Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring
speaker
129 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard May 2025
last heard May 2025
Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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And then the next time, drop it by a smaller fraction. In humans, we drop the dose every two to four weeks generally, no sooner than every two weeks. It might be different from dogs. We'll have to get people to comment below this video on YouTube or wherever it is to start sharing their experience of weaning their animals off SSRIs and how it went. We'll have to crowdsource this one.
I think... Yeah, I think it's both things. And so we do know that exercise is a very good antidepressant for some people, not everyone. Now, the people that I see it work really well for are the people who are sedentary. They don't move. They sit behind their computer all the time. They're not active. Human beings, we're designed to move.
We're designed to be out in the sun with the vitamin D effects and the fresh air. We're meant to be moving our bodies. If you just sit behind your computer all day and drink three cups of coffee and you never see the sun, you feel bad. And that's why when we do these clinical trials, when we do these studies, we always find that exercise really makes people feel a lot better.
And yes, it's a distraction, but I think physiologically, being outside in the sun, moving your body like your biology is designed to, is a great way of regulating your mood and getting energy out.
Let them do something to, you know... Well, I think, I mean, a lot of people, they're not really... You know, they just get a dog. And...
I don't know, maybe they have to move for work and they used to have a yard and now they don't have a yard and they're in a, you know, in an apartment and their job is busy, you know, their job is very busy or they have a child and all of a sudden they can't meet the needs of that animal anymore. Um, and, and I mean, that's, that's, that's, that's really sad.
And then it's, it's, it's very complicated because, um, What do you do? You know, you have to, I guess you have to find a family for the dog that is better able to meet its needs. Right.
So I have no problems with people deciding that they want to be on the medications. And so generally what I like to see is when a person is unhappy, that you really try and find out why. And the major buckets are relationships, purpose, And then also, you know, stopping any substances that are making them sick.
And then also looking for medical problems or nutritional problems or problems with their food. If you have done all of those things and the person is still suffering a lot. I think with a very clean conscience, you can go ahead and say, well, we've tried everything. You're exercising. You're eating well.
We can't really explain where this is coming from, and we want you to have a good quality of life. And then we explain the risks to the person. This is the evidence base. These are the risks. Do you feel comfortable with them? And if they say yes, then I think that's completely valid. You've done a good job. You've tried everything you could.
If it's not working, with a clean conscience, I think it's fine to use the medications. And another thing that comes to my mind when I think about dogs is the very real possibility that the behavior could lead to the dog being euthanized or to the dog being rehomed or something like that.
And so I actually start thinking about children with autism or parents with dementia because sometimes that's what we're looking at. with families that are caring for these people. And it's the same for them. You want to make them as healthy as possible. You want to do everything you can. But sometimes, especially with adults who have dementia, who are just getting worse,
the most humane thing you can do might be putting them on an antipsychotic medication or some antidepressants because it allows you to control their behavior better. It allows them to stay in the home with you longer.
And if that means that your grandparent or your parent can stay with you and you can look after them and you don't have to send them to a nursing home, these aren't easy decisions to make. I mean, these are ones that are very complicated and they're challenging. But there's never a right answer. It's never right or wrong to use a medication. You look at the individual circumstances for the person.
You try everything you can. And if that's just the way it needs to be, then that's okay.
Yes, yeah, you're definitely creating, you're making things easier for the person who runs the kennel, but making things more complicated for the dog and the next owner, when they're going to have to deal with a dog that's developed a physical dependency to a medication and has to go through withdrawal.
Yeah, and I also imagine it could be very... It might be very... for the person who adopts the dog because some people may say, I actually want a very docile dog. I want one that's kind of, you know, doesn't, you know, is very mellow. And if you go and adopt a dog from a shelter who's on SSRIs, And, you know, it's very mellow, it's very calm. And he said, Oh, this is a good fit for me.
And then you bring it home and you take it off the medications. And then it's real personality comes out. And all of a sudden, it's like, I want you to interact with me. I want you to take me out. I want to move my body. I mean, that's also I mean, that could also be very confusing for an owner.
So what I would love to see is not that we get rid of any of the medications, is that at least for the humans, the doctors really emphasize getting to the root cause of why people are unhappy and being honest with them, you know, and helping them do that. You know, I would love to see us Help people more with their relationships, with their work, with their physical health.
And set realistic expectations and say, listen, this could take you a couple decades to figure out. You have to cultivate these things in your life. Good relationships, work that you love. These aren't shortcuts. There is natural pain along the way. And to set those expectations.
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