Comments on: I’m scared the anti-depressants will change who I am

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:57:41 +0000

Antidepressants made me more depressed. I wouldn’t recommend taking them unless it’s a last resort.

The year I was on antidepressants is lost to me. My engagement, my wedding, my honeymoon… all lost.

By: Tommie

Tommie — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:51:28 +0000

Anti-depressants won’t change who you are, but they could make you gain 35 lbs in 3 months like mine did. They’ll also make you wish you’d never taken them when it’s time to go off of them. Antidepressant withdrawal is one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced.

Try therapy first.

By: v

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:10:47 +0000

i refuse to tell my family i’m depressed because i don’t want to end up being on anti-depressants. i feel like it will change me and that i wont ever truely be who i am ever again.

By: Some Angel

Some Angel — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:31:53 +0000

They do kind of change who you are. I don’t know if it is always for the better, but for me it was. I have been on anti-depressants for 5..6 years? Around that much time. And everyone loves the ‘new’ me. I feel better about my personality, too.

But it just hurts sometimes when you get a reality check about the new you. Mine was when my mum told me, “I like you better on the meds than off.”

By: Ani

Ani — Tue, 24 May 2011 18:56:05 +0000

Please don’t be scared. If you don’t like the effects, you can always stop taking them or try a different one.

I was a little scared too when I first started taking mine, but now I feel so free because I have the power to control my own emotions again.

By: Pernel

Pernel — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:33:42 +0000

Anti depressants don’t change who you are. They return you to who you were before the depression

By: Dark

Dark — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:35:45 +0000

I am in couseling for depression, and have had suicidal thoughts for several years now, and once even tried over dosing. my counselor and I both think I have Dysthymia, or Chronic long lasting Depression, and i need to go see a psyhiatrist for it. I plan to some time this week, because it would make sense seeing as i’ve been this way for as long as I can remember. If i do have dysthymia, i’m terrified anti-depressants will make me suck at writing, my passion, since i am an emotional writer (i write based on emotions i get). Also i’m afraid it’ll change my personality, everything i am, my image of myself, even turn my most treasured moments into fears. idk, i think it’s irrational..but i just don’t know anymore.

By: A

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:34:49 +0000

I’m with Kari. I could definitely relate to this a few years ago.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 07:35:29 +0000

i feel this way everyday..

By: David

David — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:11:57 +0000

You sound like you are quite confused and need advice. I have been on and off anti-depressants for about ten years but never bothered to take them every day until recently. I can tell you from experience that if you take them every day as directed you will become more focused, content, and happier with the “real you”. You will learn to accept yourself more and go with the flow in life because from what I can gather you haven’t had it easy. I wish you all the peace in the world.

By: Slim

Slim — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:11:57 +0000

i have seen many therapist. They all tell me that i have depression, abandonment issues, trusting problems, slight bipolar, anxiety, and i cant sleep half the time. I worry about a lot. Ive been shipped around from house to house, losing father after father. It really takes a toll on a young kid. Im a junior in high school now and im still trying to fight away the issues my past has left with me. Today i was told i wld prob be put on anti depressants, and sleeping aids. Im worried about how much the anti-d’s are gunna ‘change me’ per say. me and my boyfriend are already forced to now have a long distance relationship because i got shipped to my dads, and i dont want that to get worse. He doesnt understand how worried i am about changing out of the person he fell in love with. but i guess if he truly loves me he will be with me no matter what. I cant stay depressed like this, ive got to get out but im scared itll do more harm than help

sincerly,
scared and need advice

By: JayAye

JayAye — Sun, 30 May 2010 23:33:07 +0000

My fiance is on antidepressants. It has changed who he is. Without them he wouldn’t be my fiance. Before he was angry and violent. I love him more now than I have in the past 5 years.

By: kylie

kylie — Mon, 24 May 2010 22:41:05 +0000

trust me i thought the same thing but they dont… but you still have to wear a mask it seems like

By: s...

s... — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:35:15 +0000

A LOT of people feel this way so first of all, know that you are not alone. Anti-depressants did not change who i was, but instead made people see the real me, the happy, outgoing personality i knew i had but could never express. i have never regretted my choice to take anti-depressants and i know that some day society will see depression for what it truly is, a horrible disease that the majority of its victims have no control over.

By: Somebody

Somebody — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:58:12 +0000

I know the feeling. I refuse to let my dad know cuz I’m afrain he’ll put me on anti depressnts and then all my friends will stop liking me for who I am.

By: mk

mk — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:36:27 +0000

I believe it can only change you for the better. I have about 14 years experience in this area. It can be scary but give things a chance you never know where life will lead you.

By: Vee

Vee — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:51:37 +0000

I was afraid of that too. Not too long ago, actually. But I never lost my essence. I was and am still me. Only now, I’m not preoccupied with taking my own life. I’m no longer afraid of living…

By: Scattle

Scattle — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:35:11 +0000

I feel for you…anti-depressants changed me a lot, but it helped in a good way in the end. It managed my depression, which was the main component of my personality. In the end, I discovered who I really was.

By: Manda Marie

Manda Marie — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:31:17 +0000

I feel like I need to take anti-depressants just to get back who I am. No one likes me when I’m off them including myself.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:31:50 +0000

A few years ago I took antidepressants when dealing with some marital problems and the death of a family member. I was reluctant to take medication but antidepressants helped; the pain and problems were still there, but the medicine helped me cope better. There are other ways to deal with depression. Exercise and a good diet can help, and if you find the right therapist, counseling can be life changing. Whatever path you take to heal, do get help and don’t go it alone. Life can get better.

By: Mouse That Roars

Mouse That Roars — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:18:34 +0000

Anti Depressants DID change who I am. 8 years without them and I’ve learned to live again.

Don’t drug your life away… Learn to see it for what it is.

Beautiful.

By: Chloe

Chloe — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:10:48 +0000

They will change you. They changed me and I have never been the same.

By: Carissa

Carissa — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:23:41 +0000

This is exactly, exactly what im afraid of.
And ive decided to try to work my problems out myself.

By: annabelle

annabelle — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:26:56 +0000

My mom and my grandma started forgetting things like crazy when they were on the antidepressants. . .and they couldn’t even tell that they changed!

By: Rei

Rei — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:00:01 +0000

We will like you for who you are, no matter what.

Signed,
Your Friends.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:11:45 +0000

I had the same worries, and about two months ago my girlfriend split up with me because she ‘didn’t know who I was.’
I’ve been on antidepressants for nearly two years now, and they have done me a world of good. People who dismiss depression are the weakest ones.
I’m not saying take them or don’t take them, I’m just saying they work for me, and I will soon be able to come off of them.
It’s only a short term thing.

By: kyle

kyle — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:28:27 +0000

I don’t know if the anti depressents were the cause or not, but i’ve aways guess they at least had a pretty big impact.

After taking them for close to a year, i’m left with no emotions and a horrifcly vauge memory of anything. My entire mind is clouded.

I think it was them because when I was on them everthing was very clouded, so much so I didn’t realize it until I had misplaced the pills for three days and saw the new energy and life i had just from being off them for the short time I stopped taking them then and there. That is the decisn I never regretted, the one I did was when I started to take them.

Sure they made it so I wasn’t sad, but now I’m nothing. I’m nothing that has a hard time telling the different between yesterday and the day before, and today.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:16:33 +0000

There’s a way to cope with depression
his name is Elliott Smith

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:48:14 +0000

so did i. i took them for two months and now i feel tainted.

By: Sonja

Sonja — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:20:08 +0000

Talk to your therapist at school and tell him about your fears. You’re not the only one who feels this way – I’m sure your therapist has heard from many others who are in a similar situation. You are not stupid. If anything you’re traumatised, which is a normal response considering what’s happened. Hang in there.

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:37:07 +0000

I do not take meds but some of my friends do and they went through the same thoughts. I told them that people are not real friends if they do not like you anymore. Along the way they lost people who they thought where there friend but now the friends they do have are their true friends. It’s hard but worth it in the end you are possibly more happy and know who loves you.

By: Michigan

Michigan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:09:14 +0000

okay…this is killing me inside so i’ll say it here…
i am 16. in january, my mom almost died. she has emphysema and she had pnemonia but she didnt go to the doctor. i woke up at 4:00am to the sound of my mother gasping for air. i walked into the living room and saw her. my dad already called the ambulence. then, she stopped breathing…she went stiff, her lips were blue, and i saw it all…and i can never un-see it no matter how much i try. she was in the ICU.
she is fine now, but now im the one who is messed up. i live in fear everyday…scared that my throat will close and my heart will stop. i obsessively take my pulse to make sure im alive (ridiculous, i know). and when it starts to get dark, the panic attacks get worse…sometimes i work myself up so much that i cant swallow my food, so i cant eat. i have a hard time trying to get to sleep because i imagine myself not waking up, and i think about ‘what if my mom or dad or brother dont wake up’
it is so hard to live like this…well, im not even living…my life is thinking about death. i dont want to die…i just think about it. after the incident with my mom, i started seeing a therapist at school. a week ago i went to the doctor and she wants to put me on anti-depressants for my anxiety. my friend told me that they make everything gray…you dont feel anything. and i am so scared. sometimes i think maybe that is better, but there are times that i am happy and “death thought free”. i am embarassed that i am like this and i feel stupid. and nothing is working…i try to distract myself but that only works so long, because at night everything comes back.
my doctor told me to ask my therapist what he thought about meds, but i was embarrassed and i couldnt bring myself to ask him.
i go to the doctor next friday. i dont know what to say to her. or my therapist. or my parents. or my brother. or myself…i dont want to burden others; i dont want them to worry. but i dont know what to do.

By: rachel

rachel — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:14:20 +0000

i am in exactly the same situation…i’ve been on them a little longer…it oes get hard sometimes though.

By: juvo

juvo — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:40:00 +0000

I am 18. I just started my medication about a month ago and I can honestly see the difference in my happiness, my family, and my work. I have not once regretted my decision because now I feel as if I have the answers; Last night was the first time I felt at ease sleeping in 10 years.

By: momoko87

momoko87 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:19:22 +0000

I know I need them. but my boyfriend will think I’m crazy and wouldn’t want to face the facts. I also don’t have money or insurance. but I know how you feel. if you feel that way, stop taking them. take something else.

By: HiddenAce

HiddenAce — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:40:37 +0000

anti-deps. make me act happier but strangely im more satisfied being sad. i wont explain though

By: jmiller

jmiller — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:03:28 +0000

I’m scared to talk to my mom about getting them…

By: Erika

Erika — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:04:05 +0000

I’ve been taking Lexapro and Welbutrin for 8 months. I don’t like it that I have to take medication, but it’s like if I had diabetes…I would have to do something to keep my sugar levels balanced. I have to take my meds to keep the chemicals in my brain balanced. It hasn’t changed who I am or my personality; it just allows me to feel healthy. When I feel healthy, I am more likely to do things and be involved with the life happening around me.

If you are in the beginning of this, remember that you CAN feel normal again. Set very simple goals for your day (one of mine was that I would open the back door and take a deep breath). Slowly you’ll be able to add more and then more complicated ones. When the meds start to work and you think “Alright! I’ve made it!”, hang on to your boot-straps, cause you could have a brief relapse…don’t let it knock you down. Just remember always, “This too shall pass.”

It’s like a roller-coaster, but the longer you work on it the smaller the hills and valleys become. My valleys now are almost non detectible.

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:01:09 +0000

I feel the same way, im too scared to tell anyone though in fear that they will think its a stupid thing to think. Im not sure if im actually happy or if it is just the tablets, its made me scared to be happy.

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:27:36 +0000

I’m in a similar boat. While I also suffer from depression, it’s because of epilepsy that I’m medicated. Every different medication I’ve been on, over the years, has changed my personality in profound ways. I look back at my 39 years and realize that I no longer have any clue who I am.

By: alexis

alexis — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:30:25 +0000

I started anti-depressants about a month ago because my depression made me feel like everyone hated me. I feel so much better now.

By: Krystal

Krystal — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:15:11 +0000

That’s exactly how I feel, and I’ve been on the antidepressants for two months.

By: same

same — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:41:42 +0000

those are the same tabs i have to take. i have the same fear so much so i avoi taking them and just lie with the suicidal thoughts

By: RE

RE — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:22:48 +0000

Hey,I never done this before but here it goes,… I’m now 17 and I was put on a wack load of medication (anti-depressants, anti- psychotics, insomnia) when I was 13 or 14, I still am struggling and I have break downs but my friends haven’t guessed a thing. I was scared too but I am more scared of who I am without them. So here’s some advice:
1. Open the blinds, the windows, the curtains, the doors… just get some light in there.
2. Don’t feel pressured or obliged to see anyone or anything
3. Do what you have to… scream if you want to scream, cry if you want to cry , sleep when you want to.. or just hide under the covers, even if it takes days, you will want to get out of bed eventually, even if its just for five minutes its a start heck those five minutes can feel like you’ve climbed Everest, just take your time
So they can take up to 6 weeks to kick in, but if you don’t like what one medication is doing to you or how you feel on it especially if it’s making you worse change it. there’s a world of other ones out there.

By: RR

RR — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:39:16 +0000

i was put on anti-depressants when i was 12. and i thought i was given them so i would change and listen to my parents more, and argue with authority less. all that happened was i felt better about myself. 11 years later i am still difficult in some of the same way i still dont like being told what to do but i am less miserable and nicer to myself. a good therapist and the right medication will improve your life not change you into someone that other people want you to be.

By: Ranie

Ranie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:33:20 +0000

When i started taking ADHD medication, i was scared
that i would calm domw and become a different person
that my friends wouldnt like anymore.

It acctually happened….
My friend dont know i take te meds,
but they all say ive changed.

By: e

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:11:59 +0000

i feel the same way

By: same

same — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:58:39 +0000

I feel the same way….It’s the only reason why I haven’t gone to the doctor, even though I know I should

By: Realistic

Realistic — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:10:36 +0000

I have been under treatment for almost eight years and sometimes I do not know who I am anymore. Eventually, sadness will come back but for other reasons.

By: Sarah1985

Sarah1985 — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:49:54 +0000

It won’t, Zoloft changed my life forever (in a good way!)!

By: rosiered

rosiered — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:36:53 +0000

they started me on 2 anti-depressants, 1 anti-anxiety, 1 anti-psychotic and 1 mood stabilizer. i feel like… if i need this much medication to make me function… i must be insane.

that scares me. that i might just be that crazy.

By: Myke

Myke — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:25:00 +0000

I just started taking them 4 days ago myself… so I hear you. It’s scary. I wonder if people will like me more or less… and even if I will be the same person. I just don’t know. But I have to do something because I can’t go on the way I was.
You are not alone.

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:35:33 +0000

I-ve been on them for two years and i was terrified at first but i’ve found they changed me into a better person.

By: r0xxer

r0xxer — Tue, 26 May 2009 06:44:41 +0000

This is the exact reason,
that I have never spoken up about my depression.

By: Kari

Kari — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:51:18 +0000

I had the exact same thoughts when I started on the medication a year ago. I’ve never once regretted that decision.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2009 02:15:02 +0000

i can’t even describe how much i can relate to this.