Anyone that’s suffered with anxiety and depression.

[GingerKittenTail]

What helps you and have you tried medication and how did that go ?
been offered sertaline but so so scared to take it 😰😰

Is counselling something you might consider?.I hope you get some peace

Medication
Counselling
Coming to terms with whatever caused it
Changing your life to remove yourself from the stressors
Getting plenty of sleep
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle generally

Take it

It takes a few weeks but does work

Medication and CBT. Mindfulness. Gentle exercise and getting outside every day.
I went from being unable to function to happy.

Medication.

Take the sertraline. HOWEVER be very careful for your first 2 weeks. You will feel utterly shit. Unbelievably so. And you will think this is terrible I will stop.

NO. Get through the first 2 weeks and the relentless anxiety will lift. You will be able to think again. Life will slowly start again.

Keep taking them. Maybe up the dose, keep close to your doctor.

Good luck, you will feel better.
Big hugs

Medication
Therapy
Sobriety
Relaxation
Daily walk

My life is so much better now! I still get anxious but I can manage it. Strategies to deal with things, time and acceptance to relax and letting myself have a bad hour here and there, not beating myself up and moving on.

You can do it OP. ❤️

Oh gosh yes get outside. Potter about the garden if you have one. If not go for a little walk and look at plants.

It's called vitamin G now, g for gardening! It works

Sertraline alongside counselling and CBT. Some of the most useful CBT techniques were from self-help books rather than sessions I attended

Therapy with the right therapist. I met with a few and stuck with the one that right for me. Medication made me feel like I was doing something but being on it and coming off it didn’t change how I felt once I was doing the right therapy.

Sertraline turned my life around. That and counselling.

Medication to bring me down to a state I could engage with therapy.

Being honest with myself and accepting myself, flaws and all - stop trying to be perfect or gain others approval to feel good about myself.

Getting out in fresh air and green spaces.

Listing out the positives no matter how small when I feel very down.

If you are feeling down in that DARK PLACE, don't suffer there is help that's get you out of that SWAMP.take medication.

I was on setraline for 6 months. I can’t describe to you the first night I slept through and woke up refreshed.
I also had counselling, I did a CBT course (5-6 sessions). About 3-4 years later I did BWRT to really sort out the demons.

I’d say go for it. It ‘switches off’ the fight or flight instinct for a while, gives your brain a chance to rebalance.

The sertraline worked really well for me in the beginning. It really helped to release that awful cloud and life limiting anxiety. However after a while I found they made me very flat, so no emotions good or bad. I think this is because I wasn't doing anything other than taking the meds.
I now run (started with c24k) now running 5-10k 4-5 times a week. Meditate regularly with YouTube and do yoga, again with YouTube,
I've managed to very slowly wean off the sertraline and find the self help works much better for me. I absolutely needed the meds in the beginning though.
I've not tried therapy as I just don't think it's for me, but I've read books on CBT and also found that helpful.
Best of luck, I hope you're feeling better soon. It's an awful place to be

🙋 I am on setraline. Been on it three weeks now. Life was getting overwhelming and I had to contact my GP.

I am now at the point of taking all help where offered as I couldn't carry on the way I was going. Had family to think of.

Oh fucking take the drugs offered. You think they'd be so frequently prescribed if they didn't actually work?

I also find getting outdoors daily for a walk helps greatly in conjunction with the medication.

@HMSSophia no need to be so abrasive. Taking meds is a huge step for some people. Myself included.

As others have said it needs to be a combination of things.

I have been on sertraline now for just over a year. For many people a short period of time helps 'reset' the chemical imbalance in their brain that trauma or depression / anxiety causes.

The first two weeks are truly awful so you need to have faith and support, as you feel worse to start with. But then things start to get gradually better and about 6 to 8 weeks in you will have a 'moment' where you truly can't believe how bad you were before... where you feel better. Things will get steadily better from there.

Please take them, but also make sure you use your support network, get out in the fresh air, potentially have some counselling.

I did all those things and feel happier and more content than I can ever remember feeling. I have been on sertraline longer than some but I went through a very traumatic time for an extended period of time, and delayed getting help for a very long time. Please get help sooner than I did.

Daily walk or other exercise.
Gardening - started off with a pot plant.
Not sweating the small stuff.
Meditation.
Prozac.

All the above saved my life.

This

Yes I think I’ve delayed getting help too long
been struggling bad for 3 months
perhaps if I had gone to the dr sooner ….

I'd tried everything before I started on sertraline. Exercise, cutting caffeine, cutting booze. I really didn't want to take them.

The first couple of weeks were tough but after that it was like a weight had been lifted. Suddenly life became not easy, but manageable. Being able to make a simple decision without 400 different worst case scenarios whizzing round my head.

Occasionally I have bad days and remember that's what it was like all the time, before the meds. I don't intend to stop taking them ever.

Sertraline.
Eating well and good sleep routine.
Resting more.
Prioritising my needs.