Health / Medications / Don't Judge Me.

Okay, this might verge on TMI, but it's important to the review. When I was very young, I went through some really crappy times and was on the verge of a mental breakdown. I was in middle school and didn't know what depression was, so I just assumed I was just going insane. Isn't that wonderful? Anyway, my family got me help, but because I had hidden my depression for so long, therapy alone wasn't enough to bring me out of it. My doctor put me on prozac (also known as fluoxetine) because it had been available for a long time and was one of the safest anti-depressants for children. Anywho, I did really well on this drug. There are a lot of myths about prozac, so I'll try to adress a few of them here. First of all, it isn't a happy pill. A "normal," person won't become super happy by taking this pill, it doesn't work that way. This drug increases levels of serotonin in the brain, causing the brain to "go back to normal" if you will. Also, just because you take prozac, it doesn't mean you are crazy. Prozac helps with depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorder, these disorders don't mean your crazy, but sometimes they make you feel crazy. There are plenty of crazy people who don't take prozac, just look at Tom Cruise (below the belt, I know). 

There are a few side effects associated with prozac, including; weight gain, a lowered libido, headaches, and some others that I can't remember (memory loss is not a known side effect). I personally didn't notice any of these, but everyone is different.