gogirl723@... asked this question on 5/17/2000:

My husband was diagnosed with clinical depression. He was given zoloft. It worked beautifuly. However, he doesn't think he needs it now and has been off it for about 2 months. He is taking St. Johns Wart instead. My children and I can see and feel the difference in his personality. He is a time bomb again and the least thing sets him off. He also acts depressed, and realizes he is at times but refuses to take zoloft again. He has blamed zoloft for a sexual problem (has erection but can not ejaculate) but off zoloft, he still has this problem, but says he has more feeling and is getting closer to being able to ejaculate. Is there anyway i can get hime back on this drug? He has tried others and they don't work, zoloft was perfect. Our daughter also takes zoloft(19), she had the same problem with depression. Off of zoloft he is selfish, mean, tempermental, short tempered, and generally not nice to be around. I'm getting close to wanting a divorce. Help if you can.

Theresa57 gave this response on 5/17/2000:

Hi GoGirl. Have you consulted with your husband's physician about his medication? This may be a good place to start. Maybe the physician could explain the difference between his taking an anti-depressant and St. John's Wort. Also, is he in counseling? If not, it would be a good idea to try to get him to agree to this. If you are considering divorce at this point, you may want to try couple's counseling. Maybe through this medium, your husband could receive the help that he needs. I do suggest that anyone who is taking an anti-depressant medication needs to also be involved in counseling to learn to cope with the things that lead to their depression. I would like to ask about the "personality disorder" portion of your title. Does your husband have a personality disorder? If so, that will certainly make a difference. Often, people who have personality disorders do tend to just stop taking their medication for no valid reason. This causes an exacerbation in the problem behviors, eratic moods, and irrational thinking. Often, when this occurs, it takes hospitalization to get that person back on track. You may need to implement an intervention with the assistance of his physician and others who have noticed the difference in his behaviors since he stopped taking his Zoloft.It is possible that I could provide you with more complete information if I knew if there were any personality disorders involved. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. Good Luck.

gogirl723@... asked this follow-up question on 5/19/2000:

thank you Theresa, you, and all the others who have ansered my question have been very helpfull. I really don't know if there is a personality problem, but it seems like it. I would say slightly obsessive compulsive and narsisis.

He has calmed down alot latley and we've talked some so things seem better for the present

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