dealing with depression without medication
- Thread starter BassetLover**
- Start date
Meditation and yoga can be great helps with depression.
Much depends, too, on whether the depression has a chemical origin or if it is emotional depression. The meditation and yoga will help with either, as can, strangely enough Tai Chi. If there is a good accupuncture practitioner within range they can do wonders.
And talking to someone like Smkie can be very good medicine.
Much depends, too, on whether the depression has a chemical origin or if it is emotional depression. The meditation and yoga will help with either, as can, strangely enough Tai Chi. If there is a good accupuncture practitioner within range they can do wonders.
And talking to someone like Smkie can be very good medicine.
I went through a bunch of stuff and didn't want to take any thing either. My doc knew this but said to try Lexapro....I did. It didn't put me in LaLa Land or give me highs and lows....I was just able to mentally adjust my mood swings and felt more in control of myself.I used to be on pins and needles if anything upset my apple cart...I now can cope .
when i first started having migraines..the doc said oh..your single parent..two kids..poor? your depressed here have elivil. well it didn't work..so they titrated it up so high that i had to crow bar myself out of bed and fight outofitness all day long. They took it so high they damaged my heart. It wasn't until my jaw dislocated and wouldn't go back that they thought anything else...when Jim died..the house burned, my father died, my doc retired (a very elimental part of my existing) and then my dog died..i said uncle..give me something i dont even want to think or move..that's it..i had it..too much..i grew the strangest need to touch talcum powder..don't know if life was so hard i had to tactile something soft or what ..just found myself drawn to it..thought i ws cracking up. They tried Zoloft and it made no difference whatsoever..then they screwed up and it took over a week to get my refill (go docs go figure) so i just didn't bother to go back. I am surviving..and their are more good days then bad now..i can't tell you how much this forum has meant to me..i feel like i have met real true friends here..and that can be some of the best medicine of all.
I had a horrible bout with depression when I was in high school, right after I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. My doctor was a smart one, put me on a mood elevator, I think it was called Triavil, for a couple of months until I could get my mind wrapped around everything. I had another bad time several years ago and used an anti-depressant for about 3 months. It just gave me some time to breathe and put some things in perspective - and start learning how to give things no more attention than they truly merited.
I guess there are some people it just makes no change in..i think i am one because the doc tried another recently becuase i don't feel good..and am having a hard time concentrating on my art..for one thing i think i am beginning to need glasses but that is a recent discovery..i was so tired i tried one of Aaron's add meds..he said they didn't work for him..i was having a terrible time settling down to concentrate..so i trieed one and omg..could i ever focus..so it took me a year to build up my courage to bring this up to doc. i broke thru barriers i have fought my whole life..i drew Hyia blowing bubbles and i never was able to do like that!!! so i thought if i took my work in and showed him with ritiln (sp?) and without he would let me have it..he said (of course) no..you must be depressed..i swear it is the top prize in the black bag that they reach into first. I took it and of course..no difference..i still feel sad..and loney..and there is never enough money..and the teenagers drive me crazy..so does Mom..and sometimes Mom and Hyia are both demanding my attention at the same time..you feel pulled apart..and then last night i lay/lie there with Hyia..the light so soft thru the window so i can only see the outlines of things..and Victor's dark eyes looking at me while l watch Hyia's eyes close..and her arm outstretched with Victor's head on it..her palm curled around his chin..her finger tips touching lightly his nose holes..and he didn't move a muscle..just those dark eyes looking at me..until they closed..and i take those moments and wrap them around my psyche to remind me tomorrow why i am getting up when it hurts to much and is going to require more energy then i have to give..but i give.
I think sometimes, Smkie, that not being able to concentrate is a learned behaviour. We have too many people expecting too many things in too many directions; feel guilty about doing the things we need to do for ourselves so we steal little moments here and there. We're constantly in a state of flux, flitting from task to task, from voice to voice querulously demanding attention and some action on its behalf.
This was incredible Renee..i want one ritilin a day for the rest of my life..i am not exagerating, what i learned..stayed learned without it..but it was all so clear. it wasn't like hyper thinking..it was like putting on a pair of glasses and seeing the leaves on the trees for the first time.i think i am right on this.but no one will ever believe me. it is a shame when you find something that truly works for you..and isn't near as bad as the pain meds i have to live on so one more medicaiton isn't that big of a deal..i already glow in the dark..i should be allowed this. i haven't given up tho..i am going to speak to tricounty mental health and see if they see what i mean..it was effortless..not the thirty times of trying to get everything in the right place (people portraits cannot be off an iota with out it being glaringly wrong..normally i have to do it wrong before i can do it right..this eliminated that stage completely..and i got things right i have never been able to do ever. What ever chemical it was..worked.
I understand. I get the same clarity after a couple of glasses of wine. The writing just flows. All the fear barriers are dissolved; all of those lessons we learned growing up about not being able to please, never doing anything quite well enough, all those mind-muzzles fall off. All of the niggling, extraneous disturbances clamoring at the fringes fade into insignificance. It's not an intoxication at all, other than the intoxicating freedom of just being able to Do.
I find exercise helps me when I'm depressed. My family has a history of depression, my mum had a nervous breakdown when I was 8 and was hospitalised. And my brother had a nervous breakdown two years ago, due to stress at work. My brother became dependant on his anti depressants, and he's had a really tough time getting off them.
But I try to manage it with exercise and rewarding myself for even very small achievements.
But I try to manage it with exercise and rewarding myself for even very small achievements.
lots of artist drink while they work..i am allergic to alcohol big time..had a glass of sangria that gave me hives for four days..that is how long it takes something to work it's way out of your system..under my eyelids..everywhere..couldn't stand on my feet they were so bad. I can't describe this..but it was different from a substance like that..not flowing..i can do that all the time..but seeing so clear..anway i will stop..i wish the doc would believe me..it was a very low dosage they would give a 10 yr old kid..so it wasn't like i was asking for a danger danger. Depression is totally different for me..i am a pro at blues fighting!
Not that kind of fighting..but i can see you doing that..i mean putting something silly on the radio when i phsyically feel like dirt and boosting my own spirits..music is a biggy with me..ohhhhh and by the way..Mary loves this tape..i brought it in here to tell you about her ..Hillbilly heaven tribute to country's late, great, stars with walking the floor over you..pistol packing mama, shame on you, stay a little longer, wabash cannon ball ..if you have the money iv'e got the time..hey good lookin..and so on. She got all silly and happy and pranced around..works for her too!
my moms house is set up where the rooms go in a circle..you can walk the whole way thru..so she does 6o laps a day..followed by Hyia..then trudy the fox and sammy the beagle..she does her hannon exercises everyday on the piano..all of them to keep her fingers nimble..i cant do all of them..but i don't have a piano to practice on here at home or i would be better.The piano is my biggest healer next to Bronki!