonin swirling around in your synapse, the serotonin receptors on the receiving end of the synapse will be less responsive to it. There may even be fewer serotonin receptors there, although those would probably come back over time.
None of that means that your brain is ruined, by the way, so keep reading...
>could this be depression - even though I never had this kind before, has anyone else experienced anything like this before?? I almost feel fine, and I would be fine, if it weren't feeling just completely, emotionally detathced from the world.It might be that you're still adjusting to the lack of Prozac. Prozac has the longest half life in the body of any SSRI, which means that it's not gone until long after you think it is. This is a good thing, because it's kinda self-tapering, but it's also a bad thing, because you won't know for a while whether what you're experiencing is stopping Prozac, or a new set of "symptoms."
Could it be depression? Yes, it could be depression. My own experience is that I am reactive when I'm mildly depressed -- I can get excited by things and they improve my mood for a while -- but when I get more than moderately depressed, NOTHING will get my emotions going. We're all different that way, and our depressions can change, too. (Well, OK, the way our depression is expressed may change. Our subjective experience of depression may change.)
Personally, SSRIs deadened my emotions, too, although the emotions did come back once I was off them. I can't remember how long that took, because it's been years since I stopped an SSRI.
Good luck.
poster:Racer
thread:668080
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060717/msgs/668084.html