Help with avoiding depression swings?

Have you tried anti-depressants? They will likely change your outlook on life.

Also exercise helps with depression.

@marinelife I’ve been on 3 types of anti-depressants, no effect. I think being an Aquarius messes with medicine, because the doctor said the third one normally works.

Hey sir…You are Life itself ..so therefore you be it…
How….? Life always adds Life to another and in that process it perfects itself…

It would be better to start with those who maybe considered less than yourself and treat them as if they are kings and queens…

Then you would find that their Joy and happiness becomes yours.

Do not mind (give thought , worry about) the negative.
cause the more you mind it you more you become it,
that why you are unable to break free up to this point…

So open your eyes this time in a new way….
Look unto others especially the less, who may not be able to ever repay..
So as to be life , joy, happiness…and in doing that you add those things to yourself..

Because depression only exist to those who mind it.

For Life ain’t depressive.

With all due respect, @Moegitto, I don’t think your astrological sign has anything to do with whether antidepressants will work for you.

Have you thought that it might be your negative thinking that’s keeping you in this cycle? If you’ve got your mind set on the idea that no therapy will help you, then you’re right – it won’t.

The right medication and therapy is the best course for this. I hope you find the right med and therapist to help you out.
Do you have hobbies or interests that you are passionate about? Find local groups that you can become a member of with these interests in mind.
There is nothing wrong with learning how to be ok being alone. If you have a desire to find something more outgoing with others, then try to get out and go places you are interested in.
Work within your Dr recommendations depending on any medical conditions and seek some new things. Mall walking, window shopping, library, church, etc.
What do you do for work? You can also take your talents or passions and volunteer for some things.
There are also support groups out there to help in this.
I hope you find a path that helps.

Meds can take a long time to figure out. For some people, by the time they figure it out, they know more than the doctor does. At my depression and bipolar support group last night, there was a woman who had been on 21 different meds. At this point, she calls her doctor, and he asks her what she wants and at what dosage. This is not that great of an idea, she says, because she uses him to get her a lot more Klonopin than she would otherwise get. She knows it’s bad for her, so she is weaning herself off.

Hmm. Maybe I should get her to give me some of that. Hold the phones! I think I have some in my backpack!

But then there’s the litany (I need to write this somewhere and copy and paste it every time someone asks about depression):

Exercise (at least half hour of aerobic).
Regular bed time.
Take your meds as prescribed and if not working after a month, let the psychiatrist know asap.
Eat regularly.
Help others (volunteer somewhere).
Yoga.
Meditation.
Other physical practice that shuts your mind up like Tai Chi, Aikido, Karate, Taikwondo, etc.
Therapy
Support groups
Educate yourself about your condition and potential medications.
Fish oil.

@Seelix There are actual scientific reports that show Aquarius’ are more susceptible to mental affinities, are aloof, and are always thinking.

I don’t really get too much time outta the day that allows me to not think about a situation that just happened. Pretty much every week of my life was a physical and emotional hell. My first memory is something I wouldn’t wish on anybody. All I want to do is fill my mind up with other things to distract me. I do work out, but out of the 7 days I work out, 3 of them end up being “Rage mode” workouts where I either go too fast or something of the like.

@Moegitto I’m not sure exactly what happened to you, but it sounds like some really awful stuff happened in your childhood, am I correct? It sounds like you are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. You need to find a therapist that specifically deals with this problem. You will probably need to be on some meds and like @wundayatta said, finding the right one that will work for you is kind of a trial and error basis. And joining a support group can be very beneficial, because you get real information from real people going through the same (or similar) situation. In that way, you don’t have to go from point A to point Z, you can start in the middle because the other folks have already gone through some of the trial and error part already and have found things that have worked for them and might work for you.

And you need to involve yourself in activities that you find enjoyable, fun, entertaining, meaningful and that give you joy. What do you like to do? What have you always thought about doing, but have not yet tried? Art seems to be very therapeutic to people, even if they aren’t particularly good at it. Try some painting, or sculpting or photography. Do you like music? Hiking? Dancing? Singing? Cooking? Think about things that might be fun, even if you’ve never tried them before.

Volunteering and helping other people is also a good way to distract yourself and simply do something worthwhile. Plus you will potentially meet people that you will like and develop friendships with. Try to find a charity/cause/need that is meaningful to you.

And although everyone would like to have a mate, it’s not always possible (for whatever reason). Eleanor Roosevelt, when she was a young girl, realized that she was not beautiful so she decided then, instead, to be useful. Instead of living her life sulking that she was un-attractive, she went out there and did things that enriched the lives of others. She became one of the most respected and admired women in the world. She was kind and loving and helpful. She was useful.

Talk to your doctor, give him the whole truth about everything, tell him that you want to get some help, but in the meantime can he give you some tips about exercise and nutrition. The fact that you get into these exercise-rage situations doesn’t seem helpful. You may need to do a different kind of exercise that doesn’t bring on these rages. If you are working out in a weight room, you might want to consider doing something like swimming or power walking. Having/finding an exercise buddy can be very helpful too. And like @wundayatta said, you need to be eating healthy every day. Make sure you are eating lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains and nuts and low fat dairy products. You might want to add a vitamin B complex supplement (when you are super stressed all of the time, your levels can be depleted, vitamin B can help you not feel so stressed and depressed). Make sure that you eat about 5 smallish meals (instead of 2 or 3 huge meals) so that you keep your blood sugar levels regular (if you don’t eat often enough, your levels can spike and drop dramatically throughout the day). And avoid the junk food snacks, soda and alcohol, these things won’t give you any nutrition and put a lot of unnecessary chemicals into your body that can wreak havoc with your moods. And make sure to get enough fiber (and water) so that you don’t end up with constipation (another situation that can cause you pain and frustration).

You didn’t happen to get hit in the head did you? I was about 5 I think I’m not sure of my exact age the memories are not to great but I got cracked in the head with a baseball bat. Things never quite seemed right after that. They said back then in the early 80’s it was similar to being diagnosed with autism. I know I just deal with emotional problems as well, and I really feel like this isn’t helping you at all…

I’ve already seen two doctors, the problem with doctors is that they think they have you figured out by comparing your problems to the DSM manual. The problem with me having Post traumatic stress is that it’s not soo much the past that bothers me, it’s the fact that crap happens ALL the time. I was just stating that my first memory was a bad one to kinda give chronological period of how long I’ve been getting crapped on. I could care less now that I wasn’t the cool kid in elementary school, I’m driving a brand new F150 while a couple people from my past are in jail/dead/druggies/struggling with 7 kids. My past has nothing to do with my mood, everytime I try to have a good time, somehow it get’s knocked down/back. My childhood has nothing to do with people ditching me now…

@Moegitto I’m not quite sure I understand what you mean when you say that you get crapped on all the time and that when you try to have a good time it gets knocked back down. Can you give us some examples?

I know one of my close friends is never able to enjoy anything, even though he has enough money to live comfortably, has good health, plenty of friends and loved ones and gets to do things that most people enjoy: going to the opera, traveling extensively, eating out and he has a loving girlfriend (despite the fact that he is in no way physically attractive and can be a huge downer a lot of the time) etc. But he has a really shitty attitude. Nothing is ever good enough, happens quickly enough, tastes good enough, service in stores and restaurants is never good enough, other people’s personalities are always annoying or grating or boring to him and activities that other people find to be fun or amusing are never fun or amusing to him, he considers most activities to be adequate at best, and awful at worst. Part of his problem is that he expects everything to be “for him.” So when things fall short of his expectations, he is always irritated. He’s an intelligent person and actually has a lot of knowledge about things that me and the rest of his friends are interested in, but he can be a real downer and a mood buster when he gets on one of his “everything is terrible” jags. Having a shitty attitude can make all things seem worse.

If you took 2 people that are experiencing the same situations (good, bad or otherwise, money problems, health problems, good things, good, reliable mate or not, or bad things, and all things) and one of them has a shitty attitude and the other one has an optimistic lovely attitude, the one with the shitty attitude is always going to be miserable and the other one is always going to be happy. At least most of the time. I suspect that with everything else that might be wrong with your mental health, you may also have a really bad attitude on top of it. Only you can fix that.

I’m really sorry to hear about your situation. Maybe it’s your depression that is making you think your not attractive at all, it can do that.

You could volonteer with young people, they aren’t judgemental at all, or old people or something like that, there are always charities looking for a helping hand.

Have you looked into self help books? I found Louise Hay’s “You Can Do It” very good, and “Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway” by Susan Jeffers, but I think these are aimed at woman (I don’t know what gender you are).

Fish oils are good for battling depression, get one rich in Omega 3 and take it every day. Also, you should exercise almost every day, you don’t need a gym, just go for a run in the morning, it would be really good for you.

Welcome to Fluther btw.

I know you are looking for other answers, besides medications; however, something to think about in the world of medications. Ok, you’ve been told you do suffer from depression and have been on medications for such; however, if you are suffering from bipolar depression (you have the lows and feel the mood swings, but it’s all centered around depression, you don’t get the manic highs) an anti-depressant could send you into a lower depression. There is a different class of medications for bipolar depression, but I would suggest not just your regular doctor for this diagnosis. You need a psychiatrist.

I recommend exercise and getting outdoors. It works wonders for me; however, it sounds like you still may need to talk to someone further, about how you are feeling.

@seelix – I too am an Aquarius and I know exactly where he is coming from. You have no idea unless you are one. I suggest reading “Sun Signs” by Linda Goodman and see for yourself on that, but to each their own. Regardless, it is real and common for Aquarians to react differently to thing, especially when it comes to health.

Just prey that you never end up with a severe condition that no one has ever heard of before, like I have – Central Sensitization. You start to read about that and it’s the perfect diagnosis for a friggin Aquarian.

Anyway, one thing that can help is making sure you vent. Journaling is the best way to get how you really feel – out of you, especially negative shit that just isn’t right with you in your own mind. If you have a tendency to think negatively (and I think us Aquarians are all on that wave length because we’re 50 years ahead of all the other sun signs and it doen’t look good), put a rubberband on your wrist and every time you think something negative, give it a little snap. This is a way to show your brain and see for yourself how much time is actually being spent on this negativity. If that doesn’t do it, one method for sure will, especially if you tend to obsess. This was suggested to me before. Make sure you are in a safe place, completely alone and probably in a place where others can’t see or hear you because if you do it right, it’s gonna get ugly. Set an alarm for one hour, sit in a corner and force yourself to think as many nasty, horrible, negative thoughts that you don’t want to have anymore and your brain will eventually become exhausted and give up on throwing that depressing thought(s) into the forefront of your mind. It was suggested I repeat this daily and if I find myself thinking about it during the day, add 30 minutes each time and repeat daily until it stop and let me tell you, it didn’t take too long for me at all, but it was like torture. Sometimes you just gotta go through shit to come out on the other side, so make sure you give yourself the time and space to express those feelings and let them out. It’s been proven to be no good at all, keeping that shit inside. My therapist always says exercise for 30 minutes at your target heart rate and your body will release endorphins. I’d rather smoke a J, it works better, quicker and I might just zone out and end up exercising anyway because when you smoke a J, you feel no burn/pain. I love to smoke and hike.

Anyway, you can’t be happy until you find a way to make yourself happy. Happiness is not a destination, but a method of travelling. Once I heard that quote 10+ yrs ago, something clicked in my head. Depression is a safe place for me, it’s comforting because it was all I knew and it’s always something I can always go right back to, but happiness doesn’t work that way. Depression is a place, happiness is the road or the journey. I had to learn how to be happy when my ex left me just 2 weeks shy of our 5 yr anniversary. I mean, I was pathetic. I had a friend read me to sleep, make me get up and go to work, I talked on the phone and cried to my friend in the shower…it was BAD. But, then I learned a little about myself. I am quirky and versatile. It’s ok to rub your own hair and tell yourself you’re gonna be ok if it helps. Not one damn thing wrong with it. You come into the world alone and you leave it alone, so you gotta learn how to be alone. Once you are cool with being alone, that shines brighter than any star in the sky at night because that’s confidence and people are attracted to that more than anything at first. You gotta do what’s gonna make you attractive to whichever sex you prefer. My step-father told me that and even though, he is the biggest dick and douche in the whole world, he was right. You get right with yourself and you’ll be right with other people. It just falls into place and love – as soon as you stop looking for it, you step in it, like it’s a fresh pile of steaming dog shit, though it’s more pleasant, but it sure hits you like steppin in dog shit. Remember there is more than one person out there for everyone. You will come across them.

Now, I see you’ve taken some meds to no avail. Let me suggest some herbal remedies. Camomile tea, rosemary tea, pokin’ smot ;)-~ Sam-E is sold at just about every pharmacy and is natural. I wouldn’t take the Sam-E without talking to your doc 1st though, especially if you take any other meds. A good vitamin B complex is great for reducing stress, along with a good source of Omega 3,6 and 9. St. John’s Wort was a jok to me, but everyone is different and that one you need to talk to your doc for sure before taking it.

Other than having your “me time” – Get out, drive around, find a Metropark and take a walk or hike, swim if you have access to a pool. Water pulls us Aquarians towards it, so maybe take a nice trip to a scenic lake or some kind of water. Anything to occupy the mind, so it doesn’t drift back into it’s comfort zone. Laugh as much as you can. Make yourself laugh. Ain’t nothing wrong with covering yourself in shaving cream just because you want to and running around your house naked, so long as no one at home is gonna be totally disturbed by it. Screw hobbies! I am so tired of people suggesting hobbies. What is it, they’re hobby to tell others to get a hobby? Some people don’t have them, don’t want them, have tried, but they just don’t have them and I am very much like that myself. No hobby sticks with me. I try new crap all the time, but I just don’t care about things like that all that much. People don’t get enough “me time” in this country. Even those who are alone. You aren’t having “me time” unless you are pampering yourself or making yourself feel better in the short or long run. Regardless of what kind of shape you’re in, I think Aquarians naturally are just more high strung, ball of nerves, never ending thoughts and constantly firing adrenal glands. You might want to consider something for anxiety. Low doses of Xanax work extremely well for me. Screw fair-weather friends. It’s quality and substance, not quantity and all over the place.

Hang in there. You are not alone. I empathize with you because I know. Everyone has their own threshold for pain, so I wouldn’t expect everyone to understand. You might want to look into Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy too. It did me some good and I think we may be a lot more alike than we know.

I don’t know but you say “My childhood has nothing to do with people ditching me now…” but I have a feeling that in someway it does, from mentioning the first issue to being more successful than you school aged friends. If your mood is an issue, people may certainly “ditch” you because of that. I know only because I have dealt with that for years in my own life. As for the doctors and the pills you just have to go until you find the right one, it’s like looking for the perfect recipe. I wish you lots of luck. :) my advice is not that great sorry..its like the blind leading the blind.

#1: My childhood has NOTHING to due with my current life as of now, this is fact.
#2: Being in the military, you can’t really get too much of a choice of medications. After the third try, they pretty much stopped seeing me.
#3:Another thing they military tries to “veer from” is bipolar disorders. They have to pay you for life if your diagnosed as bipolar, so they always try to say it’s something else. They tried to say I was “Anti-social”, which makes NO SENSE if I’m the one that initiates every conversation to be polite, then people talk behind my back saying I talk too much.
#4:I really can’t/won’t give an explanation on the things that keep happening or as previously stated “being crapped on” because everyones is subjective in their own thoughts and one person will always try to find a forced positive in a situation that has none
#5:As a kid I did walk into my bathroom door REALLY hard (it was a pull door and I thought it was a push way) and my forehead till today STILL has those lumps.

This is my late night sleepy attempt to answer many questions at once…

@Moegitto Ok so we established that it’s not about your childhood. Why do you believe everyone will try to force a positive out of your crappy situations? Some people are just optimistic it shouldn’t be frowned upon. Do you think you are being too negative towards yourself and your own situation. Maybe instead of being negative about things you should find the positive side. I myself get my moments where I feel exactly like your post, I have reason, my husband passed away, my MIL took advantage of me, I’ve lost everything, to top it off I have health issues, and if something happens to me nowhere to put all together my 2 beloved dogs and my 15yr old possibly breaking apart what I do have. I know the feeling, I don’t like myself, half of the time I go out I can’t even look people in the face. My friends are gone they just disappeared. Its almost like I’m a foreigner on native grounds. I get it. I wish I could help you, heck I wish I could help myself. I am also really sorry they treat you like that in the military. There is no way you can get civilian help?
About the head thing you should really make sure you aren’t having this
I think to tell you would need a brain scan to make sure everything is ok, I’m not sure though. I’m going through a bunch of tests. So…this is my late night attempt at a response. I always try to stay positive, you should too

I’m bipolar, as are several of the other people who have responded already. My counselor told me once that for bipolar people our normal
mood is slightly depressed.
BUT then she added that only
I could change that. She
mentioned things that already
been mentioned by other
Jellies, such as to exercise often, eat
right, volunteer, be around friends (or just other people in general). I do take medication for other problems, including an anti-depressant to help me sleep, but the anti-depressants can help if for no other reason that you think they do. A positive attitude can work wonders! Please let us know how you are- keep us updated. People who use Fluther become involved in each other’s lives. It often becomes an addiction and other users become your friends. You may never actually meet, but you will learn about us and often become closer friends because we can offer a new perspective on problems due to the fact that we only meet online.

What thoughts depress you? What do you think is the source of your depression? You can PM me if you like.

@raven860 No thoughts. Thoughts are made up, I keep analyzing and over analyzing the things that happen.

What is there to analyze? What’s done is done and it’s on to the next one. I’m afraid without more information for us to try to help you, this is just becomming a pity party and while I believe it’s ok to feel sorry for yourself at least once a week (per my Grandma), you have to realize that only you can do something about this. Only you can change it. We can type and suggest til we all have blue fingertips, but it’s not going to do anything unless you want it to. Take these suggestions, write them down, try them out. What’s the worst that could happen? You were slightly distracted for a moment – big deal. Never assume anything about why your friends did or didn’t do something. I’d rather think something happened to them, rather than them having a problem with me, but if they do screw me over twice, then shame on ME (Yeah, Bush…read it and choke on some pretzels! Send these kids out to fight over lies and bullshit, expose them to traumatic shit and then dump ‘em back into society – GREAT idea, you frikkin’ brain! Shoulda listened to your pappy!) Anyhooter, keep pushing for help from them and insist they hear you out and if you have to do something wacked out to get their attention, so long as you don’t hurt yourself or anyone else, DO IT! Throw a chair across the room. What, will they inject you with sleepy-time meds and you wake up with people listening to you? Sometimes you gotta flip out; however, make sure you are ready for your mental history to be thrown in your face. History shows that 99% of the time, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Keep your head up, man.

I just realized that humanity is sh!t, not worth my time, and completely doomed. I just dont care anymore

@Moegitto Why? Because so many of us shared our own experiences with you to try to help you to feel better and to help you?

Believe me, none of us are getting paid to do this, some of us actually do give a shit. But sometimes, people that need help, won’t take help. But we’re still here to help, anyway. You are not the only person on earth, or in this country or on Fluther that has experienced disappointment and pain. That is WHY we are on here trying to give you some good advice.

Some of us have been through a shit pile of crap and came out on the other side to tell about it. That’s WHY we are here. We could be sitting around watching Charlie Sheen self destruct on TV, but that would be lame. We are in here, trying to get you to pay attention to us, because we’ve been there, or had loved ones who’ve been there. Not every situation is exactly the same, but if you discount everything that we’ve said, to try to help, then you are basically giving us all the finger and saying that WE aren’t worth shit either.

Essentially, we’re all in the same boat, but each of us has different sensibilites and different specific experiences. That’s why it’s called a collective. There has to be something that you can take from each of us, and put it together and find, if not a solution, at least something that will help you feel a little bit better or a litte more hopeful than you did yesterday.

None of us walked in here with a plan to piss you off. We came in here to help, not just you, but other poor souls who are searching for a little relief. Give us a break. Try out some our solutions. You cannot know if they will work for you if you don’t try them out.

You have no idea about the pain that any of us has suffered, but you DO know by what we have said to you, what we have tried to do to try to save you and our next door neighbors and our relatives and ourselves. No one can force your to try any of our ideas, but if you don’t, what will you have?

@Kardamom No, because people are stupid, not necessarily fluther people, but most people I meet are just stupid. I don’t deal with stuff I can’t comprehend right so I avoid it. I can’t comprehand human nature, so I’ll avoid it. My choice. Much happier that way.

So what’s the point of the question?? You really should go see a doctor…

I just wanted to hand off the lyrics to this song I live by…even the famous feel this way it’s not uncommon, you just have to learn how to forgive and move on instead of letting it eat your insides out, trust me my life has been my own preverbal shit bag so I know, be happy that it’s in the past, because YOU have a future.

Able to Fly – Seventeen lyrics
Waves of time that pass us by
Leave the future open wide
Certain memories we can’t hide
Are the pieces to our souls

Life can veer ahead so mean
I was only seventeen
Everything was all mixed up
And I started to change
Questions filled my angry head
Looking for an answer
from you oh ooo oh

I lived near that darker place
Cause all I wanted was a taste
But I escaped without a trace
And so will you

Life can veer ahead so mean
I was only seventeen
Everything was all mixed up
And I started to change
Questions filled my angry head
Looking for an answer
from you oh ooo oh ( repeat twice)

All the lights in your room are off
And your face is in your hands
This is just a part of learning how to stand up to yourself

You’re not fading away
You’re just breaking in
All those hopes and dreams will come back again

Trying to forget it all
again and again and again

Life can veer ahead so mean
I was only seventeen
Everything was all mixed up
And I started to change
Questions filled my angry head
Looking for an answer
from you oh ooo oh (repeat twice)

I understand not understanding humans. I really do. Sometimes people are so rotten to each other, I feel like I cannot possibly be of the same species. It’s always been in my head that “I don’t belong here.” There is too much pain, too many people with no idea of the concept or power of love and empathy… I have to tell myself that everyone has their own threshhold for pain and only as individuals can we feel our own pain. I can’t expect anyone else with or without a father to know how badly I just want a dad. I can’t explain why I attach myself to dudes I wish were my dad and then how bad it hurts when they have their own kids and you’re still an outsider without, watching someone with what you have always wanted and feeling like you lost something you never even really ever had to begin with and so you go on in persuit to find out what it feels like, once again, to have a dad. That’s barely the tip of this iceberg, but I can’t expect anyone to know what it feels like to have a violent, schizophrenic, bipolar, irresponsible, piss-poor example of a U.S. Marine, who denied the existance of his own child – ME, to punish my mom for leaving his abusive mind, body and poisoned soul for a biological father. No one else knows what it was like for me to be almost 3 yrs old, standing in a closet, being quiet while my batshit crazy, biological dad rampaged through his sister’s house looking for us, knowing how scared my mom was and watching him rifle through shit in a room before we could safely come out. How am I supposed to process my own blood saying, I love your mother and I’d give her anything I could right now if she needed it, but I would have killed her if it weren’t for you” all in the same breath. Standing there and remembering all the times he had made many threats to do so in the past and having flashbacks of the scares. My biological dad is no longer in my life because I choose not to have hassle and bullshit in my life. Sounds like you may need to establish some similar boundaries. A close friend of mine has a mantra that goes, “If you don’t f*ck me, feed me or pay my way – you don’t get to have a say in my life and if you don’t like it, there’s the door, you can get the f*ck out.” I have found this statement to be very helpful as a person who used to get used, taken advantage of and taken for granted all the time. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only human being on this planet because I feel so much and people seem to do nothing but hurt each other all the time. Dude, focus on you, find a few things to occupy your time and have YOU TIME. Until you can feel good about yourself, you can’t feel good about much of anything. Man…I know what it’s like to be paralyzed by depression and to be so depressed that I didn’t eat for over a month and I barely drank any water, I just didn’t want to exist and my friend forced me to get up and go to work and I talked to other friends from home, about 200 miles away, in the shower on a regular cordless phone. I was so injured and broken, but just like glass and Bush’s America – it didn’t take long to break at all, but it sure as hell hurts and is taking forever to get it put back together again. Hang in there dude. I don’t even know you and I care. There aren’t many of us anymore, but there still are good people out here. Tangent Warning I wish I didn’t have to take my piercings out to work in a call center type environment. It’s not like they’ll hear my piercings over the phone :P So many good books being missed all because someone judges by the covers. We so badly need labor reform. Sigh.