Researchers found that men's feelings of love tended to be affected more than women's by taking antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors SSRIs , which work mainly through the serotonin system. In contrast, drugs called tricyclic antidepressants, which affect the serotonin system less, seem to affect women's feelings of love more than men's, the researchers said. Akiskal, a distinguished professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. In the study, researchers compared the effects of SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants on the love lives of people with depression — women and 69 men — whose mean age was The study included 13 people who were homosexual.
The problem here is that these stories of people with mental illness, which are really stories from around the margin, have become mainstream stories applied with blanket precision to everyone with a mental illness. You know someone with a mental illness. Around 1 in 6 Americans has a mental illness and 1 in 4 families will be affected by mental illness in any given year.
If you know more than six people, chances are, you know someone with a mental illness. Mental illnesses range from popular media portrayals like schizophrenia, eating disorders, and addiction, to subtle diseases like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Unless there are physical manifestations to these illnesses, like being very underweight, you probably would never know a person had any of these conditions.
It is all in their head. Kind of like a brain tumor. Using brain scans, researchers have found that the brains of people with depression actually function differently than those without depression. Overtime and without treatment, the structure of their brains actually changed as well.
Mental illnesses are no different than any other disease. They are cause by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, can be treated but not necessarily cured, and symptoms can be managed. If someone with a mental illness is mistreating you, you have every right to call them out for it or break off the relationship, in whatever context that might be. I don't know what to do anymore.
I love him very much, and I will support him throughout it all like I always have, but I'm really hurting. He says that it feels as though he's losing his mind. I love him and I really don't want to lose him because of something like this, but it feels like he is slipping away from me, and I don't know what to do.
Sorry for the rambling, just feeling utterly defeated. Would appreciate any feedback, thank you all in advance xx. Hello and welcome to Beyond Blue. It's good that you have found this site and you feel able to write in.
I have not been in your situation although in the past I have broken up with boyfriends. I still would like to make a couple of suggestions.
Please read as much as you can about depression. It really is helpful to have some knowledge about how this wretched illness affects people. Explore the tabs at the top of the page, read the information and send for any material you want.
You could write to your boyfriend's psychiatrist and explain what is happening. I doubt the psych will respond to you as he is unable to discuss his patients with anyone. However, it will give him some idea of what is happening if your BF is not being open.
Dating on antidepressants isn't always easy. One woman fluttery feeling you get in your stomach when you're crushing hard on somebody?. Dating a man with depression can be challenging, but you can build a happy on dating as a “third person in the relationship,” someone such as antidepressants, it might affect the sexual part of your relationship.
However you may cause a rift between yourself and the BF. You also need to be sure the BF really has not told the psych about the things that concern you. You could go and see your GP and ask for some advice on how to manage your own emotions. I think this would be a good thing for you to do.
When the researchers looked at all the study participants, they found that those taking SSRIs were more likely to say they felt less at ease with sharing their partners' thoughts and feelings, and less wishful that their love for their partner would last forever since they started taking their medication, compared with the people taking tricyclics. As you said, he is finding it difficult to stay on track. Alternatively, try the BB helpline. I find my GP a source of care, information and a huge amount of experience. I have done extensive reading up on depression in all its forms, many of my friends suffer from depression and are on medication as well, so when have quite good knowledge of what we're dealing with. Home Get support Online forums.
No matter how well or not your BF is traveling it is up to you to manage your own feelings. As you said, he is finding it difficult to stay on track. Trying to help you as well is making it more difficult for him. When people are depressed one of the more common outcomes is to push away those people they are close to. They believe they are not good enough, that they are a waste of time, that they will ruin everyone else's life and similar thoughts.
It is the depression speaking. Depression really messes with our brains. Why, I have no idea, but this is the case. This is why I suggest talking to your GP who can give you better information than I can.
I know it's not what you want to hear and I wish I could give you a foolproof method of helping your BF and returning to your previous relationship. You can sit down with him and ask him to describe how he feels but do not question him about why he feels that way. In all probability he does not know.