Posted by fuzz54 on October 26, 2007, at 10:49:33
In reply to Re: Important Question Not About Me But Everyone, posted by Forte on October 25, 2007, at 19:17:51
I have a success story. I'm maybe %70 recovered from my depression and anxiety issues. I've had very high anxiety my whole life. I was never in a relationship (except for a couple short ones in high school) before the age of 28. With the low self esteem caused by social anxiety and general anxiety all I wanted was a relationship and acceptance from my peers and a job I enjoyed. I had none of those things, hopelessness set in, and then I went into a long-term spiral of depression that got progressively worse over the course of maybe 5 years. After three years of talk and group therapy and two years of being on Paxil (20 to 30 mg / day) and Klonopin I am doing much better. I am no longer depressed for more than a day or two at a time once in awhile. I have had two year-long relationships in the last two years and am now engaged to be married in a healthy relationship. This is absolutely not something I could have done three years ago. I'm reaching a level of contentment that I don't have suicidal ideation that often anymore and can see some good things down the road even if I don't wake up feeling happy every day. None of the recovery process was easy and was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, but I'm a stubborn person and was able to stay motivated somehow even when I was frustrated and confused about myself. I have tried going off of the meds, but anxiety and depression came back after 2 months being med free. After being back on the meds I'm fine again. I'll probably be taking meds the rest of my life, but they do make a huge difference for me. Especially when combined with therapy to make behavioral and cognitive changes.
poster:fuzz54
thread:790193
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071019/msgs/791520.html