Treatment ideas

[Cloud9889]

Hi, I suffer from depression and anxiety. I have done for years and am currently on low dose sertraline which has stabilised me somewhat.
I have had counselling sessions (private) and have been to see the local go mental health services but I don't think they have evening appointments. I have two sons and no one to help me much in the day. All my life my parents have made me think that mental illness is a weakness and that's one of the issues I have. It's been built into me so it's hard to shake.
Basically I'm looking if anyone has had treatment for depression /anxiety other than medication and managed to fit it around their family pressures and how? And also what would you recommend ?? I'm willing to try anything - alternative therapy ideas welcome .
I would especially be interested in anything that might help with past trauma or hidden trauma. A lot happened in my childhood some of which I can't remember but my elder sister can and it sounds quite a traumatic place so I'm looking for a way I might let go of this however its hard to talk about it as I'm not even sure what happened at some points consciously.

Sorry if this message is a bit rambly I'm just trying to type and look after a very demanding 1 year old !

I should also say I'm not looking to stop the medication just looking for more ways to help myself (let go of the past/trauma)

I work in mental health and trauma focused work is a long process that needs to be very carefully executed by a trained professional. Done wrongly this can actually make the situation a lot worse. If you are intent on accessing this type of support, you will need to find some way of accessing it by organising some childcare etc to give yourself the space and time to engage with it properly. If on the other hand, you don't feel this is right for you at this time then there is a CBT online programme called Moodgym which is useful in managing anxiety, low mood etc. However, this is likely to only be a short term fix unless the underlying trauma is explored. If you have a GP that you can trust, they should be able to recommend services to support you through this x

Hi,

I agree with Downmum that you need someone experienced in working with trauma. I saw my work psychologist (so not a trauma specialist ) who made things much worse. Traditional talking therapies (e.g. councelling) can make things worse too. The reccommended treatments in the NICE guidelines for PTSD are for trauma focused CBT or EMDR. I had a similar treatment to EMDR called IEMT from an NLP therapist I know privately, which was amazingly helpful and resolved my PTSD completely.