Why is there so much prejudice against those taking antidepressants?

Taking Lipitor for cholesteral or Nexium for acid reflux is perfectly acceptable. But tell some people you are taking antidepressants, and they think you are either a wacko or are trying to make your life easier by taking "happy pills."
Answer:
My wife of 21 years suffers with Bipolar. She must take a number of meds to deal with this disease. I have witnessed several occasions where she has shared this with others and been ostracized because they have prejudice's against people with mental illness. I have severed tie with my own family because of comments that were made by my mother. I have stood beside my wife for all those year because IT IS A DISEASE just like diabetes and cancer etc etc. I do not know why these folks choose to be prejudge against mental illness but I would assume that it is because for centuries people that suffered with these debilitating mental illnesses were considered crazy or worse possessed . It is a shame because so many of these people are often very smart to the point of genius .In the past several years I have seen the tide change because people are starting to realize that these illness are just like any other illness

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because some people think depression is all in people's heads. these people seem to have never meet someone that actualy needs to be on pills.

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Fear and ingnorance. Plain and simple.

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Becasue most people are judgemental.

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there is nothing wrong with taking pills. i used to take them and not anymore they did me great. ineeded them and they helped. so people that think about about them are wrong.

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They don't understand and they are afraid of it and could be just closed minded

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I guess i see it differently because the first thing i wanna know is "What are you depressed about? and what caused you to get to this point?"..I would ask a million and one questions to better understand why u r taking them and what happened to get you to that point....Some people arent as understanding, i used to be that way but then i feel im stronger than most people and then i had to reanalyze and say well u know what everybody is different and react to certain life situations differently..an open mind is a wonderful thing....Be Encouraged

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I think a lot of people look at mental illness as a weakness where they don't necessarily with things like high cholesterol.
The world is full of judgemental people unfortunately and people get all judgy when they can't relate. Someone who's never been depressed or has only had mild depression just can't understand why pills would be necessary.

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Because it is a new and pretty much unknown drug. Not that it is bad or good just different. This happens a lot with drugs but as soon as it is more acceptable in society and more people are seen using it then it will all cool down.

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there's prejudice against those taking antidepressants? really? that's an open topic of conversation even in places as "formal" as in the workplace where i live... what meds are you on? oh, i'm taking prozac, you're on paxil?

who's prejudging? i'm not to be written off as "ignorant" here, i am sure there are some backwards red states that will call anything "out of the norm" bad, evil, sinful, blah, blah, blah, but not here in CT! antidepressants is the LEAST of people's prejudices here... it's actually quite commonplace.

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It might be to do with fear. If we admit that it can happen to anyone we admit it can happen to us any time. Most people probably want to think that the choices they have made keep them this side of depression
Maybe people want to believe that they are strong enough to fight depression if it happens to them - to admit that anti depressants are absolutely neccessary, even in some cases is to admit that some cases of depression can't be fought without medicine.
There might be an instinctive belief that the mind is under it's own control and in the case of a healthy mind it might have positive effects to maintain that belief.
There's another reason that I think is more positive but harder to describe. It has to do with not reacting as if you are discussing an illness because you unconciously believe you are helping the person maintain the positive perspective neccessary to recover. This might might be perceived as "it's not a proper illness so you're not really ill so you must be a bit wacko or trying to make your life easier".

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They are ill informed about mental health. People do not understand, until it hits close to home. It upsets me how people treat people with mental health issues. I took my neighbor to the ER, She was real sick. The DR. treated her like it was all in her head. I was so angry with the Dr. My neighbor ended up having a kidney infection. If she would have been by her self, I believe she would not have been treated.

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Pure and simple ignorance,these people must think that you just go the doc and ask for them and get them,they don't understand what has gone on before these drugs are prescribed and every other avenue hasn't been explored first.

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It makes people uneasy. They don't know why you are depressed and so they don't know how to approach you, so they don't upset you in any way. It's a little stressful for them since they have to deal with something they don't know how to tackle. So I'm not sure it's all prejudice.

***Maybe to some it reminds them of their own inner-struggles and so they don't want to know anything about other people's problems? I don't know..

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I've been wondering that myself. A person can go through 2 weeks of depression and get over it, good great: wouldn't wish depression on anyone. For some of us the depression continues or it has been with us a children.The snap out of it attitude. My snap out of it friend is now going through something is not able to snap out of it and is on antidepressants.

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HI.

I don't agree that there is "so much" prejudice. At least I haven't noticed this. I think most people do understand it if you take antidepressants - and see it as other types of medication.

With the few who do think you are 'wacko' or they are 'happy pills' - will not know what your mental health problem is or what anti-depressants are.

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With TV ads for drugs (antidepressants) on all the time, celebrities talking about their depression and recovery using drugs, I don't think there is much prejudice any more.

I do, however, have a problem with the medical profession because when I was ill (not with depression), all the doctors and specialists I saw offered me antidepressants FIRST, without ever running any tests! I was not depressed, but I had a serious problem with both my endocrine system and anemia. IF I would have taken antidepressants like the first doctor offered, I probably would have died within 18-24 months.
Thanks to all these doctors messing around offering me drugs, it took me 9 months to get a proper diagnosis. And during those 9 months, my condition worsened.

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Ugh! I know! Remember the whole Tom Cruise thing? He attacked Brooke Shields and the use of antidepressants in the interview. I'm including the link just in case you haven't seen it! It answers your question! Prejudice against antidepressants comes from people that think like Tom Cruise! He thinks that some good, old exercise and healthy eating will rid a person of depression. Also, he doesn't think it's a chemical imbalance. He believes that antidepressants mask the true problem that lives deep down in a depressed person's soul. He claims that once we find this true problem, we'll be cured! I don't agree. We're not glib, Tom. Psh!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8344309/...

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