Mark Baxter

So when people think about getting medication as a treatment option, often they've tried a medication or two and kind of not had a result from that.

But what he's encouraging people to do is to see a practitioner that has a lot more kind of nuance and understanding of the wide variety of depression and

And maybe there's medication types which are a much better fit.

So I would just encourage people if they haven't had success in that area and they feel like medication is something for them to look more broadly.

Like we were talking about therapy, don't give up because you've, you know, antidepressants in inverted commas haven't worked.

There's many different classes of drugs that can be helpful.

And just one other thing about it, just on the downside, there are upsides.

I've seen it help so many people.

But on the downside, people can get a sense of emotional blunting.

they can feel a lot less.

So it can take away some of the more difficult aspects of being depressed or anxious, but it can also take away joy and enthusiasm and some of those things as well.

So I just say to people to keep an eye on that sort of stuff.

And sometimes depression medication has side effects that you just need to trust yourself and talk to your medical practitioner about

It depends because some of the emotional blunting effects look like more depression.

So I'm not feeling joy in anything.

It's like, oh, well, you're depressed, of course.

But we just have to be a little bit more nuanced and savvy about the medication, how long it's been prescribed for, the impact of it, the side effects.

And sometimes, like I said, to see a different psychologist or practitioner,

sometimes it's worthwhile getting a second opinion on that or seeing a psychiatrist, even if you don't think that's something that you would traditionally think about.

Sometimes it's worthwhile just looking at that as well.