Depression management?

I apologise if this seems overly dramatic, but I've been very depressed for quite a few months now, and have to conclude that my stiff-upper-lip, just-ignore-it-and-it'll-go-away method really isn't working. Basically, I'm just wondering if there's any way to manage depression without medication. I mean, I know a few members here are/have been depressed as well. I hate the idea of taking meds for it because if I'm only functional when I'm drugged up, what the hell use am I to anyone? I don't know, I guess I'm just running out of options.

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mypersonality.info

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it."
George Bernard Shaw

"An oyster can play catch if u only give it the oprotunity"
Some random YouTube commenter

"hate comments will be deleted!! fuckers!"
Some random YouTube uploader

(Speaking from my own experience -- and with no medical background whatsoever)

Just because you're in a bad spot now, it doesn't necessarily mean you're clinically depressed/chronically prone to depression. It's possible you need a bit of medication for a certain amount of time just to get your head and your system out of the rut it's fallen into. It doesn't mean you're on the way to pills for the rest of your days.

Twice in my life -- and about 10 years apart -- I've been put on Prozac for six months. Same as you, I realized (or it was pointed out to me) that "keeping on keeping on" was simply not cutting it, things were actually worse than I had realized, and this was no way to live.

Find a sensible doctor you can talk to, express your concerns about long-term medication, and make it clear that you're not looking for a long-term diagnosis of depression -- but that right now you're in an unacceptable place that you can't find your way out of, despite having tried.

From my experience, after awhile, you'll feel more active and motivated...won't feel like a weirdo in social situations...and you'll get back to wanting to do things, and getting off the couch/out of the house/away from the TV. If you're in the northern hemisphere, I'd suggest getting on with it before any SAD (seasonal affective disorder) has a chance to come to the party; and before the holidays.

See how it goes. I suspect you need a helping hand to climb out of the place you're in, and a properly managed course of anti-depressants can absolutely do that -- and if you're not clinically depressed and the meds do their thing, soon you'll look back at where you were three to four months ago and realize "Holy shit...I was a bit of a mess. Glad I'm past that!" and you can be slowly taken off them and all will be well.

Good luck

I am quite prone to melancholy, though. I don't think I've been totally happy since I was a child. Even happy memories make me miserable, and the few times I feel happy it feels superficial.

And I've been irritable and touchy and been a bitch to people, so I'm feeling guilty for that too...

I'm not wild about the idea of going to a doctor. My GP (and most others I've encountered) have been largely negligent and apathetic. Well, that and going to one feels like admitting weakness. I don't even allow myself to cry! Still, I guess I might have to drag myself there eventually...

Thanks, though, gfsquirrel and sorry for being difficult.

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mypersonality.info

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it."
George Bernard Shaw

"An oyster can play catch if u only give it the oprotunity"
Some random YouTube commenter

"hate comments will be deleted!! fuckers!"
Some random YouTube uploader

Depression is a very complex condition. There is certainly no medication or a way to cure all forms of it with one source of treatment.

I would say treat it at the source, but that is too general and really does not mean a whole lot. Depression can be caused by an imbalance of chemicals in our body, which can be caused by external sources such as excessive stress.

Without asking for many more details, I can say that if you are healthy otherwise and you are a frequent visitor to series of unfortunate events, I can suspect that it may start out as stress. How you react to stuff makes a difference. There is meditation, there is counseling. There are also natural herbs, such as Valerian Root. It reduces anxiety, which can sometimes be followed by depression.

Work out for a few hours every day if you don't want medication. Or at least that is what I do...

I've dealt with depression and the pysch drugs only made things worse for me. The side effects were awful and they didn't do me any good. Only going on what you've written I recommend talking out your feelings with a counselor. The statement "I don't even allow myself to cry" makes me wonder if your feelings have been downplayed and ignored by other people. I had the same issue growing up and not only am I still recovering from that but I also still learn to deal with my feelings and I'm almost thirty five years old.

This is coming from yet another person who has absolutely no medical background and can only speak from their own experiences but I recommend talking to a counselor before you resort to mind altering drugs.

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strange aeons
I apologise if this seems overly dramatic, but I've been very depressed for quite a few months now, and have to conclude that my stiff-upper-lip, just-ignore-it-and-it'll-go-away method really isn't working. Basically, I'm just wondering if there's any way to manage depression without medication. I mean, I know a few members here are/have been depressed as well. I hate the idea of taking meds for it because if I'm only functional when I'm drugged up, what the hell use am I to anyone? I don't know, I guess I'm just running out of options.

I totally get it. I've got about 40 different kinds of crazy, I've avoided the meds thing too, and I have actually improved a lot over the years. I am not very high-functioning. However, I will just say not everyone will have my luck.

There's a lot of things you could try.

Working out, as Mistress Rowtang suggests, is actually a good one.

Taking St. John's Wort works for a lot of people.

I know it's hard at first, but another big thing is formulating a life for yourself that is nurturing. First of all, routine, routine, ROUTINE. Stuff you do every day that's good for you. Good sleep, a relaxing activity, talking to people, getting dressed and going somewhere even if it's just for a walk. Every day.

Also consider a psychologist/therapist. They can't prescribe meds even if they wanted to. Sometimes talking helps.

That's a good place to start.

Once you get that stuff nailed down, it becomes apparent that there are hundreds of different little tiny cogs spinning in your brain every day, and if you are used to being depressed, they will spin in the direction of keeping you that way.

At that point, it becomes a very delicate art of tweaks and self-rumination that pits your intellect versus your brain chemistry. If you're lucky and if you work hard and if you don't ever really stop, your intellect can win. But you can't ever stop.

Worth it?

For me, yes.

Hey Strange,

I'm a lot like you in that I am prone to bouts of depression and don't want to take medication. I am also a frequent visitor to "a series of unfortunate events" like somebody else said above. What helps me is to exercise, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, take vitamins (this helps me a lot for some reason) and avoid alcohol.

Seriously, alcohol makes me emotionally crazy. I love to drink, but I can't do it much anymore or at least for now because I'm in a bad space at the moment too. Avoid that shit like the plague if you don't already.

Finally, go see a therapist. It's expensive, but I find that even a couple sessions can help lift me up enough to crawl out of a hole or work through an issue. Talking to somebody who is not invested in your life helps you see things clearly.

Hope you feel better soon!

I don't know if it will help everyone or anyone besides me, but taking a vitamin D supplement has helped me for depression immensely.
I'm still anxious and neurotic and PMS half the month, but I do get two to three good weeks where before vit D I was lucky to get a whole good week a month.

Vit D is one you need to get your blood levels checked once or twice a year if you're taking a supplement. I live well above the 45th parallel, where they advise a supplement for everyone, PLUS I avoid sun exposure like the plague, it beats me down, beats me up, does horrid things to me.
So for all that avoidance of natural vit D production, I take 6000iu vit D3 every day, and two years apart I tested at 47 and 52 on a scale of 30-80. I'm going to keep at this dose until I get toward the higher end of the range, and then I will back off to 5000 or 4000.


I've also been started recently on a very low level of nortriptyline for pain and to help me sleep, but it also feels like it's turned down life's assault on my senses from 11 to something much more bearable.

I hope you find a solution, depression is a miserable monkey on the back.

Like Lillin says, you have to always be fighting it every day. My husband says when he gets depressed, he will wallow in it for a couple days and get it out of his system, but I don't think he's ever been chronically depressed. If I give in for "a few days", next thing I know, months have passed.
Good sleep, good nutrition, good self care, all help to some extent, but sometimes it can go on too long for anyone to bear despite your best efforts.
If you want to try herbal remedies, I like shopping at meridianbotanicals.com. He's got all kinds of things that can lift your spirits.

Like I said, I really hope you can get out of this bad spot. I've been there before, and may be there again.

Well, I've slept on it and am feeling slightly better about things. Actually managed to make myself get up and get dressed today, so that's a development at least! I guess venting here helped. Thanks for your suggestions, seriously.

I've been considering the exercise thing, it's just getting up the motivation to do it that's the thing. I'll definitely try going for walks regularly, 'cause so far I haven't been outside for the better part of a fortnight, which obviously isn't helping anything.

I'd actually managed to stave of an "episode" before this one. Maybe that's why this one's as bad as it is? You're right, though. I'll try talking to a counsellor about it. I had one when I was 15 and it didn't work too well, but that was ages ago now, so it's worth a try.

And you're right, I've had plenty of "unfortunate events", and I do stress about things. I'm really bad for dwelling on bad things/thoughts, and I'm a perfectionist on top of that so the slightest mistake causes stress. I've also got an extreme fear of failure. I'm working towards an art course at college right now, so trying to do my work perfectly is grating on me a bit.

satansbitch - Yeah, I guess my feelings have been downplayed a lot. I was never really "allowed" to be sad or angry as a child. Even now, if I show negative emotion I feel guilty, like I've done something I'm not supposed to. I'm sorry that you've been through that, too.

starbelly - I used to drink when I was depressed, but that would definitely end up in disaster, so I've sworn off booze altogether. I still get the urge sometimes but I haven't given in so far. Hope you get out of your bad patch, as well!

Thanks again for the help! to all of you!

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mypersonality.info

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it."
George Bernard Shaw

"An oyster can play catch if u only give it the oprotunity"
Some random YouTube commenter

"hate comments will be deleted!! fuckers!"
Some random YouTube uploader

I am on a small dose of antidepressants because for me they take the edge off of my depression without side effects (50mg of Zoloft, which is very tiny) but that is what works for me.

Also, if you have problems where you repress your emotions I would get a big ass sheet of paper and splatter paint all over it and get the shit out that way. Or buy a punching bag (I want to design a punching bag that makes noise when you hit it) and beat the shit out of that. However, I have trained myself to make my depression symptoms manifest as anger because anger is very easy for me to deal with in the gym.

Also, you might have to start working out (I go to the gym 6 days a week, and I notice problems when I skip a workout). You just have to say no matter what I will go to the gym at x time every day and make sure you do it for at least two weeks without skipping because then your body will get used to the routine.

Also, do not eat any food that has artificial ingredients in it. They make me physically ill and because I feel like shit I get depressed and start skipping workouts which makes everything worse. Factory farmed meat is bad because you are also eating the stress hormones released by the animals as they die.

Do not play video games or use any kind of electronic device more than you have to because they affect your brain chemistry in ways that people do not understand yet. I had an electric blanket that made my depression symptoms worse because it put off a massive EM field.

And cut out annoying fucks from your life.

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Snark Shark
what's wrong with drugs? I like mine! I should have been on them sooner.

If it works for you that's great. My concerns are that they can really screw you up and that doctors over prescribe these drugs to make more money and that the side effects are ugly. Look up something called tardive dyskinesia. It's not pretty.

I also feel these drugs haven't impacted society for the better. At one point in time a teacher would have told parents their kid was extra stubborn and to enroll him in football or something that would let him burn that off. These days that's labeled oppositional defiance disorder and the kid is given a drug that possibly screws him up for life. I don't feel that's an improvement.

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Snark Shark
what's wrong with drugs? I like mine! I should have been on them sooner.

I like my legal dope as well. However, the trick is finding the right one that does not fuck you up with side effects. Some will turn you in a land whale!

I was on Wellbutrim which is not noted for weight gain but it sure did make me want to off people. If I had access to a gun, I probably would've used it. Needless to say, I no longer take Wellbutrim. I'd rather not go to jail. I am on Celexa and Xanax and I am pleased with that so far though the Celexa seems to be losing its effectiveness. What are you on Sharky?

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"I have found little that is 'good' about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all."
~Sigmund Freud

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satansbitch
. Look up something called tardive dyskinesia. It's not pretty. .

Gov't Mule Thorazine Shuffle



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“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

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Snark Shark
what's wrong with drugs? I like mine! I should have been on them sooner.

I feel the same way.

My med helps me to actually live a NORMAL life instead of one where I want to drive the car in front of a speeding semi-tractor-trailer.

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I miss my little feather baby.

I've never been truly suicidal and I don't expect that I will actually ever kill myself, but in the last couple of months or so I've wondered whether it might really be the right answer to my depression and negativity and whatnot. It isn't the right answer, and I know that, but it's always tempting to go for the easy and quick fix.

Regarding 'legal dope', adderall is king. I love the fuck out of it. Heck yeah.

I've offended, disturbed, and flat-out hurt a few people just over this recent summer, because of the crap that's going on in my head; all you can really do is acknowledge that it happened, and focus on that it's not happening now. You dig yourself into a hole, or get dug into a hole - however you see or define it - and it becomes difficult to see back out, and so you react according to that narrowed perspective.

Best thing, IMHO, is just move forward, be forward-focused and don't dwell on the shit or blame yourself for it; it happened, it's not happening now. That is the best you can do. If people want to get hung up on it, that's their issue, not yours. But, if they do that, it's on you to not keep it going - be forward-focused and don't dig up the same trouble over and over again.

I self medicate with St John's Wort for seasonal depression. It's hitting me hard this year because I should have started at the beginning of October and I procrastinated until only a week ago. It takes about two weeks to become effective and I crashed and burned majorly yesterday. I had to fall back on my Lorazepam because I spent an entire day at work in a full blown anxiety attack that left me nearly useless and wanting to scream or cry all day.

But if your melancholy is more than just something superficial like mine, and something natural like st john's wort doesn't make a difference you NEED to go to a doctor for something stronger. I have found that SJW makes me have little to no appetite and after 5 months of taking it, I felt that I was losing more hair in the shower than normal.

Well, everything (not just the depression) got worse and now my mother's saying she'll pretty much drag me to the doctor. The fucking bitch is trying to get me sectioned, I know she is. She could have been planning this for ages for all I know.

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mypersonality.info

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it."
George Bernard Shaw

"An oyster can play catch if u only give it the oprotunity"
Some random YouTube commenter

"hate comments will be deleted!! fuckers!"
Some random YouTube uploader

crazycatlady, screaming and crying is exactly what I've been doing all day. And no, there's no way I'm going to a doctor about it. I don't trust doctors. Not that I trust the harpy I'm living with. Oh, did I mention she fucking kicked me? She said it was an accident - yeah right. She hates me and she always has, probably. The only thing stopping me from seriously considering suicide was guilt over how it'd make my parents feel, but you know what? Given how things have been until now, I think they'll get over it. Especially my mother. All this is her fault in the first place. It's like everyone in my life is conspiring to make me miserable. How do I know they're not? It would explain a lot, because my whole life's been like this. Every time things start getting better, something huge and horrible happens. If I believed in a god, I'd say he/she/it was laughing at me.

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mypersonality.info

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it."
George Bernard Shaw

"An oyster can play catch if u only give it the oprotunity"
Some random YouTube commenter

"hate comments will be deleted!! fuckers!"
Some random YouTube uploader

Aw man, I'm so sorry you're in such a bad place right now.
I had to take myself off to the doctor recently because it had been far too long anyways, but I struggle with massive anxiety all the time too. It's why I'd put off going for so long.
I described some of what I'm going through, and started crying like a moron, but the doctor was very kind in the moment. She sent me to the lab for a full work up, to make sure nothing is contributing physically, asked me three times over the appointment if I'd really never been on anything for anxiety. Nope, answers still no the third time too!
But she thought I might get some use out of a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, and started me out on 10mg. For depression, the doses are anywhere from 75 to 150mg.
Norepinephrine is related to anxiety, and I think I see why it works, the inhibitor, that is. Like, I'm too efficient at clearing it out of my brain, which causes my body to produce more, since I'm always in a state of alert. By inhibiting my brain clearing it out, there's more kicking around naturally and I don't have to make more myself, putting my body into further tension and side effects from so much of it running around the rest of me.

Seeing a doctor doesn't have to mean getting sectioned, it could just be to start treating you. But I understand where you're at too, not wanting to go at all.

I've been on Zoloft, celexa and welbutrin at various points in the past, and they might as well have been placebos, except for the withdrawals at the end...
But this one is Nortriptyline, an older tricyclic with primarily norepinephrine reuptake inhibition, but also a small amount of serotonin reuptake inhibition as well. I can take one when I feel a panic attack coming on, and it actually helps without making me feel dopey.

I hope you find something that helps you. I really mean that, doesn't have to be meds, I hate to know anyone is in such a bad place deep inside.

If you're hospitalised for wanting/trying to off yourself, can they make you take meds? That's what I'm afraid of. I really, REALLY hate doctors.

Not that my mother's threat worries me. I mean, I'm an adult. She can't actually make me see a doctor, can she?

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mypersonality.info

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it."
George Bernard Shaw

"An oyster can play catch if u only give it the oprotunity"
Some random YouTube commenter

"hate comments will be deleted!! fuckers!"
Some random YouTube uploader

I don't know all the ins and outs of what goes on, but if you get taken away by ambulance for being a danger to yourself or someone else, I'm pretty sure they'll zap you with a sedative of some sort. Mostly just to make you chill the fuck out and give yourself and everyone else a break.

Then I've heard of the 72 hour hold, they keep you for three days. I don't know what they do in that time frame, lots of evaluation hopefully, not so much drug therapy. But it would take some kind of court order to make you do anything longer than three days.

It sounds to me like you need to get away by yourself, describing her as a harpy...
But that's what I always did when things got unbearable, just run the fuck off into the woods.
Do you feel better by yourself? I need regular amounts of absolutely solitary alone time or I get just fucked up in the head. I do not understand today's society where people seem addicted to company. My mom was like that when I lived at home, always trying to interact with me like she was feeding off my attention. She couldn't stand that I didn't want her company.
I don't know, it's probably just me projecting my reactions onto what little you've written. I would be right where you are if I had to live with family though.

I don't think she can MAKE you go, but she can call people to come take you.

Do you want to try some herbs to help yourself out a little? My favorite herbalist is meridianbotanicals.com, but I know him from another website about kratom. The plant world has all my favorite intoxicants.

If you are still on her insurance and if she still has to pay for your care out of pocket I would do my very best to find the most expensive ritzy treatment center I can and threaten to not sign out of it for a month if she pisses you off. And get caviar and lobster every night. There are places like that..

A week with that bill, and she will leave you the fuck alone. And since you have in your records that you have attended expensive as fuck place if she does try to have you committed then since you have already developed a relationship with the doctors there it would be bad practice to have you go somewhere else. Remember, when dealing with people like that it is all about leverage and 10k out of pocked per night is extremely good leverage.

Or else if you have enough money move the fuck out. Your depression could be environmental, not chemical.

Your mother might be able to force you to see a doctor but you don't have to cooperate. If your mother had you on video threatening to hurt yourself or someone else you'd have reason to be concerned. You still have your civil rights. If she does force you to see a shrink remind the shrink of that. Can a psych ward force a patient to take meds? I honestly don't know. They can't in the US but if I'm not mistaken you're in Scotland. I know the laws are somewhat different there.

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mistress rotwang
If you are still on her insurance and if she still has to pay for your care out of pocket I would do my very best to find the most expensive ritzy treatment center I can and threaten to not sign out of it for a month if she pisses you off. And get caviar and lobster every night. There are places like that..

A week with that bill, and she will leave you the fuck alone. And since you have in your records that you have attended expensive as fuck place if she does try to have you committed then since you have already developed a relationship with the doctors there it would be bad practice to have you go somewhere else. Remember, when dealing with people like that it is all about leverage and 10k out of pocked per night is extremely good leverage.

Not really relevant in the UK, although highly relevant in the US.