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| Author |
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| 25 new of 170 responses total. |
md
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response 55 of 170:
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Jul 7 14:13 UTC 2002 |
from http://www.quackwatch.com/
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is promoted for the treatment of post-traumatic stress, phobias,
learning disorders, and many other mental and emotional problems. The
method involves asking the client to recall the traumatic event as
vividly as possible and rate certain feelings before and after visually
tracking the therapist's finger as it is moved back and forth in front
of the client's eyes [6]. EMDR's developer and leading proponent,
Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., received her doctoral degree in 1988 and
established the EMDR Institute to train mental health professionals.
She and her associates have trained more than 22,000 clinicians
worldwide in workshops that in 1997 cost $385 [7]. EMDR resembles
various traditional behavioral therapies for reducing fears in that it
requires clients to imagine traumatic events in a gradual fashion in
the presence of a supportive therapist. However, controlled research
has shown that EMDR's most distinctive feature (visual tracking) is
unnecessary and is irrelevant to whatever benefits the patient may
receive [8]. Recent reviews have concluded that the data claimed to
support EMDR derive mostly from uncontrolled case reports and poorly
designed controlled experiments and that the theory of EMDR clashes
with scientific knowledge of the role of eye movements [9,10].
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jep
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response 56 of 170:
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Jul 8 01:09 UTC 2002 |
re #55: I've read that type of comment about EMDR, but the comment
doesn't address whether it works or not. My therapist claims it does
work. However, I think he's giving up on trying it on me at least to
help with my biggest problem -- anger over my divorce -- since I think
my anger is appropriate and not something that needs to be cured.
So, those who were concerned (from the divorce item) that I was going
for some quack therapy can relax about that. I at least have not tried
it yet.
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jep
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response 57 of 170:
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Jul 8 10:42 UTC 2002 |
There's another article in USA Today, questioning the value of
antidepressants.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/healthscience/health/drugs/2002-07-08-
antidepressants.htm
The article says tests show they work only 18% better than placebos,
which I expect means they helped 18% of people.
Maybe I'm lucky, but I believe my Zoloft prescription is helping me a
lot with my depression. It hasn't cured everything, but it's given me
a break from hopeless despair to a much more normal state of mind.
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mary
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response 58 of 170:
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Jul 8 10:58 UTC 2002 |
Some of the best and most powerful treatments out there
work because of the placebo effect. So your 18% is probably
far too low an estimate.
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cmcgee
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response 59 of 170:
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Jul 8 11:16 UTC 2002 |
As I recall, placebos work pretty well for depression, so wouldn't that
mean antidepressants work pretty-well+18% ?
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jep
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response 60 of 170:
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Jul 8 13:52 UTC 2002 |
I can believe my own positive effects were a placebo effect, or at
least partly so. I got even more depressed when it looked like it was
going to be a month or two before I could see the psychiatrist who was
to prescribe something for me. I felt a lot of hope once I got the
prescription, and had one terrible day when I forgot to take it, not
long after I'd started. Then I gradually but steadily started feeling
less inescapably down. All of that could as easily be a placebo effect
as a real medical improvement.
I don't care what helped me, though. I've felt a lot better since
taking the Zoloft than I did before that.
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orinoco
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response 61 of 170:
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Jul 8 15:12 UTC 2002 |
There's a variation on the placebo effect -- unfortunately, I don't remember
what it's called -- that might be relevant too. I seem to remember hearing
that a placebo with some tangible but irrelevant effect -- a caffeine pill,
say -- will work better than a totally inactive placebo.
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lynne
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response 62 of 170:
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Jul 8 16:03 UTC 2002 |
I too have found that the Zoloft has helped enormously; however I can still
sense the underlying habits of thought that caused the problems in the first
place. Man shall not live by drugs alone...or something.
I'm actually finding it enormously difficult to remain semi-organized since
starting on the medication. I'm quite sure it's related. Normally I often
need to reach a certain state of agitation about something in order to get
off my butt and go take care of it; since starting zoloft my reaction to
nearly everything is along the lines of "aaah, who cares." Perspective, but
at what cost?
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slynne
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response 63 of 170:
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Jul 8 16:33 UTC 2002 |
I took Zoloft for 6 months. I found that it helped me quite a lot. It
doesnt matter to me if it was a placebo effect or not.
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brighn
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response 64 of 170:
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Jul 8 17:16 UTC 2002 |
#62> that sounds like my reaction to Paxil. I was still Socially Anxious, but
I didn't care anymore. I still sat on my butt on the couch constantly, but
it didn't depress me, and I was content with that. If I hadn't had the
(substantial) physical side effects, I might still be on Paxil, to my own
significant detriment.
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anderyn
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response 65 of 170:
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Jul 8 17:27 UTC 2002 |
I've been on Zoloft for eight years now. It helps. I have been told that
I'll be on it forever, since for me it's more of a maintenance thing than
not. I have a chronic chemical depression which doesn't react well to
therapy or to muich of anything except the anti-depressants. I have noticed
that I can function much better with it than I ever did without it, and
since my mother's family has had similar long-term depression (both my
grandmother and mother for sure, and most of the other female relatives)
I am pretty sure it's genetic and not something I can just "snap out of" or
deal with without my Zoloft.
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oval
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response 66 of 170:
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Jul 8 17:36 UTC 2002 |
apathy pills
i found that taking apathy pills helped me not be depressed, but i hated the
feeling of being apathetic. i also felt like i couldn't concentrate on
something for very long. i also don't like being around people who take apathy
pills. the people i know who take them are generally just as neurotic, they
just don;t know it. or don't care.
cocaine has a similar effect, only it makes you a real asshole - but it's
okay, because you'll think "ahh, who cares".
i apologize to those whom i may have offended.
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jp2
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response 67 of 170:
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Jul 8 17:38 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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brighn
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response 68 of 170:
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Jul 8 17:51 UTC 2002 |
Yeah. Whatever.
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jep
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response 69 of 170:
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Jul 8 17:54 UTC 2002 |
One side effect the Zoloft has had on me, which would be a major
detriment to most people, is the loss of my sex drive. I probably have
an erection about 1 time per week these days. That's a fair amount
less than before I started taking the prescription, though I was never
the most sexual man anyway.
As it is, this isn't much of a disadavantage to me. I don't want to
date right now anyway, and don't expect I will until quite a while
after the divorce is finalized.
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edina
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response 70 of 170:
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Jul 8 18:28 UTC 2002 |
Loss of sex drive would depress me.
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oval
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response 71 of 170:
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Jul 8 18:43 UTC 2002 |
heh yea .. even if i didn't want to date.
lol@#67
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jep
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response 72 of 170:
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Jul 8 19:07 UTC 2002 |
Loss of sex drive is not enjoyable, but when you're celibate anyway,
it's dispensable. I'd probably be even less happy if I had any sex
drive, under the circumstances.
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lynne
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response 73 of 170:
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Jul 8 19:46 UTC 2002 |
The psychiatrist was very concerned that I let her know if I should experience
loss of sex drive as a side effect (I haven't). I *am* still capable of
being excited or enthusiastic about things, but it takes more energy to get
over the initial who-cares activation energy hump thingy. The biggest side
effect I've noticed is being almost perpetually sleepy. I used to sleep 7-8
hours a night, these days I want about 10 hours and then I still have an
overwhelming urge to nap in the afternoon.
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jep
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response 74 of 170:
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Jul 8 21:04 UTC 2002 |
I told my psychiatrist right from the start that I could tolerate the
loss of my sex drive, given that I'm going through divorce anyway. He
hasn't ever asked me about it, and was not interested when I mentioned
it to him once.
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gull
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response 75 of 170:
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Jul 8 22:54 UTC 2002 |
I was on Prozac for a while, in college. I don't remember it making me
apathetic or inactive -- actually, it made me more active, by lessening the
depression that was robbing me of all my energy. I didn't have any side
effects while I was on it, but I had some coming off.
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orinoco
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response 76 of 170:
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Jul 8 23:23 UTC 2002 |
The sense that I get is that different people respond to low serotonin levels
in different ways. If your usual response is to get anxious, Prozac might
calm you down. If your usual response is to get sluggish, Prozac might give
you a bit of a boost.
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oval
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response 77 of 170:
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Jul 9 00:15 UTC 2002 |
There are abundant historical references to the use of cannabis as a suggested
treatment for mood disorders like depression. (1) However, human studies are
scant and the results are mixed. A 1947 study of 50 depressed patients
administered synthetic THC found the drug beneficial to 36 of the
participants. (2) A double-blind controlled study conducted three years later
on 57 patients reported that the administration of small doses of synthetic
THC did not improve their symptoms. (3) A pair of more recent studies also
yield conflicting results. One reported that cannabis helped relieve
depression in cancer patients, while the other determined that THC failed to
improve depression in eight hospitalised patients. (4)
A 1994 survey of 79 mental patients found that those who used cannabis
reported relief from depression, anxiety, insomnia, and physical discomfort,
as well as fewer hospitalizations. (5) Lastly, a 1996 study cited in the 1999
Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the
Science Base," found that Dronabinol (oral THC a.k.a. "Marinol") significantly
assuaged mood disturbances and anorexia in 11 Alzheimer's patients. No side
effects were observed. (6)
The conflicting data concerning cannabis and depression should caution
patients considering experimenting with the drug therapeutically.
Additionally, cannabis' ability to occasionally produce paranoia and other
dysphorias (typically among inexperienced users) could heighten some patient's
feelings of depression. Cannabis' most promising potential to mitigate
symptoms of depression likely lies with patients who have previous experience
with it, and are failing to respond to traditional therapies.
http://www.gwpharm.com/cann_ther_depr.html
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clees
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response 78 of 170:
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Jul 9 06:41 UTC 2002 |
Being single for a long time makes you lose part of your sex drive as
well. (lack of practice, guess) That reminds me of dr. Ruth: 'use it or
lose it'. Celibate by choice, but not the first choice.
Yet, I am certain things might stirr again (grin) once I start dating
again, or meet somebody I can relate to. One night stands just for
physical pleasure has never been my cup of tea. Fortunately I am not
really depressed about it.
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slynne
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response 79 of 170:
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Jul 9 15:13 UTC 2002 |
Well, even if a person is single, one can still have a sex life. You
know...develop a relationship with your hand ;)
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