[RockMaterial]

I'm curious at what point you'd consider depression treatment resistant, how you would go about living with it, and what you've personally had success with/done to cope.

[Rohag]

Hello & Welcome, RockMaterial!

From an abstract of a 2007 Canadian Journal of Psychiatry article:

...depression is usually considered resistant or refractory when at least 2 trials with antidepressants from different pharmacologic classes (adequate in terms of dosage, duration, and compliance) fail to produce a significant clinical improvement.

Quite a few of the people who post here have tried many more than two medications with no or mixed results.

Thinking about my own case, it was at about three or four years when I subconsciously moved from trying to cure depression to manage it. I manage it with both antidepressant and anti-anxiety meds and also by trying to keep alive what remains of my pre-depression interests. As my experience of depression involves severe stress-intolerance, the condition has pushed me out of the mainstream of life to the fringe.

[-jimi-]

I don't believe in treatment resistant. But that is me and my own experience. I have tried a heck of a lot of meds. And it took forever for me to find those which worked.

I have been on two mood stabilizers.

Two antipsychotics.

Four AD's (non SSRI).

Five SSRI's of which I am on the last one I tried which helped A LOT.

Also the added Ritalin helps the worst days.

I've never seen myself as treatment resistant.

[Nobodyandnothing]

Rohag,

Thank you for this. I really never thought about cure vs. manage, but that is really what pdoc has been trying to help me do for many years. I do believe some people are truly treatment resistent, and I am one of them. I take a notebook to pdoc visits because I don't remember what he tells me. I should compile a med list from that. I think I have tried at least 30 different meds including antipsychotics, maoi's, ssri's, tricyclics, and others. I currently take 8 different meds every mornimg and 2 at night.

Don't know if it will help anyone but there is a treatment resistent depression clinic at Washington University in St. Louis. It is extremely hard to get into but if you do get in they do a very thorough assessment then share it with you and your pdoc. Sometimes they can suggest treatments that your pdoc has not tried for you. They also run trials and being assessed there may mean that you will be asked if you are willimg to participate in one or more trials.

Originally Posted by Rohag

Hello & Welcome, RockMaterial!

From an abstract of a 2007 Canadian Journal of Psychiatry article:Quite a few of the people who post here have tried many more than two medications with no or mixed results.

Thinking about my own case, it was at about three or four years when I subconsciously moved from trying to cure depression to manage it. I manage it with both antidepressant and anti-anxiety meds and also by trying to keep alive what remains of my pre-depression interests. As my experience of depression involves severe stress-intolerance, the condition has pushed me out of the mainstream of life to the fringe.

[AV747]

The resistant depression may be considered as such when you don't have helped at least two courses of treatment. This can be for various reasons, sometimes because of what has been prescribed for incorrect antidepressants. My therapist says that this is due to the fact that I don't work on myself.

[maria romero]

Originally Posted by RockMaterial

I'm curious at what point you'd consider depression treatment resistant, how you would go about living with it, and what you've personally had success with/done to cope.

Hi,
I have been living with depression for many, many years, all the while trying to get out of it. Have also tried meds and therapy. There was also a moment where I thought, that I would never overcome it. But I continued trying, and finally today I am definitely starting to feel at ease and calm for most of the day, and even some moments of true joy. Cannot even say which of all the steps I took finally worked out, but one Thing is for sure, I never stopped fighting, never gave up.
Here are probably the best steps I took:
1. stopped punishing myself in my brain
2. started liking myself, which was a very difficult fight
3. forgiving myself and others, which was even more difficult. I don't mean, that I forgave everything!!!
4. For those people and Actions that are plainly unforgiveable - and by the way - after having done everything possible to have them respond for their actions, if finally came to the conclusion that there are people and Actions that are way beyond that, I put them in a place where someone bigger and more just than me, will take Action and ask them to respond. So this is not my responsibility anymore.

These are some of the things I did besides taking a combination of naturist medicine and vitamins.

Hope it works for you as well and remember, every fight is a victory (not every won battle)