Please read Scott’s post about things that (sometimes) help when you’re depressed.
In fact, go ahead and use it as a checklist.
Regarding your sympathetic friend: Having a sympathetic friend is a huge good thing. It means you are in a lot better of a position than people who don’t have a friend in the world! But a sympathetic friend — someone who cares about you and wants you to feel better — is not thereby in possession of solutions. Psychiatrists, on the other hand, actually do know some stuff that works a lot of the time.
Regarding non-medical counselors: They can be plenty helpful, but they are not allowed to prescribe drugs; and drugs often make a huge difference.
Firstly I must pass on my best wishes to Efim. I am assuming you may have some form of depression and as a long term sufferer I can assure you that things do get better in time! Often the first episode is worse than the following relapses, you will learn to deal with this and it will make you stronger. With proper treatment you may look at this disorder as something which has actually enhanced your life. Depression has taught me a lot about humility and to cherish the good things in life; it has taught me to take care of my body and mind, ultimately making me a happier person overall.
In response to Fubarobfusco- “Regarding non-medical counselors: They can be plenty helpful, but they are not allowed to prescribe drugs; and drugs often make a huge difference.”
I must agree with ChristianKI’s comments. The evidence suggests that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is more effective than antidepressants for the treatment of many mental disorders but particularly for depression… (Yes I am educated in this area, I do proclaim to know what I am talking about here). Antidepressants may offer some temporary relief (arguably through the Placebo effect) or may inhibit the sufferers energy to a point where they cant even think for themselves and may not make any rash decisions such as taking their life; that doesn’t mean a prescription to AD’s/Valium is going to help them in the long run.
Think of it like this- you are aiming to decrease students stress for an upcoming mathematics exam. The two treatments are 1- mathematics practice and 2- general confidence training. Both treatments may decrease stress for the upcoming exam but only mathematics practice will provide long term benefit.
What helped me the most was viewing this disorder as something which was INTERFERING with my normal cognition. Depression distorts your reality, what you are going through right now is not normal, it is not necessarily who you are as a person. Do not try to attribute too much of what you are experiencing now to your identity. Once you start to see depression as ‘that annoying friend who comes to visit every now and again’ instead of a part of you, it becomes easier to deal with. The depression will come and go but you and your values, beliefs and attitudes will remain. Everybody reacts to different sentiments however, hence why you should see a Psychologist and let them talk it through for you. I do not recommend treating this with drugs, the academic literature simply does not support this as a first course of treatment, after you have seen a Psychologist you may need to start looking at medication but even then more CBT might just be necessary.
Best wishes Efim, you can and will get through this :)
Ps- exercise can work wonders, so can smiling, even if you don’t feel like it. When other people see you smile they are more inclined to give you one back...
Please read Scott’s post about things that (sometimes) help when you’re depressed.
In fact, go ahead and use it as a checklist.
Regarding your sympathetic friend: Having a sympathetic friend is a huge good thing. It means you are in a lot better of a position than people who don’t have a friend in the world! But a sympathetic friend — someone who cares about you and wants you to feel better — is not thereby in possession of solutions. Psychiatrists, on the other hand, actually do know some stuff that works a lot of the time.
Regarding non-medical counselors: They can be plenty helpful, but they are not allowed to prescribe drugs; and drugs often make a huge difference.
Firstly I must pass on my best wishes to Efim. I am assuming you may have some form of depression and as a long term sufferer I can assure you that things do get better in time! Often the first episode is worse than the following relapses, you will learn to deal with this and it will make you stronger. With proper treatment you may look at this disorder as something which has actually enhanced your life. Depression has taught me a lot about humility and to cherish the good things in life; it has taught me to take care of my body and mind, ultimately making me a happier person overall.
In response to Fubarobfusco- “Regarding non-medical counselors: They can be plenty helpful, but they are not allowed to prescribe drugs; and drugs often make a huge difference.”
I must agree with ChristianKI’s comments. The evidence suggests that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is more effective than antidepressants for the treatment of many mental disorders but particularly for depression… (Yes I am educated in this area, I do proclaim to know what I am talking about here). Antidepressants may offer some temporary relief (arguably through the Placebo effect) or may inhibit the sufferers energy to a point where they cant even think for themselves and may not make any rash decisions such as taking their life; that doesn’t mean a prescription to AD’s/Valium is going to help them in the long run.
Think of it like this- you are aiming to decrease students stress for an upcoming mathematics exam. The two treatments are 1- mathematics practice and 2- general confidence training. Both treatments may decrease stress for the upcoming exam but only mathematics practice will provide long term benefit.
What helped me the most was viewing this disorder as something which was INTERFERING with my normal cognition. Depression distorts your reality, what you are going through right now is not normal, it is not necessarily who you are as a person. Do not try to attribute too much of what you are experiencing now to your identity. Once you start to see depression as ‘that annoying friend who comes to visit every now and again’ instead of a part of you, it becomes easier to deal with. The depression will come and go but you and your values, beliefs and attitudes will remain. Everybody reacts to different sentiments however, hence why you should see a Psychologist and let them talk it through for you. I do not recommend treating this with drugs, the academic literature simply does not support this as a first course of treatment, after you have seen a Psychologist you may need to start looking at medication but even then more CBT might just be necessary.
Best wishes Efim, you can and will get through this :)
Ps- exercise can work wonders, so can smiling, even if you don’t feel like it. When other people see you smile they are more inclined to give you one back...
I don’t think that there any good evidence that on average drug interventions do better than non-drug interventions.
Having talked with the efim myself yesterday for 40 minutes I don’t think the main issue for writing this post is solved with drugs.
Perhaps not, but there is good evidence for drugs+therapy doing better than either alone.
I’m not aware of it. Drugs can sometimes help but they can also destablise brains. They have Goodhart’s law problems.