Are there any grinders, especially online grinders that can comment on the effects that anti-depressants and other mental health medications have had on their poker game, especially when you've first started taking them?

Have they had a deleterious effect? have they created brain fog, effected your ability to concentrate, caused tilt.

Or on the other hand has their been any positive effect?

I don't know and the only reason I would be curious is if I figure out someone else is using them. Soft drugs like caffeine are bad enough on people's play when they wear off.

People are going to be far better off if they turn to something like meditation, than by using drugs.

I was thinking about this last night and a question occurred to me. Has a doctor suggested that you start taking these drugs for non-poker-related medical reasons? (Of course, I would just LOVE to know a poker-related medical reason).

This is a question for a doctor.

If your doctor has prescribed you these drugs, ask them about it.

If you're thinking about taking them to increase your performance, just don't.
They'll do the same thing any other drug does, they might increase performance short term, but will leave a huge negative impact long term.

There are alternatives like:
https://www.madmonq.gg

Haven't tried it myself, but I'd much rather try those than what you're suggesting.

Unless of course you were prescribed drugs for a medical reason, then just take them!

I've never been on these drugs, so I can't provide you with any helpful insight.

I would like to mention though that your question would be more likely to get an answer if posted on a drug forum. There, it's more likely to find a guy who's taken that particular type of drugs and happens to play poker, and, openly admitting to both, describe his direct experience, which is obviously what you are looking for.

On this forum you are more likely to get advice from people with no direct experience, who are just using their common sense to tell you that drugs are addictive, dangerous, prescribed by doctors and so on. And even if one of them happens to actually have direct experience with the drugs, if he does not openly admit to it, and words his post in the same way as the others, you won't be able to tell the difference. Just my two cents, that's all.

How did you get that from the post?

It's specifically about possible decreased performance.

What do you think medication is?

Why is everyone jumping to the conclusion that OP wants to take drugs for performance enhancing/recreational reasons?

Depression/anxiety symptoms themselves make it harder to play poker well and get sufficient volume, so medication helps a lot there. I personally haven't had any negative effects from anti-depressants. As for anti-anxiety Clonazepam works for me, but it makes me tired so I only use it situationally when I really need it and ideally not on a day I intend to play poker later.

I'd be more concerned about treating your symptoms than how your game will be affected, and if it's not working out for you you can talk to your doctor about trying something else.

OP, I would say it varies from person to person. It also varies from drug class to drug class, from drug to drug, and dose to dose.

If your doctor says you need meds for depression or anxiety or whatever else, I would recommend listening to your doctor. If it turns out to have a negative effect on your poker performance and/or other cognitive problems, talk to your doctor. There are a number of options available and sometimes it’s just a matter of finding the right one that works for you.

Just because you’re bitter about a thread you started doesn’t mean you should infiltrate other threads with your negativity.

Because pretty much every post I've seen about drugs, over the years has been about performance enhancement. However, you just skipped over my response where I asked (a still unanswered question) that would have clarified OP's question.

I do, however, remember a time in my mid-late 30's when my doctor had me on some anti-anxiety drug. While on it I had a terrible lapse in judgment that caused a rather large problem. A time I had mercifully forgotten about.

So yea, that garbage can cause lapses in judgment.

Wouldn’t take any benzodiazepines. Even at prescribed doses you are going to experience some memory loss and lapses in judgement.

Anti depressants? After I had stabilized for a while. Meaning a month or more on the medication. I took Wellbutrin for a while and I was borderline manic. Turned me into a very type A personality.

if you understand brain chemistry, there is absolutely no reason to think anti-depressants would improve poker performance or have any other performance benefit at all for a healthy individual.

Otoh, there are very likely to be side effects that will affect performance.

That was the point of the OP.

Who cares what some random person on 2+2 has to say about this?

GO ASK YOUR DOCTOR
Or go ask another doctor/psychiatrist if you don't like/trust your own.