To ask what actually helped when you were suffering from depression?

[iamelectrogirl]

Hi, quite a self explanatory title really.
Just wondering if there was anything that really made a difference to you when you were suffering from depression.
I'm really really struggling right now and I can't easily take Anti-Depressants due to pregnancy/ breastfeeding plans. I'd really like to hear if anything helped from anybody with any experience

(Chose this forum due to high traffic but can delete/move)

I'm sorry to say I tried loads of things and none of them worked. Including a lot of the things listed above.

Finally after years I was diagnosed with bipolar, not just depression. Took (and still take) lithium and I'm very happy, balanced and achieving loads.

So for me it was chemical imbalance in the brain and a lot of the advice I got in my younger years was in retrospect really not helpful.

I did take meds under psych supervision in my second pregnancy with no ill effects.

Prozac - wonderful stuff. It doesn't make you happy, but it lifts that awful soul-sapping lethargy and hopelessness enough for you to be able to tackle whatever it is that needs tackling. I have been on it a few times, each time short term - enough to give me strength to get myself exercising, making life changes etc.

I know you say you can't take anti-ds because of pregnancy plans, but have you discussed this with your doctor? Because some are ok to take while pregnant. In any case, it might be that a short course might help you put in place support strategies to get you through a drug-free pregnancy. Personally, when I'm depressed I can't even think about going for walks, certainly I wouldn't have the emotional strength for counselling. But of course we're all different.

Very best of luck to you.

Another vote for CBT. Still use some of the tricks now when I feel the black fog reaching its grasping claws at my back. It's amazing how well it works (or did for me anyway). Counselling for me just brought up a lot more issues to feel bad about and didn't really give me a way to deal with them.

Weirdly, I'm a loner, but when depressed what I need is non-demanding company. And as a previous poster said, doing something for someone else - volunteering, helping a friend, something to take the focus off yourself and restore the idea that you have something to offer to the world.

ADs were useful for me in the short term, acutely they were literally life-savers, it was like being thrown a life-jacket in a stormy sea, but you have to learn to calm the seas and swim. I found (paroxetine) hard to stop taking - the withdrawal made me like a robot - and as others have said they cut off some of the joy too. I also think they affect bonding, with my then-new partner in my case.

Good luck x

this Moodgym, from the Australian National University.

And once that got me to a better place I was able to use other stratagies like exercise, music, improved diet, routines etc to push myself out the other side.

tears streaming whilst reading all this.

ive suffered with anxiety / depression for years. since been a teenager, i grew older, got married, had babies - then seperated after 11 years. since leaving my then husband, i came off tablets and eventually met my mr perfect.i thought i was doing good for 4 years, BUT recently anxiety&depression has kicked in. its been going on ages. we're going thru fertility treatment. consultant said he'd rather me have no meds.

its got to a point now where i fear going out. i just want all the bad thoughts / depression / anxiety attacks to stop. its awful. ive had pnd with all my children with last hubby and now having a bad time before we even concieve.

what can i take (ask gp for) that is safe to take whilst ttc/pregnancy ? (just writing that was hard)

i dont feel i can go on without meds or something, everything in the infertility world goes soooooooooooooooo slow, the waiting and wondering is the worst and im sure this is what has brought it all on. we're so close to starting IUI now (about another month)

what did/are you taking whilst pregnant?

Hi
I was suffering from depression 12 yrs back and wanted to kill myself due to personal family problems. I came across very interesting Art of Living course which completely changed my outlook towards life. I am now working full time in Belfast with happy family and it has never come and touched me since then.
Art of living have introductory workshop 'Manage your mind' on 31st Aug'14 at Crescenct arts centre form 2pm - 4pm Please do join them and am sure it will definitely help

Keep Smiling

Doing something just for me helps. Not for my DP or DS, just for me. I like to sew. So for me, that's spending even 30 minutes making something, or drawing a picture of a project I plan to make. Doing a bit of embroidery. How I would love to knit, but I don't know how! So reading a book on how to do it (why can't I then actually do it?!?). That sort of thing. And the actual anti-depressants, once you find the right ones, really do help.

I second LaQueen

I took amitriptyline throughout my pregnancy.
I was under the care of the peri natal mental health team. They were excellent and knew everything absolutely everything about anti Ds and pregnancy and breastfeeding
I had a brilliant CPN and an excellent psychiatrist. Your GP will be able to refer you to a service

amitriptyline has been used safely during pregnancy for generations and is an excellent drug

I wish you better days

Also whilst this is obvs for many exercise and healthy eating is literally beyond the grasp of very many depressed people in the beginning

every time it is trotted out as a suggestion it can make a depressed person feel that this is just one more thing they aren't doing right or are failing at iyswim

working up to getting dressed everyday might be a huge multi-layered step in the beginning
I'm not saying exercise hasn't helped many people make their way through treatment for depression but it needs to be suggested at the right time, encouraged properly and appropriately undertaken.

So true RonaldMacdonald.
Though it is worth keeping in mind so that if you find yourself able to cope by using meds you could then focus on changing your diet so that you might be able to more effectively reduce those meds and be able to consider increasing exercise?

Read up on Mindfulness - a really simple but effective way to alter your perspective plus useful for birth too! All the best

Ronald you are right about the exercise. When I say exercise I mega putting shoes on getting your house keys, go out the front door and walk for 10 mins. Then turn round and come back.
I find that achievable. Not kit required. No faffing. All you need is your shoes on.

*mean not mega sorry

Meds (and I was b/f)
Friends turning up with their lunch - and extra for me - now and again
Feel-good cosy escapist movies - my own fave was Cheaper By the Dozen 2 - I watched it so many times. Also re-runs of Friends
My mum

When I was lonely and very sad I bought a kinder egg a day and the surprise cheered me up. (Wasn't depression, just sadness due to relationship breakup and leaving home). At uni had a a friend with sad who had a light box, went for a walk every day and popped into see friends (including me) every day to get her through the winter. X

laqueen not on fertility drugs yet.... at beginning of year we were on clomid, i blamed that, but not been on that since march.... and its just got worse. we're just to start injections in a month....

thank you for you reply x

Another vote for sertraline and moodgym, excellent stuff.

I think the thing that helped me the most, even more than doing things for myself (which is also great), was to take a long hard look at my life, find the bits which made things worse, and either eliminate them or minimise them. When you prioritise your wellbeing over say, practicality, you end up with very different results.

Things that have helped me.

Walking my dog (now passed)

Thinking neutral. So if I am in a negative thought spiral I telly self to STOP and to look around. Look out of the window, notice the colour of every car that goes by. Force your mind to stay neutral.

Setting myself small goals one day at a time. First day I might have three goals, to smile once, to go out in the garden, to eat something. At the end of the day tick off goals achieved. The next day add another goal. And so on.

Trying to remember perspective gets lost when you feel anxious. When you are not anxious things are back in perspective.

Good luck and best wishes. You are not alone.