Posted by KIMBA2005 on November 23, 2004, at 5:48:12
In reply to Re: new to depression and medication » Bamboomz, posted by saw on November 23, 2004, at 0:24:51
Hi,
I, too, am new to this Psycho-Babble. I am not new to depression however. Personally, I did not like Effexor because it seemed to stimulate me too much. Zoloft is the only other drug that I have used. When I first took Zoloft I had some unusual side-effects including, dizziness, confusion, and stimulation also. All of these symptoms subsided after a while, and now I do not experience any real side-effects. I've been depressed a long time. Apparently depression and its related phenomena (rumination, despair, poor self-esteem, anxiety, stress, etc.) cause imbalances in the production or utilization of various neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain that allow the brain cells {neurons} to communicate with each other) which are in part responsible for feelings of well-being. Now which came first the chicken or the egg? Well, I guess it does not matter. Life events (like having a baby) can cause stress and feelings of helplessness. Continued chronic stress and/or maladaptive cognitive strategies which become entrenched can, in my opinion, cause abnormalities in the levels of the neurotransmitters in your brain. Or perhaps something like hormonal changes maybe caused the same type of changes in brain chemistry. Either way or another way the problem is that which ever came first, the chicken or the egg, it tends to cause problems with the other. For example, let's say that some physical problem like hormonal problems or even injury caused changes in the brain chemistry which lead to depression. Well, now your depressed, and the feelings of helplessness, despair, sadness, etc. that are caused by the chemical imbalance in your brain can very easily lead to changes in cognition and changes in your perception. You might conclude because you feel so despairing or whatever that it must be a character flaw that your having. You might be led (perhaps inaccurately) to believe that it is your thinking that is causing your depression when it might be the other way around; that is, that your chemical imbalance is causing the negative feelings which in turn can cause negative or self-critical thinking. On the other hand, maybe years of emotional abuse or learned helplessness actually bring about the changes in the brain's chemistry which then lead to a reduction or imbalance of the chemicals in the brain that are responsible for feeling good. After time, further imbalance in the brain chemistry which literally hijacks the body's natural ability to feel pleasure can very easily lead to greater negative and disruptive thinking. The bottom line is that it doesn't matter which came first, the chicken or the egg. What matters is that you treat both sides of the problem. If you are like me (which I hope you're not) you might have to take medication for the rest of your life, or maybe your depression is not chronic and you might benefit from medication for a short term basis. Everyone benefits from learning to change disruptive and negative thought patterns. In this regard, "cognitive therapy" is a good choice. Of course it is important to find a good therapist. You might find it very helpful to the works of Martin Seligman. A therapist familiar with Martin Seligman and his techniques would be a good choice for this type of therapy. I am just a guy who has battled depression all of his life. I believe my depression was a result of "learned helplessness" that I learned at an early age. But this is today and I feel the best I have in many years. I spent many years self-medicating with illegal drugs and alcohol which probably didn't help my brain chemistry much; however, I have been clean and sober for 586 days now. It was not easy, but I had faith that one day I would recover. It took a lot of help from many people and agencies. I hope this has been helpful to you. Depression is a deceptive sort of disorder in that one might tend to believe that one is a bad person, or one might believe that one has a character or moral problem when the real problem is at least partly physical (i.e., brain chemistry). Be kind to yourself and keep seeking answers. It's very important to be responsible for the quality of the treatment you receive. Trust. Love....Seek Answers. Engage yourself wholly in healing Body, Mind, and Spirit.
poster:KIMBA2005
thread:418771
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/newbs/20040812/msgs/419224.html