At the end of the day Esme and I went out. We wanted to visit the two second hand bookstores we know about in Xalapa, which are conveniently opposite each other in the same street. I couldn't find any book I wanted to buy, nor could Esme, so we went to a nearby shop that sells magazines.
Read the rest of Mind the antidepressant sales pitch.
Interesting. I too suffer from depression, pretty major at that. I receive disability it is so severe.
I have found SSRIs helpful initially, as you have, but I'm pretty sure it is more than the placebo effect. SSRIs and other medications have helped (but not cured, as you say) my depression for long periods. I've had good periods, some as long as a couple years. However, I invariably build up a tolerance, and relapse back into depression.
Right now I am struggling to get back up on my feet enough to where I can do a few moths of travel in Mexico. That's the other thing that seems to work in alleviating my depression: Travel. In 2004, I spent two months in Guanajuato and my depression was gone from day one. Se Fue. It didn't return until after I had been back home for a few weeks. (The rational explanation is that it was the intellectual challenge of travel that kick started me; the magical interpretation is that it was Mexico herself, or specifically Gto., that cured me.) I did continue to take my meds while in Mexico.
This is my first comment here on your blog. I'm looking forward to reading more and learning about your experience living in Mexico. I'm seriously considering relocating there, although I want to explore more of her first before I settle on a location.
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Another One Bites the Dust!
I, too, am a victim of the ever increasing "popularity" of anti-depressants as the modern day panacea. And like you, every time I reported to my "primary care practitioner" that I wasn't experiencing any change in my physical symptoms, I was fed the same b.s.: "let's increase the dosage and wait a few months." In the end, it turned out I didn't need anti-depressants (because I wasn't depressed!). Having explored alternative treatments (with success), I have since realized that many practitioners of western medicine are a) clueless about how to treat certain conditions, so they just guess, and b) don't give a damn about their patients. And if that's not bad enough, the pharmaceutical companies are just plain greedy. No wonder our healthcare system is such a mess.