If depression really is just a chemical imbalance, why does counselling work as well as anti-d's in some cases?

[Enid]

I can never understand that one.

ROFL at double-edged sword.

It's true though

I bet it is true though expat

I really believe it is

I'm beginning my fourth year of training as a psychotherapist in January, and received my MA result yesterday (I got a distinction yay)!

I think it is equally ignorant to suggest that depression is caused solely by events in childhood or a trauma.

Congrats on your distinction btw.

well done Sophable

sorry for getting everyones back up.

Oh, well done Sophable! That's brilliant!

no obviously not solely

am surprised at the reluctance to entertain the idea that past trauma may cause depression...are you all still depressed by some chance

interesting

sophable...i agree with a lot of what oyu say...i do feel you are being aggressive towards zippi..it is true , AFAIK..that some people are predisposed to being depressed...how is that different to what you say about the way people are borught up affecting their synapses? seems you and zippi are actually in agreement

i suffered horrific PND>..which was not diagnosed and treated until it had become severe clinical depression. cou
nselling & ads worked for a while..but never well enough. the PND brought a lot of chickens home to roost and it wasn;t until i had 3 weeks of in patient care that i was able to shake free of it and get well.

it is more complex than it is physical/ chemical...

i agree with enids point re tired struggling mums needing support rather than meds..but the stress/ exhaustion etc can lead to depression...

i had no idea how i was supposed to feel after having a baby..having had a bad delivery...i though it was normal..and no-one listened ...

but i came through it and am 100 % ok..and am confident i will not be going to that dark place again.

being depressed for a long time has made me who i am now..and i believe i have learnt a lot from it , from the counselling and from getting through a very low point in my life.

ledogogy, i've been at pains not to attribute depression solely to anything!!!

x post sophable

very well done & congratulations...xx

I can't understand sophable thinking that I have some sort of lack of empathy with people who suffer from depression..I'm just saying that there are people who are depressed and it is not per se because of a reason

it is a combination of factors

and i've said this a zillion times on mn

I am the last person to thinks ads are the answer and i don't think that that mediaction is the sole answer for manic depression either..neither do psychiatrists

of course people need support and you can be miserable and stressed because of circumstances

this is a personal bugbear of mine....and it does stem from the reading i've done...
i do get very angry about it....sorry!

No i definately think in alot of cases past trauma can cause depression, in some cases a combination of past trauma and chemical imbalances can cause it and in some cases the causes can be simply physical imo.

As someone who has depression, Enid, I really believe it isn't.

There is NO TRAUMA in my childhood. FFS, I had about the happiest childhood of anyone I know.

In fact, I find such a view really ignorant and only encourages the stigma attached to this disease.

And sorry, soph, but it is a SERIOUS illness. And illness which kills about 20% of its sufferers through suicide alone. Not to mention those who self-medicate through substance abuse.

Like hunker, I had an incredible reaction to synthetic progesten.

It swung my moods around all over the map.

I'd NEVER had that happen before.

Killed my sex drive entirely. ME of all people! Haahaaahaaa. A veteran slag who never went more than a week w/o sex in her adult life - bar having just had a baby.

What sort of trauma, Enid?

I haven't had anything "terrible" happen to me - what sort of thing do you mean? I was bullied at school (hence my don't give a fuck attitude now, I suspect) - is that the sort of thing you mean?

well I had depression almost entirely due to trauma from childhood

so ner

of course it could have been those E's I necked in the early 90's but there you go

mental health is a bugbear of mine too

so that's why you're called E-nid

Past trauma can cause depression in some cases, but certainly is not a prerequisite for all cases by any means.

Er, how many times could I say "sort of thing"?!

EIS, v interesting re your reaction to the same chemical as me.

It is how women who use PMT as a defence in court feel, I believe. And I can see why. I could have killed someone without a second thought when I was on that drug. It did evil things to me.

It doesn't always have to be from trauma, though, does it, Enid? (I think I know what you're talking about though and if I'd gone through what you did, I'd be thinking it was often past trauma too ).

Hunker, I couldn't believe the person I became on that shite.

The sex drive is what made me realise what it was, though.

I literally didn't want it at all.

And I knew there was something really, really wrong w/that b/c even when I had severe PND, I still wanted sex often enough .

My depression was caused by grief and my past as well but I do know people like Expat who's depression cannot be explained by childhood events or trauma thus the only conclusion I can draw from this is that there must be other physiological reasons for it as well.