Sober, un-medicated members?

I would sincerely like to hear from and share with any of the PC members who are attempting to deal with their depression/bi-polarism and/or substance abuse without any help from prescription meds. Perhaps there is even a sub-forum for this? Or interest in such? I'm keen to hear of others coping mechanisms, resulting physical struggles (if any), etc. In short, how are you managing (or not) without anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, antabuse-like drugs? Thanks to all.

The Other Treatment forum: http://forums.psychcentral.com/forumdisplay.php?f=122

Hi Gulas! I'm not sure if there's a forum specifically for this topic, but I'm interested, too. I tried to handle my depression and PTSD without medications and only through therapy for 5 years. After several suicide threats and eventually my quitting of my job, my husband made an appointment with a doctor for me and the rest is history. I don't regret using the medication to help pull me out from a dark place, but I am interested in getting off of them in the future if anyone has any advice on how to safely do so!

I'm interested as well, and I appreciate your efforts, Gulas.

As you know, I'm currently off all meds and working on building a "sustainable" life through life changes: clean diet, eastern meditation, various forms of exercise, healthy relationships, etc. Each day is a struggle, but I keep picking myself up as best as I can.

This was my day:

Went out for a fantastic 12 mile run on a picturesque trail with my new friend. It was our best run yet. The steady rush of endorphins had us engaged in non-stop conversation while I playfully kept pushing her to pick-up the pace. I was thankful that the wounds were mercifully dormant for the duration of the run. It felt so good that I didn't want it to end.

It's evening now. The blue sky has turned grey-black, and the wounds are returning again. I'm very aware that melancholy and urge are rapidly creeping up on me. It always feels like an unfamiliar place...but I know that I've been here before...many times...

I have suffered from depression since the age of 4. I have never taken any type of medication. The biggest reason for this is because I did not seek professional help until I was 37 after a severe trauma. By that time I had seen my father, who also suffered with depression, suffer horribly more from his medications than from the depression (I blame his doctor's lack of knowlege more than the drugs themselves...he is a quack). But at that time I refused to take any sort of medication and, for me, it was the right choice.
My opinion is that depression is a symptom of something deeper and, for me, numbing the feelings would have delayed my recovery...and I have totally recovered. I am 48 now and I am always full of energy and enthusiasm for life. There was a time when all I wanted to do was sleep. Now I rarely am in bed after 8am.
I can't stress enough that for many medication is a vital componant to their recovery. Everyone is different. For one thing, I never EVER had suicidal thoughts.

My journey to recovery has been based on spirituality and some beliefs that are not widely accepted in the mental health community. If fact, after being free of depression for about a year I had a psychiatrist tell me my belief of what my depression was, was "erroneous". If he were correct I would still be living in despair.

Bipolar,bpd and ocd. Med free since October 2011...

I haven’t been to a doctor or therapist about my issues, but it is pretty apparent that I’ve been dealing with depression off and on for the past 11 years or so. I suspect I’m a bit bipolar too. I’ve never been on any medication and I’ve found that the best help is attaining a healthy balance in my social environment and diet and exercise. Also, setting realistic goals and actually completing them helped. Those combined helped me obtain a stable emotional well-being. This lasted a good two years and I had minimal episodes. Now, I’m back in my depressive state and I realize I’m not doing any of the things I was doing when I was stable. Sometimes certain events come into your life that throws everything off balance and it is very challenging trying to get things back in order. I really hope that I can get back to where I was and I don’t ever want to have to resort to medication. It is possible to stabilize your condition without medication, but in some cases, I think people actually need it. I think diet and exercise play a major factor on our emotional well being.

I have always been a huge advocate of "whatever works for you." So what follows should be absorbed with this in mind...

At the heart of my resistance to being medicated are two things:
the first is my own experience, since 2005, with anti-depressants (largely unsuccessful), and the resulting unwillingness to any longer act as a "laboratory" for otherwise-bright psychs to experiment with. It is clear today that a mood stabilizer SHOULD have been included in my treatment and why this was not makes me like and trust any psych even less than I did upon my first admittance. I in no way mean to imply maliciousness on their part but the net sum of my experience with shrinks and therapists has been a less than positive one. And much of this has to do also with my mother's own long history of clinical depression, which after 50 ECT sessions, several suicide attempts, dozens of consults with psychs, many more dozens of therapy sessions-has only in recent years, finally arrived at a meds "cocktail" which has allowed to her to function as a relatively normal human being. I will admit to wanting to run every one of her therapists up the yard arm to let them swing but I no longer have this hostility; the distrust however, remains.

Number two is the instability in my life which has predominated since I first signed on aboard a merchant ship at 19. Being gone for months at a time has wreaked havoc with my relationships, with my own internal equilibrium. I am trying to remedy this but a life which allowed me to run from my problems is a very hard one to leave. I've actually got to stay and face these things down, imagine that! But I know in my heart of hearts that until I GIVE MYSELF the chance to try a different life, a settled, land-based life-I don't have a chance in hell of slaying these demons of depression and their attendant addictions. So first things first...deal with the environmental and social issues and only after I have done so will I really be able to say that I gave myself a fair shot at this. Thus am I embarking on a journey to test my own (but supported by some science) hypothesis that mental illnesses arise primarily due to disruptions/abnormalities in one's life-and therefore can be logically remedied by tracing the problems back to their root causes and addressing them.

"Thus am I embarking on a journey to test my own (but supported by some science) hypothesis that mental illnesses arise primarily due to disruptions/abnormalities in one's life-and therefore can be logically remedied by tracing the problems back to their root causes and addressing them."

I can agree with that to a great extent. Although, I'm sure there are instances where it doesn't apply. I believe some mental illnesses can have a lot to do with an imbalance within the body. Possibly caused by a disease? But for the most part, I also believe that in most situations, finding the root of the problem and addressing it can be all the therapy we need. I believe emotions are a warning sign telling us whether or not we are making the right choices in life. If you are feeling depressed, something needs some rearranging in your life. If you are feeling happy, you are maintaining the right balance. Although you have people you lack emotions, and that may be a warning sign in itself that something occurred at some point in your life to disrupt your ability to feel on an emotional level. The easy part is understanding. The hard part is doing.

Uhm... I don't have a plan of any kind. Just didn't want to be medicated. Is that bad?

I would like to start on meds or maybe therapy, but I don't know how to talk to my parents about it because they don't know. So for the time being I am without medication or help of any sort.

Hello Ourlady,

I agree totally about the need to have balance. Taking care of our physical self through diet and exercise is vital to our mental health. And I respect the desire to stay medication free. It isn't for everyone. But I am curious. Do you have think about finding out what causes your depression? Maybe it can be treated without medication. Just a thought.

MLID, you're 13, right? You should really talk to your parents about your difficulties. If you have to send to send them an email instead, that's fine. It's funny but at 41 yrs old, my best communication with my father is through email; it just seems that for him at least, it's the easiest way for him to communicate. So, use whatever tools you have to make your folks understand what you're going through. 13 is a difficult time for everyone, hang in there. But if you really can't talk to them, find a teacher or a counselor and start there. Let them figure out where you are before you start worrying too much. If you are having suicidal thoughts, of course, you need to find help soon with that but remember, there's an awful lot that goes on in our heads that falls within the definition of "normal" so don't ever assume the worst (suicidal thoughts are not normal). And also don't assume that you need medication. Leave that also to the experts.

It's good that you're here and reading posts but remember that we're obviously all of us at very different stages in our lives and one size certainly does not fit all. Be patient with yourself, okay? And good luck with the folks.

Gulas - i do not take meds for my anxiety / depression / PTSD. i do have a generic Xanax prescription in case of an emergency. frankly, i do not like to take it because i feel slightly stoned afterward and i do not enjoy being stoned.

my self treatment includes exercise and healthy eating. my depression is lessened when i eat protein. so, i try to have it at every meal. also, high fat foods help me too, especially tuna and avocados. after these foods, my moods will be stable.

exercise also helps me feel better. lately, it's bicycle riding. the eliptical machine at the gym also helps in bad weather. i also feel better after taking long walks. though, often, my thoughts during the walks can be problematic.

for my entire life, my muse has been music. nothing calms me more than music. i have a selection of new age music and lately have been using baroque and early music to keep calm. some modern music that keeps me calm is world music, which i find to be happy in nature. i especially like bebel gilberto and bob marley.

I understand it better now. My mother, too, attempted suicide multiple times, and there were two successful attempts in my family. Some of my mother's horrific attempts were in my presence, when I was just a little girl. Parents provide windows to the world...It hurts to see the world through a window of a jisatsu mother who doesn't want to be in it. Anyway, I guess we'll talk more about it when you get back. Remember to take good care of yourself.

I am neither for or against medication. I am on medication and it helps me function. But if someone can find another way to help them function, go ahead! Each person needs to find what works for them, and do it. I think it is a long journey to find out what that really is, and that we should not compare our journey with someone else's because each person is unique so their treatment plan should be unique. As long as we seek what works, and not just neglect treatment all together...

Yeah, I am unmedicated....

my cures? Existentialism. Admitting that compared to history, most my worries are so insignificant.... but I do believe I am here for a reason, whatever it may be (after all we do create meaning ourselves) and I am trying to make the best of life.

I think my cynical idealist attitude helps a bit. I believe in people and that good things are possible, but I am prepared for the worst just in case.

I have my herbs, some of them planted at home, my bach essences and crystals, I have my relaxation techniques. I have psytrance. I write and draw out my sorrows. I traveled to places that taught me perspective.

I am trying my best to be at peace with myself and the world. I am aware of the bad (our well being is not an excuse to shut eyes and do nothing for the world), but at the same time I try to appreciate the good.

I am unmedicated and dealing with my problems with the view of
seeing my 'irregularity' as uniqueness, and turning what I can to
my advantage... the rest I am through reading anything I can get my
hands on, or any class or seminar or new 'thing' discovering
something to transform this 'base metal' into 'gold'.

_S_

I was really depressed a few years ago, so bad I had to get help. There seemed to be no way I could come out of it without professional help, so I went to a therapist. She wouldn't treat me if I took antidepressants, so we proceeded with her idea of what would help. I didn't find her terribly helpful or insightful, but not useless. A couple of things we did work on together did indeed help:
--Sleep. I was getting hardly any sleep at all each night and I have realized that sleep and depression are intimately tied together for me. When I start getting depressed, my sleep goes to hell. And when I start sleeping poorly due to being too busy or whatever, I start getting depressed. I worked with the therapist on ways to "steal" more sleep from my day, even if it meant napping at the office on my breaks. I needed more ZZZZs
--Outside resources. My therapist encouraged me to build up an outside support network of family and friends that I could turn to for help, conversation, companionship, etc. I was trying to "go it alone" and be completely independent in my misery. It helped to start having people I could turn to in my life.

The next big thing I did to help was get a different therapist who was a great fit for me and do psychotherapy with him. He was just so wonderful and skilled and help me solve some big problems in my life. Making progress on my problems helped improve my mood. And having a warm and caring therapist in my corner helped too.

Good luck to you in your efforts to manage and conquer depression.

As much as I agree with this, I see very clearly before me the images of 'samples' I saw in
school 'which was literally a million years ago, that showed the dramatic structurally
differences of the diseased brain, from that of a healthy one.
no one answer is right for all situations, but yes, I just posted yesterday, IN FACT
that most of us, a 3/4 would not be here had we received a healthy home that
equipped us better for life 'as it really is'.

*S*

I reckon i am pretty healthy physically, and I can't see the scientific evidence to support meds. i have sampled one before.

But I can't solve my problem. so i'm not rulling out there being something physically wrong. I suspect though, it is mentally induced and possibly caused by my surroundings. I don't actually know what causes my problem, which is a kind of irritability and boredom, which eventually leads me to becoming depressed. Its the irritabiliyt, the lack of enthusiasm and boredom that makes it so appealing to use excapisms. but I can't see how to make my life better, to make that feeling go away.

I'm off meds now and frankly don't miss them at all. Many of them seem to have some subtle, at times short-lived beneficial effect I can't explain, but I prefer to seek other options considering the comparatively significant side effects and unwelcome changes in cognition I have on them. Also, the best one I tried simply stopped working at all, and all the others have been relatively disappointing. The possibility that I have simply been experiencing a placebo effect has occurred to me.

Self-help, reflection and talk therapy have been most beneficial to me overall. I am finding that rooting out old causes for lingering negative thoughts and expectations, and trying to challenge the negative expectations and disrupt the behavioral patterns they cause, is finally producing positive results. I believe that for many, mood disorders are a symptom of something deeper that may express itself biologically, but is sustained by our psychology.

I'm coming off my meds right now, in fact I'm virtually off them already.

I feel a little more emotional I think, and more prone to obsessive thoughts, but other than that, it's been much the same.

I've been coming off of Efexor XR

I was on antidepressants from 1997-2011. I stayed on them because you can't just stop them cold turkey and my dr. and friends said why get off them if you are doing fine? I weened myself off super slow using a pill cutter to whittle down the dose until I got off. I thought I should not be on them so many years and I was getting increasing night sweats. I would go back on them now, less than a year later except for the night sweats and I now weigh about 120 and eat what I want. 3 years ago I weighed 148 or more. I'm nervous or depressed or worried almost 24/7 now though. If I'm busy or have a project or something to look forward to I am fine. Otherwise, a high/low mess and I now rely on alcohol to chill or have fun

Someone like me can't handle watching, reading, or listening to the news, not even for a moment, for those few moments can trigger and cripple me with hopelessness from all the evil and suffering in this world. I shouldn't have tested myself, but foolishly, I felt strong enough (maybe even invincible) to do so, and now everything hurts for me. My mind is bruised black and blue, and in a downward spiral of badly wanting to numb myself. I was pretty useless today and marred two weeks of perfect training with a missed key session. Damn ####ing dis-ordered sensitivities. The only thing I can do is to hang on to the good inside me and keep going towards the light. Too tired and weak to do anything tonight, but I will try to turn this downward cycle around through meditation and yoga in the morning.