Prozac Effects
Peter D. Kramer, M.D. tells of his first experience with Prozac involving
a
woman named Tess. Tess was the eldest of 10 children, born to a passive
mother
and an alcoholic father. Tess was physically and sexually abused as a
child.
When Tess was 12 her father dies and her mother entered a clinical
depression
from which she never recovered. Tess was then left to take over
the family.
Later in life Tess made a business career out of her skills
at driving,
inspiring, and nurturing others. She was very unhappy in her
personal life. Tess
struggled from one abusive married man to another.
Despite psychotherapy, she
was progressively less energetic and more unhappy.
Dr. Kramer's first visit with
Tess showed she had all the symptoms of
clinical depression and she wanted to
end her life. Dr. Kramer prescribed
Prozac for Tess to terminate her depression
and return her to her "premorbid
self." Dr. Kramer's goal was to not
transform Tess but to restore her. Two
weeks after using Prozac, Tess reported
she was no longer feeling weary. She
confessed she had been depleted of energy
for as long as she could remember
and realized she had been depressed all her
life. Tess once again was able to
get her social life back. Dr. Kramer took Tess
off Prozac after nine months
and she continued to do well. Tess did admit she
didn't seem as sharp or
energetic after discontinuing the medicine. Then, after
about eight months
off Prozac, Tess felt she was slipping. She liked the feeling
of stability
that Prozac gave her. Dr. Kramer was then left to decide whether or
not to
prescribe Prozac to a patient who was not depressed. Again on
Prozac,
Tess responded as she had hoped, self-assurance, renewed
confidence, and social
comfort. Not all patients on Prozac respond this way.
Some are unaffected, some
merely recover from depression as they might on any
medication. But a few
are
transformed.