An anonymous reader on Chantix

What they don't tell you is althought it is great for quitting smoking-- the anxiety and depression begin to get worse AFTER you stop taking the medicine.
I was fine on the meds--- I have gone downhill FAST since I stopped taking chantix. My only pride is I don't smoke, I am a terrible person and don't like myself because of this "Wonder drug."- anonymous

My initial short reply:

Hi Anonymous:

I am sorry your are having such a tough time. You should try to see your doctor for the depression.

-AH

My reply then triggered this angry comment:

"You should try to see your doctor for the depression."


You mean the same quack who prescibed the Chantix? Do you really want EVERYONE hooked on your perscriptions?


You make me sick.


My "doc" put me on Lexapro for depression after my father died. 3 years later I have the WORST physical withdrawal symptons. So bad, I'm basically stuck taking this drug in order to feel "normal".


Thanks big pharma, for making a drug addict out of me.

This person sounds frustrated but there is a deeper issue here. And I try to answer it below:

Dear Anonymous:

Of course I don't want people hooked on any prescription. But I have
included this testimonial to make a point:

When need to change our thinking about mental diseases. One hardly
ever hears about patients with high blood pressure complaining that
"they are hooked" because they need to take medication. And people
hypertension (high blood pressure) usually have to take meds for the
rest of their lives. Likewise, diabetic patients who have to take
insulin are not complaining that big pharma has them hooked.

But mental conditions are somehow shameful and taboo. And that needs
to change. If you have depression you do not need to hide it.

If you hate taking pills - fine! There exist other ways to treat
depression, relying less on medication and more psychotherapy and
"behavior modification".

Smoking or trying to quit smoking is also taboo. Because one does not
want to appear weak willed, etc. Quitting smoking is 99% mental and
as such is difficult to achieve.

Call it human nature but we seldom ever are successful changing
behavior matter how good the ultimate reward. So we seek easy solutions
like pills or patches, etc. I don't mean to say that taking a pill
to quit smoking is bad because it isn't. But a pill by itself is not
going to make anyone quit smoking especially if we fail to recognize
the mental aspect of smoking.

Once you over come that one hurdle you are home free. I will
discuss this in more detail later.

There exist other ways to treat depression, relying less on medication
and more on active psychological exploration between doctor and patient,
like psychoanalysis and "behavior modification".

There exist a stigma in our society surrounding psychiatric diseases and at
times depressed patients hate the fact that they need to rely on antidepressants.

You hardly hear about patients with high blood pressure complaining
("they are hooked") because they need to take anti-hypertension meds all
the time, or patients with broken bones because they need a cast (granted
the cast is usually temporary but the point is still the same).

I wish you the best of luck.


Have a healthy day,
Antonio Howell, MD