Ways to handle depression?

[Neoquestmoo]

I have been diagnosed with depression by several doctors and psychologists. I am allergic to most medicines (including all current anti-depressants) and though I do have therapy sessions, they only do so much. Can anyone suggest some ideas to help deal with it? Note that I am not severely depressed, and about 60% of the time I feel fine or better. But do any of you know any ways to ease the pain? Sorry if this is a repost, I looked and couldn't find a thread like this.

[sinoblak]

The first thing that occurs to me is Hypericum perforatum (powder or steamed). Sorry, I don't know the English name of this herb, but even doctors here say that it is a natural antidepressant without side effects. Consult a doctor before using it, though. And the second thing, try regular physical exercises, 30-60 min a day. Just shake the blood in your veins up. Anyway, I hope you soon cope with this condition.

[ShadowOfSelf]

It would help to know why you are depressed? If you dont know then you need to figure out the underlying cause as to why you are, do not supress it - you need to face and overcome it, you cant let depression rule your life, it will slowly kill you. Lucid dreaming is a great way to face such things, to have motivation, and hope. Take care

[greenhavoc]

it doesn't matter what makes a person depressed, it really doesn't here's my advice: exercise, also long walks. not just for a day, though, i mean every day.

[JesterKK]

it doesn't matter what makes a person depressed, it really doesn't here's my advice: exercise, also long walks. not just for a day, though, i mean every day. I'd find that quite difficult. I don't really like leaving the house. I've heard St. John's Wort helps. I don't take medication. Only rarely do I feel sad. Most of the time I feel nothing, but I can still experience anger (frustration), and humor. So emotionally it's manageable. But my life just slips through my fingers.

[sinoblak]

I'd find that quite difficult. I don't really like leaving the house. I've heard St. John's Wort helps. I don't take medication. Only rarely do I feel sad. Most of the time I feel nothing, but I can still experience anger (frustration), and humor. So emotionally it's manageable. But my life just slips through my fingers. The idea of exercise is to oppose this unwillingness to act directly, and it really helps. And just look at what women do when they are depressed. They change their lifestyle dramatically which manifests in new haircut, diet, sports, divorce (in my case), etc.,etc.... Depression is only a bad period and it will end some day. So use it to make room for the new things to come into your life.

[ShadowOfSelf]

it doesn't matter what makes a person depressed, it really doesn't here's my advice: exercise, also long walks. not just for a day, though, i mean every day. Of course it does, you need to get to heart of the matter and find out how to deal with and overcome whatever is causing it, not just go for a walk. From personal experience taking my mind of it for an hour or two only helped when my mind was of it for an hour or two, what about the rest of the day, week, month?

[Neoquestmoo]

There isn't any real particular cause for the depression usually.. I just suddenly feel like I'm drowning and I feel horrible about everything, and for a day or two I just can't feel good about anything.

[ShadowOfSelf]

There must be a cause, something that started it, I dont see any reason for a perfectly happy person with no traumatic experiences to be diagnosed with depression. It is common for the mind to suppress such traumatic experiences, which can make it hard to remember and overcome them, which can lead to problems like anxiety, depression. You say it only happens every now and then, there must be something that triggers it? what causes you to feel like this? when does it usually happen?

[Replicon]

How did they diagnose you? I'm curious about the process.

[SpaceCowboyDave]

I'd find that quite difficult. I don't really like leaving the house. I've heard St. John's Wort helps. I don't take medication. Only rarely do I feel sad. Most of the time I feel nothing, but I can still experience anger (frustration), and humor. So emotionally it's manageable. But my life just slips through my fingers. I won't pretend to be an expert by any means, but I think this is your problem. Just drawing from my own experiences, doing shit does wonders for this kind of thing. Get off your ass and run, go somewhere do shit.

[JesterKK]

I won't pretend to be an expert by any means, but I think this is your problem. Just drawing from my own experiences, doing shit does wonders for this kind of thing. Get off your ass and run, go somewhere do shit. But why would I do something I don't like expecting it to make me feel better. I guess it's true we don't always know what's good for us. My depression is unfortunately of the atypical sort. Something happens to trigger it, I won't even know, but everything starts to take a dive. Wherever I go that trigger will still be there and I still might not even know what it is let alone find out how to fix it. But even when I'm not depressed, I don't like leaving the house. It's not that I'm afraid to, I just feel uncomfortable there. The obvious argument would be to get comfortable with the outside world. I'll consider it.

[Dizko]

Not to get all freaky-deak on y'all but I find meditation (just simply focusing on my breath) for 20minutes a day helps you see emotions for what they really are. These transient states which aren't really 'me'. Then it becomes more like watching the weather from under an umbrella, sun or rain, happy or sad, It doesn't matter what the emotions do - I'm fine.

[JesterKK]

I meditate too. Half an hour a day on average. My type of depression isn't really emotional though, it just drains me of the will to do anything. The meditation certainly helps with unmanageable emotions though.

[ooflendoodle]

Just try not to end up like me, I experienced some events that had large impacts on me, so I started over analyzing my emotions and dismissing them as ridiculous, I was actually repressing them. Now it's like I'm not even a human being. I don't experience emotions as much anymore and I'm fighting to myself to get past this so I can more fully experience life. EDIT: Now that I read that last post I guess your depression is more medical. If anything I would say try to be with someone during your "episodes" of depression, even if it's only for a little while. Depression, like most things in the world is a cycle, which needs to be broken, simply put, depression leads to being alone and being alone leads to depression. If you ever want to talk with me about anything, you can just shoot me a PM.

[JesterKK]

well to be honest I actually really like being alone. I too have quite flat emotions a lot of the time, but not all the time and I still have some good emotions thankfully. I used to worry about not 'fully experiencing life' but I learned that there really isn't all that much out there that is worth more than learning about one's self, and to do that you don't have to travel especially far. Most of the things I've learned are that the things 'out there' are unsatisfactory/will not give lasting happiness.

[Dizko]

I meditate too. Half an hour a day on average. My type of depression isn't really emotional though, it just drains me of the will to do anything. Oh I see, I think I know exactly what you are talking about, I'd recommend jogging.

[Taosaur]

Meditation can definitely improve your capacity to respond to depression, help you to recognize the onset at a very early stage, and help you to ride it out less painfully and perhaps more quickly. I had pretty powerful mood cycles in my teens and twenties (and have actually been in a pretty dark place this past month, at least by my standards in recent years), and one simple thing that helped me through the down-swings in particular was to think of it as weather. You can't help mood, or at least you have no direct control over it, so best to just be aware of it and get on with things. Don't let yourself get caught up in negative ideation--recognize that it's coming out of the depression and let it go. It would help to know why you are depressed? If you dont know then you need to figure out the underlying cause as to why you are, do not supress it - That is not how depression works. Even when it is triggered by events--which often is not the case--clinical depression is a prolonged chemical imbalance, not a logic puzzle. What you're describing is a rough approximation of the Freudian psychoanalytic approach to anxiety disorders.

[Xei]

Exercise. Set your self goals which require effort, put in effort, attain goals. Exercise exercise exercise.

[LucidFlanders]

Exercise. Set your self goals which require effort, put in effort, attain goals. Exercise exercise exercise. ^ This.

[SpaceCowboyDave]

Run. Say hi to the hot blond you see in somebody's front yard. Repeat.

[sinoblak]

Exercise. Set your self goals which require effort, put in effort, attain goals. Exercise exercise exercise. The best!It always helps .

[fallingstars]

Hey! I too have been diagnosed with depression, was even on the brink of suicide at one point. I know the hurt it can cause. I'm glad you're seeking professional help. You say you don't like leaving the house? Honestly, staying in the house and rarely leaving it will make you feel much, much worse. This much I found out. I was afraid to even be around people.. at all.. that's how bad off I was. My advice, is make yourself go to public places, try to enjoy yourself once in a while. Find activities you find fun and do those. What helped me was getting a job that involved a lot of people. I was scared out of my mind, but I conquered my fear, and so can you. I'm still depressed admittedly, but nothing like I used to be. So maybe challenging yourself to getting out and about could help a bit.

[Original Poster]

Exercise. Set your self goals which require effort, put in effort, attain goals. Exercise exercise exercise. Research has confirmed your greatest chance at long lasting alleviation from depression is, indeed, exercise.

[snoop]

Exercise. There is a reason so many are posting it, and it's because it's vital to mental health along with physical health. I very often have bad mood swings, though I try and not let it affect my actions. I'm a candidate for bipolar, just to give some background info, so it doesn't sound like I'm talking out of my ass here. Any time life seems to have literally no point, as in there is no reason left to live at all other than the fact that I'd rather not be dead, and when I feel overly negative about everything and myself for seemingly no reason, I go for a nice run. I used to hate running with a passion, though before I used to exercise a lot, so I had an excuse to hate it. Now it's something I love to do, though not particularly all the time. After a good run, not only do I feel better about my current situation and myself, but I have a better memory, feel mentally sharper, and overall, just good about everything. Not exuberantly happy about things, but what feels like a meaningful and long lasting, solid good. And as long as I keep with the pattern of run for two days, take a break for one, run two days, etc., I feel good things a lot more often in general. Also proper nutrition can play a bigger role in how you feel than you'd probably think, along with getting enough or not too much sleep (which I know can be hard to do, half the time I'm near insomniac, then the other half I sleep for 14 hours).