Can antidepressants worsen dementia?

The drug of choice selected by the psychiatrist was Cymbalta, 30 or 60mg, I can't remember. When I decided to wean off the doctor was not willing to provide the necessary support. I quit working because my cognitive ability was severely impaired. I was not able to advance in my career bcs this devilish pill destroyed my life. The lame excuse of not having found the right medicine, I was later put on zoloft, Prozac, setraline, Trepelline, Lyrica and their evil cousins ambien/stilnox and Xanax. I eventually weaned myself off ALL pysch meds after many years of failed attempts, 2008 to 2024. I'm one year without even dabbling on it, like once or twice a week. This month I am celebrating one year off the monster pills. No more anxiety, suicide ideation. I'm on a recovery road. I am considering HRT which should have been explored before being offered psych meds. I am grateful I made it through and thanks be to God for His abounding mercy and grace.

i had depression wiith cognitive decline when an I was pregnant and didn't want to take antidepressants because i didn't trust them for my baby. Because of the inability to function because of the depression i got on a natural mood stabilizer. The big fear was something to myself or baby as a result of my worsening mental state. The natural mood stablizer only made it worse. So i was put on a regular mood stabilizer.i fear the possiblity if I had not got on something for mental state. After baby was born i got on a whole pharmacy Istill have not fully recovered 6 years later.
The depression alone alone with the hormones of pregnancy were causing mental decline. But the meds only made it worse. I do not take antidepressants or any oher mood altering meds. I never will again.
?what mental decline would these depressed people experience just from depression?
? Aren't there similar studies that link depression to brain changes without treatment?
TMS for depression. I feel my cognitive ability now is only a result of the 3 TMS treatments I've had over 5 years. I wonder if TMS is the solution for some who experience this decline.

Never used but I can observe people in use of these drugs especially old people. They 100% worse their cognitive abilities

Anti depressants are overused as are abtiphschotic drugs.

I had cognitive impairment taking Sertraline. I couldn’t remember the plot of a TV show I had just watched, what I’d just read in a book or the rides we’d been on, on our family vacation. I’m 40 and decided to stop taking it 3 months ago and my memory is improving.

I was on Zoloft and then swapped to Lexapro off and on from 2011 to January 2022. Every time I got off of them, I felt my brain work faster and I was "smarter" at work. I have been off that stuff for over two years and I wouldn't say I have any lasting effects that I know of, thankfully, except that I had to actually tackle anxiety disorder head-on after softening the symptoms for so long and kinda ingraining bad behaviors and thought patterns. I also was always on the lowest dose for either of those meds though, and a doc was surprised the low dose of Lexapro was even effective enough, so maybe that's why I don't seem to have had lasting effects?

Thank you so very much for having the courage and willingness to so openly and directly share such important information! You are very wise and brave. We appreciate you dearly, you have touched our hearts and helped so many! Thank you 😊. Warmly and Sincerely,
Shelley

IN PARTICULAR SERTRALINE ?????
That scares the hell out of me but last time I tried to taper below 50mg/day I felt horribly depressed and suicidal and there was no lifestyle / circumstances to justify it. It didn't stop so I had to go back up again to 50. I'm pretty sure it is related to my long covid which has destroyed my cognitive abilities for the past 5 months and it's not recovering quickly... To be fair the long covid is probably causing more damage than the SSRI ever has considering the brutality of my cognitive and memory impairments...

Sertraline may actually help by reducing emotional arousal and thus avoiding exhausting my diminished cognitive ressources. It's just a random theory.

About what you ask at the end of the video now. Maybe the increased risk of fractures is not a direct effect but more a result of people taking more risks or having less reactivity to get themselves out of harm's way because the normal fear response is blunted by the SSRI.

I did not notice cognitive impairment from Sertraline but one massive effect of tapering (before my long covid I did it once) was giving me a lot of motivation to pursue things I enjoyed and as a consequence increase my cognitive investment in them.

Actually there is one thing : the SSRI made it harder to speak, I had to pause to search for words, it wasn't fluid, I often had to put my entire focus on my speech to talk normally. It was all before long covid which made this issue a lot worse. 🤯

Thank you for offering this space to share and learn from and with one another! I have had numerous very negative experiences with antidepressants which tremendously effected my personality and behavior. My physical and emotional health were extensively, negatively effected. From birth, I was a very gifted individual, very creative and intelligent, free thinking, free spirited, unique, open and loving. Near the end of my senior year of college, moving towards an advanced standing program which I truly believed was my lifes purpose and calling, I endured a major health challenge which required emergency surgery and I had a very negative response to the anesthesia, waking up in a rageful state that I had never experienced before. I tried everything I could to recover my former state of mind and being before the surgery and despite my truly best efforts, I could not move past the all encompassing, depressive state that surgery left me with. The more medications they gave me, the more I lost myself and the deeper the depression became. I slowly weaned myself off all prescription meds and am dealing with a lot of memory loss. Big chunks of my life are missing to me now and it troubles me because in my early life, prior to surgery and meds, my memory was truly almost photogenic! I have had to grieve this loss of myself with little compassion or understanding even from so called mental health experts. When I found you Dr. Josef, it was like a real breath of fresh air to finally hear and see a mental health expert who gets it and is open to share these experiences freely, very brave indeed! I sincerely applaud your efforts! You are a gift to those of us who have suffered greatly from western meds and conventional therapies. I even suffer from limited mobility issues as a result of meds and abusive, unprofessional care from supposed caregivers. I was limited to a wheelchair for years and now off all meds I can walk short distances unaided for short periods of time or with the assistance of a walking stick or rollator. I still have neurological symptoms such as numbness, weakness and tingling in my limbs which we cannot find a cure for so far despite my best efforts of research. I have learned so much from the videos you share. Do you have a supportive group for people to speak and share experiences with one another? I welcome any recommendations or resources you may offer. Thank you again from the depths of my heart for being such a lovely bright light in the darkness that is depression! You have given renewed hope for an improved quality of life! What greater gift can be given? I look forward to hearing more from you soon.
Warmly and Sincerely,
Shelley 😊🤗😇🙌

Dr Josef, does everything you say regarding SSRIs apply equally to SNRIs, too?

Thanks Doc. Your saving many people with your videos I'm trying to get off valium what's happening to me is terrifying.

Took paxil for 10yrs. Then celexa for 4yrs. At that point noticed my memory wasn’t as sharp as it used to be. I had an excellent memory. I studied medicine at Cambridge and could recall information very well. My memory is still affected especially with perimenopause now.

But I’d say my cognitive function and memory recall was definitely affected by long term use….even though I was on a very small dose. These drugs AFFECT us in many ways. I bet in 10-20yrs no one will be taking them but we all would have suffered! Big Pharma SUCKS!! 💰

I had huge issues with Duloxetine in September 2020. I didn’t know who I was anymore and with about 2 weeks of taking it, I couldn’t concentrate on anything and had no empathy. I easily could’ve hurt someone or worse without a second thought. Unfortunately, my so called psychiatrist (Dr Vincent Udenze) was useless and insisted quite forcefully that the dose should be doubled. Impressive!
I spoke with my GP and have been on Sertraline ever since, which had helped mostly. The only problem I have now is that I need a psychologist (historic trauma), not a psychiatrist - but hey, I’m just the patient. What do I know?!

Yes fckn with hormones and brain function. duh

No. Venafalaxine was the longest still get the brain "spin" side effect. Others i feel have left a permanent mark after short trials. One destroyed my digestive system after 3 mths of explosive toilet runs. Never been the same.

Hell ya I got alot of improvement

this study is shit man... DEPRESSION ALSO LEADS TO DEMENTIA, decline is cognition, so like people on these anti-depressants were already gonna suffer some or the other with SOLE-EXCEPTION being ones who didn't needed anti-depressant. U did a good job in educating people though, but anyone shouldn't draw conclusion just based on a single few sec short, also cutting dose of stronger anti-depressant(lexapro) wont help much cuz of 80% sert occupancy. tbh what can u actually do is EAT HEALTHY, SOCIALIZE, GO OUTSIDE EXERCISE , SLEEP WELL prettty basic habbits. (learned hard way after going into rabit hole of r/nootropics)

My sister-in-law was on antipsychotics and antidepressants for decades. She got early onset dementia and died within a few years. Of course we can’t prove the drugs caused it but I firmly believe they contributed to it at the very least.

Hello 😊

Absolutely!!! I was put on almost every one including Tri-Cyclics over a 2yrr period. I puked up the ADs., unable to take more than a week. The Tri-Cyclics made me Hallucinate my mind out! Later, Menopause kicked my butt. Agreed to take Zoloft, took Phenergan 1st to keep them down. Felt all "floaty". Trouble getting up. At the end of 2wks, I just stepped off into the air, woke up at foot of stairs. 5 broken ribs, one cracked, punctured lung & Concussion. Kept in ICU as Hallucinating Crazy! I did NOT know what world I was in. Kept giving me the Zoloft. I almost died. Finally a Psychiatrist saw me, took me off the Zoloft. Within 3 days, I was coherent. I had a Seretonin Storm. The Psychiatrist told me how very sick I had been. His comment was - " Doctors who have no training in psychiatry should NOT be allowed to prescribe these drugs as they do NOT know the true risks". Like me! I should have listened to my own body.

no way I take zoloft and just had a skateboarding injury that fractured my rib. never had it happen.

This is so interesting. I have been on Escitalopram since 9 month and I have felt so stupid and slow.. forgetting much more than usual and the brain fog has been so bad that I did not really connect it to the medicine. No one told me it could have this effect. Yesterday I met a medium to ask what is going on with me, what is disturbing. She said it was something with the meds.. now I understand and want to get off as soon as possible.. I also tried out ADHD meds during the period and have been trying to adjust them but did not see any result on the “blurry pace of disconnection and lack of interest and direction in life”.

I never wanted to start but I felt pushed.

I know my hyper sensitivity and social anxiety comes from post natal neglect trauma and know I can work with it if I have the right support..

I forgot the pill this morning and felt very clear during the day, then I took half by dinner and got headache and felt tired…

What is the best way to tune out?

I hope the bad side effects from the medicine will reduce as I get off.

Tell me if you have good experiences.. 🙏✨😊

Endless bad experiences in the video. Who could imagine that?

Yes. I had significant brain fog and fatigue which started literal days after being on sertraline and escitalopram at different times.

It reduces brain fog, I did go off after a year, and didn't experience brain fog. I did go on a carnivore diet, which improved a lot of things. Loose weight, no anxiety, depression and improvements in brain function.

Some antidepressants are worse than others and I would say for myself all of them are blunting and cause cognitive impairment or some would call it cognitive difference...

I experienced a feeling of disassociation while on an anti depressant, and did feel more alert and awake after getting off it. I was going through the dissolution of my marriage, which was traumatic, but the drug itself seemed to make me feel worse because I felt removed from my need to process my emotions.

my comment keeps accidentally getting deleted due to a stupid user interface here on yt so i give up sharing my experience. :(

i have experienced what he said to comment if you have experienced... i just can't bring myself to type out all my thoughts a fourth time when they may well get accidentally deleted again..... [frustrated with yt user interface at the moment] 😣

Zyprexa messed up my vision ,went away when I stopped it

I definetly have better memory, and other stifd, because they help me so much with severe anxiety, and ocd

Absolutely 😂😂😂

Depression itself can cause atrophy of cognitive and the eloquent parts of the brain if left untreated too. I would imagine older patieent cohoorts antidepressants with anticholinergic effects while also being part of polypharmacy and more susceptibility to side effects.

Yes, I have had that happen. I just stopped taking Trintellix about a month ago and I noticed a huge difference pretty soon after. Before I would struggle to remember words, forget what I was saying mid sentence, and just constant brain fog that I couldn’t ever shake. I feel so much better off it.

My cognitive impairment is not improving having tapered off high doses so long term benzos-ativan. Thank you for your support 🙏

In 2020, I quit cymbalta. It was awful, but I got smarter. Eventually. It took a couple of years. They told me that medicine was for pain. Then wrote in my records that I was depressed. I wasn't depressed, 😢was in physical pain i won't go to doctors now. And I look at EVERYTHING they want me to take, and I refuse it. Right in office. I won't take anything but antibiotics, so i rarely ever go.

after 15 years I became a fall risk , which would have been into my 30s . I've been an athlete and very active , as well maintained my sobriety , even tho medicated with higher dose SSRIs , etc .
now at age 68 I struggle to maintain cognition , dexterity and walking w o being tippy .
I continue to move my body as well other skills to help .

mind you this all in my own , in addition to some coaching for mental health support .

again , thank you for exposing this to the public as well the education you do graciously provide us all .

Was taking a high dose of the "worst offender" , the ssri that was associated with the most cognitive decline. Just recently tapered off. Will let you know how it goes!

Yes!!!! Big SAME.🎉

I don’t see where to subscribe. I’d like to see solutions instead of all the scary reasons not to take antidepressants. My daughter is 20 & has been on them for years. She was switched last year from Celexa to Pristiq.

FND diagnosis... maybe ssris

I'm having cognitive impairment coz of taking SSRI for 15 years , but I have OCD and whenever I try to taper, it flares. I feel so hopeless

But i was the one who asked for them they are band aid even they themselves said this that i need to address my life stressors these drugs are dangerous if your life is also all distorted but if your life is alright then it is easier to come off them on your own

I’ve been on lexapro for 35 yrs.- 30mg. I was diagnosed with cognitive decline 2 1/2 yrs. ago and it’s getting worse. I am 73. How can I wean myself off of them?

After stopping valdoxan I felt alot better after 3 weeks. Even though its been said that it doesnt need tapering down and no withdrawals.

So what are people supposed to take?!?! My mom has dementia and she needs something to calm her down, but I don't want her to make her worse.

Blimey you look 18. How long have you been qualified as a psychiatrist????

Absolutely. I felt i lost any critical thinking ability, memory was dog shit. Have been on ssris/snris for 16 years and starting to wean off duloxetine now.
Using a touch of psilocybin actually to assist and would love to hear your thoughts on this please

Yes, I had these symptoms for a very long time. When I did mention this to my doctor he sort of dismissed it saying I should WORK HARDER in life and it's nothing like I was suffering from Alzheimer's. While I am not a psychiatrist, I do know what alzheimer's is. And I was certainly not indicating that I was having Alzheimer's. I found out until I came across your video that there could be a possibility that what I was facing was legit. Nausea, random black out, inability to comprehend my reading tasks at work, forgetfulness, numbness of course, and constant fatigue. Which only got more intense with time but not necessarily sure why. I used to be a very active individual as a kid so couldn't wrap my head around why it was happening. But then at the moment I felt like believing my doctor because I am just an ordinary patient. Of course I came under medication because of my drastic attempts which was a result of issues I was dealing with in my personal life. While I won't deny these medications did help me a lot with my intense anxiety issue while i was being treated for MDD I can't be so sure that the side effects didn't come along with it.

SSRIS fucked up my life since i started them when i was 16... a lot of lies and fake dyagnoses... end up taking 9 drugs! Today im.not on psychiatric drugs for 2 years ... im fine. This drugs change you, in my case, for worse.