Depression - why doesn't therapy or medication work?

Question

I have been depressed all my adult life (I'm 42). I have tried psychological therapy, and have tried 3 kinds of medication. Nothing has worked. I feel as if I have an incurable disease which will eventually be fatal when I can't tolerate it any more . Any advice?

Answer 1

If medication doesn't work, maybe it is not a chemical imbalance. Maybe you need something in your life you have avoided. I know that when I go to a protestant church that focuses on the message and not ritual, many times you will hear a message that is just like it was written for you. If you hear enough of these, it can really give you new perspective, and help you cope with life. That's something you can't get out of a bottle! I hope this speaks to you. Good Luck.
PS...If it does not happen at one church, try another until it does!

Answer 2

I am having the same problem. I had an incredible psychiatrist who retired and since then nothing but problems. The only meds I haven't tried are the newest ones which are not covered on any health care plan. Cognitive therapy was helpful and there are a lot of books on this subject at your library.
All I can say is don't give up. A good doctor will tell you that your problem is chemical. Many friends will not understand but you must remind yourself that it is a disease.
Pat yourself on the back for the little things that you get done every day and take one day at a time.

Answer 3

YES, every person is different and some cases of meloncholy are purely paschological and not physical and so drugs do not help. focus on non-drug cures of which there are many. Cognitive therapy can be very helpful. if you cannot afford a therapist buy a book and DO WHAT IT SAYS. do not argue with it. sometimes depression is the result of a fixed mind that needs to change. do not quit. make it a battle between you and the monster depression. use every trick in the book, inclduing lying to yourself. learn to think positive. do not be your own worst enemy. stop self-criticism and negativity. there are some very good self-help course you can buy. look up depression on the internet and you will find them.
depression is a condition of the mind
the mind is composed of thoughts
change the thoughts, change the mind
your thoughts are not visitors from outer space
you choose them
you create them
now you must learn to choose to create thoughts that dispels depression
turn on a light and the dark goes away
inundate your being and your life with light and color and bright things and thoughts. good food, sweet aromas, beautiful art and nature.
do not listen to newscasts.
be a pollyanna
look for the silver lining
it works my friend it works
you may have to lose your precious mentla postion about things and admit to being wrong. this hurts but the pay is big so do it.

Answer 4

Have you ever been given a complete medical work up? There could be something physically wrong. All the meds and therapy in the world won't help if you aren't ready to "help" yourself. Are you mentally ready to move on? Are you hanging on to "depression" as a crutch? I know some who do. There are so many avenues to explore. Keep searching. But I would start with my medical Dr. Good luck to you.

Answer 5

A man goes to a shop, picks up a beautiful cup and says "my god this cup is so beautiful" and suddenly the cup starts talking to the man. The cup starts saying "O man, I am beautiful right now, but what was the state of my being before the pot-maker made me a beautiful pot?

Before I was sheer mud and the pot-maker pulled me out of the mud from the mother earth and I felt why that pot-maker is so cruel, he has separated me from mother earth. I felt a tremendous pain. And the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then he put me and churned me, when I was churned I felt so giddy, so painful, so stressful, I asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then he put me into a oven and heated me up, I felt completely burnt. There was tremendous pain and I asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" and the pot-maker said, "Just wait."

Then he poured hot paint on me and I felt the fume and the pain, I again asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" and the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then again he put me into an oven and heated it to make me more strong, I felt life is so painful hence pleaded the pot-maker and the pot-maker said, "Just wait." And after that the pot-maker took me to the mirror and said, "Now look at yourself". And surprisingly I found myself so beautiful.

When god gives us lot of trouble, it appears god is very cruel but we need patience and we have to wait. When bad things happen to good people, they become better and not bitter.

So all difficulties are part of a cosmic design to make us really beautiful. We need patience, we need understanding, we need the commitment to go through in a very calm and wise way. So all difficulties are not to tumble us but to humble us.

With this understanding, let us not be against difficulty. Understand difficulty is a part of a purifying process. A purifying process at present which we cannot understand and hence we need faith and we need trust.

Let us understand how to handle stress with this background. You can be affected by stress from two angles. There is an internal stress and there is an external stress. Nobody can avoid stress; one has to only manage stress. Managing stress can be internal and also external.

The internal stress is; your thoughts can create stress, your values can create stress, and your beliefs can create stress, meaning thereby your stress is coming from your mind more from the outer world. Many people suffer not from heart attack - they suffer from thought-attack.

For example, when somebody says you are an idiot, we get so hurt, we get so victimised. My boss has called me an idiot and I am feeling tremendous pain. Now where does this stress come from? If my boss has called me an idiot, I have to ask myself "am I an idiot"?

If I am an idiot nothing to be upset about; and if I am not an idiot, then also nothing to be upset about! It is the perception of the boss. But why do we suffer from that stress? I suffer not because my boss has called me an idiot but because of the thought-attack.

I may say the boss has called me an idiot; therefore I am suffering? It is true that the words are unpleasant. But what hurts is the interpretation of the unpleasant word. The thought in me interprets. That is pain and therefore it becomes pain. Much of our stress is our mind interpreting it as pain. So we suffer from thought-attack more than heart attack.

Answer 6

Because your life conditions stay the same. Depression is an effect of your life. It's not a cause of your condition. If you want to stop depression you must change your life to the better drastically. If it's not possible, your pills and other things will just numb it, but it won't go away.

Answer 7

If its not psychological and not physiological then consider that it might be a spiritual problem. A spirit of depression is messing you around. Contact your local pastor but make sure he is moving in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And also by the authority of Jesus Christ, you can bind the depressive spirit.

Answer 8

i really think the person actually has to see the world in their own way, appreciate the finer things the life. Also some people just dont want help..you cant help someone that doesn't want help. i hope this helps a little bit

Answer 9

This is very good question because I too feel the same. But I think that it is curable becase we both became it's patient because we thought just negative. it is easy to say but hard to apply. I can understand you

Answer 10

i think dear you need to just go to a reg doctor and he needs to find a right dosage for you dont talk about giving up if you need someone to talk to email me i will chat with you