Posted by SLS on April 22, 2010, at 20:12:01
In reply to Re: nothing helps, posted by morganator on April 22, 2010, at 17:45:08
Hi Morganator.
First, I would like to acknowledge your genuine and sincere efforts to help me get well. You are surely one of the good ones.
> Scott, don't you think depression goes beyond just a biochemical issue?
I wouldn't venture to explain all depressions using a single model.
> Isn't it possible that along with having a biological/genetic predisposition, there are actual things in our lives that are causing us to be more depressed than the average person. I mean, life in and of itself can be pretty depressing, IMO.
Don't you find dissonance in believing these things and yet finding it necessary to pursue biological therapies to achieve success? I do not subscribe to the notion that all depressions are driven by a psychosocial pathology, without which a depression could not exist. In other words, why can't everyone simply get their sh*t together and watch their depressions disappear? Is it that everyone who is depressed is characterologically incapable of getting their sh*t together? How is it that two weeks of Prozac treatment can transform a life after two decades of failed psychotherapy? It has happened often enough not to take notice and deduce the obvious. For some people, a green and white pill is enough.
> What about taking supplements, exercising, therapy and a proper diet as adjuncts to antidepressant treatments? Have you tried any of these for a long enough period of time to see if they will work? Do you take fish oil? Have you tried Rhodiola? You can take both of these with your antidepressants without any issues.
Your suggestions for me are good ones and greatly appreciated. With the exception of Rhodiola, I have tried them all. I even allowed myself to be treated by Stuart M. Berger in the 1980s with his food allergy theories and rotation diets.
My perspective is drawn to a great degree from experiencing ultra-rapid cyclicity for a few years. My cycle comprised an 11 day period with 8 days of depression followed by 3 days of euthymia. This pattern did not deviate by so much as a day in 3 years. Switching from one pole to the other took 30-45 minutes. It was quite dramatic and thoroughly fascinating. I would have made a good example for Ronald R. Fieve's book, "Moodswing". When the folks at Columbia gave me lithium, the cycling ceased. Perhaps I should have tried Fieve's rubidium.
- ScottThe measure of achievement lies not in how high the mountain,
but in how hard the climb.The measure of success lies only in how high one feels he must
climb to get there.
poster:SLS
thread:944355
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100416/msgs/944605.html