stbenge wrote:

> 
> Why are you on it? You're probably not one of the 8% who goes psychotic.
> 
> I'm bipolar. Two years ago I was being treated with two antidepressants 
> and no mood stabilizers... a bad situation for somebody prone to have 
> manic episodes :O
> 

Ahh, I'm not bipolar, It's really a long story, but basically it boils 
down to a mood disorder (without getting into the details of it) I will 
say that it has helped immensely, I'm able to cope with stressful 
situations much better.

A bit of a background on all of this:

My one psychotic episode,

Actually, it all sort of started when my first wife left me (a good 
cause for depression) Before that had happened, I had known something 
wasn't quite "right" with me... I just couldn't place it. A few months 
after she left me, I began to hear strange things, like people taunting 
me, but I couldn't figure out where or how, it all seemed to be coming 
from outside the walls of my house. As it progressed the voices became 
more real, I had no insight at the time, I assumed I was psychic. Then, 
things sort of spiraled from there. I remember approaching a couple of 
sherrif's deputies stating I knew them previously, after wandering the 
halls of a rather large church going on about how the CIA was monitoring 
everyone with cameras. Everywhere. Seriously paranoid delusions. I 
actually believed what I was saying... Only I lied about one thing, it 
was the FBI doing the monitoring, not the CIA. They were in 
communication with me, through some sort of device. Anyway, I got some 
rather strange reactions when I started to warn people about the 
"surveillence" The deputy radioed for the local police to come. An 
officer interviewed me, and I acted very erratically. I took him to my 
car. He asked to search the car, I had no problems with that. He asked 
me a couple questions about the contents. I answered the questions. He 
asked if I was going to head straight home, I answered affirmatively, he 
handed my keys to me and let me go. To this day I do not know why he 
didn't toss me in the back of his car and cart me off to the hospital.

There's really way more to it than that. I believed for some time that I 
was able to speak telepathically to alien entities as well before I got 
help.

Once I was on antidepressants and antipsychotics, I was fine. As time 
went by, I found I was better able to handle most situations, and would 
respond normally to stress. I went off meds for a while (My current wife 
met me while I was on meds, and noticed a huge difference in mood. Some 
incidents after the baby was born, and she insisted I return to my 
psychiatrist, this time prescribing a different antidepressant. It has 
really turned me around. I'm definitely more capable of focusing on the 
task at hand, and not letting emotions get control of me. I still feel 
emotion, but I can control how I react much better. It was almost like a 
missing piece to the puzzle was found and put back.

Anyway, I've rattled on enough ... I have no idea what my likelihood of 
another psychotic episode in my lifetime will be, though.

I suppose that's why I get a bit annoyed at alphaQuad's seemingly 
paranoid ramblings about pharmaceuticals, because many of these 
medications do work when used as intended.

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