Posted by katekite on May 14, 2002, at 14:34:36
In reply to warning, this is a big self-pity post, posted by Analine on May 14, 2002, at 1:30:21
This is what my therapist said to me on an issue kind of like this:
Exercise hard for at least 30 minutes 5 times a week. (That's right, five times, he said 3 times just keeps you the same, while 5 times leads to some improvement in fitness over a month or so).
And eat well every day. Cut out caffeine as completely as possible (taper). Take a vitamin every day. Cut out alcohol except maybe once a week as a treat. Eat salads and rice and protein and fresh foods and things you make yourself. Stay clear of garbage.
Get up and go to bed at a normal time and get enough sleep, ie at least 7 or 8 hrs every single night, more on weekends. Depends on age a little as older people need a little less, apparently.
Be nice to yourself. Take walks or drives or buy yourself flowers or a CD: reward yourself every day somehow for just doing what you normally would do. Practice relaxing because it takes practice to do it well drug free.
Practice talking deeply to friends or family or a therapist, whomever you trust. Tell them your concerns as much as you possibly can.
If you keep it up for 6 weeks and see no real improvement in how you feel, then consider meds.
The things that work to make us happy, confident etc, the levels of stress we can tolerate, the level of interaction with friends we want, the amount of relaxation or fun we need is going to be different on meds and off. Its going to vary in different ways on different meds.
He said if one isn't morbidly depressed, only not quite right, and one isn't doing all those above things, its not time to think about meds yet.
Now if you are already being good to your brain and body, and still feel not-quite-there, then see a true psychiatrist (as someone already mentioned). Also see a gynecologist (your name sounded feminine) to rule out hormonal issues, and get a routine blood panel with a thyroid check from your GP.
Regular doctors are not trained well enough to handle the brain. Sure, they can tell if someone is really totally depressed and can prescribe something, but they won't have any insight except stopping it or raising the dose if its not working. In your situation, for example, where you are sort of ok but also not happy with yourself a lot, maybe a baby dose of prozac will do the trick without causing sexual side effects. But a GP would never think of using a dose lower than "the effective dose" (never mind that the "effective dose" means the dose 'effective to cause a remission in a major depressive episode' which you likely don't have.)
To clarify, I don't think I could live without meds. I'm not against them in any way.
ok that was my shrink's two cents and my two cents, so that'll be four cents.
kate
poster:katekite
thread:106275
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020510/msgs/106359.html