New to Board. Needed to talk to people who understand

[lynne3hami]

Hi. I am new here. I needed to talk to people who understand what it is like to suffer from depression. I am 41 and been on antidepressants for over 20 years and still no better! ( I am on over 200mg a day) My Dr has even said she doesnt know how to help me anymore. I am having a really bad day today, very tearful and just dont want to do anything. I cannot keep a job as I start off well then I lose interest and just cant be bothered! I dont want to work but feel I have to support my family as we have alot of financial problems! Nothing makes me happy! I havent got many friends because when I am depressed I just dont want to talk to anybody or do anything. My husband doesnt understand how I feel nor do the few friends I have got! I am so sick and tired of feeling like this it is ruining my life! The Dr has sent me to a Psychiatrist I go once then cant be bothered to go again, and nobody cares that I dont go. I am sorry to go on but i am feeling so down today! If anybody has got any ideas how to help myself it would be much appreciated. Thanks Lynne

[SOE]

I am a believer in therapy. If you have been taking meds for 20 years, obviously that is not working for you. Meds alone often are not enough to help people.

You should make the effort and seek serious counseling -- perhaps some cognitive behavior therapy. Sometimes group therapy is a little easier for people who are shy -- it can help you know that there are other people who also suffer from depression -- and hear what they are going through.

Perhaps coming to this board will give you the strength to go forward and get some help with the depression.

I've suffered from depression my whole life and it was not until I found the right counselors and got serious about looking inside that I started to improve. Don't give up. I wish you the best.

[s1980]

Hi there,
I found that Depression made me just want to take to my bed, I didn't want to go anywhere, do anything, everything seemed such a struggle, even the smallest of things, I was exhausted, irritable, short tempered, uninterested in most things, tearful, sensitive, had no appetite, and was pretty much sleeping my life away.

Nothing changes if you fully give into these feelings, it can go on a very long time, as you already know. No matter how terrible you are feeling you must drag yourself out of bed, then out of the room, then out of the house and go seek help. It doesn't get better if you don't do these things, you will find you feel better short term just staying at home and avoiding the world but long term it ends up in disappointment, and no change.

So you have been down the antidepressant route for a long time and it is going nowhere so it is obvious that you must find another form of treatment. Again, therapy doesn't have any effect if you don't go, it seems like a lot of hassle going to therapy, you have to talk about a lot of things you don't really want to, and recall a lot of events that may be painful to you - this may seem unhelpful but many have found after a rough start that therapy has been really helpful, they just had to stick with it.

You don't have to do it all tomorrow. Depression was the fight of my life and it took a lot of time and patience, a lot of doing things I really didn't want to do but I wanted things to change so I had to take the steps. In the end it was worth it. I hope in time you can feel like that too.
all the best