[NT] Now with drugs

[Kasper]

Trin,

How do you feel on the occasions that you do experience some sort of positive upswing in mood, whether accomplishment driven, simple life experience, or randome R&R?

Do you get a "reset" of the dysthmyia? I always get a little "buffer zone" when things go right for a change. Sometimes it is a result of hardwork, sometimes it is sheer luck, but either way it does set my gears in a different motion.

Does this make sense?

Fun activity and being around people certainly give me an upper, iunno it's tough for me to remember emotions and things like that unless I write them down, or they're extreme. The time it became too obvious to me that I wasn't coping was when my partner (who's interstate) came down for a week, I totally enjoyed our time together of course but the very next day after he left I was about as low as I could get. So not much of a buffer.

 

[durentu]

My cure for depression:

The ideal: don't pay the electric bill - ever again.

The practical: Turn off everything that isn't necessary for food water and shelter. computer, cell phone, radio, tv, gps etc all are gone. lights, stoves, microwave, fridge etc are kept. If a non-essential tech needs to be turned on, you have only 15 minutes to use it, at most 3x a day when you're at home.

Do without technology for 12 months. If still depressed, take medication for 3 months. Then go without technology for 6 months. If still depressed, check with a neurologist or endocrinologist.

The idea is that you will reunite with your inner self again. Technology use is too noisy and makes the inner voice indistinct or inaudible.

If the above plan is too unrealistic, then go without tech for 4 weeks with the intent to talk to strangers and shake hands with a new person each day. Make efforts to find your meaning in life. No computer, only books allowed.

Technology and medication do not solve the root cause of depression. It drags the problem out indefinitely until you crack or die.

 

[Halla74]

Fun activity and being around people certainly give me an upper, iunno it's tough for me to remember emotions and things like that unless I write them down, or they're extreme. The time it became too obvious to me that I wasn't coping was when my partner (who's interstate) came down for a week, I totally enjoyed our time together of course but the very next day after he left I was about as low as I could get. So not much of a buffer.

That's pretty clear. Those types of moods/feelings are certainly more pronounced than mine.

From time to time, I get in a funk. I hate it. But somehow, I weasel my way out of it more often than not. I haven't made sense of this as it is the exception to the rule in my overall demeanor, but when it does hit me, I fell strange, out of sorts, and essentially discontent.

Cheers to you, Trin, I really wish you the best in resolving those feelings. They have interfered with my normal mode of being very productive, but it wasn't until I realized that those feelings were a "radar" that something else was wrong, that I made any efforts, whether futile or not, in trying to overcome it.

 

[Kasper]

My cure for depression:

The ideal: don't pay the electric bill - ever again.

The idea is that you will reunite with your inner self again. Technology use is too noisy and makes the inner voice indistinct or inaudible.

If the above plan is too unrealistic, then go without tech for 4 weeks with the intent to talk to strangers and shake hands with a new person each day. Make efforts to find your meaning in life. No computer, only books allowed.

Technology and medication do not solve the root cause of depression. It drags the problem out indefinitely until you crack or die.

Wait, people are supposed to pay their electric bills?

Avoiding technology isn't practical. But other than that, I understand the root cause of my depression, I am unable to resolve that any time soon though, in the meantime introspecting does not cause me smile, understanding my inner self is what's brought about recognition of my depression. Technology is a distraction, although it is also a form of support, especially seeing as my partner lives elsewhere so it's the easiest way to connect with him. I do however get out of my house on as many weeknights and weekends as I can and go somewhere that I can read around other people, I find it very calming but not necessarily/always mood improving, kinda depends on what I read really.

 

[durentu]

Wait, people are supposed to pay their electric bills?

Avoiding technology isn't practical. But other than that, I understand the root cause of my depression, I am unable to resolve that any time soon though, in the meantime introspecting does not cause me smile, understanding my inner self is what's brought about recognition of my depression. Technology is a distraction, although it is also a form of support, especially seeing as my partner lives elsewhere so it's the easiest way to connect with him. I do however get out of my house on as many weeknights and weekends as I can and go somewhere that I can read around other people, I find it very calming but not necessarily/always mood improving, kinda depends on what I read really.

It's not introspection. It's listening/trusting to yourself. Introspection leads to a positive depression most of the time. (dabrowski)

And you still have your last freedom. The freedom to change attitudes. Medication takes that freedom away from you. Yes, technology is a distraction, and it acts like blinders on a horse: it's more difficult to see things from different angles.

The most potent form of anti-depressants I've found (other than drugs) is gratitude and forgiveness. Contrary to what most think, gratitude and forgiveness has nothing to do with another person. The gratitude part helps to realign the perspective from a selfish one to a holistic/compassionate one. The forgiveness aspect is about letting go for your own sake, and yet gain wisdom by not forgetting it.

 

[Kasper]

It's not introspection. It's listening/trusting to yourself. Introspection leads to a positive depression most of the time. (dabrowski)

And you still have your last freedom. The freedom to change attitudes. Medication takes that freedom away from you. Yes, technology is a distraction, and it acts like blinders on a horse: it's more difficult to see things from different angles.

The most potent form of anti-depressants I've found (other than drugs) is gratitude and forgiveness. Contrary to what most think, gratitude and forgiveness has nothing to do with another person. The gratitude part helps to realign the perspective from a selfish one to a holistic/compassionate one. The forgiveness aspect is about letting go for your own sake, and yet gain wisdom by not forgetting it.

Had a look over dabrowski's method and doesn't sound like anything that can help me here, but thanks. I'm all for positive thinking and forgiveness and gratitude already but it only gets so far. If medication takes away my ability to change my attitude then... hmm, well it just won't. If I find it numbing then I will no longer consider it an option. I don't consider drugs a solution to anything, they are a short term option, that's all.

 

[Lady_X]

yeah i don't like medication much and think the dr.s who so freely gave it to my lil sister are partly responsible for her death...so yeah i'm pissed off a bit at the whole system and don't have much respect for their practices....they need to focus on fixing the actual problem rather than just numbing you so your no longer give a f@ck.

 

[KDude]

yeah i don't like medication much and think the dr.s who so freely gave it to my lil sister are partly responsible for her death...so yeah i'm pissed off a bit at the whole system and don't have much respect for their practices....they need to focus on fixing the actual problem rather than just numbing you so your no longer give a f@ck.

I'm sorry for your loss


I was prescribed Zoloft in my teens, and it destroyed my affect (zombie effect) and messed up my metabolism, I think (and perhaps partly my appetite grew, but I really gained some pounds like never before). By 25-ish, I got off. Lost that weight pretty quick, felt less dead.

Life still has it's downs..and for a less "subjective" opinion, my family thinks I was better on them...maybe they're right in that I'm not at my best still.. but personally, I don't think medicine was the solution. It just added problems as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Kasper]

^ how long did it take for the "zombie" effect to hit?

Just curious as I've been taking drugs for about 15 days and I feel fantastic, I've noted a couple of side effects, although they may not be related, but all in all I feel alive, not zombiefyed in the least.

 

[ergophobe]

I think questioning the medical profession for over-prescribing drugs makes sense but it doesn't take away from their effectiveness for many people.

From my own experience with medication, although not for depression, drugs work for some and not for others. Different drugs work for different people. It is a matter of where you lie on the spectrum of the illness, whatever it is. If it's on the lower end, it's bothersome but not debilitating then by all means use other therapies and see if they help. However if the illness is debilitating, I'd recommend at least trying the medication. Situational depression can be handled well with other therapies but when it's long term, I think medication should be tried.

Trina, I approached medication the same way you did. I don't lose anything by trying it. If it works for you - figure out the cost-benefit analysis of taking the medication and not having depression symptoms versus the cost of the side-effects (dulling some emotion and other physical effects)...again these differ across people. I find for most people, not being debilitated by depression and it really was debilitating -- these people would find it hard to get out of bed most days and were really without hope in spite of and most frustratingly when they were doing well in their lives otherwise...medication helps them lead somewhat normal lives. The side effects are minimal in comparison to what they faced before medication.

For most people, it takes 3 weeks or so for the meds to kick in, right?

Glad it's helping. Monitor your mood and how you feel physically and keep on that for the first six months or so. Ultimately like with any other meds, the doctors depend on patients to describe their symptoms and the effectiveness of the meds to tailor treatment for them. Expect to modify dosage and/or the actual drug to meet your requirements in the long run.

Hope you feel better!

 

[Vie]

I was put on a heavy dosage of anti-depressants about three years ago when I was seventeen. The drug was meant for adults and I felt worst when I was taking them than I ever had in my life.

The ones closest to me who knew that I was taking pills seemed to base all of my emotions from that point on effects from NOT taking my medicine. As in a day where I was feeling upset about something completely rational, they would mumble in a pitying voice, "Did you take your medicine today?". Maybe it's my annoyance with the stereotypes surrounding depressed people, but it seems that when you begin to take medication, you are branded as irrational. To me there is NOTHING worse than this.

My zombie effect hit in around two months. Although I don't like to show my emotions as it is, it was a whole other thing completely when I just didn't care about anything anymore. The people closest to me didn't matter. Currents events didn't bother me. My passions simply became things I did because I was expected to. That's when I decided it wasn't worth it. I was losing the things most important to me because I couldn't feel. I wasn't depressed, but I sure as hell wasn't happy.

I took myself off them with the help of a close friend and picked up a new sport which I obsessively did whenever I felt sad or upset. After such a long workout, sometimes ranging from three to six hours of intense working out, I would forget why I was upset to begin with. No more zombie feeling, thank Hayzeus.

 

[Vie]

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[Tiltyred]

What bothers me is the brainwashing on both sides. People who really don't know anything about it will jump right up and say you shouldn't take prescription meds, you should face your problems and work through them. Well, if you can't think straight, it's hard to sort your problems out. And many of those problems came about in the first place because you can't think straight. So if there is a medication that can help you think straight, why on earth not take it? It seems like 1) masochism or 2) ignorance (pills are bad, period).

Also it frustrates me when people say they took something and it didn't work or made them worse, and voila, that's proof that medications are no good. It isn't. It's proof that your diagnosis was wrong.

There are people who would not be able to function in society without medication. Years back, they would have been institutionalized. And there are people like me, who, without medication, would be dead.

I also don't understand when people will take any damn fool thing off the vitamin/herb shelf of any store rather than something prescribed by a medical professional that's guaranteed clean, of the same dose every time, that has been studied and has predictable results, etc.

It's depressing (ha) that there is still stigma to mental illnesses or disorders of any kind. But there is a new agey mentality of blame the victim even for physical illnesses. People think if you would just eat right, sleep right, think right, hear no evil speak no evil whatever, be the right kind of person, then you would never get sick. That's bullshit, seriously. All kinds of people get sick, and not because they bring it on themselves. So it stands to reason they can't think themselves healthy any more than they thought themselves sick.

I'm very grateful for modern medicine and am all for better living through science.

 

[Stanton Moore]

I took ADs for a long time. Been off of them for about 4 months now...and it's really, really hard. But I'm comitted to trying to beat this thing (I have dysthymia too, for as long as I can remember)
I found this book to be helpful:

Amazon.com: The Half-Empty Heart: A Supportive Guide to Breaking…

The trouble with ADs, other than side-effects, is that they tend to compress my emotional experience into the middle ground, so nothing is very low, but nothing is very high either, and in this middleground, I just didn't want to work on the underlying issues that made the drugs relevant in the first place.
Drugs have a place, but for now, I think they get in the way of recovering from dysthymia. I may change that opinion, but I'm trying not to.

 

[Vie]

I agree that there are polarized beliefs on medication for mental illness. It's a sad, disgusting truth of life.

I'm saying that as someone who has tried everything to get rid of this...feeling. And I won't lie and say that I know anything other than my personal experiences, but I do know what didn't work for me. For some people, it helps them immensely. It saves their life. For me, it helped short term. But long term, I found myself slipping further away than I was without medication - and I didn't care all that much. I had to stop taking them in order to save my life.

It works for some people and I couldn't be happier for those people. It's an awful feeling when you realize that drugs don't work. I wasn't patient enough to sit there and go through all the drugs to find one that worked. Maybe it was a stupid decision and made irrationally. So far, I don't regret the decision though.

I do hope the medications work for you though.

 

[Tewt]

What bothers me is the brainwashing on both sides. People who really don't know anything about it will jump right up and say you shouldn't take prescription meds, you should face your problems and work through them. Well, if you can't think straight, it's hard to sort your problems out. And many of those problems came about in the first place because you can't think straight. So if there is a medication that can help you think straight, why on earth not take it? It seems like 1) masochism or 2) ignorance (pills are bad, period).

Also it frustrates me when people say they took something and it didn't work or made them worse, and voila, that's proof that medications are no good. It isn't. It's proof that your diagnosis was wrong.

There are people who would not be able to function in society without medication. Years back, they would have been institutionalized. And there are people like me, who, without medication, would be dead.

I also don't understand when people will take any damn fool thing off the vitamin/herb shelf of any store rather than something prescribed by a medical professional that's guaranteed clean, of the same dose every time, that has been studied and has predictable results, etc.

It's depressing (ha) that there is still stigma to mental illnesses or disorders of any kind. But there is a new agey mentality of blame the victim even for physical illnesses. People think if you would just eat right, sleep right, think right, hear no evil speak no evil whatever, be the right kind of person, then you would never get sick. That's bullshit, seriously. All kinds of people get sick, and not because they bring it on themselves. So it stands to reason they can't think themselves healthy any more than they thought themselves sick.

I'm very grateful for modern medicine and am all for better living through science.

Agreed. I lived with a family member with diagnosed depression who refused medication...for years. She would go to therapy on and off and every time she refused the meds prescription. Not only did she live in her own personal hell but she made others around her live in hell with the mood swings, crazy illogical behavior, she turned her home life into a battle field. It was a good thing she didn't have to work, cause there is no doubt she would not have been able to hold a job. She was one of the lucky ones, many people out there like her but that have no one.

I do think some meds may be overprescribed but I've also read enough to know that the docs rely on the patient to give accurate symptoms. It's not all that simple for them to diagnos and yeah, I'm sure some get a scrip for a false condition. But the alternative? I'd rather not live in that world again.