Anti-psychotics-anti-depressants = brainwash?

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Do you agree?

I don't see any chain from "these medications" to "brainwashing." Perhaps you could elucidate more?

Well,okay there are some good things,but bad too.You become zombie,fake,emotionless.The good you don't feel some pain but that may go with emotionless too.

These sorts of meds have different effects on different people. If they don't work for you, or have unacceptable side-effects, or you just don't believe in taking them, then simply do not take them.

However, many people rely on these meds to live their lives instead of, for example, committing suicide or homicide. Making people afraid to even try them when necessary isn't terribly helpful. We should be discussing possible side-effects rather than making scary statements about brainwashing.

I've been on three anti-depressants, and I can't say "becoming an emotionless zombie" on them was ever my primary problem, let alone something that happened at all. I know this happens with some people, but that's probably a sign that the medication is not right for them.

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Last edited by Surfman on 18 Jun 2011, 7:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

Surfman, could you edit your post? You broke the formatting, and can almost certainly make the same point with <30 consecutive $.

Also to add, I'm not saying anti-depressants are great. My experiences have been uniformly negative. Just about the best thing I can say is that I lost 4 pounds on Wellbutrin - but at the same time it reactivated my panic disorder.

Brainwashing? Hardly. Brainwashing is changing someone's thinking and behavior through psychological pressures. I suppose you could more easily brainwash some individuals by giving them medications.

ABA, practiced unethically, could be considered brainwashing.

Antidepressants and antipsychotics simply change the concentrations of specific neurotransmitters in your central nervous system. They have many flaws, but can be a godsend to those with severe problems.

I take 40mg of fluoxetine daily, and I have to say that I could not function without it. For me, it seems to stabilize my mood, preventing it from swinging into hypomania or major depression. I am extremely dependent on it (I don't imagine I could ever stop taking SSRIs) and it has quite a few nasty side effects, but the benefit outweighs the cost in my case.

I have no experience with antipsychotics, but their usage seems even more legitimate.


If the medication is causing what you describe, you are taking too much or reacting irregularly.

Geodon and Zoloft, in addition to a few other psych meds, have saved my life and my sanity. The only side effect is that I sleep about 10-12 hours/day. I am in no way brainwashed... in fact, I feel more emotion and can express it better than I ever could before the Geodon.

I have been on many different anti-depressants and anti-psychotics over the last ten years, and some of them made me "zombie-like". They weren't right for me though...either the dose wasn't right or the meds just had bad side effects for me. I have family members who swear by the drugs that didn't work for me. The only one that seems to be alright for me is fluoxetine (Prozac).
It does make me more numb, but that's what I need when I am taking SSRIs. The only other thing that works for me is cannabis.
I can swing from almost manic to depressed and back again, within a day. It's not normal and it doesn't feel good for me or the people around me. I don't personally agree with the amount of medication that is prescribed these days, but at the same time I am completely willing to take it if it helps me assimilate.

What about natural remedies like fish oil,coconut oil and st.john's wort?

If it works for you then natural remedies are great. They aren't a replacement for medical diagnosis and treatment though.

Why because they have not been evaluated/approved by FDA?Can't they just have medicinal uses objectively and not placebo?What about ancient remedies?

I take ritalin for my ADD, and as a positive side-effect, it also as an anti-depressant effect. For one, it helps me put my mind a little silent, focusing it on sinle thoughts instead of 1000 different things as the same time. Also, when I started taking it, I was depressed since everything went downhill because of my Asperger's and me not knowing I had it. I usually stop taking it during college breaks (if I don't have a paper or something to work on). While I think that one should try to tackle the problems head on, medication is something that works immediately, and most of the time, that is exactly what is needed. After all, if you are chronically in pain, you would take some kind of pain-killer. I don't think there should be made much difference between psychological and physical pain.

This isn't true, I'm on both one anti depressent and one anti psychotic and I'm quite emotional.

I still feel pain and everything else.

Sometimes when you go on certain things like ritalin on a really high dose then you become a zombie i think.