Lovelyish

i think i was depressed during high school. but never got treatment for it. after i had my son i had really bad baby blues.  my doctor gave me some lexapro to help me through it. it worked. but i stopped taking it. i don’t like being dependent on medicines and plus it was pretty expensive. but it did work…and really well too.

Many cases of depressed boys are unreported. Mainly because of the belief that boys don’t get depressed, boys aren’t supposed to cry or show emotion. Admitting depression is seen as a sign of weakness. They are most likely to act aggressively when depressed without admitting they have a problem. But I have never taken anti-depressants. I needed them when I was in my early to mid teenage years. But I refused to take them. Besides, we are taught in Psychology that medicine only helps to a certain point and that is the person taking the medicine does not put in the slightest bit of effort in changing their thoughts and behaviors then the medicine won’t help them. 

I’ve struggled with depression since I was 12. I took medication when I was 15 but it made me worse off.

i think i get depressedeasily even it not real  ( a dream )

i could get depressed for a week like thinking it this going to happen …or it won’t  so my bf always need to make me smile he said that his job because i always depressed over a lot of stuffso yeaa= ..=” ..or shopping help me sometime 

I’ve tried the anti-depressants. I don’t like them. They make me afraid.

I have anxiety issues, but I don’t medicate.  My SO takes depression meds, and our sex life suffers endlessly

because of it. He continues to take it because he feels like he can’t live without them (coupled with therapy).   

 I don’t want to be controlled by medication, and I certainly don’t want the side effects.  

I was on Prozac for about a year. It helped at making the depressive feelings go away, but it also made all my other feelings go away. I didn’t get extremely happy or excited like I did when I would slip out of my depression. I decided to go off medication so I could have those feelings again. I struggle with my depression almost everyday but therapy has definitely helped me deal with it. I don’t mind having to control my depression if I get to have those feelings of complete, unaltered happiness. (compared to the “happiness” I felt on medication.)

I have battled with depression on and off since high school, but never been medicated for it. Been to counseling before when the depression stuck around too long, but mostly I just try to break out of whatever funk is bringing me down on my own.

I always thought I’d sort it out on my own but still havent yet.. Hmm ive never been on anti-depressants… is there any point?

yeah.

I’ve been takin prozac lately for a month and a half but i dont feel any different

I’m going through it right now but I can’t afford medicine

I’ve probably had it for a while btu I’ve just realized it was a problem 

When I was 11, I was forced to take anti-depressant medication to remain in school. My father had just died, and my teachers, principles, and counselors were worried that I wasn’t paying attention, I wouldn’t eat, and I was generally depressed. I stayed on them for about a week, until the first time I tried to kill myself, then I flushed them all down the toilet, and then I told my mother, who then switched my schools, and I learned how to fake being happy so they’d leave me alone.  

I have depression but I don’t take medications because when I tried it didn’t help.

I was diagnosed with severe depression and they had me on cymbalta at first, which didn’t work…so than they tried lamictal and lexapro, though they had me taking one at night that kept me awake, and one during the day that made me want to fall asleep…when I tried welbutrin that actually worked for me but I was stupid enough to get freaked and take myself off of it..I am going back to try and get put back on because my depression has been getting a lot worse again =/

I was diagnosed with depression when i was thirteen when I was going through some serious family problems, but my parents never really acknowledged it cause I hit it well. I used to self-infict pain on to my body… but not cutting.

I had a psychiatrist for over a year now, and she helps me a lot. Now I have seasonal depression mainly due to my ADD meds.

I do struggle with depression (not just feeling sad), but it tends to be around my period. I figure 1 week a month isn’t often enough to take medicine. Maybe I should try, though? Sometimes it’s pretty bad…

I was just recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder! and am taking a few low-dose mood stabalizers to deal with it. they do actually help, a lot, with the issues i deal with. Of course, its a totally different problem than you presented in your post, but i guess psychiatric disorders in general, requiring medication… fair enough? Medication can be draining and destructive, but it’s about working productively and honestly with psychiatrists and psychologists as well as physicians to monitor health and find the correct drug….:)

I think medication can be a wonderful thing, as long as you actually need it and they are medicating for the correct problem, not the symptom.

I think that most people who think they have “depression” are really just experiencing the normal highs and lows that human emotions run.  We see sadness or anxiousness or anger as inherently bad things that need to be medicated away, when often times, those emotions are trying to tell us something.  You have a crappy job that doesn’t pay squat, your boyfriend cheats, and you’ve gained 20 lbs in the past year and it’s making you feel miserable.  A lot of people call that “depression” when actually it’s your body’s way of telling you “Hey dork…it’s time for a lifestyle change!”   Don’t medicate that!  FIX IT!

And of course there are the people (like my husband) who are drama queens and actually wallow in misery and end up making it worse than it has to be, when the going gets tough.  That is melodrama, not depression.

There are also many physical problems, like thyroid issues, blood sugar fluctuations etc that can cause depressive symptoms as well.

Real depression is like sinking in quicksand; you struggle to “just snap out of it” but still keep sinking deeper.  Sometimes there are outside factors causing it (like unresolved grief etc), but often times, depression can hit people whose lives are running smoothly.  I had depression that waxed and waned and was made much worse (almost to a debilitating degree) by stress.  It was horrible, like walking around half asleep.  I couldn’t focus, didn’t care about anything, let my life fall apart around me, isolated myself…it was a living death.  Shrinks kept medicating me, but it never really helped. 

Finally, a smart lady I went to discovered that I have OCD and that the strain of keeping it in check was wearing me out, so that as long as things were going smoothly, I was functional (notice I said functional, not doing great), but the moment stress was introduced (mid terms, a breakup, fight with a friend, moving to a new apartment, etc), it all became overwhelming.  I’d had OCD all my life and developed coping mechanisms, so I didn’t even realize I had it until she tested me and discovered it.  I didn’t realize that the things I was doing (and restraining myself from doing) were not normal and were causing my depression.  Once she treated the OCD, the depression left me and I rarely get depressed anymore.  For me, medication worked, but only because they were finally medicating me for the problem, not the symptom of the problem.

I believe I have had it, who knows maybe I still do deep down. It runs in my family.

It just made me feel worse and dried my mouth, made me feel like crap so I stopped taking them.

They didn’t take away my anxiety at all or put me in a better mood at that.

I just started Cymbalta and I think it helps some but mostly I’m just nauseas and dizzy alot.  Hopefully it helps.

@BrassMonkeyOriginals@xanga - You’re right–depression is over-diagnosed. I’ve struggled with depression since I was 14. However, it’s not necessarily a constant thing. I have normal highs and lows, and then I have LOWS that, as you put it, I just can’t snap out of. So while you’re right, depression meds are waaay overprescribed–and that’s scary–sometimes it’s wise for those of us with recurring bouts to be on low-level meds BETWEEN bouts because you never know when they’ll strike, and are often hard to recognize (they just seem like life struggles or moods!) until they’re really bad. At that point I don’t have the motivation to take a shower, much less go to my doctor.

It’s so hard to judge the difference. I try not to judge overprescribing doctors too hard, because they realize how debilitating this condition is and would probably rather err on the side of giving TOO MUCH help, instead of not enough. But overlooking other conditions is inexcusable–I’m so glad you finally got a correct diagnosis! A good friend of mine went through a very similar ordeal. I’m so happy for both of you.

Oh, and I’ve found Zoloft very helpful in mid-level doses. High doses seem to take away my ability to care about ANYTHING, which is obviously a problem. However, having to stop Zoloft (I got pregnant) was hell. The 3-week withdrawal had me weeping uncontrollably and going to great lengths to avoid the snakes I thought were in my garden and under my furniture. It’s kind of funny now, but it sure wasn’t then.

I am not sure how I feel about the diagnosis of depression. On one hand, I suspect that people who are too lazy to fix their own problems often call their sadness a “disease” in order to feel less responsible, and seek out doctors eager to dole out prescriptions. On the other, I am sure some people do legitimately get stuck in moods that they cannot conquer.

I was profoundly and painfully sad in middle school till my freshman year of high school. But my first boyfriend helped me to snap out of it. I think all I needed was a reminder that people in my life loved me. Based on my own experience, I’d say anyone between the ages of 12 and 16 should not be diagnosed with depression, because often it’s just teenage angst that will fade with time.

i was given antidepressants back in the days, and it did absolutely nothing. it was just like taking some weird tasting tic tac everyday. and then when i told my mum i should get off of it, they put me on some new ones that made me feel like i was going insane after just a week. after that i’ve been medication free.

Right now.I’m depressed but my only medicine to cure my depression is a good long laugh and do fun things.  Laughing really helps me a lot and reminds me of happy times and I’ll be happy enough to solve my problems and face it off. 

ew…