Originally posted by silent thunder
...I am not a doctor, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt...

Okay - this is unconscionable!
You admit to NOT being a doctor - YET, prescribe a grain of salt?

Antidepressants are kind of like catnip for humans. While they don't necessarily make you happy, they do have a way of calming you. I wouldn't say its a bad thing though. It's far better to be able to look at the world in a neutral third party point of view than it is to be constantly involved in it. Who sees the game better? The players or the audience? The audience, of course. Having a more open world view IS a good thing, it allows you to see all possible outcomes and come up with the best solutions to its problems, but it does have its draw backs. Mainly, instead of taking action the moment you notice a problem you just sit back and let things unwind, hoping the problem will fix itself, until you're like "Oh man! We better do something about this!" but by then its often too late.

As to whether you are finally waking up or falling asleep more than ever all depends your point of view. If you actually put your new world view to work instead of becoming too apathetic to do anything then I would say you are finally waking up. Otherwise you are like the rest of the sheep. Baaah!

Hi, it's been a while since I've updated this. Thanks to all of you who have commented or shown interest.

My dose had been increased and now I take this medicine 3 times a day. The effect is very noticeable by now. It's similar to what I described before only more so, I suppose.

I have definitely been spending less time doing the kind of Internet reading and researching I did before. None of my beliefs have changed, but there is no longer the urgency or the tendency to obsess over doom and bad news.

 Before, when I came across a piece of negative  or doom-y news, I would tend to fixate on it and turn it over and over in my mind, imagining all the negative implications. These kinds of news items now have a more neutral emotional coloration and don't get me riled up at all.

Is this the descent into sheep-hood? I will repeat that my basic beliefs have not been altered: it's more the reaction and emotive response that has changed. I feel more comfortable and balanced now.

 It's also worth remembering that before when I got more worked up over these issues, it didn't really motivate me to do anything concrete in response. Since I was just sitting there stewing in my negative juices, was that kind of response really better than my new, more dispassionate outlook?