Are antidepressants for life?

“Chopped” champ Brooke Siem says no. [Healthline]( [Wellness Wire]( IN a nutshell Welcome back to another Friday edition of Wellness Wire! Did you know that [1 in 6 adults]( will have depression at some point in their life? Antidepressants are one of the most common treatment options, but this medication isn’t ideal for everyone. Take it from today’s interview guest, Brooke Siem. Siem is a Food Network “Chopped” champion and mental health advocate due to her personal experience with being prescribed antidepressants as a teenager. Below, she shares her story of using antidepressants and withdrawal. Cozy up with your favorite drink or snack before diving into today’s mental health-related topics: • [Q&A with Brooke Siem]( • [online therapy services]( to boost your mental well-being • [how breathing affects your brain]( • [more health stories you need]( Be well, Morgan Mandriota Newsletter Editor, Healthline Written by Morgan Mandriota December 2, 2022 • 8 min read [Brooke Siem](, “Chopped” champ and author of the memoir “[May Cause Side Effects](,” was among the first generation of teenagers to be prescribed antidepressants. When she turned 30, she realized that maybe she was misdiagnosed and decided to taper off the medication with the help of her doctor. But stopping meds after 15 years isn’t as easy as people may think. Healthline’s Gabe Howard spoke with Siem to hear her story and answer the question: [Are antidepressants for life?]( Below, we share our favorite clips from their chat. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. *Disclaimer: Antidepressants can be a safe and effective treatment for depression. They have been [proven to save lives](. Siem’s experience is not representative of all people’s experience taking and tapering off antidepressants. Q: Tell us about when you were first prescribed antidepressants and how you eventually knew it might be time to stop taking them. A: My father had just died, and the adults around me didn’t really think I was grieving properly. And so in the early 2000s, I got put on a cocktail of [antidepressants](, and then I stayed on them for the next 15 years. I had the experience that so many people have: You go in, you’re in there for 10 to 20 minutes, you walk out with a script, and, assuming you don’t have some horrible immediate reaction, that’s pretty much that. In my 15-year-old brain, there was certainly no thought that I didn’t need this because a doctor was telling me I did. It took 15 years to realize, “Wait a second, I was put on these drugs when I was 15. I’m 30.” At that time, I was not doing well. I was having a lot of [suicidal thoughts](. I’d been going on a downward trajectory for years, and something just clicked that said I shouldn’t be this depressed on this many antidepressants. So, what do we do? I saw a psychiatrist and started to get off them, and that’s kind of when my whole world exploded. I entered severe antidepressant withdrawal that lasted for quite a long time. Q: How long did you go through withdrawal? A: For me, the [serious symptoms]( abated within a year, then it took another year of readjustment. By the second year, I was kind of used to the ups and downs. I started to see more distance in between. More time was spent up than down, so I started to trust that I was on an upward trajectory. I also started to get to know myself as an unmedicated adult, which was entirely new. It became more comfortable after those 2 years passed. That’s when I started to consider myself fully recovered. It’s now been 4 or 5 years since I took my last antidepressant. So, roughly 6 years since this whole process started, and I’ve never been back on a psychiatric drug. I’m doing really, really well. It hasn’t always been the easiest 6 years, but I have tools that I learned during this time to help me, and I feel like I will take all of that into my life moving forward. [Greg Grunberg] Q: Why do you think the default is once you’re prescribed antidepressants, you need them forever? A: What’s interesting to me is that prior to the existence and common practice of prescribing prescription drugs for mental health issues, [depression]( was largely viewed as a temporary thing. People would recover in 6 months to a year from big depressive episodes, and they weren’t necessarily doomed to have it return. And that was the assumption that started to change once pharmaceutical interventions arrived. We can draw a lot of conclusions from that. I don’t think we’re ever really going to know how much money and politics and power play into this. I also think that we’ve become a culture that’s so impatient and so fearful at the same time. And those two things together are kind of a perfect storm for the situation. Yes, sure, [antidepressants] could be a very useful tool. But I think there’s value in letting kids work through stuff and [gain some resilience]( and see if they come out of it. I mean, we’re not really giving people time to actually work through this stuff. I think that there are a lot of people who could have just used more time, myself included. Q: I want to address a potential elephant in the room. There are pill shamers and anti-psychiatry advocates out there who believe that “evil Big Pharma invented depression simply to make money.” You mentioned people wanting to punch you in the face at one point in our interview, so I know that you have a lot to consider in your advocacy work. A: I know that there are amazing psychiatrists and practitioners out there on the forefront of this stuff, who don’t just give anyone a prescription who walks in the room, who work with people who can really benefit from these medications, and they’re monitored. My work and book are specifically focused on antidepressant withdrawal. The way I saved my own life is not the way somebody else would. We all have different reasons for making the choices we do, but I get tons of emails from people who have stories like mine. So I know that this is a prominent narrative out there that’s worth talking about. The bottom line is now it’s been 6 years, and I have the ability to look back in hindsight and see where things went wrong, where we could have made different choices, [and] hopefully show other people that you’re not broken if you’re having a hard time or if a lot of crap has happened. There are ways to get out of this. There are [ways for depression to be temporary](. Let’s bring some hope back into this conversation because it’s really dismal out there. Q: What is life like for Brooke today? A: You know, I love my life now, and I have an immense amount of gratitude. When I was suffering, I always thought “[gratitude](” was the fluffiest word that was so overused and irrelevant in the mental health world. But I actually have it now, and I feel it. I’ve done a lot of counseling. I finally [grieved the loss of my father](. I did it 15 years later, and I’ve made some gigantic life choices that changed my situation and put me in a better one. And I think that for me, that’s the biggest thing. If you start making these choices, you start to piece together a life that really resonates with you. I’ve been lucky to be able to do that. As a result, I’m reaping the benefits of it now and finally starting to plan my future, which is a really weird, cool thing to actually project 30 years and say, “God, I hope I’m here” because for so long I didn’t want to be here. Click [here]( to listen to the full episode. great finds Editor faves with health perks No matter where you are in your mental health journey, therapy is a great step toward feeling better. Here are a few of our favorite options, plus coupon codes for each one. [Talkspace]( [Talkspace]( Use code ‘‘SPACE’’ for $100 off your first subscription. [SHOP NOW]( [Teen Counseling]( [Teen Counseling]( Healthline visitors get 10% off the first month. [SHOP NOW]( [BetterHelp]( [BetterHelp]( Healthline visitors get 20% off the first month. [SHOP NOW]( [Breathing does a lot more than just keep us alive]( Weird Science [Breathing does a lot more than just keep us alive]( What if we told you that the way you breathe could influence your emotions, attention, and perception of the world around you? Well, a [new study]( that explored brain imaging across rodents, monkeys, and humans just discovered this to be true. “What we found is that, across many different types of tasks and animals, brain rhythms are closely tied to the rhythm of our breath,” explains Micah Allen, a professor in the department of clinical medicine at Aarhus University. Some other cool things they learned: • breathing difficulty can be linked with a higher risk of [mood disorders]( • certain breathing patterns can cause “excitement” in the brain • we’re more sensitive to our surroundings when inhaling, while the brain tunes out more during an exhale Remember that [CalmiGo guided breathing device]( for stress and anxiety we shared with you a couple of weeks back? This is why! These new findings also reinforce the proposed healing benefits of [yoga](, [meditation](, and other practices that incorporate breathwork. More research is needed, but this could be a step toward creating better holistic treatments for mental and physical health conditions. In the meantime, try these [10 breathing techniques]( for stress relief and more! health stories you need What we’re reading next [] [How much apple cider vinegar should you drink per day?]( We reveal the ideal dosage recommendations, plus the best ways to avoid side effects. [Colorado decriminalized use of psychedelic mushrooms.]( Psychedelic therapy is trending in the healing space nowadays. But what are the legalities and potential perks of magic mushrooms? [Soy protein powder benefits.]( Soy-a wanna add more protein to your diet? One of the easiest and cheapest ways to boost your intake is by using soy protein powder. [Can street lights increase diabetes risk?]( A new study says yes, there may be a correlation between developing diabetes and exposure to outdoor artificial light at night. Learn more here. Thanks for reading! I hope you have a restful, restorative, and enjoyable weekend. We’ll be back in your inbox on Sunday with extra holiday content and a chance to enter another giveaway. Trust me, you won’t want to miss it. Did you enjoy this interview? Until next time, [healthline]( Take care of yourself, and we’ll see you again soon! [Telegram] This edition was powered by weekly therapy sessions every Wednesday. 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