Give me some Zoloft and someone to talk to. Is that all there is to it? How can the Dr simply medicate me forever? Isn't there a reason I have depression, anxiety and OCD? I want to get to the root of it. Simply medicating me is just masking the real issues right? I rationalize everything but I can't figure out what is causing my problems now. Is it a simple chemical imbalance? Will I be medicated for the rest of my life? Is medication enough? What is therapy suppose to be doing? I believe in lessons learned so I everything in my life that happened I gained a lesson. I am not sad about my past nor do I dwell on it. I have a wonderful life and no financial problems. This isn't "clicking" for me.

Just thought I would ramble and see what all of you other "thinkers" think about this.

Well, I've certainly been in the spot you are now.  Saying, "what do they want to do... just medicate me"... on the other hand... if they had just told me, "give it time, you'll feel better later" and not offered me any means of helping myself... where would I be?

Think about that.

Without the medication, you have no other means of helping yourself except with therapy.  Is that what you want?  There is no "easy" solution.  Not with meds, not with therapy... Finding out "what's wrong" is only the beginning of the journey.  Therapy will get to the "meat" of the problem... eventually.  It's a long, hard process.  With sweat and tears...

I wish you peace along your way.
Good luck,
Cat

I think everyone goes through this questioning. I know I have!
Everyone is different. Some people will be on AD's for a few months with no therapy and be fine. Some, tharapy but no meds. Some therapy and meds for years...
For me I have no real cause for my depression other than maybe genetics. I have an extensive family history of anxiety and depression. I will be on meds indefinately, probably until I die and no, they won't cure me but they will manage the imbalance in my brain making it possible to enjoy my life but unless there is a huge medical breakthough they will never FIX my brain.
I too think everything in life is a lesson, a learning experience. I've had some hard ones and some unbeleivable good ones. Did any of that cause my depression or cure it? No. Not for me.
You need to talk to you doc and find out what's for you. I have a friend who was on meds for a year after her boyfriend died and now she is off them and doing well. Still seeing a therapist. I have been on meds for over 8 years and can not go off or I relapse. No trigger, just my brain
Again, everyone is different.
I hope you can find an answer for yourself that you can live with comfortably. I took me a few breakdowns to come to terms with the fact that I can not FIX myself and no one can CURE me but meds can help me live a life that can be unbelievable good! :D

I can totally understand this. It took me years and years to finally accept that I would rather be medicated and functioning than an obsessive mess that cannot leave the house.

With medication, I was able to function enough to get out and get therapy. And able to relax enough to read some self help books and educate myself on OCD more. Right now....I am doing all of the hardwork at getting to the root of my obsessions and the root of my insecurities. I am understanding myself better now than I ever have before.

With that in mind, I hope to apply my therapy skills more and more and hope to eventually become strong enough to at least take my Effexor down to the lowest possible dosage.

But I can totally understand what you mean. It does suck to have to take all of these different pills just to stay functioning when other people do it so "easily". (or it appears that way to us)

It's up to you....how much work are you able to put into getting yourself better? Do you need a little boost from meds to help you get started? It's nothing to be ashamed of.

I've been on meds for over 3 years. That's why I am questioning it.

I've been on meds for even longer ( but with occasional breaks). I am sure it is genetics. I was adopted and my birth family have the same problems. We grew  up and lived in totally different environments. I had some bad things happen in my life, but no more than a lot of other people who don't suffer depression. I cant function long without my meds. I will probably always have to take them. I only worry about side effects. I wonder if there are going to be problems from long term use on down the road.

Yeah I have been on and off meds for the past ten years. It took me a good six or seven years before I finally just accepted it. It's a hard thing to accept. Especially when there is such a stigma against the mentally ill.

Yes I agree about the stigma thing. I have felt very isolated since I was about 14 and I never had the courage to admit it. I suppose it is out in the open because I am married now, and I do not want to do anything to put a strain on the relationship so I made myself demand help from the doc. I had very low self esteem due to a previously abusive relationship and I had lots of anger, and I did not want to vent that on my wonderful husband. I realised I was turning into a horrible person, I had so much anger that I would just shut down. I suppose that why I started taking the codiene, as I realised it made me feel chilled. I saw a therapist but I think that just made things worse. I have always been a bit of a thinker. Sometimes I wish I could be more shallow so that things wouldn't bother me so much. But whats the point of that!!!! Plus it's just not me.. sorry I went off on one again didn't I?

codie I can probably help you with that. I used to have very low self esteem and about 8 years ago I let that go and I feel GREAT! I had abusive relationships, etc. Send me a PM....that actually may be something I can walk you through.

I speak for myself when I say I am not medicating my problem, I've had depressive episodes since I was 17!!!  So for me, it's definitely a chemical imbalance.  Every time I tried to wean off A/D's, the depression/anxiety came back.  I'm a "lifer".

I do agree that some depressions are situational, such as death in family, divorce, job loss, etc.  where you may need temporary help, but not life long maintenance.

:love:

hey still, i've been on meds. for a year or a little more. don't have the counceler to talk to. so i don't know how that will go. i've just been trying to live with this crap. and hope one day i'll be ok.

I have organic/chemical depression; occassionally I get clinical/situational depression on top.  Without meds I would die.  I wouldn't get out of bed, eat, drink or function.   :(

I have a genetic history on both sides of manic depression and post natal depression; historically I don't have a chance of suriving.  But I press on daily; some better than others.  I have a good GP and a loving hubby.

I take lexapro 10mg and if I get breakthrough d epression I add 10mg for a few days to even out.  I also have a betablocka.

I know from experiencing several 22 months cycles of ups and downs that I have to take meds for ever.  Now I've accepted I can get on with my life  :cool1:

I know mine is chemical and tied to a sleep disorder, which I've never had tested.  I've been on ad's on and off for years.  This last depression was fraught with one ton of anxiety.  I know I've had this for years, and did not want to be medicated for it, but I've just accepted that it's like any other medical illness, whether other people want to accept it as such or run the old stigma game is their problem.  I wouldn't stop the meds.  I'd fall into the same funk, again.  I think I'm fine like I am.  Meds and all.  :laugh:

After many years, I think I have come to understand the two roots of my problem: one is biochemistry (I'm wired to be bi-polar) and the other is circumstances surrounding my childhood that lead me here (I was constantly abused from 7-13). Having these answers, however, does not make the problems any easier. It just means I know the what and the why. I'd rather know than not know, but it doesn't change anything.

Also, I often fret about the medication issue. I'm heavily medicated and it worries me because I know that I'll undoubtedly be on these drugs for the rest of my life. However, the way I look at it is pretty simple: I'd rather be medicated and capable of feeling some form of happiness and security than be unmedicated and out of control--living on the streets perhaps or being put away in an institution. So, my bottom line is: I'd rather be on the drugs than off them. My life would be unimaginably bleak without them.

I wish you all peace,
SBF

Those are great questions, but I'm not sure anyone has the answer. Doctors, therapists, etc all have their own opinions, but there is no strong agreement. I don't know whether there are different answers for different people - it seems a strong possibility, though. I hope we all find the answer that's right for us.

Hey all,

Like alot of you have said I have also went through periods of trying to understand the why's or what will make this go away....etc.

I think this is a part that comes before acceptance... It's hard to accept we might have to be on meds our whole lives, that we can't function 'normal' without them... I didn't want to believe it. It saddened me and I think I went through the grieving process of what my life once was to this new somewhat restrictive 'sick' life...

They are many reasons we are struck with our illnesses. The main one to me is that we have a chemical imbalance that our brains are misfiring in some way... the brain is so complex that any imperfection will most likely effect us...of course life experience, trauma, genetics all play a role underlying that is again that these experiences can alter our brains function..

I'm so ok with being on meds now. Once I felt 'recovered' and good again, I didn't worry so much about the why's, I just wanted to stay healthy. I will probally be on meds my whole life and I'm good with that. As long as I'm not going through terrible depressions, I'll do it forever... it's hard to accept, but once you do it's easy to accept that this is part of what keeps us sane and functional.

What your feeling is valid. Alot of us can relate. Just try to focus on feeling well, instead of brooding about why you have to take pills.... I know it's hard, but I think all of our goals here is to ultimately gain relief from the turmoil these illnesses bring...

~Amy~

Hi all - this is my first post!
I am 30 and have been depressed for 2 years, and i think my problem is entirely chemical. I was on Paxil but I was too hung-up on the fact that I had to take drugs to be normal that I stopped taking them. Sure enough, I got depressed again and so now I am on Wellbutrin, but that doesnt work as well as the Paxil. So I think its back to Paxil for me, but I want to hold out hope that its not forever.