Fighting Depression

[boomer]

did those threads discuss me? I thought not! So please excuse me whilst I put my own spin on it...and as a note yes I have read through some of them too

I am having my own rant here and you come to me and say it has been "extensively discussed" Well, so have a lot of other things too but does that stop new threads on those same subjects?

HTFU....!!! oh wait; my bad Wrong response.

Wanta cuddle??!

[Katman]

Hey, strangely enough, I'm with Boomer on this one.

The best person to get you through times of despair is yourself.

I've suffered periods of extreme depression in the past and what got me through it was saying "stop your fucking snivelling and harden the fuck up".

All the "poor you" and "here's a bosom to cry on" counts for nothing.

There's countless people out there with far more cause for grief than you.

[Ronin]

Don't mix St Johns Wort with Citalapram. One or the other. Never both. DAMHIK

[Bren]

Hey, strangely enough, I'm with Boomer on this one.

The best person to get you through times of despair is yourself.

I've suffered periods of extreme depression in the past and what got me through it was saying "stop your fucking snivelling and harden the fuck up".

All the "poor you" and "here's a bosom to cry on" counts for nothing.

There's countless people out there with far more cause for grief than you.

thats fair enough, and its your opinion. Sometimes it is good to just talk, and I am sure you would agree there. A forum is just another means of talking and getting things off yer chest. HTFU? Yup, I been doing that too, but it seems those issues are still there and I just built myself a wall....We all go through life in different ways and what works for you may not work for me...

[kiwifruit]

Well, it's been confirmed. I am suffering from Depression.

What do you eat, on a normal day?
How much exercise do you get?

[discotex]

IMO unless you are suicidal you should avoid SSRI's. Their level of effectiveness is barely over the placebo effect unless you're on the right one and the side effects can be nasty. They also take a long time to do anything. It takes 4-6 weeks.

A good psychologist (hard to find) is probably your best bet as they can work to the cause of your depression. That said you have to be willing to let it go which is easier said than done.

Just remember it will eventually pass if you refuse to let it win.

Good luck

[yungatart]

One day at a time Bren...thats all you (any of us) can do.
Know that there are people around you who care. Do something nice for yourself each day. Do something nice for someone else each day.
Come and visit for a weekend...and bring your riding gear!

[Burtha]

hope your feeling better today than yesterday from when you first posted

One day at a time, come to love rain - its soothing and overcast days can been relaxing so don't let winter get you down.

Guess what I'm saying is actively look for the upside to everything, it helps.
YOU CAN DO EET!

[86GSXR]

Hey Bren, sorry to hear you're going through this rough period. Otaki is a massive change from CH no doubting that. Come up here and take the Daytona for a spin! There will undoubtably be a chance in the next week or two.

[Anarkist]

Hey , my 10 cents, Try a natural remedy called St Johns Wort. They work well for depression

Do NOT take this advice. Saint Johns Wart in combination with anti-depressants is potentially a fatal combination as it can cause Serotonin syndrome

[Anarkist]

IMO unless you are suicidal you should avoid SSRI's. Their level of effectiveness is barely over the placebo effect unless you're on the right one and the side effects can be nasty. They also take a long time to do anything. It takes 4-6 weeks.

This isn't true either. If you're going to give this type of advice to people, you need to quote and verify your sources. Do your research, then build your opinion.

SSRI's are an effective treatment as many double blinded studies of a large groups of patients have proved.

The reason doctors prescribe these types of drug is because people suffering from clinical depression have a chemical inbalance in the brain, and unless you're a qualified doctor or a psychopharmacologist you don't really have a place to say otherwise.

[discotex]

This isn't true either. If you're going to give this type of advice to people, you need to quote and verify your sources. Do your research, then build your opinion.

SSRI's are an effective treatment as many double blinded studies of a large groups of patients have proved.

Ummm yeah which studies were those? Don't go telling me I need to quote sources and then not do it yourself.

How about you start by reading this:
http://www.mcmanweb.com/clinical_trials.html

and this:
http://zakstar.wordpress.com/2008/02...the-defensive/

Then go read this:
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/...l.pmed.0050045

Then they showed that there was virtually no difference in the improvement scores for drug and placebo in patients with moderate depression and only a small and clinically insignificant difference among patients with very severe depression.

In a nutshell unless you are being managed by a psychiatrist your results are likely to be similar to placebo but you will still get the horrible side effects.

The reason doctors prescribe these types of drug is because people suffering from clinical depression have a chemical inbalance in the brain, and unless you're a qualified doctor or a psychopharmacologist you don't really have a place to say otherwise.

And which of those two options are you that gives you any right to say?

SSRI's are indicated for a clinical diagnosis of depression. GP's are not qualified to make that diagnosis. Fact.

Doctors prescribe SSRI's because drug companies give them kickbacks not because they know what they're doing.

If the OP went to a psychiatrist and was prescribed SSRIs then that would be a different story.


Now get back in your hole unless you've got something helpful to say.

[Hans]

Yep. I'm in for a spanner day or somesuch. I'm up the coast so shouldn't be a problem. Meaningful activity is also a good one if you're depp'ed. PM me to organise something.

[Genestho]

What do you eat, on a normal day?
How much exercise do you get?

This is a good question...

Bren, sorry to hear you're in the pit.

Just in reference to Kiwifruits question...

I do suggest lots of excercise, and push yourself hard, get your heart pumping....the natural endorphins are good for you, even if you can't be bothered, try to think of the outcome, instantly gratifying, a boost, the natural high.

Food, If I don't eat enough good nutrients, I go downhill....

It's quite easy to not eat much at all, but if your diet has some fresh food, and good nutrients, that will assist positivity.

Do alot of things that make YOU happy, treat yourself to "me" time...

Although - no-one can tell you how to fix yourself, you just have to work out a plan, follow it through, and don't isolate yourself from the world for too long. (That's a big one)

EDIT: HTFU - is just a state of mind, anyone that's posted here knows that depression is the brains inability to produce the right chemicals (Or whatever I'm a layman, not a doctor).

HOWEVER, there is nothing wrong with setting yourself a HTFU Benchmark (if you like..)

Myself....I have two benchmarks, one was on 60 minutes last night...a good bugger I used to know was killed last year on his bike in Palmy.
That morning - his lady Steph found a lump in her breast, after work he was killed on his bike.
Without going too much into it, she now faces the possibility of Terminal Cancer - not long to live, and leaving her kids behind.
My second HTFU Benchmark, is a widow friend with 3 littlies under 5 at 33, her man having died from a massive heart attack in front of her at 34.

So, In my situation, I found benchmarks that make my life seem not so bad....maybe that idea can help you?
Also just know, that sometimes tomorrow will be better, quite often it is...

Goodluck!!!

[vifferman]

SSRI's are indicated for a clinical diagnosis of depression. GP's are not qualified to make that diagnosis. Fact.

Doctors prescribe SSRI's because drug companies give them kickbacks not because they know what they're doing.

I don't agree.
When I first went to my GP, he decided I was clinically depressed, as in the serotonin and whatnot in my brain was fucked up, and he was right (as confirmed later by a specialist psychiatrist). However, even though the SSRI he prescribed made a HUGE difference (as in, "WOW! I didn't realise how bad I was - now I feel.... normal!") I believe that even with the huge amount of research drug companies, neurologists, psychiatrists, pyschologists, et alia have done, they are only at the very tip of the iceberg as far as understanding how the human brain works, and that the drugs they are using are too crude and sledgehammer-like in operation.
I wish I'd done my own research (had to do a shitload of it anyway, along the way, to find out about side-effects and whatnot), and taken it very gently, carefully, and investigated ALL options.
Yes, I went to psychiatrists, all of whom were USELESS (and VERY expensive), and wanted to try me on even weirder and more dangerous drugs. One even decided (because he was an 'expert' on bipolar disorders, and even though my symptoms and answers to a detailed questionnaire said I wasn't bipolar, that I WAS, and then prescribed me epilepsy drugs. (I'm very grateful for that, because it finally got me to kick drugs entirely, and try to sort it out on my own).

SSRIs can help give someone to get through a sever bout of depression, especially if it's mainly circumstantial (and partly neurochemical) in origin. But they're over-prescribed, not because GPs get kickbacks, but because they're seen as being effective, almost a panacea for all ills.

It's a pity in some ways, that the "old fashioned" 'feel-good' drugs were addictive and abused so widely in the old days. I think for many people, a little bit of Dr Feelgood is all they probably need to get them on their feet again. For others, at the moment, scraping by from day-to-day is the best we can hope for.

If this is rambling and seems nonsensical, I blame the drugs. I used to make more sense, and be sharper and more lucid. Now I kinda know what I want to say, but can't find the exact words.