Antidepressants and counselling

[Dibbles56]

Just wondering what people with depression think about antidepressants and counselling together. Personally myself I think you need both together I don’t think one works without the other. Just wondered what your thoughts were

[Dolphin14]

For me thats what works .... I also do other things to help myself.Yoga and other forms of exercise, meditation....

I hope you find the right mix for you

[Dibbles56 in reply to Dolphin14]

Thankyou for your reply Dolphin14 iv never been able to get both through the mental health team unless I do group therapy but my anxiety is to bad. I did go private but then told after 6 weeks that I need to sort my self out before I talk about it (sexual abuse) because when I talk about it I’m reliving it at the time, that’s what I thought counselling was about. So my mad doctor just gives me antidepressants. Keep up the good work your doing brilliant

[Dolphin14 in reply to Dibbles56]

Wow.... makes no sense.... you do have to talk it out.

Your abuse is a trauma.

You need proper therapy.

I hope you find something.

🐬

[Broken1971]

I think you are right. My meds help but they only help so much. My problem is that I will do therapy for a while, feel a little better and then stop. Then I get worse again. I think with depression and anxiety you should have regular appointments just to keep on top of things.

[Dibbles56 in reply to Broken1971]

I think your right too broken1971 antidepressants and counselling should go together, I don’t know about where you are where I’m from if you have both through mental health you only get so many sessions it boggles my mind people in that profession should know that you can’t talk through your problems in so in a certain amount of meetings

[designguy]

I agree, for depression as well as anxiety. I've found that even with optimal meds therapy helped my understanding, acceptance and healing.

[mocuatoi]

I find it's most helpful with both counseling, medication combine with twelve steps group really help me. I don't like medication I'm now trying to taper off the med. Journal, personal self care spiritually, emotionally, and physically . I hope this help

[Hidden]

I have no clue if counseling works because I can't get any when I had insurance they refused to pay for it and I can't afford it on my own. And antidepressants made me feel like a numb zombie so I won't take them. If I want to feel like a numb zombie I can get that cheaper and safer with all natural alcohol.

[Dreamer27]

I don't agree with this fully. Perhaps in the beginning, depending on how extreme the depression is. I went through both for a long time but didn't feel that meds were helpful and it was a waste of money to not feel better (have had over 5 med changes as well). So I dropped the medication and went through therapy and it was helpful! For some of my friends who have depression and don't use medication, therapy was enough. It depends on the individual and their set of circumstances I would say.

[Opportunity]

I do neither. I did counseling and lied and said I was taking the anti-depressants but I wasn’t. I wanted to see how useless she was. I hated how slow and ineffective counseling seemed to me. And I was still suic***l, often. So I quit and started looking at life coaches because I decided it was illogical that so many people should have a permanent chemical imbalance. Really? This many? Yes, some do, but this many? I decided I had a knowledge problem, not a psyche problem. I set out to heal myself by reading what therapists read, and studying whatever self help books seemed applicable to me. I set out to become my own damn therapist. I learned a lot and studied and applied what I learned like my life depended on it. Because it f*****g did. Whenever I didn’t understand something, I’d seek to understand. I worked hard on learning. I didn’t want to feel better; I wanted the formula necessary to feel better. And I was willing to endure temporary pain for permanent gain in my own understanding. That has made all the difference. And from that moment on, I s*** you not, every day has been better than the last. I cried one night because I was looking forward to some small plans I had the next day. Such a happy thing to do, to joyfully look at tomorrow with hope and optimism. I cried because it hit me that this was the first time I had ever looked forward to the next day like that. That’s what I did.

I don’t recommend anyone quit counseling or stop meds, but my thought is that we lean on counselors too much to do all the work for us. I think they should be perhaps 20% of your mental health work. The rest is learning and it’s simply dependent on you and how fast you want to go.

[Hidden in reply to Opportunity]

We live in a time when personal responsibility and accountability is dying. It's always someone else's fault and responsibility to fix everything now a days and that's truly sad.

[Dibbles56]

Thankyou every body for replying and your thoughts. Opportunity I think you’ve done brilliantly I would love to try something like you have but my brain doesn’t hold information for very long and I get very frustrated cause I forget how to do things I do look forward to the next day though if I’m doing anything nice

[Opportunity in reply to Dibbles56]

Thanks, Dibbles56. That’s what flash cards, highlighters and practice are for. 🤗🤗🤣🤣📊📎📕📗📘✏️🖍📝

[Hidden]

I find none of them helpful.