Ugh, Ignorance knows no bounds.

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Me: I took Prozac for 18 months. It worked. I've been off it for a year and I'm still doing very well. Things like this work differently for different people, and I think sharing one's own experience with others is very very important. So if a celebrity wants to do that (without being overly preachy or pushing an agenda), I think that's great.

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Have the Scientologists bagged another one?

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However, I have a friend who is currently taking a heavy dosage anti-depressant, prescribed by her GP, despite the fact that she has never consulted, or even been referred to a psychiatrist or psychologist, and has no idea what "psychiatric" condition she is being treated for. And she doesn't care, because the drugs apparently make her feel good, and when they don't she goes back to her GP who just ups the dosage. So, I really do understand where Jim is coming from, even if he might have phrased himself more elegantly. I can't help feeling my friend's GP is abusing her by not trying to help my friend establish what her problem is.

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So what's with the hate? All the guy really said is that anti-depressants are not a long-term solution for depression. In most cases, that's true - most people with clinical depression do not have a biological cause for that depression. In fact, even for those that do have a biological problem, the actual cause is not really known - all that's known is that brain function differs in these patients and that anti-depressants help restore balance. But why the balance is off in the first place is a mystery. So it's not like the pharmaceutical companies have all the answers here.

My mother is actually a diagnosed manic-depressive who has to take a cocktail of anti-depressant and anti-psychotic drugs for the rest of her life. And she has always been that way and she will always be that way; it is biological in her case, and it runs in her family. So I'm in no way denying that people like that are out there, and if you asked Jim Carrey directly, I doubt he would deny it either.

But we are an over-medicated society. There was a time in high school when I was prescribed anti-depressants basically for acting like a jerk. I was just a rebellious kid, I had no biological need for them and I refused to take them. What I needed was some time off from the pressures of school and my overbearing parents. And I took that time, dropping out of school for a while and moving out west before returning refreshed, in control of my life and ready to go. I got my diploma and went on to college and now I have a good life.

I have other personal experiences with anti-depressants that I won't go through for personal reasons, except suffice to say that in my case, they have caused more harm than good. When loved ones start self-medicating behind your back because of a problem you have unknowingly caused in an effort to avoid confronting that problem... well, that can become an issue in a relationship. Doctors are way too quick to prescribe this stuff when asked.

Some people need anti-depressants because they have a biological problem. Those people are few. It's in the pharma companies' self interests to have as many prescriptions written as possible, though, so a lot more people than just those who need these drugs get them. And don't think your doctors don't get perks from the drug companies for prescribing them. It's an incredibly corrupt industry.

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On the other hand, they were part of what kept me from killing myself. So there's that.

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The whole not-dealing-with-your- underlying-issues shtick is so condescending.

I guess one at least he is NOT tossing out the Scientology line--railing against therapy/shrinks as well. (Unless I missed that part. I didn't see the entire show.) Because Scientology people not only trash meds AND psychiatrists (the entire theory behind it all) but promote Scientology as the ONLY way to solve such problems.

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