Am I Depressed?

Discussion in 'Mental Health' started by aleigh24024, Sep 3, 2016.

  1. Meliai

    Meliai Banned

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    Well, I would never question someone else's choice to take meds, but he does have a point. Depression meds are meant to be a short term solution when you're just completely lost in the weeds. There are a lot of coping mechanisms that are better long term options than medications.
     
  2. YouFreeMe

    YouFreeMe Visitor

    I, too, have been living with on and off depression and anxiety for most of my life. I related to what Piaf said, I'm a "sad" person. I've always rejected medication and the whole medical model for treating mental health issues, preferring to treat it myself with diet, exercise, and challenging my mal-adaptive thoughts. I was shocked by how much changing my environment changed my mental health situation. Used to think that no one needed medication, that it was an artificial and chemically induced state of emotion.

    But then I met people whose lives were changed for the better by medical intervention for their crippling clinical depression and anxiety. Folks for whom other interventions had failed (diet, exercise, supplements, CBT). Made me realize that it's easy to see myself as strong and able to "overcome" my own brain chemistry, while perceiving those other guys as weak and succumbing to social pressure big pharma. But it isn't so black and white. There is a nuanced gray area of people who truly benefit from psychiatric interventions, and their condition cannot be managed by more natural or less intensive means.

    This is definitely a tough subject, and it took a lot for me to admit that medical intervention might be the best solution for some. I still espouse the fact that most Americans are over-medicated and doctors significantly over prescribe. But there are some who benefit, no doubt.
     
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  3. Mattekat

    Mattekat Ice Queen of The North

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    It was worded in a way that makes it sound as though anyone who is lost in the weeds and needs help from medication is choosing something lesser for themselves. I also suffer from depression and take no medication, but I would never condemn those who do for hiding from their real feelings.
     
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  4. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    link?
     
  5. Vanilla Gorilla

    Vanilla Gorilla Go Ape

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    Seems everyone on hip forums has depression

    Maybe hip forums is the cause

    (That was only a half hearted joke, I know it sounds douchey)
     
  6. Vanilla Gorilla

    Vanilla Gorilla Go Ape

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    Groan
     
  7. Mattekat

    Mattekat Ice Queen of The North

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    Or we are all sad depressed loners who don't go outside and so we found hipforums. Either way....
     
  8. Mattekat

    Mattekat Ice Queen of The North

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    I believe it's in the thread about native American lives matter
     
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  9. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    Thank you
     
  10. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    Purely speculative. No stats on how many were on meds or not. Even if you had those stats, hard to separate meds. or the depression as the cause.

    The only stats I saw presented were for race, not age.
     
  11. Meliai

    Meliai Banned

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    I forgot about this until now, but I actually did discover HF during a major bout of depression when I didn't really do anything except sit at home. Lols
     
  12. Greg Forever

    Greg Forever Members

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    Really nice topic you have shared here. Yes, you are little but depressed. To avoid it, you should do some mental exercise.
     
  13. OldDude2

    OldDude2 Newbie

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    Not me, exercise cures depression.
    Depression in the west is caused by boredom, laziness, hopelessness (or should that be aimlessness?).
    Stop sitting around at home, get out, get active and make something of your life, and depression goes away.
     
  14. TheGreatShoeScam

    TheGreatShoeScam Members

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    No you have anhedonia, that is different.


    Anhedonia ἀν- an-, "without" and ἡδονή hēdonē, "pleasure") is the inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, e.g. exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions. While earlier definitions of anhedonia emphasized pleasurable experience, more recent models have highlighted the need to consider different aspects of enjoyable behavior, such as motivation or desire to engage in activities (motivational anhedonia), as compared to the level of enjoyment of the activity itself ("consummatory anhedonia").


    Paxil and Abilify OMG ! No wonder.

    [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UnJ4H8JLmM[/media]


    That video is not to poke fun at you, that video is MY story. That's what happened to me.


    The scientific premise of the book is that all psychiatric treatments—drugs, electroshock and lobotomy—have their “therapeutic” impact by disabling the brain. They do not improve brain function or correct biochemical imbalances, they cause brain dysfunction and biochemical imbalances. These brain-disabling interventions are then considered effective when the doctor, family, patient or society views impaired brain dysfunction in the target individuals as a desirable or beneficial effect. Because psychiatric drugs in reality do more harm than good, the psychopharmaceutical complex must devote billions of dollars to exerting its power and influence in the political, professional and public arenas.



    “Antipsychotic” drugs such as Risperdal, Zyprexa, Abilify and Geodon are used literally to chemically lobotomize millions of adults and children because the resulting apathy and indifference are seen as an improvement over their previously distressed and distressing state of mind or behavior. Millions more adults take “tranquilizers” like Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin and Valium, suppressing their overall brain function in order to reduce feelings of anxiety. A large percentage of our nation’s children have their spontaneity reduced or even crushed by stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, Concerta, Adderall and Strattera, causing them to become more docile and more obsessively attentive to rote work.



    Despite all the propaganda, antidepressants such Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Cymbalta have no scientifically demonstrable effectiveness and are proven to cause suicidality, as well as violence and mania. They too “work” by causing mental disabilities such as apathy [Anhedonia] and euphoria that are misinterpreted as improvements. Meanwhile, their continued widespread use is determined in part by the fact that withdrawal produces severe psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety and depression. In short, it is too difficult and painful for people to stop taking them.



    All psychiatric drugs have the potential to cause withdrawal reactions, including the antidepressants, stimulants, tranquilizers, antipsychotic drugs and “mood stabilizers” such lithium. When the individual’s condition grows markedly worse within days or weeks of stopping the psychiatric drug, this is almost always due to a withdrawal reaction. However, misinformed doctors and misled parents, teachers and patients think that this is evidence that the individual “needs” the drug even more, when in fact he or she needs time to recover from withdrawal effects.


    http://breggin.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/braindisabling.pdf
     
  15. TheGreatShoeScam

    TheGreatShoeScam Members

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    Dr. Peter Breggin’s concept of medication spellbinding provides insights into why so many people take psychiatric drugs when the drugs are doing more harm than good. Psychiatric drugs, and all other drugs that affect the mind, spellbind the individual by masking their adverse mental effects from the individual taking the drugs. If the person experiences a mental side effect, such as anger or sadness, he or she is likely to attribute it to something other than drug, perhaps blaming it on a loved one or on their own “mental illness.” Often people taking psychiatric drugs claim to feel better than ever when in reality their mental life and behavior is impaired.


    That too was me. That is exactly what was going on with me. I forgot what I was like BEFORE taking all the pills.

    For me that was turning my back on psychiatry suffering the drug withdrawals and TAKING my life back.

    • Problems that arise upon quitting medications are often medication withdrawal effects, and can be minimized by tapering down slowly. Also, if you have been relying on medications to solve emotional problems, you may need to learn effective alternative solutions to these problems in order to accomplish a successful withdrawal.
    • It's your choice. It is important not to stop taking medication before you are ready. But for at least some people, getting off medication, even against a prescriber's advice, may be the best solution. For example, long term studies show high rates of recovery among people diagnosed with "schizophrenia" who have gotten off medication successfully. Getting off medication can mean avoiding long term health risks (including risks of early death) associated with many of the medications.
    • Unless a court has taken your rights away, you have the right to decide to terminate any given treatment. Since the mental health system got you started on medications, it also has a responsibility to help you terminate that treatment as safely as possible if that is your choice.







    Anhedonia
     
  16. TheGreatShoeScam

    TheGreatShoeScam Members

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    I hope the OP returns, I am grateful for my recovery and the psychiatric survivor that opened my eyes and made it possible, and like him I pay it forward.
     
  17. 10onpump7

    10onpump7 Members

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    ive had social anxiety and crippling depression most of my life. I felt all was lost, even considered suicide several times. Some years ago i stumbled across an herb that changed my life for about three months. it literally gave me a life, but living in the backward ass state of Indiana it was outlawed. now it is nearly impossible to get here, it is still widely legal and available in nearly every where in the U.S. and throughout the world. Its called kratom and i would highly suggest it. ever since it was made illegal here, im stuck on highly addictive drugs and scared to take them. Back to square one.
     
  18. Angela36

    Angela36 Members

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    Absolutely.
     
  19. wilsjane

    wilsjane Nutty Professor HipForums Supporter

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    Very true. Jane's family come from a remote part of Ireland, where their is no public electricity supply, or piped water to many houses. Despite no television signal or internet, people never seem depressed. Having to light wood stoves to boil water and look after the small farms from the crack of dawn keeps them too busy to dwell on themselves.
    We live in the London suburbs and likewise their is always something to do, including looking after the huge garden, feeding our greedy cat and walking the dog. We also cook all our own food.
    Boredom and depression seems more prevalent in inner city areas, where people have time on their hands and for some strange reason live on take away meals and never socialize with their neighbors.
     
  20. Dax

    Dax Members

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    Start off by telling yourself not to waste energy on stuff that's out of your control. Instead put all your energy on things you can control like the here and now and make sure you keep away from negative people. As for your lethargy ... if possible get yourself off that cocktail of drugs asap or at least read their side effects.
     

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