antidepressant effects on a still developing brain?

[sweetnspunky]

I was just wondering if there have been studies done about how antidepressants and benzos effect a still developing brain? I ask because I was put on different antidepressants and benzos since I was 14. I am now 27 and have kept taking the meds eversince. Does this mean I will always need meds now?  And would I be a different person if I ever stopped taking them? Would my brain know how to function without drugs? I have been taking Sertaline 200 mgs and Ativan 1 mg everyday for years now. Just kind of concerned and curious I suppose.

[insights]

I was just wondering if there have been studies done about how antidepressants and benzos effect a still developing brain?

They will certainly have had an effect. So would anxiety and depression. Both are associated with neuronal cell death in areas of the hippocampus that facilitate long-term memory. Antidepressants reverse this by encouraging the division and growth of new cells in the same areas (neurogenesis). This is what is believed to cause the therapeutic effect.

Would my brain know how to function without drugs?

Yes. However, it will protest and trigger withdrawal symptoms until it adjusts, especially if you stop taking them suddenly. Do not stop taking them without first discussing the best way of doing so with your doctor.

Ian

[shakymcgee]

Sweet,
I am in the same boat and have often wondered the same things. I was started to drugs for depression and anxiety when I was nine years old and sometimes feel bitter that those choices were made for me as a child, and I am still unable to function without those drugs. Like maybe if someone had said, "we should try teaching this child coping skills before we give her drugs", then I wouldn't be physically dependant on them today. It would be interesting to see what the research says, but I don't think that would be good for my hypochondria!