Clinical depression?

Question

Anyone else suffer from this, like me? I don't take medication, I try and help myself out of the black moods.What do you try to do and cheer yourself up? How do you cope? I went worse after the cancer, but try and live every day to the full.

For Alice K, I was diagnosed with clinical depression around the time I was diagnosed with cancer.Don't answer my questions unless you have something constructive to say please.I found your remark offensive.Thanks to the rest of you though, very helpful.I don't take medication for my deression (though I have been prescibed Cipramil) as I have enough medication in my body with the cancer treatment.I don't even like taking paracetamol.

Answer 1

Hi, yes I'm a fellow sufferer and have been for over 20 years!

I do take medication and also have regular appointments with my GP and psychiatrist.

About 10 years ago, I was introduced to my local Mind association, and that proved to be a breakthrough for me

http://www.mind.org.uk/Mind+in+your+area/

and also a lifeline in times of my worst periods when I found it difficult to do anything to help myself. It was a safe haven, somewhere I could be me, somewhere people understood me, and somewhere that was much less frightening than talking to any 'official health person'.

I truly believe that without help and support from them I wouldn't be alive today, or as able to cope with my illness as I now am. They were patient with me and realised that I needed to come to terms with it in my own time and knew that ultimately it would be me that helped myself most.

You seem to have grasped that fact already, which is fantastic and I admire you for being able to do that. It took me until quite recently to realise that my life and illness, were literally, in my own hands.

I have tried many different coping strategies along the way, and not always ones that were most helpful, or others could see as a way of coping, I'm talking specifically of self-harm.

http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/Understanding/Understanding+self-harm.htm

I have seen various counsellors over the years, but will admit that until I finally came to accept that I did have an illness that needed addressing, I didn't get the full benefit from them. If you aren't willing to accept that you can change things yourself, I don't really see that counselling or CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) is all that useful.

I used to be strongly against taking medication and didn't want to believe that I would, possibly, always have to take it. Now I see that if it helps me and I can cope better with it, what's the big deal. I would take a pill every day if I had a heart condition, so what's the difference!

As I said, the biggest factor and change that helped me, was my acceptance of my illness, realising that I do have a disability, and no longer fighting against it, and trying to pretend it didn't exist.

I realised that my health was far more important than any job, or thing in my life, and that I deserved and needed help, support and medication.

I got myself out of a bad work situation that had suffered because of my health. I took a year off work, I have never not been employed in my life prior to this, and decided to concentrate all my efforts on me.

I know that for me keeping myself busy and occupied helps me to have a focus and not get too wrapped up in all my negative thoughts. So I spent most of my time volunteering at my local Mind association.

This built up my confidence and self esteem, kept me busy but also showed me that I could use my own experience to help others. It also made me feel that I was repaying them for the hard work, patience and understanding they had given me.

I began to realise that this kind of work gave me a greater sense of satisfaction and achievement than any other job I'd ever had. Dealing with people and not being stuck behind a desk gave me a purpose and a passion for what I was doing.

I now count myself as priveleged to work for the very same organisation that helped me so much to get to where I am now, and to realise that recovery is possible.

It isn't easy, and there have been and will be relapses, but knowing that it is possible to overcome such dark feelings and coming out the other side, makes all the effort worthwhile.

I'm thankful to say that I am now once again back on my own recovery journey after suffering a particularly severe depressive episode. But I now feel hopeful again, and glad to be alive.

Basically do whatever you can to help yourself, look after yourself, do things you enjoy and as you already seem to be doing, life life to the full.

I got myself a dog again, which I had denied myself for many years. This proved to be a great thing for me, I now have companionship, someone else to care for, have to exercise regularly, whatever the weather...... lol, and a sense of ahchievement. He was very poorly when I rescued him, he was very depressed after spending so much time in kennels, so I believe that we have helped each other....... everytime I look at him I see love reflected back at me, and I am so grateful that we found each other.

Everyone has to find the best way for them, and what suits one person may not suit another. After all, we are all individuals, who just have the same illness in common. Most importantly though, we are the experts in our own illness.

Hope I haven't waffled on too much, and bored you to death, but as you can probably tell, I am passionate about the possibilty of recovery, mental health in general, and doing all I can to help others, raise awareness and try to help overcome the stigma and discrimination that surrounds mental ill health.

We are human beings, deserve to be treated as such.

Take care

Addition to answer:

Totally agree with your comments about Alice K - I'd already given a bad rating
I can totally understand and respect your choice in not taking the prescribed anti-depressant, as I said, each to his own, on whatever they feel most comfortable with.
You're doing great, fantastic job.
Email if you want to at any time.

Answer 2

You can get help with these things by learning how to do EFT. For some reason yahoo answers is not letting me type in the link but do a search on the web on EFT(emotional freedom techniques.) this is an amazing tool that many have used to beat depression, anxiety etc. If you are seeing a therapist search for one that knows and uses this technique. You can over come depression without using drugs and without having to put a label or diagnosis on it. peace and good luck

Answer 3

Hello,

(ANS) first of all the term "clinical depression" is a diagnosis often used by the medical profession or by mental health professionals & its a technical terminology used to describe a state of being or emotional condition which is:-

a) not well understood by your average GP or family doctor.

b) doctors view mental health & well being from a medical view point which is frequently NOT at all helpful in my opinion. Mental health shouldn't be thought of like other conditions, its NOT in my view an illness and therefore shouldn't be treated as such.

c) Anti depressant drugs often DON'T help the person because they don't deal with the root causes of the condition.

From my own experience of facing depression its best to allow yourself to have the real feelings, NOT to push the feelings away, NOT to try to cheer yourself up. Yes! other people & society want to jolly us up when we feel down.

**Psychotropic drugs like Prozac wont cure the problem, the cure to depression is inside you yourself even if you don't know it right now.

**Drinking, over eating, smoking or taking mind altering substances wont help cure or take away the depression either.

**I recommend either counseling or therapy as probably the best way to help with depression.

Best Regards IR

Answer 4

I had a girl friend that suffered from clinical depression and the doctors strongly recommended she take medication. She never did take it. We would stay in doors for a bit, but it was important for us to always go out. Whether it was to walk in the park, go to the supermarket to cook a simple meal for dinner, a restaurant we have not been to before, to rent a movie, to simply buy a flower. Going out was always essential. A shower or a romantic bath also helped.
Anything that would distract the mind in a happy way.

Answer 5

Medication. But it's best to have someone to talk to that will listen.

OMG I can't believe this one ahead of me has the nerve to say there is no such thing as depression. Depression is a chemical imbalance, as nothing to do with a person wanting or not wanting to be depressed, nor dark and bright spots in your life. It's a medical problem with treatment.

Answer 6

"No such thing as depression?" , well no brain, no pain! I'm sorry about your cancer. I have had many (sometimes very serious) bouts of depression. Antidepressants can work wonders but not always. The one thing that helped me years ago was walking. Every day walking it was the best medicine;alas your physical condition may not allow you to exert yourself.

Answer 7

It sounds like you've had a hell of a lot to deal with. Have you tried counselling? It can really help to talk things over with a trained professional who will really listen to you.

Answer 8

See http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris on page 2: depression treatments/resources.

Answer 9

I am manic depressive ,bipioler i suffer from extrweme mods! im me!

Answer 10

start prayin 4 happiness and keep hopeing, matter of fact start believing in ur self