depressed  Wrote:

and fear that if I go on big pharma meds I will never come off them.

Speaking as someone who has struggled with depression since adolescence and has taken the big pharma meds, I stronly suggest you research them thoroughly before taking them.

The best book I have found on the topic is:

Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
by Robert Whitaker

You'll find the scientifically documented (w/ sources cited) evidence in the book about how these drugs actually cause brain damage and make your depression into a lifelong condition (rather than a transient state). Everything is well documented, using the pharmaceutical companies' own studies.

LoP Guest  Wrote:

Walk in the woods with a camera sounds great. I was doing a lot of walking late last year before it got too cold. I live right near some trails that run through the forests around here in both directions. Started challenging myself to walk 5 miles out and 5 miles back, 10 miles in a day. I'd be gone for 2 or 3 hours at a time.

The more you do that the better you'll feel. Before you know it you'll be feeling how great it is to be alive! Now, where did that depression go?

depressed  Wrote:

and fear that if I go on big pharma meds I will never come off them.

Speaking as someone who has struggled with depression since adolescence and has taken the big pharma meds, I stronly suggest you research them thoroughly before taking them.
The best book I have found on the topic is:

Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
by Robert Whitaker
http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Epidemic-B...t_ep_dpt_1
I *wish* I had known about that book before my last round of anti-depressant (Lexapro) and anti-anxiety med (klonopin) treatment. The meds caused changes in my personality, and when I went off them, my depression and anxiety got so bad I became agoraphobic for 3 years.
You'll find the scientifically documented (w/ sources cited) evidence in the book about how these drugs actually cause brain damage and make your depression into a lifelong condition (rather than a transient state). Everything is well documented, using the pharmaceutical companies' own studies.
There are a few natural treatments that have been minimally helpful - magnesium supplements, l-tyrosine, l-theanine, and lithium orotate (not all four at once though :) So, if you're looking for a more natural route, those would be some things to google.
Overall, I think the depression is a side effect of being 'awake' in a world that is completely friggin backwards - bizarro world (as I call it). It seems like everything is exactly the opposite of the way it 'should' be. It' s hard to live in that world with eyes wide open.
The thing that has helped to bring me out of my funk is getting involved with an activity that I feel is making a positive difference toward creating the world I want to live in. For me, it's helping the elderly and getting involved in community gardening. For you, it may be something entirely different. But, I'll bet you can find something you feel you can contribute.
Don't let them make you think you're crazy because you're having trouble coping with the nature of reality in this country right now. Being awake is not easy, and there's nothing wrong with *you*.Best wishes, and hugs to you OP. You are not alone.

LoP Guest  Wrote:

LoP Guest  Wrote:

Walk in the woods with a camera sounds great. I was doing a lot of walking late last year before it got too cold. I live right near some trails that run through the forests around here in both directions. Started challenging myself to walk 5 miles out and 5 miles back, 10 miles in a day. I'd be gone for 2 or 3 hours at a time.

The more you do that the better you'll feel. Before you know it you'll be feeling how great it is to be alive! Now, where did that depression go?

<< Or there is always laughing gas..



<< calming down now..

I've never felt an improvement before from getting out or taking walks

Usually it worsens my depression & suffering, not makes it better. I do not understand and cannot fathom the concept of how getting out or dying activities would affect depression. It does not, no more than it would a toothache or 3rd degree burns. I feel intense dysphoria no matter what activities I engage in.

I cannot relate to this thread at all it makes no sense, and Ive never experienced what others are talking about, improvement through activities.

Moranic_Mayhem  Wrote:

LoP Guest  Wrote:

The more you do that the better you'll feel. Before you know it you'll be feeling how great it is to be alive! Now, where did that depression go?

<< Or there is always laughing gas..



<< calming down now..

Only the laughing! Don't need the gas.

LoP Guest  Wrote:

Moranic_Mayhem  Wrote:

<< Or there is always laughing gas..



<< calming down now..

Only the laughing! Don't need the gas.

what has depressed me the most is finding out someone I trusted and loved lied to me, maybe worse. I'll never know the truth now. They claim to have told me everything, yet now I am left broken and depressed worse than any other time in my life. They were the one person I never thought would lie to me and they did.

I decided to crawl back into bed instead of a walk.

depressed  Wrote:

what has depressed me the most is finding out someone I trusted and loved lied to me, maybe worse. I'll never know the truth now. They claim to have told me everything, yet now I am left broken and depressed worse than any other time in my life. They were the one person I never thought would lie to me and they did.

That'll definitely do it to ya. I experienced the worst betrayal of my life late last year right before the holidays, and I still think about it on a daily basis but I am fighting inch by inch to move past it and let it go. This painful event is the main cause of my depression as well, moreso than the state of the world or anything else. 5 pages into your thread and you finally came out and mentioned what is really hurting you. I know it sucks terribly.
depressed  Wrote:

I decided to crawl back into bed instead of a walk.

I said a few pages back but it may have got lost in the mix, sometimes submitting to it like that is actually for the best. Sometimes we need to fight and get on our feet and distract ourselves, other days if you have to give in, climb back in bed, and just let it happen, so be it. Sometimes it's the only way past it, to just accept how you're feeling and go along with it until it is ready to pass.

Listen to moar Metal

I HAVE A DIFFERENT AND PERHAPS MORE CONTROVERSIAL APPROACH TO DEPRESSION.

FreedomStands  Wrote:

I HAVE A DIFFERENT AND PERHAPS MORE CONTROVERSIAL APPROACH TO DEPRESSION.

Spit it out