First, I have to admit I haven’t read every single post made on this thread with exception to the main topic at hand. So I apologize if there is something I talk about in my post that has already been addressed.
I don’t believe in antidepressants either. Neither do the younger professors of psychology at the two research universities I attended. Even worse, are the commercials that tell you to add anti-psychotics like abilify and seroquel. Those medicines have their place, but not in treating depression.
I have been struggling with depression and anxiety for several years now. It has to have been about 4-5 years maybe, though I could be wrong. It started in freshman year of college.
Since then I have been to 3 psychiatrists. The first was horrible, but the second and third were great. Unfortunately my second psych retired and I got sent to his associate and a psychotherapist, both I must say, are easy on the eyes and only a few years older than me.
Anyways I digress. I have been on roughly 12 antidepressants on the carousel ride that is antidepressant medications. None of them worked. It took the second psychiatrist to look at my history (back to elementary school days and teacher reports) and observe my behavior to get a diagnosis that I wasn’t expecting- inattentive ADD. See, most doctors miss this and simply label it depression since the most people getting an ADHD diagnosis are elementary and upper level children who are hyperactive and get bad grades. I have always had fantastic grades and am going to grad school now, but when it comes to social and financial aspects of life, I am horrible at them. (They look at 3 primary criteria (school/work, social, and financial). If someone, in a nutshell, sucks at 2 out of 3 of those, there is a good indication that you have some form of ADHD, whether its hyperactive, inattentive (the hard to spot one, or a mixture of both).
I’m not saying you have ADHD or ADD innatentive type (where people tend to have more depression like symptoms). However, I think it’s worth talking to a doctor about when you give him your symptoms. MOST IMPORTANT- Don’t say you think you have ADHD because that throws up a red flag saying “I need adderall or pills”. Just explain your symptoms and see what he/she says.
However, adderall also helped my depression and anxiety because it allowed me the motivation to do things I wouldn’t do before. I couldn’t leave my dorm for months and passed a semester purely on notes from others. I couldn’t go to my dorms shared bathroom until a certain time. I would literally scout out when the best time was to go to the bathroom for fear of someone being in there (fyi in my dorm the best time was a 15 minute window of 5:15-5:30am in morning. So I would get up around that time. My entire world revolved around this. Adderall, mostly due to the dopamine action, has increased my overall mood. Of course ADD and depression are two different monsters but they go hand-in-hand. This exposes the reason why traditional antidepressants don’t work. Simply inhibiting the reuptake of neurotransmitters isn’t going to cut it. Taking an antidepressant like zoloft is going to leave a lot of serotonin in the synapse (gap) between two neurons, but that doesn’t guarantee the serotonin molecule is going to actually bind to it’s receptor on the post-synaptic neuron and illicit a response.
Another route you can possibly take is this… I suffer from chronic migraines and headaches. Nothing help medicine wise for my headaches, whether it was dihydroergotamine, nerve blocks, topamax or beta-blockers or triptans or lamictal.
*BUT when I was on lamictal I did see that there was a slight reduction in my depressive symptoms. This is note worthy because it was (and has been since then) the only medicine out of all the ones I have tried that has even come close to helping (at 100mg of lamictal btw). This, in fact, is a well-documented phenomenon in psychiatry and neurology. No one really knows EXACTLY why this happens but it does happen with some people. If you don’t like anti-depressants like me, I would try to ask the doctor about it.
Like I said, there is a paradigm shift away from antidepressants. Drugs with reuptake inhibitions are being tossed from the pipelines for being no better than placebo. Just look at the drug companies (a great example is Eli Lilly) and how they are cutting their mental health programs, because their drugs have failed.
**What I am about to say is probably the most important, however. I cannot stress the need for seeing a therapist more. They have helped me and so many others with similar issues. Maybe concentrate on one who has a doctor of psychology degree (they know more) and look at their specialties. If you don’t like the one you go to the first time you meet, (they even tell you this) just try another one until you find someone you’re comfortable with. It was weird the first time I went to see one, but it gets better each session as they establish a good “relationship” with you. Also, I suggest a cognitive-behavioral approach as it is generally considered the most helpful and has the most efficacy when compared to other forms of therapy like psychoanalytic or just behaviorism alone.
I hope this post helped. Sorry it was so long. I just thought I had to post it because you sounded very similar to me, especially when you said you hated antidepressants. I wish you the best and please don’t hesitate to message me if you have any more questions about anything.
Have a fantastic day.
. Wouldn’t it be nice to get that much though … sigh