Computer-Aided Psychotherapy

[PepsiChic]

Originally Posted by IR_Efrem

anti-schizophrenic/bipolar medication? hmmm

its a antipsychotic which although can be taken by people with schizophrenia its not as strong a drug.

antipsychotics are what my psychiatrist wants to put me on. and i believe the drugs you mean is Risperdal Risperdal, Risperidone Pharmacology - HealthyPlace.com

Im glad you got somewhere with it scott, tho im surprised he didnt read the article but at least its a step forward.
how did the call go with Dr. Alan Schatzberg?

[Scott]

Originally Posted by PepsiChic

its a antipsychotic which although can be taken by people with schizophrenia its not as strong a drug.

antipsychotics are what my psychiatrist wants to put me on. and i believe the drugs you mean is Risperdal Risperdal, Risperidone Pharmacology - HealthyPlace.com

Im glad you got somewhere with it scott, tho im surprised he didnt read the article but at least its a step forward.
how did the call go with Dr. Alan Schatzberg?

Schatzberg hasn't called back, but I've done more research into the subject: of using Mifepristone as a FIRST LINE INTERVENTION drug for the treatment of psychotic depression.

There is some controversy and late as 2006 over the statistical methods used to evaluate results: Home.

There is a Phase III study that is currently recruiting ADULT patients. Schatzberg is the Study Director. Unhappily, Andrew is 14, well below the 18 yo minimum age. I'm not sure any US physician could perscribe mifepristone outside the Clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier NCT00185926). The contact is:

Greg Cohen 650-723-3305 ghcohen@stanford.edu

The study completion date is targeted for March 2010. You would need to be able to be available at Stanford Hospital for 22 days (4 nights). I wonder if they pay room and board? I think this could be a nice vacation, especially during the summer when the SF Bay area is especially temperate.

Frankly, rather than wait for the study results, I wonder if simply getting a perscription for Mifepristone wouldn't be possible and taking the study assigned intervention 1200 mg for 8 days wouldn't allow individuals to arrive at their own conclusions.

[Fireblade]

Problem with anti-psychotics and anti-depressants, especially in males, is the permenant sexual side-effects, that persist years after you stop taking the meds. Have to be very, very careful with them.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Fireblade

Problem with anti-psychotics and anti-depressants, especially in males, is the permenant sexual side-effects, that persist years after you stop taking the meds. Have to be very, very careful with them.

Well, if you prescibe these meds to a 14 yo who is not sexually active, then permanent sexual side effects may not manifest themselves, or even have the opportunity to manifest for years....perhaps this is why the Psychiatrist claims to have never seen any side effects in adolescents?

On the other hand, I'm not sure most adolescents AND THEIR PARENTS would not benefit from their diminished libidos.

[PepsiChic]

Originally Posted by Scott

On the other hand, I'm not sure most adolescents AND THEIR PARENTS would not benefit from their diminished libidos.

well, normally i have a pretty high sex drive and recently thats dropped a fair bit, especially since ive had my anti-depressants doubled. and at the age of 20/21 that kinda sucks. my doctor doesnt think the side affects will stay with me permanently.

one thing i have noticed tho is headaches. im not the kind of person who gets headaches, in fact i dont really remember having any when i was younger. but since i been on the medication i have gotten headaches occasionally and they last for hours, sometimes a day or two.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by PepsiChic

well, normally i have a pretty high sex drive and recently thats dropped a fair bit, especially since ive had my anti-depressants doubled. and at the age of 20/21 that kinda sucks. my doctor doesnt think the side affects will stay with me permanently.

Well, you're not an adolescent.

But I am sorta curious: On the one hand you are off anti depressants, but have a "pretty high sex drive." How is it the you are depressed, yet you have a high sex drive? I mean, I associate a higher sex drive with the opposite of being depressed.

[PepsiChic]

when i say "normally am" i mean before the depression, not, before the anti-depressants.

ive always had a really high sex drive. as i got more and more depressed it lowered a bit, and as my relationship is currently long-distance, sex isnt an option anyway. with that missing, i dont think i realized how low my sex drive had gone, till it did actually go, for weeks i just wasnt interested in anything sexual, i avoided innuendos and jokes and just anything sexual made me feel depressed..which is the opposite of how i normally am.

as i adjusted to the anti-depressants, people talking about sex or making jokes, didnt make me wanna vanish into a deep dark hole. but then things took a turn for the worse mentally and they doubled my dosage and got me seeing 2 psychiatrists and wanna put me on anti-psychotics. so im back to where i started when i started the medication.

this is probably the closest ive come to talking about anything sexual for a while now.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by PepsiChic

when i say "normally am" i mean before the depression, not, before the anti-depressants.

ive always had a really high sex drive. as i got more and more depressed it lowered a bit, and as my relationship is currently long-distance, sex isnt an option anyway. with that missing, i dont think i realized how low my sex drive had gone, till it did actually go, for weeks i just wasnt interested in anything sexual, i avoided innuendos and jokes and just anything sexual made me feel depressed..which is the opposite of how i normally am.

as i adjusted to the anti-depressants, people talking about sex or making jokes, didnt make me wanna vanish into a deep dark hole. but then things took a turn for the worse mentally and they doubled my dosage and got me seeing 2 psychiatrists and wanna put me on anti-psychotics. so im back to where i started when i started the medication.

this is probably the closest ive come to talking about anything sexual for a while now.

Well, then let's remove the sexual context and make it a broader question.

If you are depressed, then isn't ALL "drive" suppressed? And if you take an antidepressent then how can you tell that it, and not depression, is the reason any drive is lessened.

As I see it, for example, Lexapro doesn't really subtract or add to drives, it justs allows me to be less anxious about drives that already exist.

[PepsiChic]

i suppose it depends on how strong the drive is and how much you allow yourself to focus on it. if i could have it my way id spend everyday sat hiding in my bedroom, because i dont want to go outside, i dont want to be around people, i dont want to talk to people, or do anything tbh.

however, with a push and a shove from the right people, i get up and do a few hours at work taking photos (photography being something ive always loved)

depression attacks people in different ways, hence the many forms of depression. mainly depression is caused by a decrease of a chemical in your brain that produces "happy thoughts" this can be caused by many things, stress etc that mixed with on-going problems in life result in depression.

as for the anti-depressants, there is lots of types, some suppress anxiety, but most release chemicals to make up for the lack of "happy thought" chemicals. most pills given to deal with anxiety wont be an anti-depressant. ve been on and off Tailor Made Servers
which is to suppress anxiety.

i dunno if that really answers your question, but i gotta leave now as i have an appointment with my psychosis psychiatrist

[Meanon]

The effects of depression tend to be don't tend to be as broad as the side effects of the meds. Depression can reduce libido but the main effect is reduced pleasure generally. Medication doesn't affect everyone the same way but sexual side effects are common and some are quite specific and noticable, it's not just libido that may be affected. In the vast majority of cases they go when the meds are stopped.

I hope this appointment wasn't as upsetting for you, pepsi

[PepsiChic]

i just wondered how everything was going with scott and his son and the medication?

i hope you'll come back and let us know soon scott! good luck x

[Scott]

Originally Posted by PepsiChic

i just wondered how everything was going with scott and his son and the medication?

i hope you'll come back and let us know soon scott! good luck x

Thanks Pepsichic,

I've thought about adding to this thread or that thread or creating another thread, but the situation has remained somewhat static since he was admitted to the Adolescent Ward of the Mental Hospital. We've all been waiting for the Psychiatric Diagnostician to return from a vacation, and this week she'll give him her battery of tests. Of course, then it could be 6-8 weeks before she's through analyzing the results.

Since I've also been away on vacation the past 10 days I haven't seen Andrew, but have heard he had some sort of episode last week: Unprovolked by any observable outside influance, he excused himself from school to go to his room and to hold his hands to his ears for about 30 minutes. Then he felt angry for no apparent reason. I'm glad the staff at the hospital was able to witness this, but it isn't something I've seen him do before.

[PepsiChic]

has he mention hearing any kind of noises or voices? has anyone asked these kind of questions?

children and adults dont like to say when they hear things they arent sure are real or not, it can be terrifying. and one thing ive learnt from self expe