to ask if you are depressed but don't take antidepressants, how do you manage your symptoms?

[97876757user]

Long time lurker. First time poster. So... Coping with depression without meds.. How? Just that, really. If you are not taking any prescribed meds and you manage it by yourself how do you do that? Curious to know how people against meds for mental health cope. Understand that there's a MH section. Posting for traffic. TIA

Thanks for all the replies thus far.
I'm not against medication at all and never have been. I am just wondering how people manage without when the black dog descends if they aren't on meds. Wondering about how other people cope so I can try some tips before finally admitting defeat and calling the GP. So far I definitely haven't done everything possible. I think it's a case of catching yourself before you descend so far that you can't be arsed to brush your teeth, wash your face. That's not always achievable for me. Highs and lows at the moment for me day in day out. Nothing seems to be making any long term difference.

I took propranolol for anxiety but ADs never truly agreed with me so I stopped taking them. Having my anxiety under control helped me to get it together enough to put systems in place to help my depression like regular exercise etc.

I've had depression and anxiety most of my life. I manage it by not agreeing to things that make me feel bad. I dont let people take advantage of me, I dont go to places I dont feel comfortable, I dont associate with people that make me feel bad. I protect my mental health as a number 1 priority. Sometimes it means being selfish, but tough shit, I'm not drugging myself because people are arseholes. I dont live like a hermit, i do loads of awesome stuff, but not the stuff that society tells us we should want to do, like go clubbing. I haven't self harmed for 7 years and most of the time I feel great and love my life, but i know my mental health is delicate and i could be back in that place anytime if I'm not careful.

finally admitting defeat

Would you be using language like that about other illnesses?

Things can run side by side possibly?

Antidepressants did not help me long term. They were great short term and took the edge off but after about a year I became exhausted - came off them several times and had to back on due to trauma that was unexpected. Came off for good 2 years ago and I’m struggling with the pit in the stomach and anxiety feelings - I really really want good therapy but I’m struggling to even look - too many people out there and it is a large can of worms, I want to talk about my parents and childhood, abusive marriage and divorce and then also a huge chat about parenting and confidence. I don’t even know anyone who is recommended. I need a therapist I can trust and I know 6/8 sessions will not be enough. Right now warm baths are helping but during lockdown I am struggling to knit, draw and read and understand that it is actually give and take with these - I want to do them but I can’t due to anxiety and then anxiety stops me. The reality is actually if I met a nice caring partner it would give me the step up to actually Take the move and find a decent therapist.

I have taken meds in the past, and am off them right now. I had in-person CBT which was really helpful in changing my thought patterns; I didn’t think in a million years it would work when nothing else ever had, but a combination of that, medication, and changing career made a massive difference. The therapist told me that your brain takes the easy route - so if you’ve always thought a certain way, that becomes your default pattern; but you can change that through CBT and eventually your brain will choose the new version. She described it like two woodland paths, one well trodden and one overgrown. If you make the effort to fight through the overgrown one every day using tools (she included meds in that in my particular case), eventually it will become the easier path and the old one will be overgrown instead. That was helpful for me - and I have actually found, over three years later, that she was right (my body dysmorphic thoughts and disordered eating are all but gone, my brain just doesn’t “go there” now even though I am off meds)

I am still anxious and have a tendency towards low mood, but I can cope better with these now the bigger issues are fixed. (Usually. I am struggling with the lack of social events, sporting events, live music, camping and the ability to escape work and go away holiday as these things make up the rest of my “coping strategies”)

Meds don’t have to be permanent but they can help you get your ducks in a row. They did wonders for me. xx

I became very aware of my triggers (being isolated, spending time with people who made me feel unlikeable, too much screen time, bad diet, lack of sleep) and did as much as I could to sort those things out.

Going out walking with good company is great. Meditation also really helps.

I tend to shut myself off when I start feeling depressed, but that just makes me worse. So if I feel myself starting to spiral I force myself to contact friends or go and sit in the garden and chat to neighbours. Human contact helps so much.

The key is figuring out why you feel depressed in the first place.

If this post said "If you have dangerously high blood pressure, what do you do to manage your symptoms without taking any of the readily available perfectly safe meds"

Would that seem like a good idea or a bit odd?

If you’re in work, Able Futures have been brilliant for me but everyone’s different

@FusionChefGeoff, the advice would probably be speak to a doctor, possibly take medication and try these ways of helping yourself.

It wouldn't be stick it out, beat it yourself and never talk about it.

Thanks for all the replies. I think it's time I speak to a GP! Thanks everyone.

Good Luck with your consultation OP.

Good luck OP.
I'm far from pushing steralyn but to say I don't have to try fight the darkness while on them it
I don't wake with the dreadful feeling the weight of someone on my back they let in the light giving me to strength to live.
The first month I'd lots of side effects including massive appetite it all settled I'm out walking more or more active in general I feel the best I've felt in years.