Depression

[piscinin]

Anny, get your GP to refer to both a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist. Both know much less than they let on but will provide you with the tools to find your own answer. Depression is too complex and too personal for anything other than professional advice to be much use.

[Anny Road]

To be honest mate I can't be arsed.

[zigackly]

To be honest mate I can't be arsed.

 

My advice would be don't let it get to the point where there's no choice.

 

I doubt you need to go down the route of a GP referral to two different medical professionals because it seems you're getting on with the shit you need to. What would be the harm in trying a bit of counselling though? No-one has to know about it, but it might just help you.

 

The biggest thing I have learned through my breakdown is not to be afraid to ask for help.

 

Completely your choice though mate. You're the only one has to live in your brain.

[Champ]

Anny, get your GP to refer to both a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist. Both know much less than they let on but will provide you with the tools to find your own answer. Depression is too complex and too personal for anything other than professional advice to be much use.

 

To be honest mate I can't be arsed.

 

Which, given the other things you have described, suggests that, for whatever reason, you may well have depression

[piscinin]

To be honest mate I can't be arsed.

 

In which case popping pills is probably not going to do you a lot of good. Unless lactation etc is something you've always wanted to try.

 

Another option is to get them to switch you to Zoloft, take it with some spliff and pseudoephedrine.

[piscinin]

Which, given the other things you have described, suggests that, for whatever reason, you may well have depression

 

I assumed that was a semi-decent joke.

[Captain Turdseye]

Anny Road, get it sorted lad. I've swerved this thread since it came about because depression led to the worst moment in mine and my whole families lives. I'm not comfortable really posting it on here but I'll give it a go, thinking it may make some of you feel differently.

 

My auntie, who was always more of a mother to me than my own ma, killed herself on Bonfire Night 4 years ago. She displayed plenty of the symptoms that Zig posted further up but she was so adamant about what she did and didn't want us to do for her. Towards the end she was just holed up in her bedroom, not eating much, drinking heavily and never really leaving the house. She was easily the funniest woman I've ever known and she'd give anybody anything, which makes it harder to understand why she did what she did. She'd tried all sorts of tablets and we'd tried all sorts of things to get her out and about but she never wanted any of it. Missed doctors appointments were a regular occurance. She hung herself on the upstairs landing while I was in one of the bedrooms, must have been there for half an hour before I found her, I didn't hear a thing. I still have nightmares and flashbacks now and miss her more than I could ever put into words. She left behind a husband and two little girls and that guilt fucking kills me every day no matter how much other family members tell me it shouldn't. The whole family was ripped apart by it, a lot of blame thrown around, some of us will never speak again.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, nip it in the bud before it gets too far. If it could happen to my auntie, who a year or two before was the friendliest, funniest, kindest, most outgoing and strong minded person you could hope to meet, it could happen to anybody. Depression is fucking deadly and anyone that says otherwise is a gobshite.

[Champ]

I assumed that was a semi-decent joke.

 

AR's post or mine?

[zigackly]

Because there is still a lot of stigma attached to it, many people think they can't ask for help and will just get over it eventually, or think they should be stoic and not talk about their problems with someone else. CT's story is sadly not all that unusual. It's not an untreatable condition except in extremely rare cases, but it won't usually get better on it's own. It's an imbalance of the mind, and to balance it, the mind needs treatment, not just the body. Drugs can undoubtedly help, but not on their own. Drugs and talking therapy is far and away the most effective combination, but the drugs are just palliative.

Edited February 23, 2013 by zigackly

[Champ]

Anny Road, get it sorted lad. I've swerved this thread since it came about because depression led to the worst moment in mine and my whole families lives.

 

Words cannot convey what a horrible horrible story that is, CT. You cannot imagine how low your auntie must have been to hang herself so close to the people that loved her so much. My heart goes out to you

[piscinin]

AR's post or mine?

 

AR's.

[SCOUSE TAPAS]

So going by the list then it means every teenager is depressed.

At least three quarters of them symptoms you have through puberty.

[Captain Turdseye]

Words cannot convey what a horrible horrible story that is, CT. You cannot imagine how low your auntie must have been to hang herself so close to the people that loved her so much. My heart goes out to you

 

Thanks, Cath. You just get yourself better, life's too short, try and fucking enjoy it while it's here. x

[zigackly]

So going by the list then it means every teenager is depressed.

At least three quarters of them symptoms you have through puberty.

 

I didn't, I was too busy getting wasted and trying to get laid.

[piscinin]

Because there is still a lot of stigma attached to it, many people think they can't ask for help and will just get over it eventually, or think they should be stoic and not talk about their problems with someone else. CT's story is sadly not all that unusual. It's not an untreatable condition except in extremely rare cases, but it won't usually get better on it's own. It's an imbalance of the mind, and to balance it, the mind needs treatment, not just the body. Drugs can undoubtedly help, but not on their own. Drugs and talking therapy is far and away the most effective combination, but the drugs are just palliative.

 

There are lots of different types of depression. In lots of cases the drugs are more than just palliative.

[zigackly]

There are lots of different types of depression. In lots of cases the drugs are more than just palliative.

 

Perhaps I should have put mostly. My point is anyway that they are far and away more effective in combination with therapy, and not taking that option is going to render them ineffective in the long term a lot of the time, unless there is a diagnosis of a purely physical cause. The mind is affected by the brain and vice versa, but most depression has it's roots in the mind.

[Section_31]

It's interesting the different types of depression you encounter, I've seen a lot with family and friends. Some of it obviously medical, a lot environmental too. I find a lot of very intelligent/creative people seem to suffer with it, especially when they're frustrated in life. They tend to 'think too much' and take too much onboard, both in their own lives and in others/the world. As the old adage goes, where there's no sense there's no feeling.

 

I don't know if I'm depressed or not but I feel constantly bored. Nothing, and I mean nothing, really interests me to any great degree. Although I've never been actively suicidal, I have moments where I feel like I've seen it all, like I've been alive for 100 years and that going one place on holiday is the same as going to the place you went last time, or that forming a relationship with one person will be the same as the last one you had, like everything is essentially the same old shit but with minor tweaks.

[piscinin]

Perhaps I should have put mostly. My point is anyway that they are far and away more effective in combination with therapy, and not taking that option is going to render them ineffective in the long term a lot of the time, unless there is a diagnosis of a purely physical cause. The mind is affected by the brain and vice versa, but most depression has it's roots in the mind.

 

Depression is multi-factorial. What's most effective for any individual is determined by a correct diagnosis and monitoring of the treatment.

 

I take it CBT worked well for you, no?

[Spy Bee]

Depression doesn't exist, it's just one of these made up medical explanations for why people feel sad. They normally feel sad because their life isn't everything they want it to be. I'd suggest the best way to get rid of 'depression' is to get your life a lot closer to the way that you would like it to be.

 

I think they should have an acronym for depression. They do for most other made up illnesses, like SAD, ADHD, ME, MS and AIDS.

 

I can't believe this is still getting me negs! Depressed people are a touchy bunch!

[Captain Turdseye]

I can't believe this is still getting me negs! Depressed people are a touchy bunch!

 

Haha. I'd never opened this thread before today so just flicked back a couple of pages to catch up and yours was the first post I read. I negged you before I read on and noticed you were joking, that's just how I roll.

 

Deal with it.

[piscinin]

It's interesting the different types of depression you encounter, I've seen a lot with family and friends. Some of it obviously medical, a lot environmental too. I find a lot of very intelligent/creative people seem to suffer with it, especially when they're frustrated in life. They tend to 'think too much' and take too much onboard, both in their own lives and in others/the world. As the old adage goes, where there's no sense there's no feeling.

 

I don't know if I'm depressed or not but I feel constantly bored. Nothing, and I mean nothing, really interests me to any great degree. Although I've never been actively suicidal, I have moments where I feel like I've seen it all, like I've been alive for 100 years and that going one place on holiday is the same as going to the place you went last time, or that forming a relationship with one person will be the same as the last one you had, like everything is essentially the same old shit but with minor tweaks.

 

You need a dose of the american dream.

[Champ]

 

You need a dose of the american dream.

 

Or God in your life

[zigackly]

I take it CBT worked well for you, no?

 

No, I thought it was a load of shite. What ultimately worked for me was a combination of medication, talking therapy, and doing voluntary work in the community which helped me feel good about myself.

 

I've said any number of times in this thread that depression is different for everyone, but the available evidence tells us that a combination of medication and therapy is the most effective treatment by far. Telling someone drugs alone can help them is wrong in most cases, unless the cause of the depression is purely physical, which is why I will continue to state that treating an illness of the mind generally requires a component of treatment for the mind.

 

It certainly won't hurt anyone even if they don't need it, but leaving it out might very well if they do.

[zigackly]

By the way piscinin, I'm genuinely not into having a pissing contest about this. It's too serious a subject. I just deeply regret that too many people don't try counselling because they think admitting to mental illness is a sign of weakness. I wouldn't admit I was depressed for years, and after my breakdown I didn't even tell my partner until I had been signed off work for six weeks, and didn't tell the rest of my family or any friends for six months. Amongst middle aged British men with a working class background in particular, it is very difficult for people to accept that kind of help but very easy to pop a few pills and hope it will blow over. In most cases, that won't work.

[piscinin]

No, I thought it was a load of shite. What ultimately worked for me was a combination of medication, talking therapy, and doing voluntary work in the community which helped me feel good about myself.

 

Interesting. I thought it was the most effective treatment for depression centered on low self-worth. What talking therapy did they use if it wasn't CBT?

 

I've said any number of times in this thread that depression is different for everyone, but the available evidence tells us that a combination of medication and therapy is the most effective treatment by far. Telling someone drugs alone can help them is wrong in most cases, unless the cause of the depression is purely physical, which is why I will continue to state that treating an illness of the mind generally requires a component of treatment for the mind.

 

It certainly won't hurt anyone even if they don't need it, but leaving it out might very well if they do.

 

And I've heard you each time. I just like to emphasize, that in this field where so little is actually known, that generalizations based on statistical meta-analyses of self-diagnoses are of significantly less value than specific diagnosis and monitored treatment. The difference between effective in most cases and most effective in a specific case can be vast. It's why the clinicians guides in this field run into thousands of pages.