Posted by mattdds on October 9, 2003, at 23:49:58
In reply to Burn-out, Poop-out, What??, posted by Budgie on October 9, 2003, at 13:14:09
Budgie,
Are you sure your mood problems don't come as a result of untreated anxiety (of whatever flavor)?
The reason I ask, is because I cycled through all the antidepressants without much of a response, until I properly diagnosed the problem as anxiety. Doctors would tell me the anxiety would clear up as the depression got better, but now I know the opposite is true. My depression does not get better until my anxiety is whiped out! So I began trying drugs for anxiety, namely, benzos. All of a sudden after a few weeks of no anxiety (and believe me, benzos *will* help anxiety), my depression disappeared.
Viridis, who posts on this board also has posted about this same patter of severe, chronic anxiety which sort of spirals into hopelessness and despair after too long a time period in this state. This describes me perfectly.
I did not get my mood under control until my anxiety was relieved. I know you suffer from a different type of anxiety (although I suffer from a certain degree of SP as well), but I think any anxiety condition that goes unchecked for too long will contribute to rapid mood swings and depression. Attack the primary disorder first!
Perhaps you should consider concentrating more on the anxiety than on the depressed moods. I have a sneaking suspicion they may be more triggered by the chronic anxiety that you suffer rather than a true mood disorder.
In short, it seems to me, you are not addressing the main problem - unchecked chronic anxiety.
I would be really curious to see how you would do on a short trial of Klonopin. I bet you'd see great results. You really sound a lot like me.
Sorry for the rambling. I was mainly addressing your question about the depression diagnosis, and whether there were other problems not being addressed. This was my problem, and I did not get relief until I approached my problems with anxiety as the main target.
Best of luck!
Matt
poster:mattdds
thread:267321
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031004/msgs/267617.html