After trying 23 medication combinations, 7 psychiatrists, two hospitalization programs, and every form of alternative therapy available–from homeopathic remedies to yoga, I assumed I was one of those unfortunate statistics with treatment-resistant depression, a …
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I’ve been through similar depression issues – maybe not to the extent you have, but I’ve experience some of the symptoms and have tried desperately to cope with them. Even now, as I face unemployment and see no prospects down the pike, I am having some bouts of depression. I have copied your “notes” here and will place it in a WORD doc. to help me remember how to deal with issues and depression when they come up. I especially like the idea of carrying more than one phone number so as not to inundate one friend.
I friend of mine recently told me an interesting story about a psychiatrist who was at a conference he was attending. They were listening to a boring, and somewhat depressing, speaker. The psychiatrist, using his index and middle fingers, made himself smile. My friend asked him what he was doing. He said that smiling makes a person feel good; and that feeling down and unable to smile on his own, he was using his fingers to force a smile.
As I am writing this I just tried it myself (I’m also feeling a little bit down right now). It is incredible, it really works!!! Smiling is the best anti-depressant medication out there!!!
People living in northern climes are most likely not getting enough vitamin D in the winter time. Low levels contribute to depression. Consider having your levels tested and/or research whether you would benefit from taking a supplement (D3 is considered the superior source).
What a joy to read that you are doing well. I’ve had three “pyscotic breaks” in my life but have been feeling wonderful for a few years now, doing a lot of what you wrote about. To get out of the blackest times I made myself do what I didn’t feel like doing: Clean the dishes, take a walk, go to whatever was on my schedule. Sometimes just doing one constructive thing was a triumph. My friends were a great help. I, like you, felt like I needed to talk to someone quite often. I tried not to burden one person, also. I now tell people that to get better you have to “go to war”. It’s a very heroic and difficult thing to do, even with medicine, which I took and still take. All the best to you.
I was a genetically depressed person before I started practicing some psycho therapeutic trainings: holotropic breathing, yoga, informational psychotherapy. This has changed my life.
Although it is possible for these things to help, we have to remember that depression is a chemically based disorder. For me, without medication, these things don’t work.