My dear BratMan, I am so glad that you recognize what’s been bothering you, and are seeking help for it. It takes a very mature person to admit that, and to share it with all of your friends here must have been kinda hard as well.
We’re all here for you. I can’t add anything that hasn’t already been said; especially about the exercise and seeing the right counselor for you, if possible. Seeing the problem is at least half the battle.
Take care, my friend, and feel free to call me anytime. Or email me, or yell or whatever.
Ok, Ok, I’ll give it a shot. I don’t live far from a high school, and I guess I could go running on their track after school hours or maybe play racquetball on their courts or something. I’ll try it tonight and see how I feel.
You know, this would be a great title for a phsyc book. Next to, theJoys of Depression.
Having grown up in a very depressed family, my mom is on paxil and goes to therapy. She is doing great and wishes she had done so years and years ago. Brat, you are taking the right step in healing yourself.
Remember my favorite quote, (by me) " All of my problems are from the neck up."
Ditto to what everyone said about exercize and congrats on seeing a professional, plus if you like to do the research, there are some excellent books on depression. Two of the best are Feeling Good by David Burns, MD, which is a cogntive-behavioral workbooky approach to depression and (Something)Darkness by Kathy Cronkite, which is a compliation of famous people’s experiences with depression. Both are very helpful and very affirming.
Hi, I’m pluto and I sometimes suffer from depression.
My experience is similar to those described here. Yes, it sounds like you’re depressed.
For me, counseling was helpful but not enough. My counselor referred me to a psychiatrist who prescribed medication. The combination of medication and counseling was what worked for me.
Effective treatment for depression can be idiosyncratic. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. As a friend of mine said, “That’s why they call it ‘practicing’ medicine.” That’s also why you’ll get widely varying opinions about what works and what doesn’t. Some people hate medication, others (like me) found it made all the difference. But it took a while to find a fit, both with counseling and medication. My first therapist was a big help but she retired and I had trouble finding another. It took two or three tries to find someone who could help me. Similarly with the medication. The first medication they tried was Anafranil (this was indicated because there was an OCD component to my depression) and it just gave me the heebie-jeebies – extreme anxiety and sleeplessness. I went back to the psychiatrist and they switched to Luvox, which worked very well. Unfortunately Luvox was not covered by my health plan (not in the formulary) and it’s expensive ($100/mo.) but the doctor was able to convince them that it was the best alternative so they covered it. I’ve since switched to Paxil which seems to work just as well.
Finally, I want to add that the medication didn’t make me “happy” and made all my troubles go away. The best way I can describe it was that it made me feel like my troubles were manageable, that it was worth trying to overcome them.
So best wishes, don’t despair, you’ll pull through. I’m glad you’re able to recognize the need and get help.
Well, Brat, I read your OP and jumped straight to “post reply”. I’m a newbie to this depression recovery thing so thought you’d like to hear what I’ve been through recently.
I have seen a counselor 4 times now and a doctor twice, once to prescribe an SSRI and once for a follow up.
The first counselor session was, for me, particularly painful and quite tear-filled. I have been mentally beating myself up for quite some time; to actually speak out loud to another human being and tell her what is happening was, for me, a pleasure/pain experience: “Finally! I can tell someone!”/“Oh, my gawd, I’m telling someone my deepest feelings!” I believe I went through a half box of Kleenex my fist trip; the last one I only used 2. This process is quite difficult for me as I’m not very good at sharing ANYTHING with ANYONE. Period.
My depression symptoms included some of yours, in particular: difficulty with sleeping; crying for no reason whatsoever; inability to get my ass out of bed; and, for me the worst, an inability to do simple things like take out the trash or vacuum or throw out the 6 months worth of magazines stacked in the corner, and my car wasn’t much better.
The last problem is fixed (time will tell if I can keep it up); problems 1 and 3 have been solved with a nifty little sleeping drug called Ambien which puts me to sleep and keeps me there til my alarm goes off and I highly recommend it; problem 2 will take time and work.
