SSRIs and Lifelessnes

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I have been prescribed with Zoloft or Prozac (I can't remember which) and I believe I heard somewhere that SSRIs make people feel lifeless or unmotivated. Is this true?

I'm also afraid I'll end up like Eric Harris one of the Columbine assassins. He was prescribed SSRIs to treat depression however his depression manifested into psychosis which made him become a murderer.

My experience, and that of others that I know, suggests that each person reacts differently to each of the several different SSRIs. I was on Zoloft for years and had good results with it.

For the first few months with SSRIs, I felt wonderful. Then, I felt normal. Following that, I felt wasted, lethargic and, yes, lifeless. I slept 18 hours a day. I gained about 20 lbs. I was angry at everybody. Years later, I learned enough about the risks and lies about SSRIs (like how they don't really work, even Scientific American magazine reported how doubtful the efficacy is ( http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... -dont-they )) to wean myself over 10 weeks from using them. I felt better immediately and have improved ever since. I will never use them again. But, some say that they improve things for them. So, it is up to you.

My psych had me exceed the maximum dose on one & I never felt lifelessness on it or any of the others I tried. The only way to know how it affects you is to try it thou & you can always try a different one if you have a bad experience on the 1st.

I find that plain SSRI's make me more depressed over a long period of time. I was on the maximum dose of Zoloft and it didn't occur to anyone that lowering the dose would help with my depression. The antidepressant itself was making me miserable. The only antidepressants that work for me are the more novel ones that raise norepinephrine and/or dopamine. Those don't have the flattening effect or make depression/anhedonia worse.

The issue with SSRI's causing psychosis can happen, which is why you need to be evaluated well first. Generally, that only happens if you are misdiagnosed with a depressive disorder while actually having a disorder like schizophrenia. If you are worried that you have undiagnosed psychosis or a genetic predisposition to psychosis, but you believe that SSRI's are a good option, I'd suggest making a follow-up appointment before leaving the appointment in which you are prescribed SSRI's.

Actually, I'd suggest that either way. That way, if you come to have side effects you will not have to rely on your muddled brain to make an appointment over the phone.

I was one a few types of SSRI's, and I have currently been on an SNRI for over a year. Prozac had basically no effect on me. Celexa made me exhausted, and what some people would call zombie-like or lifeless. The thing with that is, a good doctor will hear that and immediately change you to another medication. Spending some time on a bad medication sucked, but I am glad that I didn't give up or avoid medication out of fear in the first place, because now I feel much better.

I'm currently on venlafaxine HCl, and it's great. I don't get any impairment of my intellectual abilities or my emotional intensity. I can still feel excited, sorrowful, disgusted, concerned, and any other emotion. I just have a better ability to regulate my reaction to those emotions. I don't get into suicidal ideation, nearly ever. If I feel bad I still might think about it briefly, but I have a much easier time distracting myself from it. And it doesn't happen as often. I also don't get anxiety attacks as often, even though I still feel worry and concern about the same topics. As far as positive emotions go, I don't feel that they have changed at all. I can still get excited about special interests, friends, tv shows, and so on.

I know that a lot of people say bad things about antidepressants, and it's definitely a possibility, but a small one. People who have had bad experiences are more likely to post about it on the internet than people who have basically gone "by the book".