[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by smorton2186

I've been depressed for a long time and have heard all of those things. A lot of people and therapist seem to think depression is just like being lazy and can be fixed by getting out more, which has never helped me.

Um, your own THERAPIST states depression is part 'laziness'??? If so, PLEASE seek a different therapist bc that's unacceptable, and that therapist is horrible. Don't listen to him/her or take in what they're saying to you bc it's BS. Keep pushing for the right combo of meds/therapist/whatever helps you...never ever give up.

Originally Posted by DBlain

Depression is so sad and confusing to me because while I know meds are the way to go I know several serious cases where nothing seemed to work. 10 days ago, a close friend's 29 year old daughter took her own life. She was a highly skilled nurse at the U of MI cardiac care unit. She performed excellent at her job and then went home and harldy left the couch. 15 years of different meds, doctors, and counseling yet nothing seemed to really help this gal. She had high hopes and was always striving to kick it, even had an appointment set up with a new doc that she had heard great things about. Yet after her shift she went to a seldom used area of the hospital and overdosed on her meds. My mother in law has been fighting this for 20 years, she has had shock therapy and been on at least 10 different kinds of meds through the years, but she rarely gets dressed anymore and cries multiple times a day, I think the only thing she cares about are her dogs and her husband, she seems to care little about her children or grandchild or friends she once had. It has gotten so that we no longer have a relationship with her. She was a nurse and my father in law a doctor, so they have not hesitated to rely on medicine yet nothing has lifted this cloud from over her head.

If you have an infection you can take an antibiotic and it clears up, if you have an ache you can take aspirin or something to make it go away, but with depression the medical solution seems to still be a mystery since it does not always work for everyone.

So sorry to hear all of this. As someone who has very treatment resistant depression, I understand what these women go through. I so wish your friend's daughter was still here, and still fighting the fight - it's such an inexplicably excruciatingly painful fight, so I truly feel for both of them.

It sounds like your mother in law has tried so many things. Has she tried any/all combos of meds, including the newer ones, I wonder? I hope she hasn't given up on continuing to try different combos. Really good psychs will try more novel approaches like cytomel, the MAOIs, abilify, ritalin or adderall, and more of the mood stabilizer drugs like lithium or lamictal.

Originally Posted by smorton2186

thanks, but I've tried anti-depressants and am still on them, I have tried different ones, none have helped. I have also seen 8 different therapist, who have all made things worse for me. Medication and therapy are not the cure all for depression. I think "see a therapist and take medication" might need to be added to that list as I've heard those quite a bit too. I know they help some people, but they aren't the answer for everyone.

I completely hear you and understand. I'm so sorry if you're still suffering and not feeling the relief you deserve through the meds and therapy. It's so painful, it truly is...and it's such a deadening, hopeless pain at times. Please keep fighting though, bc I truly believe you will one day find a better combination of things that work. Keep asking your prescriber to try something different, as many times as it takes!!!