What advice do you have for someone who seeks to combat his depression?

The classic treatment for ongoing depression is a combination of talk therapy and a medication prescrbied by an MD. that must suit you and your body chemistry. Do you have medical insurance?

You should make dealing with this depression your primary order of business. It affects every part of your life.

@gailcalled I am only a student so I have no idea what sort of insurance I have. I know I have a medical card or something somewhere. I thought you had to pay for therapy, which is money I don’t have.

As long as you have insurance, you should be fine. My therapy sessions are $10 per session and my medicine is $12 per 30 days.

It should be absolutely your priority to get better. No one should have to cope with the sort of existence that comes with depression, especially alone.

@Ame_Evil go see your GP first of all, any treatment or therapy costs will be met by the NHS, don’t worry about money.

@Ame_Evil: Is there a Health Center at your uni? Find or replace that medical card.

Depression means the way you’re living is out of whack with your deepest values and needs. Talk to a professional, definitely, and I suggest also reading this book and doing the exercises: Listening To Depression.

It’s helping me to sit with my agitation and listen to what the feelings I don’t like are trying to tell me.

Good luck!

@gailcalled There is apparently a free counselling service but I think that the waiting list for that is really long

Talk to the receptionist and see whether she will jump you to the head of the queue. Be sure of the accuracy of your information, also. “Apparently,” “I think,” is very vague.

What about your parents?

@aprilsimnel Do you think someone with extreme pessimism will gain anything from reading that?

@gailcalled I don’t really want to get my parents involved. And by apparently I mean I read it on the university website.

Depression is often a chemical problem as well as an emotional one. Half of us on fluther have been treated and take meds for one kind of depression or another. It is nothing to be ashamed of.

If you broke your arm, surely you’d have an orthopod put a plaster cast on it.

@Ame_Evil: A similar questions with very detailed answers was asked here a while ago..

http://www.fluther.com/disc/25469/what-is-clinical-depression-and-how-is-it-diagnosed/

I have worked in physicians offices for 30 yrs. Depression is a very disabling disease. I know things work differently in the UK insurance-wise, but I cannot stress enough to see your physician, no matter how long it takes, and tell her/him your symptoms. There are great anti-depressants out there. Depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain; if you have been through a recent trauma like the loss of someone you cared about, surgery, a severe illness of you or a loved one, if school is causing you stress, etc. If you had diabetes you wouldn’t hesitate of take meds; depression is no different than that. Also seek counseling, but at least get on some meds to help you until you can get into a counselor. Depression not only effects you, but your family, your friends, your schoolwork, everything. Please get yourself on a medication to get you feeling better. You may have to try several different kinds. I have 2 chronic diseases, one llife threatening, the another annoying, I got to the point where I didn’t want to do anything. I found SSRI’s (works on the serotonin in your brain) is the kind I need. Others work on the dopamine. You will just have to try both to find what helps you. You will not believe how much better you will be able to cope with life, problems, relationships. Please, please look into this!

@captainshalfunit: Why is your avatar sideways?

I have not a clue!!!!!! I didn’t even realize I had put a pic on there. Sorry. Will try to fix it.

Yes, I do, @Ame_Evil. I wouldn’t recommend it if I didn’t think it helped. If you get nothing else from this thread, then please understand there have been many, many people who post here who have been (and are) clinically depressed. Sometimes more than one method working in conjunction is what needs to be done.

If you decide to take medication make sure if you feel like killing yourself even more after starting the meds then contact your doctor, the drugs they give you can cause even more severe depression, i know because my ex went through it. She actually got better on her own though with some help with out drugs.

All doctors want to do now a days is give you drugs for everything….

walk into the 7 day surgery up the street and use your med card. they’ll probably give you something then and there, and if you can’t pay the gap it won’t matter you’ll get billed for something like 11 dollars. Most gp’s have some training in this, if you go to the one close to home you can go back if the meds don’t work.

@OutOfTheBlue—drugs will actually help some people. I am on Prozac, and it helps me. I no longer feel the urge to throw myself under the wheels of a large truck. Getting the urge to do so back in February was how I knew I had a problem. Before the thought of offing myself hit me, I had been feeling lethargic, and nothing in my life seemed interesting. I even lost interest in sex, which is totally unlike me.

The doctor originally prescribed me a drug that I didn’t like, so I stopped taking it. It was Lamictal, and it really screwed with me. Almost as bad as the Paxil did when I was prescribed it for anxiety problems. Some drugs don’t work, and some do. It’s best to keep an open line of communication with your doctor.

@Psychedelic_Zebra Yeah i could see how that helped, but the problem is you more than likely have a chemical imbalance that causes it, some may still be depressed and not have a chemical imbalance then the drugs make it even worse. You said Lamictal made you feel funny? Like what where the symptoms? Just curious..

We have discussed depression many times on Fluther, and I’m sure you will find a lot of beneficial information, as well as supportive advice if you explore the topic of Depression

@OutOfTheBlue—Lamictal was fine for the first two weeks, but then the dosage was increased, and it had me feeling like the Paxil did when I was on it years ago. I felt ‘not me’ and zombified, for lack of a better term. It also made my RLS much more prominent. The doctor didn’t understand how it could affect my twitchiness, but then, he doesn’t know my body like I do. Thanks to my frequent illegal drug use as a younger man, I am now intolerant to antihistamines, and NyQuil and DayQuil have the complete opposite effects that they are supposed to.

Yeah, a lot of my chemicals are imbalanced, and they are either genetic or caused by my druggie lifestyle as a younger man.

@Psychedelic_Zebra I know what you mean bro, i was kind of curious what your reactions where, one of my ex’s would have bad mood swings on i think Zoloft? she also said it made her feel Zombified like you, matter of fact that was the exact term she used.

Being someone who also suffers from depression for many years, I can only tell you that as soon as I find an answer to this question I’ll let you know. Seems like the only thing that happens is that the doctors just want to put me on drugs and send me on my way. whee. HB.