What's point in antidepressants?

Hi Marie.  It's very good of you to take such an interest in your partner's depression issues, that's very commendable and it will certainly help him lots to have the support of someone like you.  I too feel that taking anti depressants isnt always the best first step to helping.  I'm sure there will be those who disagree and who state that without the pills they would be struggling but I speak only from personal experience and AD's just made me ill with no help at all towards dealing with the anxiety and depression.  I'm sure it sounds like a broken record but the very best way of dealing with depression, stress, anxiety, etc., is to firstly get in better physical shape, as the healthier the body, the better it copes with mental stresses.  Regular exercise, healthy diet, positive activity etc., will all 'beat the blues' and may well prevent having to take meds to help.  It's very difficult for us afflicted with depression to motivate ourselves into doing things that are good for us but when we can and do, the benefits are almost instant and the feel good factor can spur us into doing more and feeling better and better. I struggle daily with the cant be bothered, dont want to, dont feel like it attitude to doing healthy stuff but even so, I won't go back to taking pills that just make me feel ill the whole time.

hELLO marie, antidepressants work for some people and not for others. I suppose it depends on your circumstances whether you try them, or short term sleeping pills, or else rely on support and encouragement from friends and family. Antidepressants may be worth a try, but they are not a "magic pill cure-all", best wishes, George.

Thanks for the quick replies. The reason I'm taking interest in it is because things are going so well at minute and his depression is the most likely thing that may end up causing problems in future. At minute I wouldn't even know he had it if he hadn't said. He has bad days each week but does get on with what he would normally do. The really bad days are rare and happen for a reason. He lost his partner last year so the really bad days are normally some reason to do with her like New Years eve was one because it was like final confirmation he had to move on from her. He's expecting one next week as it would of been her birthday. Now if things stay like this there will be no problem at all we can work round it. I've told him its up to him if we meet on them days and for her birthday he doesn't want to which I respect. It's the case of if he has really bad days when we have planned to meet that I won't be able to understand. He has had one bad day when we have still met and honestly I wouldn't of guessed anything was wrong. He did admit later he had thought he would end up snapping at me and was close to at one point. But he said seeing me had cheered him up a bit. So that will make it harder for me to understand him avoiding meeting on a bad day.

Hi Marie,

Before your boyfriend considers anti-depressants I would highly advise to try two very powerful and totally natural amino acids - 5htp and L tyrosine. These got me OFF the dreaded adds with minimal side effects. These amino acids are converted into serotonin (5htp) and dopamine/epenephrine/norepenephrine (L tyrosine). Most people with depression are low in these brain chemicals and supplementing with them can make a big difference to your mood without any of the dreaded side effects experienced with pharmaceuticals as these are naturally occuring in foods we eat, unfortunately most of us don't get nearly enough especially those prone to depression. If he wishes to try these be sure he takes a quality B vitamin as this will assist the brain to make the conversion. There are other options if these don't work as well as hoped for (they have for me).

Something to consider if his depression gets any worse or he simply wants to try a natural method of boosting his mood

It's great that while you admit you don't understand depression you are seeking ways to help, I wish more people had done that for me. X

Just go on being supportive to him.  Know what you mean about anti-depressants. Best to avoid them as you can get dependant on them.  Although I know people who have found Prozac very good.  Is this a seasonal thing with him?  Lack of certain kind of light in the winter leads lots of people to suffer with SAD.  If you think this is the case then he needs to buy a special type of lamp/light and has to sit in front of it for a couple of hours every day until the spring. Check out the internet.