coldsaturn:

korakos:

gganseyiii:

coldsaturn:

ontological-terrorist:

I just assumed they were antidepressants. 

Another possible problem with antidepressants is the chance of antidepressant-induced mania in patients with bipolar disorder. Many cases of bipolar depression are very similar to those of unipolar depression. Therefore, the patient can be misdiagnosed with unipolar depression and be given antidepressants. Studies have shown that antidepressant-induced mania can occur in 20–40% of bipolar patients.^[102] For bipolar depression, antidepressants (most frequently SSRIs) can exacerbate or trigger symptoms of hypomania and mania. 

I thought about antidepressants too, because they fit with the induced mania, but andrew doesn’t seem to suffer from all the other side effects they have. Plus, antidepressants + alcohol go very badly together, but andrew doesn’t have problem with it. Of course it’s all fictional, so welcome suspension of disbelief and all. 

Another option were anti-anxiety drugs, 

“Tranquilizers make a person somewhat euphoric and may lower inhibitions. A person abusing these drugs may not care as much about performance and so schoolwork or job production are very likely to suffer. Attention to the needs of children or home may also deteriorate. A person may also give up activities that formerly interested them, simply because they are sedated to the point of losing interest.“ 

and more in general they can induce: acute hyperexcited states, aggressive behavior, excitability, extreme restlessness, hostility, hysteria, insomnia, irritability, etc.
But they are well known to cause suicidal thoughts, which would have thrown a whole new light on andrew’s habit of sitting on the roof in the third book, but he’s clean by then so nothing. Would have been an interesting thing though. 

About laws: 

korakos:

Keep reading

“Involuntary treatment (also referred to by proponents as assisted treatment and by critics as forced drugging) refers to medical treatment undertaken without a person’s consent. In almost all circumstances, involuntary treatment refers to psychiatric treatment administered despite an individual’s objections. These are typically individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental illness and are deemed by a court to be a danger to themselves or others.”

For Andrew to get under forced treatment they would have to officially prove he needs psychiatric help, but yes, there are circumstances where they could force you under medical treatment, violating your habeas corpus right. 
Andrew’s case shouldn’t have required it, but it wasn’t an out of nowhere scenario.

I always figured they were like Ativan x10 (Ativan is an anti-anxiety med which, when abused, will give euphoric effects). Because I know that when I was taking it often, I didn’t care about anything

*__* <3 I love that you guys are deciphering this.

Yes, they were intended to be antidepressants– I just didn’t know if there were any in the real world that could a) create that kind of relentless mania, b) have such dire consequences for coming off of them, and c) be addictive in part because of b.

I researched it for a while, then gave up–if I found a real medication, I’d have to abide by its rules, after all. So I knew what I wanted the drugs to do for Andrew but not what exact drug he could be taking.

((Andrew told Neil the truth about the rooftop – he was up there so he could feel something. He’d wrecked his system the last several years between his medication, his alcohol, and cracker dust. Drake wasn’t the impact it should’ve been, and the sedatives Proust had him on [for Proust’s safety] marred those encounters, too. But this was something real, the way his stomach tightened when he stepped out onto the rooftop and his heart tripped when he got too close to the edge. Proof of life, as it were.))

But we don’t have anything better to do, so…

The hardest part to reconcile is the withdrawal symptoms, since the addiction you might develop with antidepressants is psychological and not physical. And again, antidepressants + alcohol = really bad combination (at some point I considered amphetamine based drugs)

“Antidepressants are not addictive or habit-forming. Unlike drug withdrawal, antidepressant discontinuation effects are not related to addiction but can reflect physiological consequences of stopping a drug,”
“discontinuation symptoms are more likely with antidepressants that stay in your body for a shorter period of time, especially those that affect both serotonin and norepinephrine, such as Effexor (venlafaxine) and Cymbalta (duloxetine)”
“Quitting an antidepressant suddenly may cause symptoms within a day or two, such as: Irritability, Anxiety, Insomnia or vivid dreams, Headaches, Dizziness, Tiredness, Flu-like symptoms, including achy muscles and chills, Nausea, Return of depression symptoms”

((book 3, chapter 5, pag 75. I know, I know. Let me have my fluffy headcanon and think that Neil makes him feel the same way))

((Neil does. Falling for Neil feels like falling, a sickening tumble down with dire consequences at the bottom. It is proof of life & something worth living for in one. Andrew will never forget that Neil is enough to destroy him, but eventually he’ll understand that Neil never will.))