Ben Stein: Anti-Depressants Gave Me Suicidal Thoughts
Monday night’s Emmy Awards featured a tribute to iconic comedian and actor Robin Williams, who recently committed suicide after a lifelong battle with depression.
Like Williams, actor Ben Stein told CBN News he also struggled with depression and thoughts of suicide.
It’s unclear whether Williams took anti-depressants. But Stein said those drugs played a dangerous role in his personal battle with depression. He said the closest he came to actually taking his own life were the times he was taking anti-depressants.
“The absolute worst I’ve ever felt in my entire life was under the influence of two drugs called Thorazine and Mellaril,” he said. “That was a long, long time ago, when they were supposed to make you feel better and yet, suicidal thoughts—they had the exact opposite effect, and I really came close to death,” Stein told CBN Health and Science reporter Lorie Johnson.
“And then within the last several years, a drug called Wellbutrin, which is a well-known anti-depressant was prescribed to me and it actually worked quite well for about two weeks. And then I felt an overwhelming compulsion to commit suicide, and I stopped taking it and it went away,” Stein said.
Stein said he has kept his depression and thoughts of suicide at bay through prayer, rest and fresh air, and getting intp a 12-step program.
“Unless there’s some gigantic breakthrough I’m unaware of, I would never think of touching anti-depressants again. That being said, if they work for other people, God bless ’em,” Stein said.
In a recent compelling column in The American Spectator about Robin Williams’ suicide, anti-depressants and prayer, Stein wrote, “Turning every problem over to God saves lives.” Click here to read that article.
