Should I Take Zoloft?

As someone who is on an SSRI I can guarantee you it's not an easy way out, if I can be honest with you you're going to have to learn those skills anyways even while on them, they just help make it more manageable. I thought the same way you do, and I still sorta do, but it's worth it.

Going on Zoloft was the best thing I ever did! I was so scared of the side effects but now I’ve been on it for 3 years and my anxiety is nowhere near what it was. I could still function when I went on it; I’m the president of student organizations and very involved at school. Really though, I wanted to stop being anxious every hour of the day and that’s what it did for me. Therapy is still a good thing to check out, and I personally think that (especially when starting these meds) meds and therapy should always go together. At the end of the day, you might still need meds, but if Zoloft doesn’t work for you, there are so many others that can!

I’m on Venlafaxine which is an SSNRI but I was in a similar state of not wanting to be dependent on drugs. I was at a point where I knew how I /should/ be taking care of myself and thinking about myself, I just couldn’t push past the negative thoughts. And some days it’s still hard. I’m not trying to push toward or against meds—it’s always up to the person and their preference and using chemicals to treat a chemical imbalance can be super scary, but for me and my experience it’s a tool for my positive thoughts to have a chance to speak. I think you should absolutely see if you can try different types of therapy and push against your psychiatrist wanting to put you on drugs, but I also don’t think you should be putting medication in such a negative light—both for your own opinion of yourself should you find yourself trying them in the future and for your subconscious view of others. I have control of my body and brain /because/ I chose to get on drugs. Anxiety and depression just destroyed any chance I had at positive thinking and the pill basically just gave me the ability to move away from my anxieties and negative thoughts that I didn’t have without it—which I’m incredibly great full for. Again though, please do what feels right and not what someone pressures you to do unless you agree with them. It’s your body so you get to decide what to put in it

zoloft does not take your anxiety away, it just helps to lower it. you will still have ups and downs, just at a slightly lower level. this way u will still be able to learn good coping mechanisms on your own and might eventually be able to come off! it will (in my experience) help u to find what works for u in the meantime :)

Medication can be a very useful tool to START your recovery journey. If your doctor thinks it will benefit you, it's worth it to try the meds and use them as a springboard to develop healthier habits. Like taking pain meds before physical therapy during the first phase of injury recovery. You don't take the pain meds indefinitely, just until the exercises are doable without a lot of pain. Same for SSRI's, You can take them in the beginning to boost your mood and mental energy enough to develop healthy habits, and coping skills, then wean off of them once you've developed those skills and habits to a useful level

Honestly from my experience, medication can be something so that it helps the anxiety subsidie while you learn those coping skills. Ultimately you know if meds would be helpful but i would 100% recommend giving therapy a try if you haven't already😊

Medication can help take the edge off in addition to one on one therapy. If it does work you can try something else

You should definitely get a therapist

Thank you for all your input!! It’s true that my anxiety isn’t especially debilitating. (Though some of my friends might disagree) I’m still able to go through life and complete the things I need to at this point. It’s hard work, but I can manage it for now. If it ever becomes unmanageable, I’ll try out SSRIs, but for now, I’m going to look for a good therapist and learn some coping skills! I really felt like my psychiatrist was pushing me to start. I’m still capable of making mental changes and reprogramming myself at this point so I’m hoping my therapist will have some advice. Thanks to all of you, im not quite as scared to start taking Zoloft anymore, and I’ll remember that it is an option if life starts getting way too hard. I appreciate you all!!!

I'm on zoloft too, I would recommend it. It doesn't cancel out all the coping methods that you already learned, those still come in handy bc it's not a whole magic solution, it just takes care of some of the problem. I thought it was the easy way out too but it wasn't, it was just kinda the breath of fresh air so I could actually tackle the hard stuff better. There is never any shame in finding ways to make your life better, even if you're committed to another way. I recommend at least trying it for a month or so. Worst case scenario, you get a definite no and continue on with your life.

Yes you should get a regular therapist, but please dont discount medication. Your brain chemistry is off. The anti-depressants aren't a crutch. A mix of meds and therapy are the best course of treatment. Medication can stop or lessen a panic attack before it happens, while therapy will allow you to control it as best as you can. Don't be afraid of trying medication. You can always stop, and it won't revert you back to where you started.

It's definitely got pros and cons and I can see where you're coming from. But think about it like taking a lid off a boiling pot, youre buying time before everything explodes. Take zoloft to help be in a better headspace, then learn the skills you want while there so when you don't have to take them anymore you know how to handle it.

Zoloft didn't personally help me, like at all. It actually made my issues worse. I respect that you want to try other alternatives first - a therapist would be helpful to assist with knowing how your feeling and how you're doing and may have more insight with it

I think it is a help to take especially with therapy as well together you have the ability to learn coping as well as having support

I believe it’s absolutely worth a try. Medication has helped me immensely live without crippling anxiety. Before starting medication, I was in a horrible place. Both therapy and mediation combined is something I would reccomend to anyone as it can be beneficial. Worst case, it isn’t and you either can try a new medication or find something that best suits you and your needs!

I totally hear you. I am on Zoloft as well. I am seeing a therapist and I am in group counseling. I recommend one on one therapy first, but group counseling can be really helpful too. So, this is just my own personal experience, but I like Zoloft. It’s not like it changed me as a person, it just made my positive thoughts clearer. The negative thoughts are things I had to work through getting rid of in therapy. I think that the meds didn’t get rid of them, it just made coping in a healthy way seem more possible. My anxiety has been better, with less panic attacks and anxiety attacks. I don’t feel as alien in social situations. Like I know I’m different, and I’m ok with it. The thing I’ve been noticing the most lately, is my executive dysfunction has actually became worse. I have adhd and depression, so I feel like doing productive things used to be my healthy source for dopamine and serotonin etc. Now that I am getting serotonin from my meds, it makes those things seem unnecessary. Like if I’m happy with my room messy, and my sink full of dishes, then I don’t need to change any of it. Where as previously it was a battle between if I was going to clean my room because of guilt and anxiety, or if I was going to be too depressed or have ahdh burnout to do anything. Now it’s neither. I’m not anxious about my responsibilities, and they don’t seem impossible to me anymore. I just simply am happy with my life being chaotic. Which had good and bad sides to it. I feel bad that I’m not taking care of all the responsibilities expected of me and letting people down. I feel bad that I can’t have people over because my house is a wreck. But, I’m glad I’m not full of anxiety about it. I’m glad the depression has gotten easier, so I have the energy to clean if I wanted to. But, I just don’t. I’m happy with where I’m at, even if it looks like I’m failing to others. So in short, this medication has worked for me. But I understand your worries about it. If it doesn’t work for you, you can work with your doctor on maybe a different medication, or finding a therapist. I hope you find a solution that works for you. And know that everyone is different so if this medication doesn’t work for you that’s ok. Good luck! <3