Depression (major depression)

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• August 8, 2009 4:26 p.m.

  I also felt the original advice was written in a negative fashion--not just that us depressed folks are (duh) irritable, negative, and thin-skinned. If I'd written it, I'd have -acknowledged that treatment response varies, even in carefully controlled clinical trial settings -suggested people regard the items as something to assess for themselves -noted that control of some factors might be hard--the therapist in a public mental health clinic may be a part-time temp who has just been licensed in the person's specific field, because the budget does not provide enough regular full time therapists, and the people one is surrounded with may consist of other stressed-out folks in a homeless shelter or drop-in center in between overworked eligibility workers in agencies (homeless people do get online) -encourage people to pick the one or two most doable of the things they can do as the areas to focus on, starting small. Six months after my most recent particularly severe bout began, I can rarely cope with preparing an actual meal, and then we're talking one-dish meals. But I did manage to keep fruits, bread, and peanut butter on hand so I could eat something decent from the fridge. A person might be overwhelmed by your entire list, even if all the items applied to them. -point out that shrinks cannot see inside your brain. Learn to specifically and accurately describe symptoms, especially if the dr. doesn't use a standard list of questions or similar tool to gauge your status

  - Sheri

• August 4, 2009 9:59 a.m.

  I had gastric bypass surgery in 2004 which has the accompanying difficulty with malabsorption. I believe the oral medications I take aren't being processed in their intended way due to the re-routing of all materials (food and meds) through the bypass tube straight to the intestinal tract. I wonder if there might be a dissolving entity which will allow the body proper absorption.

  - John

• August 2, 2009 11:12 a.m.

  This article is really not very helpful. Of course I'm not doing all the things I should be to counteract depression. But it's very difficult to be motivated to do things I don't want to do. And I don't have much control over the quantity or quality of my sleep. I have one of those depressions that is "hard to treat." It runs in our family. It's basically bipolar II (bipolar without the fun part.) I have a great psychiatrist; I've been going to therapy for 30 years, and my current therapist says I work hard. There are long stretches now of time when I don't feel depressed. But the symptoms never really go away (poor concentration, sleep disturbance, irritability, chronic pain, inability to deal with stress). It's rather frustrating. Unfortunately, I've never had a "pre-depression" period, as my grandmother reports I was depressed as a preschooler. I wish they'd find a cure for atypical depression, or at least some good treatment. No way am I taking MAOIs.

  - Rachel

• July 8, 2009 9:58 a.m.

  Another book that teaches how to successfully reframe negative (distorted) thinking is Mind Over Mood by D. Greenberger, PhD. This is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (or CBT) We did a series on this - check out the archives of this blog! The CBT series was March 19, 26 and 31, 2009. Take care and thanks for your interest in Mayo Clinic.com.

  - Mayo Clinic.Com Staff

• July 4, 2009 7:01 a.m.

  At this point I am in my montly blue mood and feel a little paranoid. I hate myself. I know that "This, too, will pass." It's no fun while it's here. Zoloft has helped some, but physical and mental exercise help more as does socializing a little.

  - Roberta

• July 3, 2009 4:11 a.m.

  I was very angry for several years when I finally had a manager demand I see a doctor about it. I have an "unspecified personality disorder." I found out about a year after starting the antidepressent game that my body had gone in to menopause. I have since had a full hysterectromy. I now taking antidepressents and hormone replacement therapy. I am thinking about asking the doctor to let me go off the antidepressents. Do you think this is right?

  - Italyhope

• July 3, 2009 1:55 a.m.

  My depression comes and goes and as a result, I've been diagnosed with sub-clinical depression as well as atypical depression on three occassions. I've tried several meds which didn't work or back-fired on me (hallucinations and voices...nothing scary, just a flash of a scene and mumbled voices: stopped when I discontinued the meds) SAM-e works well for me, as does St John's Wort. But the therapy that works best for me is a book titled, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought", from Prelude Press. It's the common sense I didn't know I had until I read a chapter and do what's suggested. I'm learning to strengthen my intentions to live a full life. It's not easy at times but I notice improvements in all aspects of my life if I stay faithful and just do what I need to do.

  - EmJaye

• July 2, 2009 8:43 p.m.

  I was hit with post traumatic stress disorder and then ongoing depression in 2000 after the suicide of my husband. I've tried many medications, but honestly, the best drug is intense exercise. I felt the medications made me too mellow and sometimes even careless. My house could be on fire and I wouldn't care. It is trial and error with the meds. I have great doctors and I do keep in close contact with them. If I feel I don't like the med for any reason I call and we tried another one. However, I just never felt the meds were the cure-all. I really believe you must take care of your body like the temple God gave you. Exercise is a big part of maintaining and enhancing your temple. I'm an Exercise Specialist and I use this for myself and with my experience I now use with my clients. Exercise is great, but it has to be intense. If your mind can wander while you are walking then pick it up. I make all my clients work so they can't talk conversationally with me and they are so busy they can't think about anything else but what I am having them do. I do outdoor training alot because the scenery is great and you don't need equipment. Use park benches and do push ups, then step ups then jumping jacks then walk onto the next bench and repeat. it is really great! It works for me and I see it working for my clients. Another bonus is try to do this first thing when you wake up. Get those endorphins moving. I promise it works! Happiness to you!!

  - Ann

• July 2, 2009 1:07 p.m.

  When I saw all the unhappy comments I felt I needed to post something positive. I was diagnosed with Clinical Depression about 13 years ago. I went through several sessions with a very caring counselor and started with Prozac as a treatment. Over the years I have progressed through several drugs including Zoloft and am now on a low dose of Lexapro. This seems to have me at near a pre-depression level. I am back doing the things I enjoyed doing before. Am I a 100% back to where I was? No, but I am able to deal with the depression and move forward. I still struggle with anxiety, stress and depression, but I think I’m getting better at dealing with it. One thing that I find very helpful is exercise, I try to average 40 minutes a day of Walking, Biking, Hiking, Skiing or what ever else gets me going and going outside. I probably do more walking outdoors in winter than in spring, summer, and fall. Being outside really gives me a boost especially after a good walk or other exercise. I say I average 40 minutes because my schedule doesn’t allow me to get out every day so I keep a spreadsheet of my activities that gives me a daily average

  - Chuck

• July 1, 2009 10:50 a.m.

  Good Morning- This entry was to stimulate the exchange of ideas. It wasn't meant to place blame that you are doing something wrong if you're not getting better. Yes, there is depression that is treatment resistant or is difficult to treat. Yes, more than one medication or mode of treatment may need to be tried. The idea is to partner with your health care team. We know you're trying very hard!

  - MC.Com Staff

• June 30, 2009 5:27 p.m.

  I took Zoloft for 6 weeks and came down with a horrible case of ongoing diarrhea. Saw my dr. 6 times, Urgent Care once, went to the ER in the ambulance - was severely dehydrated - lost 15 pounds - NO ONE suspected the Zoloft until I saw a gastroenterologist who solved my problem. Now I'm afraid to take any anti-depressive.

  - Nancy

• June 29, 2009 7:39 p.m.

  Hi!!! I have been all my life depressed, since I am 18 years (now 33) I have been in more than 50 meds for depression with counseling, psych counseling and others. For me, sincerely nothing is working. I am feeling exhausted, devastated and still very depressed with a strong hypersomnia. I saw in my country more than 14 doctors with specialization in mental diseases. Is any medication work?????

  - Chely

• June 28, 2009 2:09 a.m.

  when one is 'depressed' it is not possible to do things to feel better - in fact there is not a lot that can be done when one is truly depressed - and i dont believe the saying that keeps appearing that depression can be treated - or maybe what is called depression is not really depression (but a condition of sadness that a person cannot really control.

  - jean

• June 26, 2009 2:10 p.m.

  I bristle at this a bit. As I understand it, it's well-known that the first antidepressants tried often don't work. Trial and error is required. It's not always the patient's fault.

  - LA