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Empathy and Advice Welcomed I've gotten too depressed.
- Thread starter UrbanRose
- Start date
I do take an antidepressant. It's no cure, but I'm better on it than off it. Over the years, I was put on numerous psychotropics. None of them helped. Only just the one med was worth staying on.
A year ago I asked my primary doctor for a psych referral. After I twisted his arm, he referred me to a psychologist. Talking with that person seemed to help for awhile. It didn't last long because he quit working for the healthcare system that I'm in. He gave me the name of someone else. I had trouble connecting with that person and gave up on therapy. I had done loads of therapy years ago. I just kept hearing the same stuff. All good advice from well-meaning people.
Since starting this thread, I bounced up a few times and felt much better. Each time, it didn't last. I tell myself that I just have to keep climbing back up, no matter how often I sink into the pit. It's hard to convince myself that making an effort is worth it.
A lot of my problem is being alone in my apartment way too much. I go out to shop and run errands. I need to find activities to do with others. Last year I started going to a yoga class, but I didn't stick with it. The people there were nice. Maybe I'll go back to it. I get very intimidated, going into any social situation involving people I don't know. It's a real phobia I've had all my life. I can seem fine, but inside I'm not fine at all.
I did start keeping a journal. I'm not making daily entries. I need to do that more regularly.
I know that you have to stick with things for a while, before you get to where the activity pays off in some satisfaction.
My sink was fixed. I need to straighten up the kitchen. That might make me feel better. Starting anything is hard. I better set the timer and do something - even for ten minutes.
Good suggestions above. I must push myself. Staying like this - doing nothing - is making me feel worse and worse. I seem to have zero faith in myself, even though I know that's a foolish way to think.
A year ago I asked my primary doctor for a psych referral. After I twisted his arm, he referred me to a psychologist. Talking with that person seemed to help for awhile. It didn't last long because he quit working for the healthcare system that I'm in. He gave me the name of someone else. I had trouble connecting with that person and gave up on therapy. I had done loads of therapy years ago. I just kept hearing the same stuff. All good advice from well-meaning people.
Since starting this thread, I bounced up a few times and felt much better. Each time, it didn't last. I tell myself that I just have to keep climbing back up, no matter how often I sink into the pit. It's hard to convince myself that making an effort is worth it.
A lot of my problem is being alone in my apartment way too much. I go out to shop and run errands. I need to find activities to do with others. Last year I started going to a yoga class, but I didn't stick with it. The people there were nice. Maybe I'll go back to it. I get very intimidated, going into any social situation involving people I don't know. It's a real phobia I've had all my life. I can seem fine, but inside I'm not fine at all.
I did start keeping a journal. I'm not making daily entries. I need to do that more regularly.
I know that you have to stick with things for a while, before you get to where the activity pays off in some satisfaction.
My sink was fixed. I need to straighten up the kitchen. That might make me feel better. Starting anything is hard. I better set the timer and do something - even for ten minutes.
Good suggestions above. I must push myself. Staying like this - doing nothing - is making me feel worse and worse. I seem to have zero faith in myself, even though I know that's a foolish way to think.
Therapy can work well for people who feel the need to express something to a therapist, or who can learn something useful from a therapist, but it seems like it's often assumed that everyone who is depressed will benefit from therapy. There might be some form of therapy that would help you overcome social anxiety, but it sounds like therapy would otherwise be of limited help for you.
readingagency.org.uk has a reading-well book list. I haven't read any of the books below, but this list is supposed to be vetted by healthcare professionals, so presumably they're of some use. The list may have some bias toward UK authors, so there may be other books of equal or greater value.
We’re All Mad Here: The No-Nonsense Guide to Living with Social Anxiety
Claire Eastham, Natasha Devon
Overcoming Social Anxiety and Shyness, 2nd Edition: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques
Gillian Butler
Mind Over Mood, Second Edition: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think
Dennis Greenberger, Christine A. Padesky
These links have some information about treatment methods (I excluded the link on conventional methods since it sounds like you've already explored that extensively):
Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture, World's Second Largest Medical System
Self-Treatment and Miscellaneous
That seems like an unusual feature. It seems like unipolar depression remains mostly stable.
Yoga itself might be helpful to you, but also connecting to the group. I hope you'll try that again if you feel like it.
readingagency.org.uk has a reading-well book list. I haven't read any of the books below, but this list is supposed to be vetted by healthcare professionals, so presumably they're of some use. The list may have some bias toward UK authors, so there may be other books of equal or greater value.
We’re All Mad Here: The No-Nonsense Guide to Living with Social Anxiety
Claire Eastham, Natasha Devon
Overcoming Social Anxiety and Shyness, 2nd Edition: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques
Gillian Butler
Mind Over Mood, Second Edition: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think
Dennis Greenberger, Christine A. Padesky
These links have some information about treatment methods (I excluded the link on conventional methods since it sounds like you've already explored that extensively):
Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture, World's Second Largest Medical System
Self-Treatment and Miscellaneous
That seems like an unusual feature. It seems like unipolar depression remains mostly stable.
Yoga itself might be helpful to you, but also connecting to the group. I hope you'll try that again if you feel like it.
I'm in a bad state of mind. My old car broke down. It's not worth doing a lot of expensive work to. So I sold it to a salvage place. I'm very afraid that not having a vehicle is going to make my social isolation much worse. I can't afford to buy another car. This makes me feel very stranded. I'm retired and living on a small income. While I had the car, I never felt like a poor person. Now I feel very poor. I'm afraid that what's left of my life is going to be hard, lonely and just a downhill slide. I know that sounds like a bunch of self-pity. It is that. I'm alone way too much, and I will be even more alone now.