please post your favorite pick me up

I've been depressed for along time and have been on various things to improve my mood.

Drugs i have tried Celexa, Cymbalta, Effexor, Trazodone, Desipramine have done poorly.

Over the counter supplements like St Johns Wort, 5 HTP, and SAMe are epic fail.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy + Hypnothsis with a physologistis were very entertaining but not very helpfull.

Self-help books are laughable.

A healthy diet geves me negative results, as I deprive myself of comfort foods.

To get myself into a normal mood (not even a good mood). I need to excerise vigorously +4 times a week, keep a sleep routine of +9 hours/daily, and lead a stress free lifesylte for a couple consective months. This is too much work, when it can all be undone by a bad week or two.

Anyone have some alternative methods that are working for them. (ie) acupuncture, positive mottos to live by, etc. I'm exhausted from my attempts to be happy.

 

Abilify with another anti-depressant is the new wonder combo that has been very successful, you could try that. There are many other antidepressants you have not tired and two that you have tried are basically the same drug so I keep trying.

Honestly the regimen of sleep and exercise you mentioned seems a small price to pay for happiness and since it works I would keep with it..there are always gonna be some ups and downs and it does not have to negate the good times ya know.

Also you have not mentioned spiritual/faith..don't know your thoughts on all that but it has helped many many people so you could try that.

Basically a change in attitude it helpful as well.

Good luck and hope you get some good answers.

Bambi

 

Wow. The way you treat your depression is EXACTLY what I have tried. Exercise, and sleep is the only real thing that works, espicially for the long-run.

I can tell you that if you can afford accupuncture that will work best for people like us. Its because it makes you have that feel good effect that is similair to exercise.

By the way how do you excercise? I do like 5-6 mile jogs / runs. It takes me like 1 hour. I also use P90x and lift weights.

I tried every OTC you listed. And most of the anti-depressants.

 

Biking picks up my mood the best. Only a fair weather biker so the season is only 5 months long in Canada. Commuted +1000km last 2 years mostly highway to the power plant I worked at. But got transferred to Sasktoon, so biking will suck with the traffic and stop signs/lights.

Lifting weights would be the next best mood booster. Average about 3 times a week, but go anywhere from 0-5 based on my mood. Since I've mood up to this new job I find I am too tired to go to the gym. I usually goto bed as soon as I am done work. At the power plant I worked shift work, so mentally I was a zombie but I physically I felt great and loved working out.

I took up indoor rock climbing when I got the city. Its fun and challenging, but its an anaerobic working not aerobic. As it doesn't get the blood flowing very, it won't pick up your endorphin levels and help your mood.

Limiting stress probably has the single most effect on my mood. My only method to cope with its is to dissasotiate(spelling?). <--that kinda catatonic state where your physically their but not mentally. I'm trying to avoid that has much as possible, because the whole point of being alive is to experience emotions. Good or bad. If there little to no good experiences there no point in experiencing just the bad.

Was looking up alternative medicine I will try accupunture through a naturopathic doctor and maybe some of his other random cures. Can you say placebo effect FTW

Its so hard to get good doctors and psychiatrists in the city. I thinking about trying that shock theraphy where they zap your brain with electricity.

All else fails. I will try numbing myself with alcohol. Through probably will choose a drug that is more recreational but less legal. Life simply isn't bearable anymore.

~Bono

 

In my case, it's Buddhism and its Zen-meditation. While this thread is introduced with the title of "pick me up" which asks what uplifts your spirit, the Zen-meditation does not do that. That is, it does not cause me happiness specifically but rather just calms me down from stress and anger.

To describe and pinpoint the effects as best I can, it erases depression but does not cause happiness. Evidently, the way it works is that if I don't feel happy, then I don't feel depressed either. Remember, this is Zen-meditation. Its purpose is to develop a state of calmness and serenity. In that Zen state, it goes beyond sadness or happiness.

 

Zyprexa and Zoloft has helped me a lot. CBT as well

 

do you have enough omega 3 in your diet? Omega 3 helps with the serotonine gland(happy gland we have in our brain) for depressed people it is recomended to take 3 tablets once a day...

when I take them, I get a bit more energy after a few days...you should also take vitamines...

I've heard that acupunture works, so does yoga and pilates...

 

I tried a lot of different things. Sleep and mostly good food is the best for the long run effect on living. Alcohol is deceptive. I'm a sober alcoholic. I stopped drinking because one day the alcohol stopped working and I was a mess.

Disassociation has been my most successful tool. The key is to get alone time to take a look back over the week to decide what is important to your life and what is not. What is important you can embrace and feel, whether it's good or bad stuff.

Another thing I did without knowing it was being a crisis junkie. I felt alive from the adrenaline of crisis. I became involved in everyone's crisis. That dragged me down in the long run and I missed out on a lot of my own life.

I'm 53 now and I guess I gave out. I'm on disability for depression. The key to getting disability is to have a paper trail. That paper trail is obtained by getting mental health treatment regularly over the years.

I believe in God and I pray throughout the day and I pick up my Bible daily and I go to church. I learned that God is real and I reached out to him. I asked him to teach me what I can do for myself and to please do for me what I cannot do for myself. He gives me a lot of comfort. He is the reason I'm alive today.

I'm curious about the acupuncture. Please let us know how it did for you.

 

Abilify is great wonder drug. It stabilizes the mood. unfortunately, it took my mood down low and there it stayed.
Last winter I was in a group home for those with severe depression. I was taken each day to a gym. While others just sat around, I worked the equipment. My diet was also very high in nutritious foods and I was never happier. I no longer have those options. What I do now is get lost in books. I keep fresh vegies by my chair instead of chips.....and drink tons of water. It helps. Then of course, coming to SF helps me to understand what my feelings may be.

 

"This too shall pass"

 

I've been running 20-30 miles a week for a year and a half now and most of the time I hate it because my "engine", heart/lungs/lactate threshold etc. doesn't seem to be designed for endurance. I suffer through virtually every run but I keep doing it because it controls my depression and I don't look as underweight and sickly.

I also cram healthy foods down even though I'd rather live off of brownies and donuts. If I can offer a helpful pick me up it would be a sense of humor. I try to make light of and cracks about my misfortunes. I really need humor to get through my shattered nerves and some of my marathon bouts with insomnia.

 

Yeah I could tell you of drugs that will make you feel good, you can make them yourself and they sure as hell aren't legal. But they make you feel good... Actually I can't tell you because this is a suicide forum. Its like an online psychward, I think I once got an infraction for telling someone drinking too much water can kill you lol

 

I been on all those drugs too, and 2 years of cognitive therapy sessions with a group, and self-help books, and those are just little tiny things that make a big impact. Meditation and Qi Gong is a great way to help cleanse your spirit and renew energy with some of the exercises. I recommend those. If they feel weird to you, at least you can pat yourself on the back for actually going out and trying something new.