Any tips for home treatment of depression?
When I was 16 I was diagnosed with clinical depression. After multiple medications and tons of counseling, I still wasn’t feeling any better. If anything the side effects of the medications were making things worse. I ended up eventually quitting my medications and stuck with my counseling and psychotherapy not much longer there after. I’ve pretty much been riding my wave of depression for the past 5 years. Is there anything that can make me feel any better that doesn’t consist of psychotherapy or medications. Right now my depression has somewhat lifted because of the holidays, but it’s just temporary. I really am looking for a long term treatment. Any idea what I can do to help fight off my severe depression?
Posted in Psychotherapy Counseling
content rss
July 31st, 2009 at 9:26 am
Drink lots of water and take 100 mg multiple Vitamin B tablets, extra niacin start with 50 mg - enough to get a skin flush, and calcium.
Here is a link to a CD that claims to be the World’s First Digital Drug and claims the following: Enjoy a totally safe and exhilarating experience, with this 60 minute recording. Simply relax as you listen to the binaural beats stimulating parts of your mind not touched by other CDs. A fantastically awesome inner-journey. Use for good moods, euphoria, visualisation. - http://www.binaural-beats.com/?afl=32470
July 31st, 2009 at 9:26 am
I have been on medcation for many years for depression. It does not go away naturally and it took a long time to find the right medication. clinical depression doesnt just go away, it is a disorder and usually can only be helped with medication..keep trying unil you find the right one for you
July 31st, 2009 at 9:26 am
umm… what could make u happy… relieve stress.. and not require any medication… hmm… well im available any time u need me
July 31st, 2009 at 9:26 am
There are something like 130 approved drugs for depression, you might want to give it another try and see if one can help you, I mean I hate to answer your question in a way you obviously don’t want, but to me that seems like your best option, also there are several different types of therapy, for me cognitive therapy worked but the others drove me nuts. I would read a book called "feeling good" but a Dr Burns, it is a great home course on cognitive therapy, it’s not perfect but it’s helpful. And please do consider trying some of the other medications, it took me 6 prescriptions before I found the right one, but I am so glad I put in the time, I feel so much better. Statistically the best results are with a combination of some kind of medication and some kind of psychotherapy so that is definitely your best bet especially for a long term depression like that, but it sounds like you aren’t a fan of those so here is a quick list of things I have heard worked:
Making sure you get enough protein (a lot of depression is linked to hypoglycemia)
Making sure you get enough sleep (same story, a lot of depressed people have sleep apnea)
Light boxes (if your depression is connected to the seasons, ten minutes with a light box is time well spent)
Avoiding places that you go when you are depressed (our mood is tied to our surroundings, if you spend a lot of your depressed time on the couch, get rid of it)
Reorganizing your furniture (This one sounds stupid, but it breaks bad cognitive habits that you have developed in your old surroundings and can lead to a temporary lift)
Working out (this one is actually probably the best, working out is like free anti depressants but you can’t have a bad reaction to them because your body is making them, but your benefits max out (at least your psychological benefits) working out every other day, any more than that won’t help and might actually become a strain that can make things worse)
Meditation or Prayer (I’m actually not a spiritual person but there is pretty solid evidence showing that taking the time to sit focused and thinking like that can help with depression cases, some people will say it’s God doing it, but meditation works just as well if you aren’t religious, just remember to take it slow and build up to at least ten or so minutes a day)
Yoga or Chi gung (this is along the same lines as the prayer and meditation but can count as a work out too!!! but just taking the time to focus on what you are doing is a good cognitive resource)
Depression support groups or chat rooms (these can be a great resource for moral support, even if they don’t lift your mood, they can make you feel less alone, and if you make a habit of them it can help keep you from isolating, which is one of the worst things you can do when your depressed)
Well ok, that is plenty for the answers page, I am by no means a Therapist, but I do have my BA in this stuff and have dealt with depression most of my life too, so email me on here if you want more tips.
July 31st, 2009 at 9:26 am
I can only give you a few tips as to what has helped me. Like you I was diagnosed at 16 and like you I gave up on medication due to the side effects. I was still depressed, but too lethargic to care on meds.
I am now middle aged and haven’t had a bad episode since my mid twenties.
!. Accept that you are prone to it. 2. Learn your triggers - is it that you are being overwhelmed by any person, place or thing - if so make that person, place or thing a smaller part of your life. Lessen or if possible, break contact with it/them; detach from the trigger in some way in order to break it’s grip on your thinking.
3.Realise that your feelings are only part of who you are - they are valuable messengers, telling you your response to what is going on around you, but they are only a weather system. They change according to your environment, who you are with and what you are doing. 4.You have to take note of the people, places and activities that make you feel better about yourself and more optimistic about life and maximise your exposure to those.
The plan is not to never feel depressed again; the plan is to have more good days than down days.
5. Watch out for obsessive thinking about anything, as it tires your mind and leads nowhere. Watch out for getting too involved in other peoples’ problems - especially when you haven’t got a good grip on your own yet.
Hope some of this is useful - it has helped me.
July 31st, 2009 at 9:26 am
Stop using depression as an excuse for living life , l have done so for may years and you know what , doctors cant help you , pills will only give u a false sense of reality and using holidays as a temporary perk up is a total cope out…… just get a life and start living, l know it’s a complete cliche but it works ……
no can tell u how to feel , what to do and how your life should be……