Is it your lifestyle or your medication? - Depression Message Board

fruitloop · 03-02-2004, 03:55 AM

I have been told that in most cases depression is caused by an upset in your life be it a death or even that you are just fed up with the way you live your job etc etc.
Until you address these problems anti-depressants just act like a bandage but if the wound (as in lifstyle etc) are not improoved to your liking then it will never heal hence more bandages etc etc.
Or is it that the bandages will heal the wound by lifting your mood to exept the lifstyle that you lead but then surely once the bandages are off the wound will re-appear.
In my case as i suspect with some others i have no idea what in my life brings me down so where do i look to improove it?
It seems perhaps a little easier for people who have had a death in the family, marriage brakeup or some event that they know has caused there depression as in time and support(bandages) it will heal.
But if you generaly dont know then where do you look?
I know this all sounds a bit "heavy" but what chance have you got if you just dont no?

mouse62 · 03-02-2004, 10:10 AM

I am sure by my own experience that sometimes depression is caused by a life event, and sometimes just by a foul-up in your body's chemistry.

In the first case, I can give the example of being in a situation that I thought was wrong and unfair, and for months fighting it (undepressed) any way I could -- assertively complaining, etc. And then I could feel myself get tired and start sliding down the old depression lane. Knowing why did not prevent the depression.

In the latter case -- completely biochemical -- I had a post-partum depression with my first child. I was happy as a pig in you-know-what up until about 6 weeks after her birth, and then I became a wack job: bursting into tears, etc. There was no "down" (negative) emotional event that caused this, it was just my body trying to get back to normal non-pregnancy state, and having to go through this transition.

Of course this is all just my opinion! Anyway, once you are depressed, it is more important what you do about it than trying to figure out the cause, althought that, too, is essential to prevent a reoccurance.

Crossbow · 03-02-2004, 11:23 AM

The idea is that antidepressants are supposed to make you well enough to go ahead and make positive changes in your lifestyle.

billy7772 · 03-02-2004, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crossbow

The idea is that antidepressants are supposed to make you well enough to go ahead and make positive changes in your lifestyle.

Well said Crossbow! If you have to go on meds for awhile then do it, but I would also suggest that you look into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I was on meds for many years before I found CBT and it cured me and got me off meds in a remarkably short period of time. CBT is not like other talk therapy, it's all about using the tools to learn to think more clearly and accurately about things and once you do your anxiety, panic and depression will miraculously begin to lift before your eyes. My favorite starter book on CBT is "Been There, Done That? Do This! by Sam *****.
The more dedicated you are to the tools the faster and deeper the recovery regardless of how bad their anxiety was when they got started. Good luck and I hope this helps.

Billy

sweetums · 03-03-2004, 09:28 AM

I know my depression is caused by things going on in my life, but there are certain things I can't change, like the health of my son...plus I'm in a bad marriage right now, but I'm not willing to leave, so my meds are basically a big ole bandage trying to cover a huge scar....but the meds help me to survive, so that's all I can ask for.