Am i the only depressed person not on anti-depressants?

[Gothic Sponge]

My therapist doesn't think i need them. I wouldn't want them even if recommended. Just seems like so many people are on these.

[caledesi]

1. Well let's put it this way....depression runs in my family, but I

USED to be one of the lucky ones only depressed here and there for a day or two. Not anymore. I take Zoloft (it's pretty mild and has less side effects than other antidepressants) and what a difference! It's not like you are happy all the time, but your "old self" comes back before the depression and you don's sweat the small things.

Do something. No one needs to feel down all the time. Horrible way to live...been there and never going back.

Good luck.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

19. Omega threes, DHA. n/t

[flamingyouth]

2. No, you're not

Well, my problem is anxiety more than depression, although the two often go hand in hand.:hi:

[carpe_vinum]

3. I'm on an "anti-depressant," but I'm not depressed

Does that make sense? I'm on serafem because of PMS, but it seems to have resolved my all-body myalgia. Thank you seratonin levels. Go figure!

Actually, I do know several people in counseling for depression who have not been prescribed meds. Depends on the degree of symptoms and the counselor.

[tarkus]

29. Me too! I am on Paxil for migraines. NM

[WindRavenX]

4. depends

Our society has seen a tragic shift from acknowledging the reality of the world and accepting the pain that does in fact come with accepting the reality of this world to medicating EVERYONE for ANYTHING. Depression, severe depression, needs medication. But I've seen too many people who do not have severe depression just get meds because they do not want to deal with the world and deal with the pain.
There's a difference between the type of depression that does need medication and the normal, ups and downs that comes with living in this world.
For some people, medication does help the severe depression that hinders quality of life due to chemical imbalances. The other types of depression, IMHO, are best dealt with groups and finding ways to to understand one's feelings that are not chemically based.

[AndyTiedye]

11. Looks Like a Lot of DU'ers Cured their Depression by Watching the Debate

[WindRavenX]

15. heh

Mighty fine observation ;)

[skygazer]

5. I'm not on them

I've suffered from depression for many years and I've taken antis before but do not anymore. I found they helped me stay alive when I was in a really bad place but they did nothing to make me feel happy. I just didn't feel like killing myself.

I would take them again if I got to the point where I felt like I needed them but I don't feel that way now. I've found that by adjusting my life a bit to accommodate the fact that I'm stark, raving mad, I'm able to function just fine. Those adjustments include things like refusing to get into an argument with a loved one without stepping away from the altercation for at least 24 hours - in that way, I have time to decide if I have a valid argument or if I'm just overreacting. That's just an example - I think it's a case of what works for the individual.

If your therapist thinks you don't need them, you probably don't. What I disliked about them was the way they dulled my creativity. I didn't just try one and quit, either. I was on several different ones and they did make a difference in the depression but caused other problems.

[ogradda]

no you're not

i've been prescribed those things and never found a kind that didn't make it worse. my mom has the same problem.

[ogradda]

6. deleted

double post sorry.

[Lady Effingbroke]

7. Good for you for not wanting to take anti-depressants.

It must be more difficult to deal with life without taking anti-depressants, but maybe better for you not to take them and work through your difficulties without taking anti-depressants. Perhaps in your case they would just exacerbate your problems?

I'm new to DU, but from reading many of the threads that you have started, you seem like a very nice, sweet guy with a great sense of humor.

Hugs for Gothic_Sponge!!! :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

Hang in there. I'm glad to read that you are seeing a therapist, and also glad to know that he/she is not pushing anti-depressants upon you and leaving that decision up to you.

[Gothic Sponge]

9. Thank you Lady Effingbroke!

You are so sweet! :hug:

[Shoeempress]

8. No I think everyone is depressed. And why shouldn't they be?

Bad jobs only ones available, bad war with no end in sight, dollar not worth a damn, lying government run by profiteers, media lying about the profiteers, actual mad men allowed to kill 3000 people and face no consequences, sounds pretty depressing to me.

[skygazer]

13. There's a difference between being depressed

and being clinically depressed. When you're clinically depressed, there is generally no real outer reason you feel the way you do. That's why it's so difficult to deal with - all your friends point out all the things you have to be happy and grateful for, and you know that, but somehow you are still walking around with a black cloud hanging over you. It's a completely different thing.

It's hard to be the friend of a depressive because you get sick of their seeming wallowing in gloom and wash your hands of them. You do your best to make them feel better and they don't. It sucks.

For some people, the condition is temporary. For some, it's chronic. When that's the case, life can be like looking down a long, dark corridor with no light in sight. Been there. No fun. It wasn't because of jobs or economics or what my kids were doing in school. It was in my brain.

[DIKB]

10. Realization

I'm often depressed (runs in the family) yet not on medication. What's sad is there are people (religious fanatics) that suffer as well and avoid the medication based on faith. Scientologists don't believe in it either, to my knowledge.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

21. Link... this WILL blow you away.. and probably your

depression as well.

http://www.n3inc.com/mentalhealth.html

[Nikia]

25. I rarely eat fish

I don't like the taste. Are there other ways to get these chemical naturually? Should I be taking supplements?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

34. Now you are on the right track... THANK YOU for asking... link

www.dhadepot.com

Learn about this.... help yourself, help others. There is no guarantee here.... and there is no danger.... the possibilities and the OTHER health benefits from DHA and the Omega Three fats are too many to count...

They positively affect inflammation, cardiovascular health, skin disorders such as excema, Blood Pressure, Immune System Balance, and on and on and on and on.....

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi
Enter the condition of your choice in this search window... along with either DHA or Omega Threes and see what pops up. You will be happy that you did.

Example: Enter DHA Depression and see the research papers showing the relationship between low levels of DHA in the U.S. population and depression.... genetics can also play a role in the conversion and metabolization of DHA and its relatives.... so it may be something you need to check out... many people do... few are told about it.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

40. Omega 3s...

are pure brain food (brain lube, I call it) and a natural anti-depressent. It is theororized that they "lube" the brain, making elctrical/chemical transmitions easier. As mentioned, they are found in fish, but can also be found in flax seed oil.

I am a vegetarian who takes 1 tbl of oil a day to help with mood.

Studies have shown that it works with mild-moderate depression, and that use can increase the efficacy of anti-depressents. Dose is between one and three tablespoons a day, with a note that bipolar folks should be cautious because large doses can cause a manic epsiode.

Also another thing to consider when looking at long term, low grade depression is your cholesterol level.

There are studies out linking low cholesterol (below 160) and chronic depression. Cholesterol is another of those "brain lubes" that is neccessary for brain health. My level is 117 and has been on the decrease for years. The doctors love it, but I know that healthy cholesterol is a must.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

42. I think of all the poor elderly people who were conned into taking

statin drugs.... I remember when I was studying this sort of thing.... that I found Merck had a patent for adding Coenzyme Q10 to statin drugs... and shelved it. What responsible people.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14695927
Statin cardiomyopathy? A potential role for Co-Enzyme Q10 therapy for statin-induced changes in diastolic LV performance: description of a clinical protocol.

>>Those patients demonstrating > 1 measurement of diastolic LV function that worsened during the 3 to 6 months of statin therapy will be supplemented with CoQ10 300 mg. daily for 3 months. A followup echocardiogram and blood CoQ10 level will be measured in patients who received CoQ10 supplementation.<<


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/352216.stm

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center carried out personality trait measurements on 121 young women aged 18 to 27.

They found that 39% of the women with low cholesterol levels scored high on personality traits signalling they were prone to depression, compared to 19% of women with normal or high levels of cholesterol.

In addition, one in three of the women with low cholesterol levels scored high on anxiety indicators, compared to 21% of women with normal levels.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

39. Fish!

Go to the sushi bar regularly and stay happy? Me likes it!

Mmmmmm hot Philadelphia rolls

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

41. Grrreat, now I'm OD'd on sushi

Of course I HAD to have lunch at a sushi rodízio after reading that. *BURRRRRRP*

[Swede]

12. GS are you depressed long term?

I'm never down for more than a day or two,I couldn't imagine it,if it went on longer.

[Gothic Sponge]

20. To be honest

I've been down most of my life. I'm not self-destructive, or anything. I function day to day. Most people don't even know i suffer with depression. I hide it well, because i don't like being someone that drags out any emotional baggage. To the contrary, i'm usually the guy that always cracks jokes, and everyone seems to come to me to talk about their problems. My only visible quirk is i'm a bit of a recluse.

[Swede]

23. You sound like me.

Take the Myers-Briggs test,it may help you understand yourself better.

http://keirsey.com/personality/nfip.html



http://209.15.29.56/myersbriggs/personhome.htm

[autorank]

14. Anti depressants help a lot of people. If you are in a constant...

state of low grade depression or worse (you being anyone who reads this message), you may want to consider giving them a shot along with therapy (the two together work better than either alone for depression). A couple of hitches: if you are bipolar or have an underlying psychosis, the 'Prozac family' (Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro) may very well kick in a manic or psychotic episode. The key is your willingness to give it a shot and a competent psychiatrist (who takes a real history including family). Given the prospects of living in misery when there may be a solution plus the much higher suicide rate for untreated depression, it is worth keeping an open mind. I wouldn't worry too much about what you read in the press. Their idea about covering mental health is to devote 70% of their space to the so-called 'false memory' controversy over the last 1/2 of the 90's and almost nothing to the wave of actual child abuse. It's your choice.

[drb]

16. Powdermilk biscuits....

Chemical imbalance runs in my family. And I've spent too many hours at work just staring at the computer screen with an empty knot in my stomach.

They're kinda like Garrison Keilor's "Powdermilk Biscuits: They give shy people the strength to get up and do what needs to be done."

[Chovexani]

17. Nope

With no insurance I can't even afford a therapist much less pills.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

18. I don't want to take them either .

[Nikia]

22. Medication doesn't make your problems go away

I mean I suppose that it could help some problems go away such as if you are having trouble doing the things you need to do because of your mood or because you are lonely but avoiding people. Some of us are haunted by real issues though that aren't going to just go away.
Feeling is human and if we can't feel bad about situations that happened to us or are happening to us than can we fully learn from them or feel good about situations either.
I feel that I sinking towards depression. While it may be based somewhat on brain chemistry, I know that it is based on irrational beliefs about myself and my world which makes it difficult to deal with the stressful situations before me. Until I can fully believe that these thoughts that haunt me are irrational, I will not get better. They will still be there because I have repeated these harmful statements many times in my mind. I know from experience that antidepressents (having tried a few with my anxiety disorders and recently ibs) will just make me ill and numb. I haven't told my doctor yet that I suspect that I am becoming depressed. In our HMO, they always prescribe something.
I think that the growing numbers of the depressed does have something to do with how things are now. As I explained to a friend about my depressed feelings, I thought about what I feared most of death and I realized that it was that when we die, regardless of the possibilities of reincarnation or the afterlife, that there are no more dreams to be fullfilled and there is no future for who I am. I started becoming saddened and depressed when I realized that even though I am alive that I cannot possibily think that I will fullfill most of my dreams. I fear that there is no future for me in this life. Because of my health, my financial situation, my dislike of my current job and inability to get a new one, my husband's depression, among other things, I feel this more intensely. Really though, I have been feeling this since 9/11 and its aftermath. Antidepressents won't convinve me that I have a future.

[miss_kitty]

24. no I have had therapists ask if I've thought of taking anti-depressants?

That is depressing. It's ALSO big Pharma BULLSHIT!

There are a lot of things most people can do to get over or ease depression w/o going the drug route. Exercise, diet, meditation etc. While I was going through therapy over the huge ass life change this cancer bullshit put me through, I got asked that. It was met with a resounding "FUCKING THE FUCK NO!!!!" How am I supposed to tell what is a symptom of illness and what is a symptom of drug?

That said, there are plenty of people for whom depression is such an overwhelming dark cloud due to severe imbalance in brain chemistry, it is their only choice...but the rest of us, we can handle it. fuck zoloft et al...

[sundog]

26. nope

I get depressed as hell sometimes, but I won't take medications.

I tried once when I was younger (prozac) and it made me feel absolutely terrible.

It's all about knowing how your own mind works.

I don't dig shrinks either. What can another person really tell you about your own soul?

I self-medicate with some herb occasionally, but that's about it.

I'm all about digging into my own soil for the answers that only I possess.

At 33, I know how to ride through a depression-- where & when & why it's there, etc.

Know yourself. That's the best you can do. That's strength.

[Gothic Sponge]

28. I don't like going to shrinks either.

I was a psychology major in college, and i always refereed to them as "Mental Prostitutes." However, lately i been in need of a prostitute. ;)

[samplegirl]

32. Try good vitamins

Alot of B vitamins they seem to help

[Gothic Sponge]

33. I take B vitamins, but thanks!

[tigereye]

35. a good one can help you find some strategies

they do help a lot of people. Think of it as a tune-up. Tune up your car and sometimes your psyche. :)

[ocean girl]

27. As one who has suffered from clinical depression,

I'd like to make an observation and a suggestion.

I have lost 5 friends to suicide who were depressed and refused to take medication. Some of us need it and that's that.

Secondly, if you think you are depressed, you may want to check out the symptoms of Adult ADD. I understand that many people (children) are over-medicated for this issue, but being treated for ADD as a 50+year-old woman has changed my life dramatically and wonderfully.

My Doc says I have the "chicken and egg syndrome" - he's not sure which condition came first but I'm grateful that I was open-minded enough to try the meds. Accepting my diagnosis took a long time, though.

Live and let live, that's my motto.

Peace.

[Carolinian]

30. IMHO, if you're sleeping OK you probably don't need medication, but

maybe you will find these suggestions helpful:

1. Find something to do that is physical - walk, rake your yard, paint your apartment - any sort of exercise helps to keep the brain chemistry in check.
2. Water is nature's tranquilizer so drink plenty of it.
3. Now is the time to be gentle and kind with yourself. Long luxurious bubble baths - a cup of hot tea - paint your nails - listen to some mellow music - anything that soothes and comforts you.
4. Doing something with your hands is therapeutic - art, needlework.
5. Watch what you are thinking. Negative thoughts can spiral out of control. Work with your therapist on this.

In time it all works out, so be strong.

[samplegirl]

31. God i think i've tryed all of them

None of them ever seemed to work for me. I tryed both new ones
Effexor & Lexapro...........and they both made me have panic.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

36. i get really annoyed that people who are doing something

to relieve their depressed are maligned as though they were somethign wrong in taking medication for a medical condition

[Dukkha]

37. I'm right there with you

I got depression real bad to the point where I feel like I won't make it within 5 years. But I hear nothing but bad things about anti-depressants and I'm afraid they will just make my condition worse. I wouldn't even know how to get on them. I seriously haven't seen a doctor in 18 years. So I just ride it out alone for now. I've had it most of my life and I've never had treatment of any kind. It would come and go in the past but now it's very constant. Having ADD on top of that doesn't help.

So from another Goth Musician, you're not alone. I believe there is no quick fix. It's like being an alcoholic, you'll never be 100% cured and you'll have to deal with it you're whole life.

[demnan]

38. Your therapist must know what's best for you

but I'd keep an open mind and be willing to try new things if the situation warrants it.

[liontamer]

43. Why wouldn't you want them even if they were recommended?

Are you against all drugs are just one's for mental illness?