depression

[warmcome]

on the negative side doctors hand out medication too freely & the medication is addictive I speak from experience of being in a r/ship with someone an ex gf with depression who got off medication after a few years on it I encouraged her to do so & is now medication free for 2years, at the same time if u have to stay on medication longterm it is no failure at all but my point is try & not see it as a lifetime thing..

My approach would be two-pronged. Moderate depression requires a physician
and medication-even just to stabilise the patient.

Prozac cost £1 each when first released (high by pharmaceutical standards).
I have heard a phychiatrist claim all anti-depressants are merely placebo.

People have these fairly unique illnesses-yet a factory producing a pill
claims to sort it all out? When you're drowning you need a rubber ring-but
hanging on to this for life?

Medication, meditation and keep a close eye on some
of your thoughts and beliefs. Exercise is essential-so get those runners on
and get out walking!

[morningglory]

Wow, ok....didnt think this would be my first post here. Harry, fair play to you for opening up here and discussing this. This affects so many people, so never think that the way you are feeling right now is something you and you alone are feeling. Go to your doc, and ask for a referal. He/She will point you in the right direction and you can go on from there.

Its a horrible illness, but it is beatable and there is assistance out there if you want it. I wish you and any body else the best in dealing with depression.

[BitchHunter]

A chemical imbalance can be proven very easily, with a few blood tests. If you have a chemical imbalance it needs to be corrected with medication. If this is a behavioral problem, and not also a chemical imbalance, then medication can also be used to help. However, I agree with behavioral problems medication is too easily dispensed but only because the side effects are not life threatening. Doctors use a diagnostic approach, basically we make educated guesses using the evidence at hand and weight that against the side effects. Like anything else, and especially with mental illness, it's "try, try, try again". We're only human, we don't have absolute domain over the human body. We use previous experience and community knowledge to decide on an approach. This information is advancing everyday.

I would only treat patients with mental illnesses on an emergency basis and would refer to a specialist whenever possible. Much of the time we just treat symptoms.

[BitchHunter]

Its called whole brain functioning. Its when both hemispheres of the brain are evened out hence whole brain functioning. thats why meditation is so good because it improves brain lateralisation.

Sincerely,
Westside.

Ha ha, not "Brainwave entrainment" again. I haven't heard that hokum mentioned in a while. Using this malarky to treat psychological and physiological conditions is as ridiculous as it is dangerous.

[Lincoln]

Im too busy having fun with beating the two children at Asteroids.

Sincerely,
Westside.

Actually lads Mr. West isnt too far off the mark referring to "wrong thoughts". One of the key elements of Cognitive Therapy is to understand that Thought causes Feeling and not the other way around as you might assume.

Hence an effective programme of CBT will involve having the person in treatment actively evaluate their train of thought particularly in relation to instances where they feel despair or anxiety. The person can then rationally evalute their thoughts (which in itself is a fantastically reassuring thing to do) but more importantly in the long term the person can learn to spot and derail negative/unrealistic/destructive thought patterns and believe me your over all feeling will improve dramatically.

I would therefore say negative thoughts as opposed to wrong thoughts....

[BitchHunter]

Actually lads Mr. West isnt too far off the mark referring to "wrong thoughts". One of the key elements of Cognitive Therapy is to understand that Thought causes Feeling and not the other way around as you might assume.

Hence an effective programme of CBT will involve having the person in treatment actively evaluate their train of thought particularly in relation to instances where they feel despair or anxiety. The person can then rationally evalute their thoughts (which in itself is a fantastically reassuring thing to do) but more importantly in the long term the person can learn to spot and derail negative/unrealistic/destructive thought patterns and believe me your over all feeling will improve dramatically.

I would therefore say negative thoughts as opposed to wrong thoughts....

...but he wasn't talking about cognitive behavioral therapy at all. He was talking about brainwave entrainment.

[Westsidex]

Ha ha, not "Brainwave entrainment" again. I haven't heard that hokum mentioned in a while. Using this malarky to treat psychological and physiological conditions is as ridiculous as it is dangerous.

You know the therapy i use with myself if i ever find myself slipping?

its called a kick up my own hole,
Westside.

[Doozer]

Harry Thanks for bringing this topic up in the public forum, it seems you are not alone in your depression as it seems many others on this site have or at least at some point suffered from depression. May I also add that some of the feed back given here is simply spectacular and well worth a listen. Also the general consensus seems to be if you think its getting worse see your GP and get help.

[Westsidex]

Ha ha, not "Brainwave entrainment" again. I haven't heard that hokum mentioned in a while. Using this malarky to treat psychological and physiological conditions is as ridiculous as it is dangerous.

It works done through meditation. Ppl that meditate regularly are healthier and have greater peace of mind over those that dont.

thats a fact,
Westside.

[Rayden]

from everything that i have read about depression there seems to be no 1 definitive method to curing it. There have been a number of great ideas and some sound advice given in this thread, so thanks guys.