Discussion What is the best depression treatments in your opinion?

[obei]

I mean, not including ctb, I mean, what helped you or think can help survive the day just a little bit easier? Meds, therapy, group therapy, something else?

 

[mortuarymary]

Bit of therapy followed by meds. It's all I got to help me. A bit of willpower too.

 

[sammiechzxv]

Therapy & finding hobbies that I genuinely enjoy to distract myself

 

[DesperateOne]

I mean, not including ctb, I mean, what helped you or think can help survive the day just a little bit easier? Meds, therapy, group therapy, something else?

If you are genuinely severely *clinically* depressed then SSRI's are probably the only solution. Otherwise, hard cardio, fasting, cutting out sugars, legal CBD rich weed/hemp, cold exposure like ice baths/showers, forcing yourself to talk to people IRL, setting goals that are hard, but you can still reach etc... If you isolate yourself and lay in bed all day then don't expect anything to get better. Like my other posts/replies please know that I'm just speaking out of ass and what I've read on the internet.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I think there is not the one solution and it largely depends how severe the depression already is and how long you r in this state already. Changing the environment/circumstances (=eliminating the triggers) that r causing the depression are certainly the most important things one should do - if that is possible.

 

[piryohae3]

For me, nothing. Meds, therapy, gym, hospitalization, ECT didn't do anything. I was in unresponsive to it all. Mental health treatment options aren't advanced enough to be effective. When a psychiatrist prescribes meds they pick one out of a hat and hope it works.

 

[divinemistress36]

For me, nothing. Meds, therapy, gym, hospitalization, ECT didn't do anything. I was in unresponsive to it all. Mental health treatment options aren't advanced enough to be effective. When a psychiatrist prescribes meds they pick one out of a hat and hope it works.

How many ECT treatments did you do?

 

[JRE75]

It depends on the type of depression. When it is endogenous, it is possible that it responds to medications, since they are chemical imbalances in the brain. When it is exogenous, it is very variable and will depend on whether it depends on a particular macro-trauma or on a sum of micro-traumas throughout life. I believe that exogenous depression could be incurable and only be relieved momentarily with therapy and healthy habits.

 

[piryohae3]

How many ECT treatments did you do?

15-20

 

[Kimlett]

Different things will work for different people, but yes, as some said, I think psychotherapy is not good enough in general, like it's in its middle ages. Still, therapy and support groups help me to some extent. Also trying to make plans with friends/family most days, making art and stuff with my hands in general, writing in my diary, allowing me to cry when I need it, and trying to tell good things to myself like "Depression is a disease, it's not my fault" or "I'm doing the best I can".

 

[JRE75]

I am currently giving Ketamine therapy a shot. If I get my suicidal ideation down, I follow up with a macro dose of psilocybin. Has anyone tried psychedelic therapies?

 

[dragonofenvy]

I was raised to be totally self-reliant and not seek help from others. I don't recommend this route but I still want to give a perspective on it even if it's a bad one. A bad perspective is still something to think about.

Sitting down, and thinking about what your problems are. I have friends who are depressed but they spend so much time with distractions they fail to think about what might be causing it. I'm not much of a believer in the "it's just chemical imbalance" idea, I think that a lot of people who are depressed have objectively bad lives, or have something going on that is objectively bad.

How do you do this? This might look like taking long showers (shower thoughts are powerful) or driving without music. I spend a lot of time bored doing literally nothing so I kind of have naturally developed this. I'm not exactly perfect at it though. Eventually, you'll start to realize "I wish I had friends, my school/job is stressing me out. I want to [x]. I wish I didn't [y]." I find it's a lot easier to not just do it but to do it once I start feeling sad or angry. When I do I try not to watch YouTube or drink or whatever and just let the emotions sit there. You might know why you're emotional, but actually sitting with it and thinking hard about it is a lot different. I don't know how to explain it.

Understanding precedes results. Understanding even if you don't do anything helps. Understanding your issues before therapy helps a lot. Therapists can also help you understand yourself, at least they're supposed to. Anecdotally, they've never helped me. YMMV.

The next thing is to think about how solutions are achievable. This is often dangerous because a lot of the time the thought is going to be "I can't do it." This is where talking about it may help. Whether it's to a friend, therapist, on this forum, or whatever. There might not be an immediate solution. It might feel really shitty, but the best advice is to sit with your negative emotions.

"But dragon I don't want to feel bad!"

Neither do I. But apparently (according to research and what psychiatrists told me) sitting with is needed. You're basically facing the problem (negative emotions). I don't know the specifics but your brain needs to process the negative emotions instead of hiding them. Hiding them will make things bad long-term. Believe me, I've hidden them for my whole life, and still have trouble with this part. If you have alexithymia (most males are alexithymic, idk what your gender is. It is becoming more and more common in women too) this part is going to be very, very difficult. Therapists can help with this.

I hope this helped a bit. This is more of an internally-focused (thinking about your thoughts) piece of advice rather than an externally-focused (medication, etc.) piece. It's not for everyone. It also takes a lot of time. Some days I feel nothing. Some days I'm constantly angry or sad and can't tell why. Some days I'm able to really think about what's making me feel badly. As far as how to fix it, that's the challenge. But as I said, understanding precedes results. I don't know if it's a good piece of advice but I just thought I'd share.

Edit: Again, I emphasize this isn't "the best." This is to be used alongside other things like therapy and medications or whatever else. This isn't going to make things easier in the short-term. It's to provide some help for the long-term. It did for me, but I'm still not 100% of the way there.

 

[divinemistress36]

15-20

Do you have a lot of memory loss from it?

I am currently giving Ketamine therapy a shot. If I get my suicidal ideation down, I follow up with a macro dose of psilocybin. Has anyone tried psychedelic therapies?

Ketamine didn't help but I'm starting to microdose psilocybin. I'm on antidepressant though so I heard it can mess with the effectiveness of it

 

[piryohae3]

Do you have a lot of memory loss from it?

I still remember things from the past few years but it's patchy. I feel like there are things I used to know but I just can't recall anymore.

 

[bludgeoned]

my friends and doing things i enjoy are the only things keeping me here, as well as my cats

 

[SexyIncél]

Could be lots of things. Maybe breaking out of your shell & taking intelligent, exhilarating risks. Or maybe ending the life of someone who deserves it. Or randomly finding that lovely person, who respects & motivates you to become far more than you ever were

Maybe truly helping some of those many underdogs surrounding you, to be freer than they ever were

 

[dragonofenvy]

Maybe truly helping some of those many underdogs surrounding you

I know this is a great one. Sometimes I feel like I can't help myself, but at least trying to help others, even if I'm not successful, even if it's in a weird way, even if it's rejected, it feels like I'm doing something for the world other than wasting my life.

 

[Linda]

Sex. And a boyfriend (or husband).

 

[Unhumanly.]

Dissociating, and not caring in general

That isn't a good solution in long terms, for some people, but it's what works for me

 

[Kit1]

I have complex PTSD and a few other challenges - also disassociate a lot and suicidal ideation.

Therapy helps - just being able to talk. Meds - only if coupled with meds. What keeps me alive is my children, caring for others, work, keeping busy, reading and driving (alone and usually lonely spots such as mountains etc). Keeping busy is helpful.

 

[Life_and_Death]

hard work
listening to your body
taking breaks

 

[Shrike]

Depends entirely on the cause. Depression is very multifaceted. Depression that's mostly a matter of physical unwellness is more likely to be helped by things like exercise or Vitamin D supplementation. Depression caused by isolation is probably not addressable without fixing the isolation, which current society provides no means for.