Anti-depressants do not work

[LonghairslickedbackwhiteTshirt]

For me that is.

7 tried. 7 failed. They just don’t seem to agree with me. Confused at why this is. On a lengthy list to see a psychiatrist to see what other avenue I can take other than them. They seem to have superb results for family/friends on them. Has anyone else experienced this?

TIA

Hey op, sorry you've not had much traffic. In my experience they didn't kick in until after 6 weeks, combined with therapy and a lot of work and mindfulness on my part has got me out of a probable breakdown and into a 'better place' certainly not 100 percent but definitely more functioning. Can you ask for a therapy referral?

Which ones have you tried @LonghairslickedbackwhiteTshirt ?
Ive tried loads over the years too. Psych is trying to put me on an antipyschotic for depression now.

It depends on what you want them to do. They don't cure you. They help you to get other things in place in my view. It also depends on why you need them.

For me I described it as putting a bottom in the water I was sinking in (depression with anxiety) so I couldn't go any deeper. I also gave me something to push off to swim back up to the surface.

I still had to put in all the other work to do that. Pills just stopped me getting worse so I could get myself better.

My depression was due to a number of specific factors, all external to me. It took me years to come to terms with them all, but dealing with one at a time made all the difference. It's the old eating an elephant analogy.

I have a much longer list of failures (my psychiatrist notes it is "possibly treatment resistant", I mean yes that's obvious to me as a lay person let alone a professional). Friends kindly recommend things that have helped with their depression and I have to politely thank them whilst internally screaming "yes, unbelievably in over 20 years of depression I have tried every GP favourite medication".

I'm currently on bupropion, if that doesn't work then it's lithium, and if that doesn't work she's out of ideas and will consult her supervisor. Which doesn't feel particularly reassuring. The ketamine trial sounds so promising for those of us who are treatment resistant.

I did have a short term improvement on one of the much older antidepressants but sadly that lasted two weeks before it had no impact at all.

In my area you can self refer for some types of therapy through the IAPT scheme and they like to force people into CBT whilst waiting for psychiatrist involvement.

Is bipolar a possibility? It's not uncommon for bipolar depression to not respond to antidepressants and to need a mood stabiliser with or without an antidepressant.

Is therapy or counselling an option?

How is life generally? My episodes that have been the hardest to treat have been when life has been pretty shit so there was more of an uphill battle to overcome and actually they were situations that will make the strongest people feel miserable and dejected.