Here is advice that you probably don't want, but here it is.
Stop taking all the pills.(including the BC)
Increase your vitamine C intake.
Try not to eat processed foods.
When you look at other people know that what you can do FOR THEM is more important than what you can do FOR YOURSELF.
___________________________________________________________
Well… Hmmm… Ummmm….
So in response to David M.
Ummm…
Ok so I did stop using the Birth Control- I started using it in part to alleviate really painful nauseating cramps but feeling like I’m PMS’ing for the entire month isn’t really part of that goal.
After getting on WebMD to take a look at the medication I have and discovering that it is for SEISURES and anxiety which is not what I described or asked for.
All I wanted was a light antidepressant and what I got was XANEX! (the equivalent anyway.)
I run a minimum of three miles a day (other than my two "off" days), I don't drink caffine, I drink plenty of water, and eat minimal processed foods.
Now, David… David, poor little David.
Let me clue you in on what happens when someone is “depressed”.
Sorry it’s a little long but I read through it twice and just feel that it has pertinent information in it.
(For readability I have bolded the passages that apply to me unparticular as well as my responses.)
Source : http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/87/99351.htm?pagenumber=1
Two out of every 10 of us are clinically depressed. As many as 23 percent of all adult women have had one major depressive episode in their lifetime.
The tragedy is that although so many people are struggling silently with crushing misery, so few get help. There are 100,000 people in this country who haven't been correctly diagnosed and who aren't receiving treatment that could mean the difference between life and death.
Even today, too many Americans are intolerant of any type of mental illness— especially depression, which is often dismissed as some sort of moral failure. In a recent poll by the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly half of all respondents stated that depression was a "personal weakness"—certainly not a health problem.
It was precisely this intolerance that drove a noted Pennsylvania jurist to try to cover up his depression by having his employees fill his Prozac prescriptions—a felony. He finally confessed to the subterfuge because he said being labeled a drug trafficker was worse than being branded "depressed."
Depression has touched the lives of the most successful and brilliant men and women of our time. Sylvia Plath, Dick Cavett, Georgia O'Keeffe, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, and Abraham Lincoln all wrestled with depression.
"I felt a kind of numbness, an enervation," recalls William Styron in his book Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, an account of his herculean struggle with major depression. "Mysteriously and in ways that are totally remote from normal experience, the gray drizzle of horror induced by depression takes on the quality of physical pain."
Of course, we all feel a little sad, dejected, or blue now and then. Fleeting unhappiness may briefly cloud your horizon after you lose a job, break up with your lover, or move to a new town. The profound mourning following the death of a loved one may last for several months—a completely normal response to a deeply felt emotional loss. The key difference between sad feelings and a true major depression is that sad feelings eventually pass, according to Douglas Jacobs, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist who has devised national screening programs for depression.
As Sarah discovered, major depression is far more persistent than simple sadness. It descends as a sort of psychic cloud, numbing the soul with the conviction that the bleak outlook will never change. It interferes with sleep, appetite, sexual interest, self-image, and attitude. If you suffer from major depression, you can't just "snap out of it." And these dreadful feelings can last for weeks, months, or even years. Some studies have shown that only 1 in 10 Americans with depression get adequate treatment. When left untreated, depression can interfere with personal relationships and job performance and can increase your risk for other illnesses, according to a panel organized by the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association. The number one cause of disability worldwide, depression is an increasing risk with age; it's expected to be the second leading cause of disease by the year 2020. In the United States, an estimated 6 million people are being actively treated for depression.
Major depression can be very hard to recognize, because it's a chronic, progressive disease. If you have major depression you may go into remission, but chances are that without treatment, it usually strikes again, more quickly and more powerfully than before. A diagnosis may begin with a brief family history combined with a medical workup, including tests to rule out under active thyroid, mononucleosis, anemia, diabetes, adrenal insufficiency, and hepatitis. Your doctor will want to know about any medications you've been taking, since a number of prescription drugs can cause depression (see box "Drugs That Cause Depression"). While you're at it, you might also let your doctor know about any vitamins, herbal medicines, amino acids, diet supplements, or recreational drugs you have taken.
Other common signs of depression may not be found in medical journals. "I ask patients if there are cobwebs in their house," says psychiatrist Andy Myerson, M.D. "If patients aren't bathing, if their house isn't clean, if they can't get out of bed—that's a good indication that they're depressed."
Many people in the midst of depression agree with him. "If I have to fight my way to the bathroom and I haven't opened my mail," Violet laughs, "I know I'm in trouble."
Are You Depressed?
• Emotions: Do you feel ineffably sad or cry a great deal? Yes
• Appetite/weight: Have you gained or lost weight? Do you binge or overeat? Yes, I have gained around 15 pounds in the last two months.
• Sleep: Do you have chronic insomnia or excessive sleepiness? Are you tired all the time, regardless of how much sleep you get? Yes
• Anger: Do you experience outbursts of complaints or shouting? Have you been feeling resentful and angry? I’m not really a shouter, but the other stuff applies.
• Outlook: Have you lost interest in hobbies or activities that you formerly enjoyed? Yes
• Libido: Have you lost interest in sex? Not that this is necessarily bad right now….
• Self-esteem: Do you feel worthless, unattractive, inappropriately guilty? Yes
• Concentration: Do you have a hard time concentrating? Are your thoughts muddy or foggy? Yes
• Anxiety: Do you brood, have phobias, delusions, or fears? Broody and Twitchy, and Jumpy for no reason.
• Restlessness: Do you have trouble sitting still? Ask Jason.
• Muted affect: Do you have slow body movements and speech? Um, maybe not on either.
• Suicide: Have you thought you'd be better off dead? Lucky for the rest of you I am a bit of a narcissist and just can’t imagine life with out me. =) although I feel no compunction to make me a pleasure to be around.- well, maybe a little bit.
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17 comments:
allow me to be the first. i think tom cruise is a big freakin' idiot. i think dave may not have any experience with depression. let me say i have, and it makes it no easier to deal with it. here's a rant about my frustration with people who have depression:
i believe in depression. i believe it's something different from just being down or having the blues. but, there's something frustrating about listening to someone with depression tell me why there's nothing anyone can do about it. i heard a conference talk a few years back about depression (might have been neal a. maxwell) and he made the point that when we have the right perspective on the plan of salvation, etc. we see how happy we should be. i believe that more than anything on webmd.. and i go to webmd more often than the church website.
but, here's the crux of my frustration: people with depression are incredibly self-centered. that's a symptom of depression. if depressed people COULD do things for other people, i'm sure they would. but, i also think that there are little things that can be done everyday to battle depression. i think of all those famous people you mentioned who battled depression... and they didn't have the luxury of medicine (which i have no problem with by the way). i have struggled myself and been depressed for several weeks at a time. however, i was always able to make choices about how i dealt with depression. so, i've been told, i obviously didn't suffer from clinical depression. i can't understand what's so debilitating in the first stages of depression. it just seems like the fastest way to get really bad off is to sit there and say "there's nothing i can do but sit here, take my pills, and let nature run its course."
i just wish i would see depressed people trying to be positive with daily, hourly choices. but, i guess if they were able to be positive they wouldn't have clinical depression... arghh... so frustrating!
perhaps this is like a man complaining about how hard his wife's labor was, but it's hard to sit there and watch someone appear to mope (not talking about terra specifically, btw!!). turn that frown upside down, sister! watch a good adam sandler movie. and relax.. it's ok to laugh at a good fart joke.. and it will make you feel better, too.
Josh, I agree with what your saying. I think if people who have depression focused more on coping skills they would do much better. This coming from someone who has massive ADHD and decided rather then take medicine for it I would learn to live with it and turn it to my advantage.
It’s a good thing I live so far away, because I think my life might be in jeopardy for the following post.
My summary of Josh’s comment:
Because clinical depression is supposed to defy common coping techniques, people who don’t want to cope on their own can use it as an excuse for failing to address issues within their control.
My response: agree
My summary of Shellie’s comment:
Suggested coping techniques.
My response: Agree if you’re talking about dealing with stress. If the person is actually clinically depressed, these remedies will be about as effective as David’s.
My summary of David’s previous recommendations:
Suggested coping techniques.
My response: Somewhat agree. Recent research into vitamin C has shown much more limited clinical value than previous work (mostly in the 70s) tended to claim. Exercise is a very good thing, avoiding processed foods is always good advice. None of which is likely to result in any improvement for someone who is actually clinically depressed.
My summary of Jason’s comment:
Recommends coping techniques over clinical intervention.
My response: If your car was out of wack, and could be fixed, why would you “learn to live with it?” There isn’t anything wrong with taking medication to fix something that is broken.
‘Toughing it out’ seems to be honored far more than taking medication to correct the condition. Compare this perspective to someone with heart disease or diabetes… Would you really respect a diabetic more who didn’t take insulin because they ‘wanted to turn it to their advantage’? Clearly not. Declining to take useful medication that corrects a problem doesn’t make sense. Why then do we have a different standard for taking medication to correct a neurological condition? I believe this is related to the historical views on mental illness being a flaw in character, and not a bona fide medical condition.
I don’t know if you meant to express the above, but if you did, I will be forced to challenge you to a duel.
My summary of Bonnie’s comment:
Eh, what the heck. I won’t summarize this one.
My response: I pretty much agree with this one. Church leaders have often counseled us to pursue professional assistance in these kinds of cases, including medication. Zooming in on a single talk is likely not to provide the whole picture.
HOWEVER,
Much of this post and comment thread has focused on the pretext of clinical depression, and variously effective solutions. It should be noted that Terra in fact DOES NOT HAVE THIS CONDITION! Terra has only mentioned situational depression, which is an entirely different question. In clinical depression, the types of non-medicated coping techniques recommended by some are not actually effective. However, these some of these suggestions may work quite well.
I’m sure Terra would agree that if her car was working smoothly, she was getting effortless As in all her classes, the wedding was coming together as easily as a box of hamburger helper®, then she wouldn’t be struggling with situational depression.
Therefore, all those of you who have assaulted the contributions of those people suggesting remedies appropriate for situation depression are barking up the wrong tree. You are defending a stance that Terra is in fact not taking.
That said, I don’t think that there is really anything wrong with taking a medication to help you deal with situational depression when other coping techniques are not available or not effective. Whether that is the case here would be an interesting point of discussion.
However, seeing as I have likely shaken up the basket of rattlesnakes with this posting, I’ll stop here and wait for the mail bombs to arrive.
I forgot to mention. It would be a good idea to start taking flax seed everyday. You can buy it in the bulk section of your grocery store. You have to get a coffee grinder to grind it up. You can eat it with applesauce. It is great brain food.
I have delt with "clinical" depression almost to the brink of ending my marriage. That is all I will say about my experience with depression.
My view of depression is that it is extremely self-centered bad behavior. I find it hard to believe that one can treat someone they love so badly yet be able to treat a stranger very nicely. So to me with all of my experience dealing with it first hand, I only see it as a behavioral attribute.
Just so you know I have spent many sleepless nights researching depression and the different ways it is treated. I have the opinion that those who believe they have it should be taking it to the Lord for his help first, and take council from a parent or spouse on how they can manage it. That person must communicate to their “mentor” on how they can help in very specific ways.
I don’t believe that my knowledge and beliefs about depression is the end all. I know that depression is real for the person who has it. It may not be a choice for them. I don’t care, In other words they need to make it their own problem and not manifest it to everyone.
I forgot to mention:
Anti-depressants have been proven to raise suicide rates in all ages of people who take them. My opinion of prescription anti-depressants is that they are dangerous. Any prescription drug that a doctor tells you to take should be carefully researched first hand.
In response to, "Should I just ask Tom Cruise for help?":
"You've lost that lovin feelin whoah that lovin feelin........"
"Terra, you are dangerous, you can be my wingman anytime."
(in case you don't "get it" that is from Top Gun the movie)
David,
The conclusions you have drawn from your personal experiences may well be accurate for those specific circumstances. However, generalizing those conclusions to the population as a whole is leading you to statements that are not supported by the clinical data available.
It also bears mentioning that the LDS church does not recommend illnesses like clinical depression be treated as a matter of faith. Guidance to seek medical assistance, including medication, is quite clear.
On your other point, I would imagine that Terra would strongly agree on the value of double-checking a prescription.
By the way, I'm running out of popcorn.
Is this a double-feature?
This is what I get for checking out for a couple of days. I miss the roasting of my sometimes pretentious little brother and a great discussion on depression. I personally feel the Church(not the gospel) is one of the greatest sources of most members depression. The guilt that is built in to mormon culture is astounding. And for those of you who know me you know I DESPISE mormon culture. During the stake visit last month the visiting high council member taught priesthood and he said that wherever you are in the church, if you believe, you are doing the best you can. I took that to heart. So now I know wherever I am, it is the best I can be at that point. I will not give any advice, I do not understand depression and am very intolerant of it. Maybe that comes from being completely self absorbed, I don't know. I know that life can run you ragged Terra but Matt said it when he said you had self decribed your condition as situational depression. It is something you will get through, and you are intelligent enough to know that it is a temporary thing. I also believe that witty people can not stay depressed for long, other peoples inanity(is that a word?) will eventually make you start laughing again.
dave, sorry about my assumption. from my experience with depression, any of those suggestions you made would have elicited a firestorm of "you don't know what your talking abouts" from friends and family.
i guess my rant (and i will always consider the internet an incredibly public forum and the epitome of free speech limited only by blocking my IP) was pretty self-centered. but, i feel like it's an angle that gets blatanly ignored. there are people out there who don't have depression and can never understand (like men and childbirth) but who are willing to empathize to the best of their ability. the problem is, they need a little empathy, too. this dramatically condescending approach to mental health "education" does little to change my opinions.
why can't you guys who are so good at dealing with these issues at least agree with the things i've said? are they not true? is depression not the purest form of self-centrism? you have to accept the problem honestly. i feel like whenever i talk about depression, my feelings gets sidestepped. this is probably because the people i'm talking to would rather ignore them.
am i not justified in being frustrated? i happen to have read at least 50 articles on lds.org and every one of them includes advice on turning to your faith. i'm not saying that you shouldn't get clinical help. of course, you should. any bishop who doesn't encourage professional assistance is out of line. but it would be nice if the people i talk to about depression felt like incorporating faith into the healing process. the deliberate avoidance of the topic of religion (except in generalities often dubbed "spirituality") as it applies to depression is not healthy in my opinion.
my daily vocation happens to be music. i have quite a wide and deep understanding of music, as you might expect. however, i also deal with people daily who have little if any regard for music. i don't think any less of those musically ignorant souls. i am very interested in their "uneducated" opinions and views on music. sometimes, however, it can be annoying.. so i can see how my comments on this subject could annoy many of you out there. sorry. i'm going to start a support group for people who deal with or have dealt with people who deal with or have dealt with depression. dave, you're invited to join. bring your flax seed to the meetings.
Let me get this strait. You are stating that people with depression are self cenered (a bit) while complaining that no one is paying attention to you and valiating your comments by agreeing with them?
look at how you just avoided agreeing with me. look at how you just avoided saying anything about the validity of my argument and pointed out the seeming irony in HOW i was saying it. but, yes. see how you validate me without agreeing?
Hi there. I am Dave’s wife. And I must comment.
I was first diagnosed with clinical depression in 1997. I have been re-diagnosed a few times since. Four kids in four years makes it really hard to deal with, let alone conquer, this disease. And not having the support of my spouse, and having him “solve my problem” every time I turn around, is beyond not helpful. (Did you all notice how Dave put quotation marks around clinical in his post?)
Dave really believes that depression is something I make up to make him miserable. He has had personal experience with SITUATIONAL depression, and as he got over it, so should everyone else be able to. He is perfect. He is right. He knows all. (Thanks AGAIN Reni….) Hence his intolerance and disbelief of my CLINICAL depression.
Sorry to all if his ignorance and self-righteousness has offended.
i am speechless. i am without speech.
i will first say i understand what josh it talking about. i'm sure it is hard to live with someone who is depresssed. especially if you are not.
now, i will say what i really feel. no one i repeat no one who doesn't not suffer from drepression can truely understand what it is or how to deal with it. i think that is why they are frusterated. there is this secret society of people they can't be a part of or really understand. it is easy to say something you dont't understand isn't real. i am also deeply insulted by anone who says i am depressed because i am spiritually lacking. i think one of the darkest circles of hell is reserved for those who counsel others on their sprituality without authority. at least that is the answer you will get when i am depressed.
my favorite answer is to "just focus on the good things" hahaha. sorry, that one always makes me laugh a bit. the whole point is we can't. you can't see the good times.
i can realte to mom's comment about trying so hard to be happy you can't feel anything. i spent or spend quite a bit of my life that way. it stinks but by doing this we can make all you "outsiders"(i use the term lovingly) feel like we are better.
it seems quite a few people try to pretend it's not real. this only makes it worse. many people are ashamed to admit htey are depressed. making us feel like it's not real only makes us feel more crazy and thus worse about ourselves.
It is obvious that a lot of people have feelings really close to the surface on this issue.
I'd like to echo Sarah. I have often asked myself if it is worse to be an invalid in need of constant care or to be the preson tasked with providing that care. This is a limited analogy, of course, but it illustrates that each party has a difficult row to hoe.
i don't it's fair to lump me and dave together on this one. i'm on a voyage of discovery.. dave's already got it all figured out!
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