Current Events > Is there anyone one here who has recovered from severe depression?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Any success stories?
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I suffered from crippling depression for 3 years. I just drank heavily to cope. Eventually it got better on its own, though it still flares up from time to time. SSRIs didn't do shit for me but apparently they help some people.
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TheGreatGenocet posted...

I suffered from crippling depression for 3 years. I just drank heavily to cope. Eventually it got better on its own, though it still flares up from time to time. SSRIs didn't do shit for me but apparently they help some people.

Oh, to add to the above, I'm not suggesting you do what I did >_> just telling you what I did.
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tote_all posted...

I took SSRI responsibly in the recommended dosage.

I actually had a formal diagnose and wasn't just an underachieving cynic calling whatever displeasing feelings I had depression, so working towards specific goals and sticking to therapy in the correct way did the trick.

How did the SSRIs effect you? All they did for me was kill my sex drive while leaving the depression unaffected
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I've had crippling depression and social anxiety most of my life. I still have problems with them, but I don't have any severe problems anymore. For me I never felt any different with drugs when it came to either issue. Talking helped me. I'm not even talking about a psychiatrist, though they did help me, but just talking in general.
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LeperMessiahXX posted...

I've had crippling depression and social anxiety most of my life. I still have problems with them, but I don't have any severe problems anymore. For me I never felt any different with drugs when it came to either issue. Talking helped me. I'm not even talking about a psychiatrist, though they did help me, but just talking in general.

like talking out loud to yourself?
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I feel like recovering from depression is a lot like recovering from substance abuse. Even if you've been "clean" for months or even years, it's gonna be a lifelong struggle. You'll still feel it coming back sometimes, maybe you'll even fall off the wagon completely a time or two. You'll probably be on medication for life, or at the very least self-medicating for life.

I really envy people that have a "normal" brain that just works. People who can just function and succeed and don't have to deal with overwhelming amounts of anxiety and depression. To them it's just a bit of nervousness before a big event, a bad day, but nothing life-breaking like it is for some of us.
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nope, it just comes and goes
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tote_all posted...

Helped with motivation, "energy levels" as people call them, and started enjoying things again.

Lucky...anhedonia(no motivation, no pleasure from anything) was the worst part of my depression and SSRIs either didn't affect it or made it worse.
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yeah i was on klonopin & an ssri for maybe six months after a year and a half of battling with depression, roughly. i ended up using the klonopin to relearn every day situations without having silent nervous breakdowns and was able to acclimate to normal life again over time. it helped that this particular drug had a 24 hour half life so it was kind of on the opposite end of its highly addictive pharmaceutical cousins. i stepped off of both drugs with the help of my doctor when i felt comfortable again. if i didn't force myself back into the world while under the influence and try to make strides i'd probably still be in the same place. for me it was about reconditioning myself to become functional.

to be fair i was diagnosed with depression but i always felt it was more of an anxiety issue (with bouts of depression) but i guess anxiety stems from depression often enough. the main drawback to my experience was weight gain, but i managed to drop all of the weight i gained through calorie restriction in a relatively short (but safe) period of time.

i haven't had any major depression or long lasting symptoms in more than 2 years now, hope it stays that way.
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I believe medication can help, but you can't *just* rely on it. You need to identify and get rid of the factors that are causing the depression.
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If u recovered from depression u werent rly depressed anyway!!!!!!!111111one
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solosnake posted...

LeperMessiahXX posted...

I've had crippling depression and social anxiety most of my life. I still have problems with them, but I don't have any severe problems anymore. For me I never felt any different with drugs when it came to either issue. Talking helped me. I'm not even talking about a psychiatrist, though they did help me, but just talking in general.

like talking out loud to yourself?

No. Well maybe but what I mean is you don't need to pay to talk to someone. My mom was someone I could talk to about how I was feeling. Verbalizing the problems kind of made me feel better. Talk to anyone who you feel comfortable with and you know won't judge you. Even just like this, talking on CE if you have any worries or problems can help ease them.
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Turtlebread posted...

If u recovered from depression u werent rly depressed anyway!!!!!!!111111one

I know this is sarcasm but I'd like to point out it never really goes away. It just comes and goes in waves.
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I was way worse. Nothing got better in my life but my thinking. I made of just became cool with not caring tho
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Lost_All_Senses posted...

I was way worse. Nothing got better in my life but my thinking. I made of just became cool with not caring tho

That's why I drank. It didn't make me happy, it just made me forget about the pain I was in.
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Yep, I had severe depression for about a year (was feeling suicidal every couple of days but never had the courage to act on it). I managed to recover without medication too (but I did see a psychologist). In retrospect my biggest mistake was probably having no life plan and nothing to look forward to. Now my life circumstances are only slightly better than they were but somehow I'm optimistic. Sometimes it's only a short term fix but for me going travelling has been the solution. Staying in the same place for too long can make it feel as though you have no other options. But of course the problems others may be facing could be entirely different.
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