Clinical Depression vs. Supplements

ps I have been fighting some serious deep depression as of late. Literally hundreds of thoughts of suicide per day. What really helps me is knowing my kids love me and depend on me and that I can’t leave them. Second would be an occasional night out with the boys to just forget about life in general and have fun.

Find something and hang on to it.

OHL

I took Saint Johns wort before ending up in my worst depression.

Working out is nice when you have little down, but no, there’s no other way to get out of depression than going to a shrink, reading books about depression and taking a good anti depressant.

I ended 2 times at the psychiatry because I tried to fight depression on my own or tried to ignore the signs.
After 7 months of therapy I know what was going wrong in my life and what were the mistakes I did over and over again. This time I won’t stop going to a “shrink”.

P.S. Even Tony Soprano is seeing a shrink. Madonnnnnnnnn!

Luckily, I haven’t yet to experience the loss of someone really close to me so I can’t possibly offer you any advice.

I can only guess at what you must be feeling. Although anything anyone says right now may seem pretty much worthless, I just hope things workout for you.

All the best.

Take a trip.

Oh my fing god that is totally immature.

Which is why I loved it. I especially like this "A snake! A snake! A Snnnnaaaakkkkkkeee!!!"

Man I sympathize being someone who has suffered with Depression for 15 years with no real end in site.

I have so many reasons for being depressed, small dick, Zits, no muscle town whatsoever, got a inbetween body (inbetween a boy and a man even though im 31) low income, in debt up to my eyeballs, everything I say seems to come out wrong, social anxiety disorder, seem to get mad for no good reason, anyone can take advantage of me pretty much I am so week minded and really have a hard time thinking for myself. I could go on and on, and on, but heres the thing….

You have to realize that while now it seems that your plot or situation is hopeless and suicide is the answer, the fact is this too shall pass and then you will have missed out on the good times to come as the other poster said.

The thing that gets me through, since I cannot afford insurance is thinking about when I am going to have my next good time and the fact that I will have good times, I live for the good times, which for me are the times I am completely absorbed in nature usually some place exotic that I have never seen before, for example recently I was lucky enough to finally dive on a real coral reef in the caribbean (a life long dream), I never thought this possible, but it happened and all those times I wanted to end it, if I had I would have missed out on one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced. Another example, The Grand Canyon, this nearly made me fall to my knees and make me thank god I was alive!!

I hope youll take these words to heat and realize there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

You have gotten incredible words of wisdom here. In addition, I would suggest getting involved in some sort of community/volunteer service. In addition to therapy (never a shrink, only psychologists), helping others, at what ever level can be managed, has pulled me through many, many deep, black, hopeless holes. I’ve ranged from reading to kids at a local school, to reading to the elderly in nursing homes, to exercising dogs at the local animal shelter. Helping others allowed me to pull my focus off of my own pain and misery.

I think lots of people have good suggestions here, but in my experience, depressed people have it no worse than anyone else. It is something in their brain chemistry that makes them think about things in a more negative way. My brother in law is constantly worried, depressed, and concerned about everything. I think it has to do with his upbringing with an alcoholic father. Anyway, he asked me once,

“How do you stay happy and be so calm and easy going? How can I stop worrying about everything?”

The problem was that he had a really good life. I might have traded lives with him. But he was constantly unhappy, and for some reason, I don’t worry about a fucking thing, even though I know I should be worried about some things. Why? It is genetics and brain chemistry. I had no advice to give my brother in law. “I can’t tell you not to worry. You either do or you don’t”. I felt shitty that I couldn’t give him any more wisdom than that, but I think its true.

Moral of the story: You can’t just decide to be happy. If you are physiologically unable to find happiness, it is important to get help, even if you think your problem is temporary. Shit I could dwell on the bad things in my life. I could think there is no solution to my problems. Or I could be happy, appreciate the good things, and know that things will work out one way or another. It is not just choosing which mindset you want. Sometimes you need a chemical adjustment to get you on the right path. There is nothing wrong with needing and using anti-depressants. Thank God we have them.

This is 100% true!!!

I often think somehow I got a bad lot in life or some BS like that, but then I realize well it could be 10x worse, I could be one of those poor kids in a third world country bathing in sewage, etc, etc.

For some reason though your brain will not allow you to see this and let you feel good about the fact that you are far better off, it is a chemical thing.

Oh yeah and screw Tom Cruise for putting down anti depressents! lol!

penismith,

How ya doin buddy? You hangin in there man?

Has anyone heard from him?

Give us a shout buddy, let us know your still okay, please.

Thanks. I am hanging in there. I got the SAM-e and I spend 20 min each day exercising with the badgers.

Hey Psmith, I second Ike that finding the right therapist can help many people immeasurably, especially in circumstances of “recent tragedy,” where you surely have a lot of shit to sort out. Unfortunately, because of the stigma of mental illness, therapists aren’t the sort of thing people trade tips on, so I understand it might be a huge pain in the ass (and perhaps prohibitively expensive) to try to find someone good and local.

Glad to see you’re forcing yourself to exercise with the badgers :) Time will be the only real “cure” for your present predicament, as well you know, but there’s nothing better than exercise, in my experience, to help maintain a decent mood once you’re back to normal again.

In my opinion SAM-e is unlikely to help you beyond a placebo effect, but then again some studies show current prescription antidepressants only marginally outperforming placebos, as well. The pharmaceutical armamentarium is still pretty primitive for this problem, unfortunately :(

Keep us updated on your progress. Stay strong and keep your sense of humor :)

5-htp!

With all this stuff, watch out for serotonin syndrome. I get it often when pushing SAM-e with 5-htp and St John’s Wort.

Why not a therapist? You need a good, interested, neutral person to talk with - dump some of the accumulated emotions. If some anti-depressant drug will help, go for it, combined with the outlet of regular, uncensored talking.

Problem is, these days there are fewer “talking doctors” and more “take a pill because I don’t 1) have the time or 2) I don’t know how to talk,” shrinks. They are being well-trained on the phamaceutical side and not on the active therapy side. But, there are good ones around, still, and it doesn’t need to cost a fortune to get the help.

I’m sure your temptation is to close up, go inside. The opposite is better, but with the right people.