SSRIs
Lauren Slater has been on Prozac for 10 years because she has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), which causes her hands to complete the same task many times a day. Prozac has helped her create a whole new life for herself, but not without a price. She is concerned about her sexual dysfunction and memory loss. Overall, she believes that "Cure is complex, disorienting, a revisioning of the self, either subtle or stark" (9). After taking this drug for 10 years, Lauren dislikes the fact that she is dependent upon a drug in order to live her life. She concludes with, "You are an addict, in my mind, if you feel compelled to consistently consume something you wish you wouldn't, and if that something exists outside the basic requirements of your central nervous system" (182).
Nancy Hugo, a 57-year-old housewife in Corvallis , Oregon , recently decided to prescribe to Zoloft. After starting the drug, however, she found herself looking at a Bic shaver, wondering if she could somehow remove the blade out of the plastic. Also, in the living room, Nancy found herself concentrating on a pair of scissors. She recalls, "I kept on wanting to pick them up and gouge my eye out" (Morais 119). Yet another time, this housewife was working on the computer considering "[slamming] the phone into the side of my head" (Morais 120). Despite the distractions, Hugo survived the weekend. On Zoloft, her drug doses were reduced, but she was then switched to Paxil. "This time, however, she experienced akathisia--a medicine-induced agitation and restlessness that some patients on antidepressants describe as the feeling of bugs crawling through the skin--and an extreme bout of mania" (Morais 120) "What spooks me now is that I thought I'd recognize when I was having trouble with the medications," she says; "But it was a week later before I realized, 'Oh, my God, what have I done?'" (Morais 120 )
Alternative Therapies
Paul was suffering from depression and was on a antidepressant that had no effect on his body. Paul decided to go to an acupuncturist and have the acupuncture procedure done to him. After the procedure, Paul "[felt] a layer of fog lifting" from his head and felt slightly more confident (Servan-Schreiber 117-8) Through the next few weeks, Paul continued to have acupuncture sessions and felt other pains in his body (a lump in his throat) dissipate and his energy, self-confidence, and positive emotions became a daily occurrence (Servan-Schreiber 118).
Lauren Slater (as seen above) had added an alternative therapy with her SSRI intake. Now, she lifts weights in a gymnasium. She also receives a kind of therapy from her boyfriend, Bennett. He has found Lauren inspecting the stove intensely and checking that the batteries in every smoke detector work. In order to help her stop being obsessive compulsive, he invites her to join him in a different task, such as a movie or a 'loving moment.' (127-8)
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