Posted by madeline on December 14, 2006, at 7:06:45
In reply to Re: Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by stargazer on December 14, 2006, at 0:05:36
I think that most of the posts are exactly right. The diagnosis of depression is often just completely wrong, and not only that, there are very very likely all different kinds of depression.
However, I will say that the SSRI's do provide help for some people that have a certain kind of depression. But that result can't be generalized to everyone.
I was depressed pretty much my whole life, and I just thought I was lazy, undisciplined, and too sensitive (I certainly heard that enough from my family). It would wax and wane but overall there was just badness. In my early twenties it really began to escalate and I lived with the recurring bouts of increasing severity until I was 30. I finally was just crying everyday.
I started prozac at a time when I just wasn't functional at all. I also started therapy at that time as well.
It was funny, but I carried the prozac prescription with me for two weeks without getting it filled. I was convinced it wouldn't work and that by taking it I would somehow be admitting "failure".
At the end of the first week on the drug, I had horrible anxiety (a full blown panic attack - a trip to the hospital, the whole nine yards), but I stayed on it and within two weeks that went away.
After about a month, I found myself singing "don't worry be happy" while I was cleaning my house. I'll also never forget eating a stupid blueberry muffin and thinking that "wow this is really good". I also began to see color again.
Since I've been on prozac I haven't had a single "bout" of depression in over 6 years. Now that's not to say I feel like a ray of sunshine everyday - I don't.
Life still feels like a fight sometimes. I still cry, but not for days at a time and over appropriate things to cry about and I'm not bedridden.
My psychiatrist and I also jockey the dose periodically and I will switch between 10 & 20 mgs.
I also think that a vital part of my recovery has been good old fashioned psychotherapy, learning coping skills, eating well and working as hard as I can to change my attitude. I am convinced that negative thinking promotes negative feeling.
maddie.
poster:madeline
thread:713430
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061212/msgs/713515.html