Antidepressants and climbing

Do antidepressants negatively affect your climbing performance.

No

Which do you take? Are you a high energy person already? I am not.

No, if anything it helped. At least with motivation.

Ben Beckerich wrote:You should switch to Desoxyn. Fantastic antidepressant, and puts a little pop in your hop.

Brand Name: DESOXYN
Generic Name: methamphetamine hydrochloride
Category: CEREBRAL STIMULANTS

At least I won't need a dr's prescription.

I dont know it by heart but like Josh said, it helps with motivation

Matt Samet wrote an article a couple years ago about his battles with precription meds, including IIRC some antidepressants. Goes into the effects on his climbing.

It wasn't in a climbing mag, but I think it was Outside Magazine. Good read, and may provide some insight you're looking for.

EDIT: Link - outsideonline.com/outdoor-a…

A snippet: "Along the way, I've seen the insides of four psychiatric hospitals, starting in 1986, at age 15; been on and off the psych medicines Ativan, Depakote, desipramine, Klonopin, Lexapro, lith­ium, Neurontin, Nortriptyline, Paxil, Serzone, Trileptal, Valium, Wellbutrin, and Zoloft;..... "

Will S wrote:Matt Samet wrote an article a couple years ago about his battles with precription meds, including IIRC some antidepressants. Goes into the effects on his climbing. It wasn't in a climbing mag, but I think it was Outside Magazine. Good read, and may provide some insight you're looking for. EDIT: Link - outsideonline.com/outdoor-a… A snippet: "Along the way, I've seen the insides of four psychiatric hospitals, starting in 1986, at age 15; been on and off the psych medicines Ativan, Depakote, desipramine, Klonopin, Lexapro, lith­ium, Neurontin, Nortriptyline, Paxil, Serzone, Trileptal, Valium, Wellbutrin, and Zoloft;..... "

Matt wrote a whole book released this past spring about his depression. It is totally the bible on every antidepressant drug you could ever think of taking. Caution: it is quite a depressing read, but very informative.

The average SSRI antidepressant will have precisely zero impact on your climbing. About the only thing it will do is get you to the cliff more often, if it works for you.

Indeed, it's kind of silly to ask. We need to grow up in the way we think about psych ailments and psych meds in particular.

If you think you need an antidepressant, its impact on your climbing should be about 57 millionth on the list of things to think about.

[hey, will my diabetes meds impact my climbing?]

Buy Matt's book:

Death Grip

Timothy.Klein wrote:The average SSRI antidepressant will have precisely zero impact on your climbing. About the only thing it will do is get you to the cliff more often, if it works for you.

The former is probably and overstatement, and the latter an understatement.
The things people are saying here may be generally true, but people are 'predicting' the reation you would have to a med without knowing which med or the particulars of the condition that you are being treated for. (Depression is a broad category).
There are differing effects and side-effects both in a classical physiological sense in the neuro-pharmacological sense that can't be predicted on such lack of information, let alone reliably be predicted even with the information I mention as missing.
Molecular neuropharmocology is a complex subject and if there is an underlying abnormality (presumably so, if you are getting scripts), then you have an additional realm of complexities underlying that. Unfortunately the science of which is limited to generalities and a "try and see" approach.
Best of luck... The new gear you propose to make you happy won't have a predictable result on your climbing either!

Speaking of understatement:

Tony B wrote: Molecular neuropharmocology is a complex subject

!!!!

In general the effects of antidepressants depend on the drug and on the person. It's totally subjective and based on how your own body reacts---which could in turn maybe have some implications for climbing.

I've tried quite a few antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds over the past year or so with varying successes....for the most part I was so exhausted to begin with---physically and mentally from the depression---that I just didn't care too much for climbing or anything in the first place. I would say the one with the biggest (negative) impact on me was Prozac, which DESTROYED my appetite, lost a lot of weight and made me super weak for climbing and just in general felt even worse. But that was just MY reaction to it.

It might just be a matter of testing a few out. I'm off all of them at the moment, and plan on keeping it that way. The biggest thing that ended up helping me? Not meds: running. Lots of running. Getting the serotonin levels elevated naturally, even when I had to force myself to do it. And breathing and trying anything possible to calm my mind. And talking about it, to a professional or outside party. Good luck!

With respect to affecting your climbing, a distinction should be made between antidepressants, particularly relatively modern SSRIs, and sedatives/antianxiety medications like benzodiazepines.

If you are using modern antidepressants, as intended, and are not having major side effects, I would completely agree with all the above comments that the drug should not affect your climbing (or you shouldn't be afraid to climb while on them). The priority should be on being well not climbing well. First one, then the other.

If, on the opposite hand, you are using anti-anxiety medications to alleviate fear of leading in general or of leading a particularly dangerous route, then 1) the drug is most definitively affecting your climbing, 2) probably in an alluringly effective way, and 3) it's wicked dangerous and irresponsible to yourself, your family, and your partners.

What percentage of climbers would you guess are on some form of antidepressants (including smoking weed)?

Do antidepressants help you fit into "normal" society?

Does telling yourself "you aint got shit to live for" help anyone else climb harder?

Tony B wrote: The former is probably and overstatement, and the latter an understatement.

Not at all really, if the antidepressant is having any side effects that effect your climbing, you are on the wrong antidepressant, and you should stop taking it.

Modern SSRIs have a pretty low side effect profile, particularly if you find one that fits your body (see above statement).

If you do manage to find one that works for you (no guarantee) you will help eliminate one of the primary symptoms of depression: anhedonia, which will quite likely lead to you getting out more often.

So what I said is spot on. What you said is getting lost in the weeds of finding the right med for a given person via trial and error, which really has little to do with this in my eyes, even though it is correct.

More importantly, questions such as this are generally motivated by irrational fears about psychiatric meds, more than anything else, which is what really bothers me. People that could get help don't because they are irrationally afraid of meds, and live in a society that feeds that nonsense.

anhedonia

This is definately what I have, even when I'm not feeling particularly down (despite everyone I know saying that I'm a negative person).

I go climbing every weekend and rarely feel any sense of acheivement from it, I have had sex with my wife 4 times this year, I started mountain biking recently and when I get back I feel like a loser for not riding harder/farther, I can sit at my desk all day doing work, or not, and still feel like life is worthless, I live in one of the absolute best places in the world for climbing and I barely have enough motivation to get out on the weekends, besides training.

Not sure if I'm just lazy or my brains fucked up.

My wife wants to have a kid, there's no fucking way I'd force another person to put up with me.

Go see doctor or a psychiatrist, skitch.

There is help to be had! (A psych tends to be better at making sure you end up with the right med and have ongoing evaluation, as compared to a GP doctor. But if you can't afford a psych or it's not covered, your regular doctor can help you out. There are also a lot of non-drug tools they can point you to via cognitive behavioral therapy.)

Is there a certain type of Psych to see?

drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400869/…

I don't think you need a particular kind of psychiatrist.

You might start here:

nimh.nih.gov/health/find-he…