Depression

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by jc morrison on February 9, 2009 at 12:21am

pseudoscience - noun -- an activity resembling science but based on fallacious assumptions

and thusly are religions and every type of nonsense justified. you do realize that homeopathy was developed in a time when people thought you could dilute a substance indefinitely, don't you?

homeopathy is bunk.

Permalink Reply by Rosemary LYNDALL WEMM on February 9, 2009 at 5:44pm

Some people have permanent insulin problems (diabetes type 1). Some people have permanent episodic neuro-electrical problems (epilepsy). Some people have permanent neuro-chemical problems (some types of clinical depression). I am afraid added chemicals are required in all three cases if you want to live a near-normal life. Sadly, like most medications, they all have unwanted side-effects which have to be weighed against the serious effects of the disorders they treat.

There are lots of different reasons why people may be permanently clinically depressed. I presume you have had the medicos check them all out (thyroid, adrenals, etc.) If not, then you need to be screened for the usual and less-than-usual suspects. If you have insufficient secretion or response to one or more hormones then you need to take supplements for these (and anti-depressant medication may be inappropriate or only required at some points).

If you have a neuro-transmitter insufficiency or lack of response then the best treatment, at the moment, is one or a combination of the various anti-depressant medications. What is not known is that some of them fail to work after a while and you need to take a medication break while, for instance, you liver resets its tolerance. (That is an over-simplification of a complex process).

It sounds to me as if you need access to a top notch neuro-psyciatrist who will let you try out a range of these medications until you find some that work without or with tolerable side-effects.

It also sounds as if you need to rethink your attitude to your disability. It might be annoying to feel dependent on neuro-transmitter agonists or protagonists, but it should be no more irritating than accepting, for example, that you need to take insulin supplements, anti-hypertensives or cholesterol lowering medication for the rest of your life. Be thankful, if you can, that you do not have OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) and have to sleep with a CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) machine for the rest of your life in order to prevent the effects of nightly oxygen starvation on the brain.

I, too, have a history of recurrent clinical depression. In my case (which is almost certainly different from your unique case) I find that a supposedly sub-clinical dose of one of two SSRIs prevents me from sliding downhill. When I go on drug holidays I slowly slide downhill until my husband pulls me up and suggests that it is time to restart the medication. I have not had a serious case of depression for over twenty years now.

Permalink Reply by Sean T. on February 9, 2009 at 6:52pm

I seem to have a problem with my dopamine reuptake, as Wellbutrin is the only drug that has worked for me.

Permalink Reply by Rosemary LYNDALL WEMM on February 10, 2009 at 1:17am

Interesting. I also appear to have a dopamine (rather than a serotonin) problem. At least we are protected from the opposite problem. I can't recall whether that is Parkinson's or a type of Schizophrenia. Whatever.

Permalink Reply by Sean T. on February 14, 2009 at 5:15pm

I believe that would be Schizophrenia. I'm on the fence about taking medication again. I called a few doctors, but they don't seem to be accepting new patients at the moment. I'm not sure if I'm ready to take medication again anyway.

Permalink Reply by Pam on February 15, 2009 at 4:43am

Long term depression is not unusual- I also suffer from it- one of the methods in clearing it up (somewhat) is to take anti-depressants for a year or more PAST the point where you fell better.

If you do not want to take medication then have you explored psychotherapy? I do long-term psychotherapy with kids and have also embarked on therapy myself as part of my training- and also as a result of having depression for most of my life - psychotherapy can help you explore the underlying reasons for your feelings and thoughts and may be able to help you dig your way out of them- however- a quick fix solution is also CBT - something that i do not like because I am a psychotherapist at heart :) but which a lot of people find very useful in altering their negative thought patterns that can lead to continued depression. I have seen both methods work and use both methods in my practice

Permalink Reply by Sean T. on February 15, 2009 at 2:15pm

I've tried therapy in the past, but it was always an awful and unproductive experience. The only thing that I ever learned from it is that I have a problem with commitment and that I truly cannot trust anyone. I finally stopped going a few years ago when I arrived at the therapist's office for my appointment only to find that it was closed, the lights off and the door locked. After the third time in a row of this, I just stopped making appointments altogether. Months later, this same office tried to bill me for something I already payed. It took even more months to get that straightened out, only to find that they had incorrectly written down my health insurance information. Soon after that, I received a letter in the mail stating that their office had gone out of business, not that I cared at that point. The therapists I tried before them were equally unpleasant, but that was the last straw.

Depression has destroyed me. It has made me an empty shell of a man, and I use the term "man" loosely as I barely feel human at all anymore. I only feel alive when I'm in pain or intoxicated. I can't remember what it feels like to enjoy things, to feel pleasure or to be excited about something. I have no motivation, no goals, no hopes or dreams. I do almost everything out of habit. I don't know what I want out of life. I just know that I want to want more. Having never been in any kind of relationship before, I sometimes think about women and wonder if something like me has any business even speaking to them. Don't get me wrong, though. I have been living with my depression all these years, fighting it as best I can. I don't actually enjoy things, but I've learned to appreciate the beauty of the world, with no preconceived meanings attached. I wake up everyday and go to work. I come home and fight the boredom as much as my short attention span will allow. Having a sense of humor really helps a lot. I'm not entirely sure that I'm even ready to feel normal human emotions at this point in my life, but it looks like pills may be my only chance.

Permalink Reply by Rosemary LYNDALL WEMM on February 15, 2009 at 4:27pm

No wonder your psychotherapist went out of business! It's a wonder they weren't deregistered/delicensed.

Permalink Reply by Sean T. on February 15, 2009 at 4:30pm

They might have been for all I know.

Permalink Reply by Tedster on February 17, 2009 at 2:21am

Talk therapy has been a mixed bag for me. Couldn't understand what I was gaining, went through periods where I didn't bother. A twist, I have a BA in Psychology. But there was finely a break through, and that was when for the first time, I revealed in an intake for a therapist that I had desires to take the exit.

That landed me in an appointment to see a triage therapist, got diagnosed with ADHD, and depression, though before, I was always dysthymic.

I think some of use are much harder then others to figure out, largely for the same reasons that make us what we are.

Permalink Reply by Sean T. on March 2, 2009 at 10:32am

I've just started taking pills again this past week. I'll give them another try.

Permalink Reply by Rosemary LYNDALL WEMM on March 2, 2009 at 10:49am

Good! Keep us posted on how you are doing, right?

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