XPost: sci.skeptic, alt.suicide.holiday   
   From: squiggle@sympatico.ca   
      
   Emma Wallace wrote:   
   > I have heard that the danger of anti-depressants lies in the amount of   
   > time it takes for them to be effective and the order in which they   
   > affect the human body. A person who takes them will find that the   
   > physical symptoms are alleviated first, and their energy will return,   
   > but their mood will still be depressed. If this person was severely   
   > depressed, it is likely they were already suicidal but didn't have the   
   > energy to carry out a plan or were prevented from carrying it. At the   
   > beginning of treatment with these drugs, they will have the energy to   
   > plan and carry it.   
   >   
   >   
      
   Yes, that happens because by the time the drug takes action,   
   the person is already in a depressed state, and once it starts   
   to take action, there is an intermittent period of anxiety or   
   agitation which makes the depression worse; in the sense that   
   it can lead to action where volition was suppressed before   
   the drug took effect.  This seems to be particularly the case   
   with SSRIs (where some drs. have taken advantage of this and   
   made them responsible for suicides).  But all psychiatric drugs   
   go through this phase depending on the strength, nature, and   
   half-life, even lithium.   
      
   Squiggles   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)