Antidepressants – An Interesting Story

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When I started this blog it was at the prompting of my mother, for whom I had been doing research in the hopes of finding natural cures for her kidney issues. At the time she had been on antidepressants and antipsychotics for several years. When I found out about her kidney issues I assumed that her doctor was “taking care” of her. It wasn’t until later that I realized that this was not true. I began a quest to find out why this was happening and how to help the situation. My research led me to the fact that antidepressants were greatly exacerbating her problem.

The beautiful side effect of discovering the detrimental effects of antidepressants and antipsychotics in relation to kidney disease is that, once I figured this out, my mother got off these drugs immediately and she came back to us. Despite the fact that doctors insist that anyone getting off these medications must do so gradually, my mother was so concerned with her health that she just got off of them cold turkey. This was extremely unexpected. She had been on these medications for quite some time and had tried getting off of them before (cold turkey) but found that it was a shock to her “mental” state and believed that she needed to be on these drugs. At that time I recall thinking that it wasn’t that she needed to be on them but that she had tried getting off of them too quickly. Still, at that time, there was no way to convince her of that. She believed with all her heart (or perhaps just with all her mind) that she needed the medications to be “mentally stable.”

So, fast forward to her treatment for kidney disease and my discovery that these types of pharmaceuticals could exacerbate her kidney problems (you can read about this in a previous blog), she decided she needed to get off these medications once and for all and at once. I was very concerned that she would have the same problem that she’d had before. Still, I couldn’t convince her to get off of them gradually. She was determined just to get off of them at once and stay off of them – she was worried for her health.

I believed I had convinced her to get herself off them gradually, preferably under the care of her doctor and she said she would do that. Then about a month later I asked her how many (of her medications) she was taking a day. She said none, that she had just stopped taking them. My mother is very stubborn and strong-willed (kind of like me). I really should have known that I really hadn’t convinced her of anything and that, regardless of what I’d said, she’d do what she thought she should do.

Of course, I should have known this. I had been telling her for months that she needed to do this and she needed to do that to help her issue but she never did any of it. When she finally made the decision to get off of her medication it was not because I “told” her about it. It was because I had given her actual hard-core facts to read. Duh! My mother is no dummy. She needed to read that this was necessary otherwise there was no reasoning with her.

Anyway, after a while that she had gotten off these medications I realized that I had my mother back. It wasn’t until then that I realized how these medications had changed her personality, to the point that she was no longer herself. Gradually, over the years, she had become a shell of a person. It hadn’t really occurred to me why, I had just noticed that she wasn’t “mom” anymore. One memory that sticks with me was shopping for a birthday (or mother’s day, take your pick) card for her. I remember reading these touchy-feely cards that said things like, “Mom, you’ve been there for me through thick and thin and I have always been able to count on you…” or “Mom, what would my life have been like without you to do all the things a mother should do”…you catch my drift. I remember none of these cards were appropriate for my mom at the time. It was sad, but I remember thinking that I needed a card that said, “Mom, here’s to you coming to visit and sitting on the couch to watch TV….” That might sound bad, but, honestly, this is how it was. We all saw it. My mom always seemed upset and bored. There was no joy in her eyes, or in her voice.  We thought it was due to her “mental illness.” Boy, were we wrong.

I can’t say it was an immediate change from one day to the next. Or maybe it was and I just didn’t notice. But I can say that once I started spending more time with her, I realized that she was my mama again – the one that raised me and took me to the local hamburger joint as a kid so we could enjoy a burger on one of their outdoor tables. It was the same mama that would take me to walk around the plaza in Santa Fe and would buy me a treat at the Woolworth. Looking back, I think it was probably an immediate change, but it took me a while to realize that it was. Maybe I thought it was too good to be true.

I can safely say that three (or whatever) years later, she is my mama again and now I can’t find a card that expresses the love and gratitude I feel for her and all that she does for me. It makes me realize just how devastating those antidepressants and antipsychotics truly are. It also makes me realize how unnecessary they are. Ever since SHE made the decision that she did not need them, she didn’t need them! It may seem really amazing, but I guess it really isn’t, given the power of our minds and that we have the ability to heal just by thinking about it.

There is something else, very important that I need to point out. While I was learning about the detrimental effects of those medications, I was also learning how to naturally heal the kidneys. It is no coincidence that dehydration causes all sorts of issues, including kidney disease AND mental illness (along with probably every other disease out there) or that vitamin D is a necessary supplement for overall health. Well, among learning about the pharmaceuticals, I was also learning about other “natural” cures for her kidney issues. Little did I realize that implementing these things was also helping the “mental” issues along with just believing that she didn’t need the pharmaceuticals but now I know that it all was working together.

I know this particular post doesn’t give many tips on how to heal naturally…or maybe it does and you just have to read between the lines. But I thought it was a good story for anyone who is on antidepressants or antipsychotics that believe that they actually need them. My mother was in a hospital for a while and we really believed she was “mentally ill.” After all of this I realize more than anything that she is a strong, strong woman who had it in her all along to be mentally healthy. Even now, with her kidney issues, I realize that it is her strength, more than anything, which is keeping her going.

Let this be hope for anyone out there who thinks they “need” drugs…for anything, especially for “mental health”. Even though it seems like a true illness, I believe, and not to diminish anyone’s experiences with this, that mental health is really all in our heads (no pun intended).

Here’s to your healthy mind, and healthy body!