Chasing Away the "Blues"

i wish waiting 24 hours worked for people who are seriously depressed. it works nicely for a bit of a brown funk.

Beth - 'tis a fine walk between fester and whatever is the opposite of that.

Some people will not be well enough to think at all, really, unless medicated - so meds are necessary before anything else can be done.

I am no puritan - if people are not gonna do any work, well, let 'em have meds - especially if they are parents, or otherwise responsible for vulnerable folk - it just makes me see red when the medical model is bought - (literally) - lock stock and barrel for a situation that has many more facets than just the linear "illness/drugs" model.

Deb -------- when people are feeling at the depths of dispair, the meds and the counselling are very important. A lot of people have been beaten down by pressure of one kind or another but are in the main intelligent people who need the right handling, so as to lift them back up. Education & encouragement in a topic or subject that interests them might be the way forward for those who are suffering. Used as a practical therapy as opposed to a medical one, might be better. Guide their thoughts away from pain and towards pleasure

There is such a large range of depression that I think each case should be handled independantly and personally.
One person may need just a bump and a bit of time with therapy and medication, another just some time and positive reinforcement from those close, and still others cannot function without intensive medication and therapy perhaps even including hospitalization.
The cure should equal the range, should have a balance that can only be measured by each individual situation.
Still, there are those who...like Phoenix says...need to take control of their own lives at some point..that may even be able to do that if given the correct opportunities, and sadly they arent.
I actually have a situation that involves a whole family and the multiple layers of therapy, has medication for members, etc etc that making me nuts. Ill have to put it out here as a discussion cuz its just so complex its nuts. Not to say nuts is bad but, you know..life is filled with ups and downs. Helping hand is one thing, someone just pushing the cart for you is another....especially when the destination is never in sight, really.
What Im saying though, is that sometimes there are cases that people need to get through and live life and therapy and medication dont seem to be getting them out there doing that, more like avoiding it. And its sad. Its got its good points and some people work well with it, better, and go on to function well, others hang onto it as if it was life when they shouldnt. Others couldnt function without it, and need it to have life. Every situation is different.

All I can say is, thank God for my antidepressants. When menopausal depression hit me, my blood pressure and heart rate went up dangerously. And I was mentally confused. As soon as the proper medication kicked in, I was back to normal. The problem was chemical, so I think it's very appropriate to treat it chemically.

quinn said:


You have hit my situation on the head my dear! Thanks for putting it into words for me. When things are grim, I have little ability to focus and to act. To others it may appear I am not "taking control of my life", but it is at those times I am just fighting to literally keep living and breathing. I'm one that is fortunate to have a medically-treatable depression. It is very definitely an inheirited biochemical condition for me. That helps to know when I am also dealing with clearly impossible, stressful situations that are beyond my control. Those are the things that would drive anyone to depression, however for me they are the things that make living with depression so much more difficult.

It's hard to see the light when you see no future. And some people can't connect to how that can be. That is a huge difference between those who have "been there" and those who have not.

So what is the difference in the end between chronic, clinical depression and real life rocks and hard places? Have one of the two and you can survive. Have both? That's the question.

I don't get "depressed" so much as I get frustrated. When that happens, I try to get by myself and think it through. Physical illness is, of course, another matter. And there's no doubt that oldandknew's mind is 100% as attested to his great ability to write. My father used to joke that the weather greatly affected how my MOTHER'S side of the family reacted to certain situations. Never said much about HIS side of the family.

You're right, Letty, OaK's mind is AT LEAST 100%, perhaps more! He is very sharp. I'm sorry to hear about the Parkinson's, though. That must be tough to deal with.

For those of you who have not experienced it, there is a huge difference between frustration, boredom, "the blues," and/or ordinary sadness...and depression. I have been through all of the above, and depression is in a completely different category. Cobalt has written a very good description of it. One often cannot pick oneself up out of it because it severely limits one's ability to think straight.

thank you letty, I value your words no end. you are a dear friend

Cobalt- Your situation neatly illustrates how a "one size fits all" treatment modality is not appropriate for everybody. In the case where a person literally cannot function, often a medication will enable them to function well enough so that they can learn better coping skills.

What I object to is the medical profession handing out serious medications like life savers, without even dealing with the cognitive aspects of a person's depression. No matter how well the drugs work, if a person has developed dysfunctional ways of dealing with problems, the difficulties will still continue.

Yes.

My defining experience with depression was about my senior year in high school, clinically depressed for a few years, getting deafer by the day, didn't know sign, difficult relationship with my parents, etc. I was sitting in a chair on the porch after a particularly draining day at school, and I couldn't move. Literally couldn't move. I panicked as I sat there, unable to move any of my limbs. I could move my head, and looked at one arm, then the other, willing my fingers to move, but they wouldn't. I was there for several hours, paralyzed, unable to get to the phone. (Nobody else was home.)

Then, something shifted in my brain, and I jumped out of the chair, just like that. Then I went out the door and ran around the block several times. By the time I came home, I was fine, and had access to this other mode that I have been able to jump to whenever I really need to. I just kind of shut everything down, switch gears, and go.

But...what if something HADN'T "shifted in your brain," sozobe?

Please understand, I am so relieved for you that it DID! But I don't think that happens for everyone. We understand so little about brain chemistry...I don't know if there is even a medical explanation for what you have described. But I suspect the answer lies either in your innate ability to cope or in the particular chemistry of your mind.

Is this something you think could be taught, or did the "shift" occur without your willing it? Sheer willpower has failed many of us who have experienced clinical depression. Oh, that we COULD will it away!!!

Oh, I'm not claiming any credit for it! Just happened. No idea why.

As I said before re: my parents, I definitely don't want to knock medication. It's done wonders for them.

I brought it up just in terms of understanding what depression is like.

If I were to guess what happened, I'd say something like building synapses, making a new connection, based on specific going-through-the-motions of dealing with deafness. I was in a permanent blue funk, but pushed myself. Sports were a major outlet, also forcing myself to be social when I didn't want to, etc. Also things like learning specific coping strategies -- when to tell people I'm deaf (if I say it immediately, they take a step or two back, talk strangely, and are hard to understand -- if I get the pleasantries out of the way first, then as we start to talk in earnest say, "oh, by the way, I'm deaf but I read lips (obviously! hee hee)", they will figure out that they CAN talk to me...), which hearing aid works best, etc., etc. Kind of a muscle memory thing -- doing the drills until it finally is natural.

NOT meaning to imply in any way that everyone could or should have the same experience.

Dlowan, Not a rant at all I think your 100% right.

Thanks, soz. I didn't think you meant that. I was just SO intrigued by your description of what happened.

When I was depressed, I remember having to force myself just to get out of bed! I had to push myself to get dressed, drag myself out of the house to drive to the store, sometimes I even had to force myself to EAT (if you knew me, you'd know that was REALLY serious! ) There was no pleasure left in living, no point to life. Surviving it was a minor miracle...willing it away was impossible...God knows I tried!

If you ever figure out how you did that, there are a lot of people who would love to know!

Hey, my A2K friends..Oldandknew is having a birthday on Aug. 11..Let's really chase the blues away and give him a marvelous party..ok? I'll post the thread tomorrow.

soz...Deb....Eva..all you Brits...Sweet ehBeth..Setanta...There's nothing like a warm Hurrah for those we love.

Nope. Changed my mind. Here's the link tonight.:

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10385&highlight=

Funny, as I was re-reading this, I realized that I had, once again, forgotten that the medical model in the U.S. is so different from the one here. A very good friend of mine is a paediatric neuropsychologist. She was hired by a very significant hospital in the U.S. to come in and work in one of their programs, in part because of papers she has presented where she talks about her research in regard to the over-diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder. Her primary focus is that ADD is just lazy parenting leading to problems for the children. Well, she arrived at the hospital and left within a week, as the physicans already involved in the program made it clear to her that if she did not allow them to prescribe medication for ADD cases, they would not refer the children to her for treatment. That does NOT happen here. She's still puzzling over why they wanted to hire her.

A diagnosis of clinical depression will not automatically lead to treatment or medication here. It will usually lead to a further assessment, and then a determination of whether some form of treatment, medication or a combination of treatment and medication would be of any benefit.

There's been an interesting documentary series on the radio here lately - talking about how the pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. are 'creating' illness. They invent a pill, and then figure out what it will be good for, and how to get people to ask their doctor for the medication. Odd.

Doctor, Doctor, give me the news
I got a bad case of lovin' you
No pill's gonna cure my ills
I got a ba-a-ad case . . . of loving' you ! ! !

Yep, the Purple Pill syndrome. E.G.'s one lengthy post on Abuzz was a rant about that.