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Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?

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Re: Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?

#31

Post by carlmr »

zamalek wrote: post #27
f0e4c2f7 wrote: post #20

Check out the book feeling great by David Burns, known for popularizing CBT. It's an updated handbook of some of the most recent techniques for managing the way you feel. It also has some good tips on how to find a therapist to work with if the book isn't enough. The book leans towards avoiding antidepressants but stresses that in some extreme cases they might be best. Sorry you've been feeling that way. Good luck!

> CBT It seriously isn't a good idea to self-prescribe cannabinoids for depression. While it may work great for people experiencing a temporary bout of the condition, it can make things significantly worse for people with life-long depression.

CBT isn't CBD

Re: Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?

#32

Post by codingdave »

My experience is that you should meet with a professional. There are more medications that just SSRIs. There are various skills they can teach that will help, and programs that can help if you don't want medication. They can also help you test what works for you, because this is not an area where everyone lands on the same answers -- you can collect piles of anecdotes of what did and did not work for others, but ultimately your solution will be unique.

Re: Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?

#33

Post by jryan49 »

I don't think asking hn for medical advice is a great idea. Find a qualifed doctor please. Every case is unique! It can be really hard to find a good therapist. I went through like 5 before I found one. The key was finding a therapist that actually specialized in CBT (a lot of them say they so and they are just lying).

Re: Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?

#35

Post by [deleted] »

zamalek wrote: post #27
f0e4c2f7 wrote: post #20

Check out the book feeling great by David Burns, known for popularizing CBT. It's an updated handbook of some of the most recent techniques for managing the way you feel. It also has some good tips on how to find a therapist to work with if the book isn't enough. The book leans towards avoiding antidepressants but stresses that in some extreme cases they might be best. Sorry you've been feeling that way. Good luck!

> CBT It seriously isn't a good idea to self-prescribe cannabinoids for depression. While it may work great for people experiencing a temporary bout of the condition, it can make things significantly worse for people with life-long depression.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?

#37

Post by mmanfrin »

Minor thing, but I have both ADHD and likely depression (therapist thinks so, psychiatrist thinks so but has not formally diagnosed me).

One thing that I was surprised worked well was SAM-E, a supplement that has shown results in treating both ADHD/Depression. I don't give too much credence to supplements, but this dealt with 2 things I struggle with and since taking it I have made progress feeling better. (Now, whether it was just coincidence or it did anything I can't say).

The other thing is that Vitamin D is incredibly important and most people are deficient, and there have been a lot of studies recently showing that we should be getting even more than is already recommended. I've been taking a form of D3 (started around the same time as SAM-E).

Re: Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?

#38

Post by sjg007 »

f0e4c2f7 wrote: post #20

Check out the book feeling great by David Burns, known for popularizing CBT. It's an updated handbook of some of the most recent techniques for managing the way you feel. It also has some good tips on how to find a therapist to work with if the book isn't enough. The book leans towards avoiding antidepressants but stresses that in some extreme cases they might be best. Sorry you've been feeling that way. Good luck!

I listened to his podcast. It is really good and I enjoy it. But I found something even better that worked for me which is the audiobook Self-coaching by Dr. J Luciani. It is on audible for free right now if you have an account.

I was put off by the title (self-coaching) but boy was I wrong and I now highly recommend it. For my own story I came to terms with being "smart enough" for life. This is after years of anxiety and depression from high school onward. I am amazed given my suffering that I did as well as I did!

Also medication does work. I ran the gamut of them until I settled on Wellbutrin XL. It also took me 25 years to figure out that alcohol, while it relieves my anxiety and depression in the moment, just makes things 10x worse. That and I need to eat properly. So I limit my drinking as much as possible and I know not to drink when stressed.

It gets better my friend.

Re: Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?

#39

Post by MrWiffles »

Don't fear the SSRIs. They get a bad rap because they've been blown way out of proportion from what I've seen. I have a co-worker who didn't just treat his MCD with Zoloft, IT WAS CURED ENTIRELY. He hasn't needed it or taken it for something like 5 years now and he's still just fine.

The truly dangerous ones - and this is also not as bad as it sounds most of the time - are MAOIs. They're reserved as a last-line treatment in most cases, and it's because SSRIs are quite a bit safer the vast majority of the time.

So don't let the bad rap SSRIs get scare you off; talk to a doctor before you come to any conclusions whatsoever!

Worst side effect I ever had on an SSRI was from paroxetine, and it actually worked to my benefit, at least until I had to get off the medication for financial reasons. Let's just say the woman I was dating at the time was REALLY happy to never find herself "unsatisfied" if you know what I mean! I was never satisfied, though, so yeah that was kind of a bummer, but that was honestly the worst side effect I ever experienced. And I've been on nearly every one there is (at least in the US anyway).

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