@Jan: I obviously can’t diagnose you remotely, but Citalopram is some HEAVY medicine just to treat low mood or a minor depression. It should’ve been prescribed only for major depressive disorder which is basically a depression you have for years without a clear cause, where therapy and other medicine haven’t helped. I know in UK/EU (I used to live there) medicine get prescribed much more readily to avoid the government from more expensive treatments, but holy cow.
For those of you that don’t know, doctors in the US prescribe it sparingly because it accelerates significantly the people that have suicidal ideation, so if you have the wrong ‘type’ of depression, this can make it a lot worse.
But as to the topic at hand, many psychologists now agree that we don’t know a lot about the origins of mood altering drugs. Psylocibin is now back in the research as an alternative, that’s how desperate they are in the field to find something that works without a ton of side effects. All the stuff that they give to ADD/ADHD kids could make symptoms worse if poorly diagnosed, leading to more prescriptions. Most professionals nowadays will suggest at least to start with CBT instead of drugs, and continue CBT during any medical prescriptions which should be carefully monitored.
I’m involved in a few research studies that do substance abuse and some drug research, to make sure nobody is harmed, there is a TON of therapy and review and panel review before they even get a pill and basically that level of guidance is what many people need for treatment of major psychological disorders. But it’s very expensive and not very lucrative to drug companies.
