I was on Zoloft for about 3 years. It takes about 2 weeks to kick in for most people. When it did I suddenly could think straight and get most of the work done that I had procrastinated on for so long. It was like a psychic painkiller. It didn't feel bad to be me anymore. It did feel a bit numb and quiet, though not in an unpleasant way at all.

The good things it did were to allow me to do things for myself I had denied myself for so long. I felt worthy of them all of the sudden. This led to some serious changes. I can basically trace the end of my first marriage to the changes that came out of my Zoloft experience, though I don't regret anything.

The change that allowed me to go cold-turkey on the Zoloft was that I finally allowed myself to ride motorcycles, which had been a life-long dream. Three weeks after buying my first bike I quit the antidepressants and never looked back.

Oh, and be ready for it to affect your sex life. I found that suddenly I couldn't orgasm. Thing was, I really didn't care. Your results will vary depending on your personal chemistry and which drug they put you on, but this seems to be a very common side-effect.

This is a very good.

I believe brain chemistry can be altered by external circumstances and reinforced by habits of mind so that eventually one just physicially can't pull themselves out of whatever rut they are in. The antidepressants open up "breathing room" allowing you to change something about the circumstances. You can stop staying "no" long enough to say "yes" to something that allows you to move on.

vel said:

- Ultimately one needs to learn to "get high on your own supply" like in that Apollo 440 song. There is just no way around it. This is so before you go on pills and will be so after you go off them. The only reason I see to take antidepressants is like I mentioned they may alter your state of mind just enough for you to get over whatever was causing you to be depressed in the first place.

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