Better Anti-Depressants for Loneliness

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I am on Citalopram anti depressants at the moment. They don’t seem to be doing anything for me. I wonder if they are anything better to use.I do know that I would not be on anti-depressants if I was not lonely so really the ani-depressants are nothing more then anti-loneliness pill.

I had twenty years trying, without great effect, SSRI's (various) MOAI's(new and old) Tri-cyclics,
And latterly combinations of these, and Lithium and Epilim.

I'm no worse off for (with my doctor's agreement) leaving them off, and I'm better for being free of the side effects.

Other brains and individuals will differ, according to particular circumstances and chemical metabolism.

On happiness and it's conncetion with loneliness, I saw this this morning:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/h ... 783836.stm

Set for the population as a whole, not aspie brains, it notes that happy people live years longer on average... (Well, they'll be happy about that)

I do not do well on any of what they consider the key factors...

Family and friends

Marriage

Having meaning in life, a belief in something bigger than yourself - from religion, spirituality or a philosophy of life. (Mine packed up a number of years back, and I've not found a replacement that works as advertised)

Having long-term goals that are enjoyable to work towards.

(I'd go back and try the pills again, if I hadn't really given that route a really good going over)

uhm... loneliness and depression is NOT the same thing! the only cure for loneliness is friends. (not an easy cure though)

This article is nothing new; I have already read articles like this before in some shape or form; The Science Of Happiness. I will watch the program when they come on. Thanks for the link though

Having a belief in a god is impossible; I am a logical thinking atheist. I do go to Buddhism classes for meditation.

Goals I have the right amount of goals to look forward to. I think I do well in that department.

Nothing could be further from the truth; my depression is an extreme case of loneliness and it is the worst kind.

I've been depressed most of my life, and only at the beginning was it because of loneliness. Loneliness can trigger depression, but it isn't the same.


It wasn't until late last year that the loneliness returned, which means I'm probably through the worst of it.



edit:
My depression was something that I always tried to hide from my parents, mostly out of fear of the mind-altering drugs they would put me on if they ever found out. I'm still not over this fear, but I recently decided that it was hurting my life enough that I should start.

I have been given the following anti-depressants:

Zoloft - (several years ago) Nearly killed me. I was nearly paralyzed for an entire day after taking it. I was only on it for a single day
Paxil - (about 2 months ago) I was on this for about 3 weeks... and I can barely remember any of it. This stuff was literally making me go crazy.

After the Paxil incident, I saw another doctor who prescribed some medicines designed to treat anxiety:

Ativan - (3 weeks) Completely killed my sex drive and caused a large loss of weight.
Buspar - (5 weeks, still on it) A large number of side effects, but they are mostly contained within two and a half hours after taking it, so the doctor changed it to just a night time dose. I don't think about self-harm as much now, but otherwise it doesn't make much difference.

antidepressants should only be prescipted when it is physiological not when you are feeling lonely go and join a club or something not be stuffed full of chemicals that has more risks than benfits. smile and be happy!

thats not what i meant.
how could meds help the loneliness? they couldnt. how would you get less lonely with the same amount of friends (0 friends) only from taking a few pills? sure the depression would be gone, but the reason for the problem would still be there.

Hi.. oh, I hope I quoted right.. I'm new here and realize that this is a bit of an old post but it's as good a place to jump in as any, I hope!

The above reply just sounds so much like a typical response I've heard many times from NT/extroverted acquaintances. "Lonely? Go out and make some friends!" Why is that so easy for people to say? I would think here, in a forum dominated by people who either struggle with social issues or at the very least acknowledge that others do, that I wouldn't see such a flip remark.

I'm honestly not trying to be critical of anyone here who has said such things, I'm just frustrated. I can't speak for Aspie_Chav, but to me the OBVIOUS cure for loneliness is to be with people! But for some of us that's easier said than done. I'd love to walk out my door right now and "make a friend" if I had any idea what that meant. Drugs are clearly not the best solution, but for those of us who don't seem to have the innate ability to just run out and connect with people, sometimes you have to do whatever you can just to get through the day.

That being said, I'm not personally medicated, I just understand the attraction of a drug-assisted existence. You find your help where you can. I've tried both Prozac and Paxil for clinically diagnosed depression in the past and while Prozac was a complete nightmare that gave me crazy stories to last a lifetime, Paxil was actually quite nice. I never felt drugged, just less vulnerable to pain and various extraneous stimuli. But these things affect all of us differently.

Thanks.

I am on effexor XR which is working well for me ATM. It's an SNRI(?) it's atypical antidepressant. The only thing i don't like about it, is it's withdrawal effects. nausea, anxiety, headache, and shock like sensations/seizures not fun.

I'm not on antidepressants but I, like every Aspie, do feel lonely. The obvious solution to this is to make friends but as was said before this is much eaiser said than done. I find I'm less lonely if I'm inolved with one of my interests. Its not a perfect solution but at least there isn't any side effects.

When people are saying that pills don't seem like the answer, they're not saying that making friends is easy, and they're not being flip. It's just that when someone is feeling bad for situational reasons, then throwing drugs at it won't solve the situation. Whether or not the situation is easy to solve.

Kind of like, eating carrots is easy, and possible, and all that, but it won't solve loneliness. Going "But making friends isn't easy, so I'm going to eat carrots" doesn't make sense. Eating carrots may be easier than making friends, but it does not make eating carrots a solution. Similarly, taking drugs for loneliness is not likely to work, and probably actually not that much better than carrots will.

I'm not totally sure friends solve loneliness either, but they make more sense in solving loneliness than drugs or carrots do. And that's not a flip answer, it's just true.

I find loneliness is much less of a problem for me at age 44 than it was at 20. I think back then I went through a phase where I literally had no one to hang out with for about two years. I've usually met my friends and acquaintances through work.

Just as I was writing this, I recall coming across a book (at age 25) called "Intimate Connections" by Dr. David Burns that was a revelation to me. It introduced me to the whole field of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy which has helped me quite a bit with depression and anxiety over the years.

Regarding medications, the only one that has worked for me is Effexor XR. Anxiety is my big problem and I think that Effexor is considered to be especially effective for that. Unfortunately it leaves me feeling drowsy most of the time and has killed my sex drive. That doesn't really bother me but my wife isn't too happy about it.

Obviously you can't find the cure for loneliness in a pill.

However, when loneliness causes you to be so depressed that it takes all the energy you have just to get out of bed (let alone to leave the house and socialize!), medications can help break you out of that vicious cycle.