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5 votes
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First malaria vaccine approved by World Health Organization
16 votes -
Merck says research shows its COVID-19 pill works against variants
13 votes -
Folding@Home's Covid Moonshot program to receive $10M grant
7 votes -
Two disbarred lawyers sued a Texas doctor who performed an abortion. Flustered ‘pro-lifers’ are backpedaling
12 votes -
The great measles immunity heist
8 votes -
The Sacklers, who made billions from OxyContin, win immunity from US opioid lawsuits
10 votes -
Extended reality is radically changing the world of medicine
14 votes -
Millions of coronavirus vaccine doses around the world face expiration
4 votes -
Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel
18 votes -
AI has the worst superpower… medical racism
23 votes -
Thoughts on SSRIs?
Hello everyone, I recently got put on some SSRI for my worsening suicidal ideation and honestly I can't believe the difference it's made. It's like a version of myself that I find hard to believe...
Hello everyone,
I recently got put on some SSRI for my worsening suicidal ideation and honestly I can't believe the difference it's made. It's like a version of myself that I find hard to believe existed, but can draw parallels with the version of me before I got depressed, etc.
I'm just curious how I should be viewing these changes in me: Are they really me without depression/anxiety or is it a more lurid exaggerated version of that?
Any other thoughts on SSRIs in general welcome! I'm interested in seeing Tildians' thoughts on them :)
18 votes -
PrEP, the HIV prevention pill, must now be totally free under almost all US insurance plans
16 votes -
The Tennessee Department of Health will halt all adolescent vaccine outreach – not just for coronavirus, but all diseases – amid pressure from Republican state lawmakers
29 votes -
How to unlearn a disease
6 votes -
Fire in the Blood (2013 documentary)
3 votes -
Medication for depression
Hello my lovelies, I struggle with a moderate amount of anxiety and obsession with self-image, which tend to amalgamate as some kind of depression or other over time. At least I think they do....
Hello my lovelies,
I struggle with a moderate amount of anxiety and obsession with self-image, which tend to amalgamate as some kind of depression or other over time. At least I think they do. I've never really been sure if what I experience is actually depression, or if I'm just a Mopey Idiot, or if I have a more acute cognitive issue that I'm not aware of.
I keep very precise semi-quantitative logs of my mood and behavior every day, and they suggest to me that some of my stress is related to being a little overloaded. I'm working on cutting back on some of that responsibility. But it's also extremely obvious to me that, for quite some time—I think since about early October 2019—I've lacked the physical energy that typically allows me to be consistently happy. There was no one, singular "proximate cause" two years ago, certainly it was none of my actual obligations (at that time I had very little work to speak of). However, I nevertheless very distinctly remember that my energy was suddenly just sapped, and has not come back to the level it was at before. The best theory I have is that it might've been a mini-existential crisis triggered immediately by some books I'd been reading, with a background of relatively more social isolation than usual. There have been specific circumstances since then in which I can be high-energy (and I mean be, not just act like I am), but they are fleeting and rare. The overall background energy of my life has been different.
In short, I do not really have a solid anchor per se, even as I have many little mini-anchors. I have been floating around for a while as a result.
At least that has been my working theory for a little while. The persistence of my condition has led me to question whether that theory is useful, or whether there is something fundamentally wrong with my brain. I am Young and Naive so I simply do not know how to tell. The pandemic has made it much more challenging to figure out the root cause of my problems, because I cannot tell if they are just because I can't do the fun activities I like doing in the social environments I like doing them in, or something presumably biochemical.
Things that each help a little:
- Getting more sleep
- Getting more exercise
- Being good about meditating, or when my therapist is useful (rarely)
- Being successful (I have a job for the summer and a likely career after I graduate. Knock on wood)
- Being hot as fuck (I'm not that attractive, but I feel pretty after I exercise, or when I dress nice, or when people compliment my body)
Things that each help a lot:
- Having extremely attentive and caring friends
- Not being around people who constantly drain me
- Consuming certain substances
Specifically, the most non-low-energy I've felt in a long time was when I ate some funky little mushrooms with my friend this year. Specifically, after I snapped back to reality (mom's spaghetti). I was just more alert and more able to function properly. My brain operated at its normal capacity; words flowed freely from my mouth in a gorgeous array of sentences; positive banter was at an all-time high; I was positive and optimistic; and so on. You know how you can sort of visualize the ideas popping around and the gears turning when you're sober but just really on top of your social life? Well that's what it was. Unfortunately my ability to be a normal person only lasted like 1 or 2 days from there, and then it was back to the same old.
This has made me ask the question: might it be prudent to look into some sort of legal medical prescription that would have a similar effect? That is, anti-depressants or like whatever. I'm also open to alternative treatments but I am mainly asking about prescription meds. I just don't know anything about the whole world of medication. I almost never take meds for anything ever, even physical injuries, and I'm afraid that if I start doing medication I'll never be able to stop. The concept of always being medicated is a little scary to me. Like even if it helps, I'm still worried. But I kind of feel like nothing I've done so far has been able to permanently work, so I kind of need to do something.
I appreciate any thoughts that you can give!!!
xoxoxo
beezselzak18 votes -
MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study
10 votes -
Jump in cancer diagnoses at 65 years old implies many patients wait for Medicare to kick in before they seek care
18 votes -
Everything you know about obesity is wrong
13 votes -
Strategic spatiotemporal vaccine distribution
3 votes -
Why vaccine safety experts put the brakes on AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine
19 votes -
Johnson & Johnson one-dose Covid vaccine shown to work
10 votes -
Cost Plus Drug Company: Low cost versions of high cost generic drugs
4 votes -
I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (in medicine)
13 votes -
Chaga - Health and sustainability claims for a wild-harvested medicinal product
5 votes -
The medications that change who we are
9 votes -
How primate researchers are protecting great apes from Covid-19
4 votes -
We had the vaccine the whole time
24 votes -
"Women feel they have no option but to give birth alone": The rise of freebirthing during the pandemic
6 votes -
In breast cancer screening, deep neural networks use different features than radiologists
@Taro Makino: DNNs perform well on a range of medical diagnosis tasks, but do they diagnose similarly to humans?In breast cancer screening, DNNs use different features than radiologists. Some are spurious, while others may represent new biomarkers.https://t.co/kyMiLtSxw0 1/9 pic.twitter.com/akpIH1OpYo
5 votes -
Due to the pandemic, an estimated fifty million children in Afghanistan and Pakistan missed polio vaccines this year
6 votes -
Oxford University vaccine is highly effective
28 votes -
Effect of hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized patients with Covid-19
9 votes -
Eli Lilly says its monoclonal antibody cocktail is effective in treating Covid-19
7 votes -
US Presdient Donald Trump’s antibody treatment was tested using fetal cells obtained through abortion
18 votes -
A doctor gave me an inept diagnosis for a neurological problem. I should know: I’m a neurologist
13 votes -
Why delivering a future COVID-19 vaccine might be our greatest logistical challenge yet
8 votes -
With silver diamine fluoride, some dentists are obliterating cavities with a few brushstrokes
8 votes -
Joseph Goldberger’s filth parties: A crusading doctor’s stomach-churning efforts to beat back pellagra in the American South
9 votes -
Bradykinin storms are the hottest new hypothesis for why Covid-19 can wreak havoc on the body
12 votes -
97,000 people got convalescent plasma. Who knows if it works?
7 votes -
US states seek $2.2 trillion from OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma: filings
15 votes -
Hydroxychloroquine: "Extra-scientific factors overrode clear-cut medical evidence"
4 votes -
Oxford vaccine triggers immune response
7 votes -
If we want any US vaccine to actually work, we have to prepare for it now
12 votes -
Headaches top symptom for coronavirus, but only one third have any sign of illness
6 votes -
A plasma shot could prevent coronavirus. But feds and makers won’t act, scientists say
15 votes -
Pathologist found blood clots in 'almost every organ' during autopsies on Covid-19 patients
8 votes -
Study finds hydroxychloroquine may have boosted survival, but other researchers have doubts
5 votes