How can a drug fix this?

I'm just curious.. what is the point of antidepressants? My doctor insists I be on one, but... I don't get what the point is. The doctors say PTSD is my diagnosis, but I know my depression stems from extreme loneliness and extreme self esteem issues (I hate everything about myself). No matter how much I wish taking a pill could help, it's not going to make me suddenly love myself and make someone who loves me appear, so why bother?

Maybe this was better in the drug forum, but it's not a technical question, so I don't know.

Hi Asylumgardens,
I guess the reason why your doctor wants you on antidepressants is to help stabilize and hopefully help with depression.
Although meds are probably not enough.....you prob need therapy as well to help you deal with your issues.A combo of therapy and meds would prob help more than just one of the two.

Hi there,
My situation sounds similar to yours...I've suffered from PTSD among with many other things which have caused my clinical depression. Medication isn't an instant cureall....it is something that works gradually and can take time. I've been on 3 different medications and different dosages...everyone's needs are all different. Medication can help, but it does not take away what you are depressed about, rather calm the nerves a bit. Whatever you deside..you don't have to be on one for ever, but must ALWAYS consult your doctor before deciding to discontinue use...

Hi there,

PTSD is in the depression family and most times when one is diagnosed as having depression it is due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.

I know when I went off antidepressants I got worse, so if they help I'm all for taking them.

Tranquility

I agree with you. I feel it is my choice so I don't take AD's. I did at one time and for years but decided taking a pill and feeling depressed didn't make sense ( I tried many and different dosages over the 10 or so years).

My current therapist agrees that they would not help with what I'm sturggling with. I like that about her. It is therapy that is going to help me.

Are you in therapy?

I don't think the PTSD really affects me that much, though.. I'm only triggered when I go to France apparently, which doesn't happen all that often.. so in my day to day life I don't get bothered by it at all.

I haven't been on medicine/in therapy long.. only since the end of this past March, but.. I just fail to see how any of it helps me. Therapy just seems pointless, because again I'm just really lonely and I hate myself. The therapist tells me to go out and make an effort to meet people but if it was that simple for me, I would do that.. She'll tell me I'm beautiful and intelligent.. and anyone can tell me all of that really, and I'll never believe it and it will never change my opinion of myself. I just assume they are being nice. I'm home from school for the summer, and I don't like my therapist here, but it's very short term. I like the one I have at school, but it's more of like a relief for dealing with my school issues (absences, etc) than dealing with the loneliness and self hatred. And I like the help with the former, but it's not providing me with long term help.

I've researched CBT and I think I might benefit, but still that wouldn't solve the two main problems I have.. I don't know how I can solve those.

I think that answer is "yes".
I believe in chemistry. All our emotions are chemistry. If someone takes morphine, he'll be happy.
Of course antidepressants are less traightforwad and less dangerous, but you just got the point.
Take 2 facts: i never had a woman, and I am depressed. Which is the cause? I believe that my underlying depression, even when it was not evident, would influence my behaviour so to impair my social skills. If a med could fix serotonin and other stuff in y brainm, maybe I could be less pessimistic and scared to expose myself, I could socialize more, and get someone to love me.

This just my humble opinion.

Maybe that's right stefano.. but is that always the case? Is depression always 100% chemistry and never situational? Being shy doesn't mean depression, but what if someone is just so shy that they never function properly with groups therefore end up very lonely, thus causing depression?

Situations affect the chemistry in our brain. The break-up of a relationship, a dead-end job, the death of a loved one--all of these situations can send us into depression, which means a chemical imbalance in our brain. So I never really understand when people say something is "situational" and not "chemical." As I like to tell my therapist, it's all chemical. The first time I told him that, he thought a moment, then agreed.

But just because depression is chemical, that doesn't mean the only way to combat it is through meds. I chose to work on my depression without anti-depressants. This was right for me and my particular depression (but would not be the solution for everyone). I worked with two different therapists. The first was CBT and I made some modest headway as she helped me deal with some of depression's symptoms. The two things she encouraged that helped me most were to attack my sleep problems and fix them, and to build a support network of friends and family. After those efforts, I still had some depression. With therapist #2, we took a humanistic/psychodynamic approach and worked on the root causes of my depression rather than my symptoms. This did the trick for me and helped me chase that damn depression away. Finally. How great it felt to be free from the cloud. For me, a strong bond with a warm and caring therapist was critical to the success of this approach. (I realize my experience doesn't apply to everyone's situation and many find that anti-depressants are a lifesaver.)

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Therapy just seems pointless

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Maybe that is why you have been encouraged to try meds, asylumgardens, because for whatever reasons, therapy is not helping you. I too had a lot of trauma in my past. (In therapy, EMDR was helpful to me in resolving this.) A couple of the most important predictors of successful therapy are high client motivation and a strong and close relationship with the therapist. Do you have these? If not, what could you change to get them and make your therapy more successful?

Good luck.

Okay well I guess that makes sense that it's chemical that way. I always thought when people say "it's chemical" they mean like.. it's just some way you naturally are because your chemicals are already messed up. I didn't really realize that situational stuff actually messed with the chemicals.

I haven't been receiving treatment long in general, but I have been doing therapy and meds at the same time all along. I just don't really feel like either is doing an adequate job. I am starting a new medicine now, but I do not like the therapist I currently see, but it's just temporarily. I do like the one I have at school, but really I don't think it helps with any "root" problems.

CBT and EMDR sound like things I would be interested in, but I'm a poor college student with no insurance and I can't find any sliding scale places that do these things. I will keep trying to find someone, I guess..

Thank you sunrise

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asylumgardens said:
Maybe that's right stefano.. but is that always the case? Is depression always 100% chemistry and never situational? Being shy doesn't mean depression, but what if someone is just so shy that they never function properly with groups therefore end up very lonely, thus causing depression?

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This may be the start of my biography. I've always been pathologically shy. Now I know hat I was already depressed, even if I had never felt depressed or never had a depressive episode in the clinical sense.
You may feel good, but the chemicals in your brain may already be wrong. If that is the case, you are prone to a depressive bout. If you work on it through psychotherapy, if you fight back self defeating thoughts, you may avoid igniting the depression, but the risk is always there. And I BELIEVE that this situation can only be fixed with meds. The fact that most meds are rough and unpredictable, well that is a mere problem of technical development.

Here's an example from my life's story:

at age 18 I went to a military facility for a screening about my fitness to the military service. We filled a test, and the psychologist called me for a small talk. At the end he said it resulted I was depressed...

At age 19 I went again (because the first time my conditions required further examinations). I made the test again and the psychologist tolf me that my depression was worse.

Then I was discharged for other issues and I forgot about it.

At age 23 I had my first HEAVY depressive episode and I started taking meds...

I believe that my brain failed me since childhood. I am willing to change my lifestyle and thinking patterns, but I KNOW that I have to take those substances that can make serotonin and norepinephrine and all the other stuff work properly. Or I'll just stay well until the next time.