depression

For more information about depression check out Antipsychotic Help

Q: Depression?
I have been suffering from Bipolar depression for several years now…somewhere around 10 years. The doctor has put me on several different medications that caused me more issues (weight gain, fatigue and other stuff like that) that I could not handle. I have not been on medicine since I had my son 2 years ago. Things seem to be getting worse lately with all the stress that has been added since my wedding in May. I have an appointment with my doctor today to try to get something to help me. It has gotten to the boilling point where I can see my condition hurting my family. Anyone have any suggestions on what medications worked good for you or someone you know? Or any other comments for me…please don’t be negative..that is not going to help me at all..it will only make it worse.
I agree with all of you. I appreciate soo much your suggestions or words of support for me. It helps.

Bill – you are right, I am lacking self-confidence but I have had that problem all of my life. It’s not something I can just snap out of by myself. I almost wonder if at times I need people around me that feel like I do so that we can support each other…I am too embarrased most the time to tell anyone about my problems.

A: I have had moderate to severe depression on and off for about 14 years now I have tried that many different medications its not funny my main complaint was weight gain or my dose of the medication would go up and up until I hit the highest dose of that medication – Im now taking Endep and although it caused weight gain to start with (for the 1st year ugh) that seems to have stopped and Im starting to ever so slowly lose the weight again – If I dont take it even for a couple of days I end up having severe depression and many panic attacks – I dont have bipolar and Endep does make you sleep but then this is one of the reasons I was put on it as I have pretty bad insomnia as well so I need the help to get to sleep… I know I havent answered your question but I gave up for a couple of years when I was pregnant and had my baby etc and things just spiraled in a downward direction until I went back to the Drs to try some new medications again – just remember they can take a little while to kick in (around 2 weeks) so dont get discouraged if they dont work straight away for you… I wish you all the best and Im glad you recognise whats happening to you before you do, do something you dont want to do.

Q: depression?
i have depression …my question is if it’s normal to obsess about existential thoughts when u have depression? and how to overcome it? thnx

A: i going thru the same thing. well, i pray to God that all my issues will go away, and maybe be a whole new person for Him. you have to trust Him, if u want to overcome ur depression. i’ll be praying for you.

Q: DEPRESSION!!!!!!!………………….?
normally, is depression a continuation of a certain bad event that happened in your life? does it continue especially if you over analyze or think things and you just kept it all to yourself? depression is normal to appear, right?

A: “Depression is normal to appear” You don’t like a whole lot of people has well as some doctors who don’t understand depression. Depression is caused by a lack of Serotonin just like a diabetic who doesn’t who doesn’t have he ability to produce its’ own insullin. Depresion is being sad empty and alone even if your surrounded by familly members during a special fest.

Q: DEpression?
does anybody know a way to get rid of it?

A: smile a lot to people you don’t know it sounds funny but it makes you smile and makes you think that if the person you smiled to thinks your weird!! lol

Q: dEPRESSION???
I just broke up with my bf yesterday because he acted like he didnt love me anymore!! he acted like he loved my body and thats it…

now that it is over i miss him i did not let him explain
now i want to call him but dont want 2 sound desperate

A: I’m sorry that this has happened to you but stick with your gut. It has been statistically proven that women have an intution that is usually right. So if your gut is saying he didn’t love you for you, it’s probably right. I’m sorry that you are going through this but it is hard to see someone everyday, break up and then not see them at all.

Good luck.

Q: What’s the difference between Reactive Depression and Clinical Depression?
“Normal Depression is often triggered by an event or circumstance in which you react to emotionally, such as the death of a loved one. This type of depression is psychological because you are emotionally “reacting” to something that has happened.”

“Clinical Depression is more serious, triggered by a chemical imbalance in the brain. This is a biological disorder of the brain, but it has psychological symptoms. This type of depression need not follow any sad, stressful or upsetting event; it can kick in for no apparent reason at all other than a change in one’s brain chemicals.”

Is this correct or is clinical depression just depression that is more serious and is not specifically due to chemical imbalance? I’m kind of confused about all this.
I thought that was right but I’m doing research for school and I keep getting mixed information. Most people say clinical depression in depression which lasts more than a few weeks, but that didn’t sound like the proper meaning.

A: Okay, here’s the thing. It depends on who you get your information from.

But here are the basics, reactive depression is depression that occurs after a traumatic or saddening life experience like after a death in the family.

Clinical depression is any depression that lasts longer than 2 weeks. Read the DSM criteria for a major depressive episode aka clinical depression. That means that reactive depression can turn into clinical depression including the chemical imbalance. While there may be something to be said about a genetic link to depression, we don’t really know at this point. There is no such thing as strictly genetic/biological depression. All depression is psychological in nature.

No one knows if it’s the chemical imbalance or the depressive thoughts and behavours that come first. What people do know is that sometimes antidepressant medication works in lifting depressive symptoms. Another thing that is known is that cognitive behavourial therapy has the exact same success rate as antidepressant medication for clinical depression except that CBT does not have the high relapse rate. If you look at brain scans of people before and after CBT, you can see physical changes in the brains. Their brains no longer look depressed and they no longer report depressive symptoms to the same degree. It’s interesting that people can know this, but still claim that clinical depression is just a chemical imbalance in the brain like it’s some sort of physical brain disorder like epilespy. It’s clearly not.

Q: United States during the Great Depression and the New Deal Eras?
What is the context, or/and some specific details about, the cause of the Great Depression and how it affected society. What were the different strategies used to combat the Great Depression. What factors led to the failure of Herbert hoover’s strategy and why, in comparison, was F.D.R.’s approach so successful? What are some specific programs of the “New Deal” [accomplishments and limitations]. Did the New Deal get America out of the Great Depression?

I think that what ended the Great Depression was the war!

Answers?

A: The war was a contributor on both ends of the depression. The main contributor was the over value of stocks and the sale of stocks with credit not forgetting the speculator’s greed; Hoover was caught up and blamed for things that were not of his making, he was slow in taking action thus received most of the blame.
There were several projects started, Tennessee Valley Project, Damns were built, Roads repaired Flood control levies built, any thing to get people off the street.
Remember the depression was not just an American problem. In Europe, for instance, people were forced to purchase food every day because the prices would change, sometimes every hour. Sound familiar?
There have been some safe guards installed in the economy system, however greed and power will find the loop holes and a sleepy congress can set us up again for bad times.

The history web site can be of more assistance. It would take up much space to be complete and it gets personal.

nationalhistory.org

Terry G.

Q: What is the difference between minor depression and major depression ?
Isn’t a depression just a depression
I was diagnosed with major depression.
What’s the difference

A: This is the way I’ve always seen it:

Minor depression – a feeling of sadness caused by an event, but the feeling will pass. Eg, someone’s parent might die and they will feel very depressed for a while, but they will not need medication or therapy to feel better.

Major depression – a feeling of sadness with no apparent cause that is constant and lasts for months. Only medication and/or therapy can treat it. For example, a person might feel very sad all the time for a month even though nothing is really wrong in their life, because they have a chemical imbalance; a lack of a substance called ’seratonin’, and this causes the depression.

Q: What will the coming global economic depression be called?
WW1 was called the Great War before everyone decided to have at it again, so they had to rename the wars as World Wars 1 and 2. Since it looks like we will now have to rename the Great Depression, what would you suggest? World Depression 2 does not sound very good. Maybe The Coolidge Depression and The Bush Depression?

A: Great Depression 2.0

Q: What are the symptoms of depression and when should drugs be used for treatment?
Like symptoms other than the obvious ones like feeling down.

When does someone get the point where help from medication is needed. I know someone who is suffering from a form of depression but is worried that the antidepression tablets will have worse side effects. Its hard to know if its severe depression or even depression at all.

A: According to the diagnostic and statistical manual IV, “Major depression” is classified as at least 5 out of the 9 symptoms, one of which must be:

1/ Feeling depressed/down
or
2/ Feeling like nothing interests you anymore – even things that you used to like doing

for most of the day, for most days of the week

The other 7 symptoms are:
Fatigue
Poor attention
Change in appetite/weight
Sleep changes (sleeping more or sleeping less with or without early morning wakening)
Everything slows down (the person moves slower, speaks slower, etc.)
Feeling excessively guilty / at fault / worthless
Suicidal thoughts/thoughts that life isn’t worth living

Yes it is true that there are side effects to the medications, but if the person is quite depressed that it’s affecting their life substantially, medications might be needed – if only to help them pick themselves up again.

This is especially the case if suicidal thoughts are involved as their safety is of significant importance.

However, one thing you need to keep in mind is that these medications take a long time to work.. at least 6 weeks for them to start to feel better. They may even feel worse after a week or 2. They also need to continue the medications for 12 months for it to be effective.

Counseling might be an option initially if the person you’re talking about is wary about taking drugs and worried about their side effects, but if there is any indication of suicidal ideation, it could be quite serious and counseling might not be enough. All the best!

Q: What are natural or alternative ways to beat depression?
I have servere depression (I believe it’s called clinical depression). I am completely fed up with feeling this way, and have been this way for the last 6 years. I kept thinking that it would get better, but it’s obviouse that it’s not.

I’m going to be 25 yrs old in November and I realize that there are so many things that I would have wanted to accomplish by now, but my depression has prevented this.

I keep reading about how depression is caused by ‘chemical imbalances’ in the brain, and it feels like I don’t stand a chance at beating it without going on Anti-depressants, but I don’t want to go down this route cause I’m worried about the side-effects.

Can anyone suggest natural ways to beat depression that don’t involve medication?

A: Exercise, St. John’s Wort, positive mental feedback (tell yourself good things, not bad), good ole night’s sleep – amazing what sleep will do for you. Try melatonin and/or valerian root if you have trouble sleeping. Hugs – it sounds silly, but really, hugs.

It is often imperative to also get some therapy along with medication, if only to change the negative thought patterns you have developed while depressed.

Q: What is the likelihood of my depression returning?
I have a history of severe depression. My mom is very against medication and counseling, and reluctantly allowed me to go on the lowest dosage of zoloft. It helped, but now she wants me to go off of it and stop going to my doctor. My fear is that my depression will return. What are the chances of my depression returning, and how can I handle it if and when it does?

A: “What most people need is tools to deal with their life, not to drudge up all the crap from the past.”

Good advice and that has helped with me. Why is your mom against treatment for your depression? If you had high blood pressure or high cholesterol or anything physical, you’d get treatment for that, wouldn’t you? This is no different really.

I’ve found that cognitive behavioral therapy helps me quite a bit.

Q: What are the chances that chronic depression leads to schizoprenia?
Someone close to me has been battling depression for 17 years now. She is doing a good job, has held on to a demanding job for 4 years now. Though her performance at work are highly erratic. Periods of poor apathetic performance interspersed with periods of high performance.

She shows sympotm of chronic depression, withdraws from social life, has low energy, can spend days in bed, is messy etc.She’s on medication too.

I fear that the next phase will be schizoprenia. She’s 32 now and has been suffering from depression since she was 15.
Though I said her performance at work is erratic, i dont think it is suggestive of bipolar. She has been fired once before for apathy at work. Since then she is scared to lose her job. When her poor performance at work gets noticable and she thinks her job is in danger,she bucks up and works harder.

And she cannot unfortunately retire from work. She lives in a country that dosen’t give benefits. And her aged parents cannot take care of her. She has to earn her living. She would very much like to reyire or atlease work part time, but is unable to do so.

A: The symptoms of “Though her performance at work are highly erratic. Periods of poor apathetic performance interspersed with periods of high performance.” suggest that she is bipolar.

Depressives don’t move on to schizophrenia. They move on to suicide.

The danger with medicines is that they give you the energy to do what you need to do. And anyone that says “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem” has never battled depression for 17 years. They just don’t understand.

She probably needs assistance with affairs of daily living; if you are battling depression, you can’t keep the house clean, and if you live in a pig sty, it’s even harder to battle depression. If you could come in, straighten things up, do some laundry, cook a few meals, it would really do a long way towards making her life tolerable. Don’t just jump in and take over, though; she’s already suffering feelings of impotence, and if she feels like you’re treating her like an invalid, that will make things worst, so *talk* to her, and ask *permission* to help with those things. (She will feel undeserving, so feel free to plead with her, to be allowed to treat a deserving friend like the friend she is.)

It may be necessary for her to retire on disability. Social Security disability is getting harder and harder to get, but she probably qualifies, if the doctors fill out the forms correctly.

And never underestimate the value of hugs. She’s been through hell, and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.

Q: What makes a person suffering from depression push their loved ones away?
How strong can depression be? How harmful is it? For instance, does depression make your bf/gf want to break up with you over a stupid reason especially when they’re the one suffering depression? What makes them want to push you away and be alone? What makes them want to ignore you to consult their own feelings? Do they realize what they’re doing especially they’re the one in pain?

A: Hi,

Great question. Good to see you are seeking information.

My bet is that the time the ‘pushing away’ occurs is during Depression. There are a few kinds of Depression, mainly Depression and MANIC Depression. here’s a bit of FACTULA infor on both which might help you work things out….

To cut to the chase, BIPOLAR (as you might already suspect) means “two poles” and is simply the new “in” word for Manic Depression where a person cycles between “very big highs” (mania) at one end of the ‘pole’ and “very low Lows” (depression) at the other end of the ‘pole, which is a far wider range than most other peoples – and it lasts for more than a couple of weeks.

Many famous and highly intelligent people have/had manic depression including Sir Winston Churchill, Stephen Fry, Carrie Fisher, Spike Milligan, Ben Stiller, DMX and many others. Managed properly, it can be lived with, and in fact because the “mania” (the highs) are so exhilarating, most manic depressives wouldn’t swap their manic depression for being normal. There are three treatments for Bipolar, and only one of them involves antidepressant drugs.

I’ve been in fairly hefty senior management positions for around 4 decades and have had up to 500 staff under me at times. I’ve had to deal frequently with many people suffering Depression, so know a little about what you are going through. Depression is far more common than most people think because most people either don’t recognise it or hide it. In fact, I think the stats show that up to one-in-five people suffer from Depression, all over the world. It’s good that you’re getting it out in the open and seeking advice. Just be careful of the myths and here-say, though. A lot of people don’t know what they’re talking about and just seem to make things up as they go along.

Nowadays, I produce videos, and last year made a 35-minute DVD presented by a top UK Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Darryl Britto, who is a personal friend of mine, and who wanted to squash all the myths about depression, because he felt that very few people thoroughly understood what it is all about. In the DVD he includes an explanation of the three main treatments available. It’s purposely in simple layperson’s language and aimed at 4 categories of people.
1) Those with Depression,
2) Those who think they may have Depression,
3) Friends and family of those with Depression, and
4) People training in the healthcare sector.

If interested, you can see a FREE PREVIEW on YouTube at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce1viJ7zqCU

I also have a Blog at http://business-sage.blogspot.com which has heaps and heaps of useful FREE ADVICE about enhancing your lot in life, which you might be interested in. (Some of it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.)

Also I’ve include some web links below, many of which are professional bodies connected to Bipolar and Depression with stacks of free information.

I sincerely hope this information might help you, and that I haven’t given you too much text here – but I felt it important to lever you away from (sometimes) harmful here-say, gossip and myths. People suffering Depression are not alone, you know. Depression is treatable in the majority of cases and it’s truly not as bad as people think it is. Armed with the FACTS of what Depression is all about, makes it ten times more easy to handle.

Good luck & Cheers
John E

Q: How do I get diagnosed with depression while in Iraq?
I’ve been in Iraq for well over a year and while I have been pretty much out of harm’s way for the most part, it has been a rough year emotionally. I have not been diagnosed with depression before because I never saw a psychiatrist or anyone of that nature, however, I can tell you that for a good part of ten years, I’ve been having a series of depression which last for several days.

Here in Iraq, it’s been the most prominent. I would get depressed and feel empty inside and this will last for a week and then I would feel better for a week and get depressed for another week and feel better for three weeks. Usually, my depression is sudden. I would be at work and I will feel fine and then all of a sudden I would feel this uncontrollable saddness and empty feeling inside me. Almost like disappointment or like I lost something. Which would eventually turn into iritability and hostility and back to silence again.

I want to see a real psyciatrist but don’t know what to do. Thanks.

A: If you are serving in the military, start with asking to see a chaplain or medical officer. The American Consulate should be able to help you find a medical professional.

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