not for me...it's for a friend. i told her to see a professional. drugs don't seem to help, she didn't like zoloft (can't spell)

don't know what else to tell her.

try getting some exercise. make reachable goals and try to accomplish them.

out of curiosity, what was her problem with zoloft? I've heard good and bad.

If your friend isnt getting better from therapy or mid grade shit like Zoloft, she might need big boy stuff like Lithium.

Just sayin. Depression is a bitch.

sometimes you have to shop around for the "right" anti depressant.
therapy could help.

setting up routines help.
not being alone.
exercise helps.diet...all of that but it's really hard to get going if you're depressed.

i'd start with finding a good therapist (which ain't easy) and anti depressants.
in that order.
they've helped me to be as fucked up as i am today.

she said she didn't like it. i think it made her sick. she doesn't really want to take drugs to help her depression.

it would help if she got a job, but she's not working right now. she doesn't feel ready to start interviews 'cos she feels her depression might show during the interview.

I suggest alcohol to get through the interviews, then use the health insurance from the new job to get some medical attention.[/sorta tongue in cheek, semi-autobiographical rant]

I'd agree with ayah. Talk therapy is good, particularly if the depression is linked to a situation ie. reactive to or related to an event such as death, divorce etc. Coping skills can be suggested to assist during the transition period. But sometimes, neurochemicals are just out of whack and anti-depressants are the only effective treatment for major depression. ECT is another, but that's only for serious treatment resistant depression. If your friend has diagnosed major depressive disorder (MDD), drugs are unfortunately one of the only solutions. I do sympathize as my mother has had MDD all her life, she's tried all types of variations of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (Prozac, Zoloft etc) and they've all give her some type of side effects, which tend to vary from person to person. She's taking Celexa now which has given her minimal side effects and helped stabilize her mood (actually this might be one of her longest periods in recent memory without a serious crash). Again, as ayah said, sometimes you've just got to find the right 'fit' in terms of what drug is best. Good luck.

that's cos you already told her what she should do.

I know a relative who went through a similar stuation for years, alienating themself from the whole family because of manic depression relating to bipolarism. Finally, after a number of trials and their acceptance to it, medication with a certain combined prescription worked. That person is happy now and has a child and a very succesful career.

How is she on Zoloft if she hasn't seen a professional?

Because any doctor will give you anything you want.

Yeah, that's true and she probably will not get the job -- at least the first time. I found that simply doing more interviews, even ones where I thought I wouldn't get the job, helped me immeasurably in gaining the self-confidence and presentation skills that took me to the top of my game as a temp. Believe me, I went through a very difficult period of unemployment that was only worsened by depression, but *not doing anything* only made things worse.

Eating better + exercise (even if it's walking) is always a good thing.

i've been on and off anti depressants for 15 years now. zoloft made me incredibly nauseous. i had visual and aural hallucinations with wellbuterin. prozac helped initially but after 3 years and dosage increase it kind of turned on me and made me crazy.

celexa was working fine. i also take stuff for anti-anxiety and intense insomnia at night.

i also go to therapy although i'm down to twice a month. it takes a long time to find the right combination and even then things can change.

i was lucky in a way because i had the kids so i never let myself stay in bed. i just couldn't let them down. i always made myself get up for them and then to work.

good luck to your friend. it's a bitch and can be a vicious cycle.

I've had The Black Dog, as Churchill named it, since I was about 16. Zoloft made me crazy as a run-over chicken, and it took about 4 months for me to realize it. My opinion of therapy isn't very high either, in my personal case.

If yr friend hasn't made any attempts at any of the options mentioned thus far, continue to encourage her to do so. It's a dreadfully nasty affliction.

samples.

I've always considered depression a symptom of hyper-sanity. The only way to live in this world without suffering from depression is to be three shades lighter than maroon*. Of course, it's difficult to go on when everybody around you seems so chirpy and happy - so my solution has always been: depress those around you. Point out the futility of their lives and the folly of their choices, which should be a simple task that requires no effort. You'll be the happiest person in the room in no time. And then the only person in the room (but, by default, still the happiest).






* Bugs Bunny reference.

It is a confounding disease.

I've been eating meds for depression/panic disorder for about 10 years. The list of anti-depressants I've been on is too long to mention. The only one that is semi-effective for me is Prozac. Now that it's available in a generic, that makes me even less depressed.

Whatever your friend finds eventually to be successful, take this piece of advice: stay on it. I took myself off of mine a few times and worsened my situation to the point of being suicidal. That was more due to the panic attacks than the depression, but they often go hand-in-hand. Xanax has taken care of that part and Prozac keeps me going. As far as lifestyle, you have to stay active. Isolation and sitting around only worsens the condition. If your friend can afford it, I'd say psychiatric is the way to go. The behavioral therapy never worked for me. If she has a cooperative family physician, I'm sure that he/she will play the experimental drug game with her (that's what it really is with anti-depressants), until she finds one that's effective. You can help by pushing your friend on and giving a ledge to hang on to. The crevasse is deep.

If I remember one thing from my neural physiology class that i skipped half the time, it's - Don't get on fucking Lithium, shit's crazy!

Tell them to start running or some other aerobic exercise, it makes you feel much much better. I've been told to see someone myself, but still havent.

I kinda agree with Radcliffe though - Stupid people = happy. It would be so much easier being stupid.

After many years dealing with family illnesses, the only concrete thing I've learned is most doctors know shit except big words and an itch to prescribe barely understood meds. What works perfectly for one person may be completely ineffective for someone else.

Set out to do something each day that wouldn't have happened unless you were the one to set it into motion. Accomplishment leads to fullfillment, maybe not health, but at least you're doing something.

There's a lumping of borderline personality disorder with bipolar disorder, and that's a mistake. BPD is learned behavior and not really medicatable. Plus the patient fights all attempts to get better. BD is chemically based and can be often be helped with medication.

Knowing what she actually has makes all the difference. If it's anxiety or night terrors, a drug like Effexor in low doses might do the trick. But that won't work for oppositionally defiant-type learned disorders. If it's depression brought on by environmental stressors rather than chemical ones, psychotropic drugs may be overkill. And treatments for environmental depression certainly won't work for schizophrenia.

You friend needs to know just what her "depression" is. Otherwise, it'll just be years worth of trial and error.

Also, depressed people should NOT watch television. Seriously.

Whoa there cowboy---there are a few MD's (and soon to be MD's) on the board here that would beg to differ. Those are some pretty broad generalizations from you and frosted.

frosted is drunk

plus bitter and frustrated from years worth of family members being misdiagnosed, drugged up, deaths in the family, love ones being categorized and labelled, etc, etc.

I'm sure there are plenty of great brain docs and supershrinks. I haven't met them.

Understood.

We great brain docs are few and far between.

Hell, I'm a pediatrician. I don't have to deal with too much psychiatric illness, and I wouldn't want to---very difficult.

I agree with exercise -- and make sure she gets some sunlight, especially during the winter months, when the opportunities for true full-spectrum sunlight during the shorter days are more difficult. I actually know someone who regularly uses a tanning bed just for that reason, and she's pretty upbeat.