Being advised not to seek further therapy

I understand the concern about the lack of large scale trials, which is the case because the stigma against those methods is intentionally propagated by pharma and many government officials are in the pockets of pharma which is not a secret.

But I don't see how can reliability of research of "legitimate" drugs and methods be trusted when it is funded by the pharma, which is also not a secret. The inherent conflict of interests should automatically disqualify any findings. Moreover, we see the class actions lawsuits about one drug or another that didn't do what it promised to do and that caused people serious life threatening illnesses happening all the time. The effects of those drugs on people were horrific and they are all well documented otherwise there would be no lawsuits, and the compensations people get for their suffering are peanuts by comparison to what they had to go through and for the pharmaceutical companies the fines they are forced to pay are also peanuts by comparison with their profits so they are virtually unaccountable for their crimes. Doctors also routinely participate in this by being connected with the pharma, directly being paid by it for pushing their drug "samples" on patients, at least this is a regular practice in the US. This should be illegal but it's not. There are more people in the US that get killed by the opioid painkillers they get from their doctors than from illicit drugs. The doctors often continue to refill their prescriptions even if it's crystal clear that the person is addicted to the point that it's endangering their life.

This is only the drug aspect of our traditional medicine. I am not even mentioning all the unnecessary super expensive tests that are pushed on people just for the sake of charging them. This is another corrupt practice done routinely. If you are not vigilant and if you undergo every single procedure your doctors tells you to undergo you may end up broke in this country while your health will not see any improvements because those procedures were unnecessary to begin with and were pushed on you only for the doctor's, the clinic's and the hospital's bottom line.

So, please, don't tell me about how "reliable" our traditional medicine is. I don't know how can this criminal, corrupt system can be viewed as reliable by anyone..

Now, if it works for you, by all means use it. Just don't assume that it's more reliable than the alternative modalities because this is not factually correct given that the major conflict of interest doesn't give any possibility to conduct an independent research and doesn't allow doctors to behave ethically.

Yes, there are many problems with alternative modalities as well because of the lack of research, but they are not even closely as corrupt as the mainstream medical multi-billion industry.

Also, the goals and objectives of the research are just as important as its findings. When the objective is to find what drug suppresses a particular symptoms best, this kind of research doesn't advance the medical science in any way because it is not looking at the root causes.

All in all, when someone like myself have not found cures through the mainstream medicine but found that their "reliable" methods were only masking the deeper problems and never addressed them, I don't really have any choice but to explore alternatives, especially when I've had some success with it.

Majority of pharma drugs are not even real medicine to begin with. Most either blunt symptoms or pretend to treat some invented disease (your cholesterol is "too high" you need a drug for that, your brain chemicals are "too low" you need a drug for that). So clinical trials in this context is sort of a farce, an attempt to legitimize some dubious consumer product, in many cases. People dismiss "alternative" remedies as snake oil, and then line up obediently for their pharma snake oil.

I for one, am for alternative treatments, like accupuncture etc...but so many try to rip you off. They are trying to make money off of the misfortunes of sick people too.

When those colon cleansing kits came out like 10 years ago, i bought one from an alternative practitioner. I think they are still selling them, you know the ones where you fast and drink a mixture of apple juice with psyllium husks? Then after 3 days, the "toxin build up" gets expelled. Well, the so called build up is simply digested psyllium husks. The whole thing is a scam! Ask any GI doctor if they've ever seen anything like that or any type of 'build up' or anything other than pink intestines when they did a colonoscopy.

That kit was like $60, and the practitioner had several advanced degrees, including RD. How could i be such a fool? How could that Dr. with all that health education recommend such a thing?

I once bought some kind of lake tonic with minerals, 8 oz. for $30. Not sure what I was thinking. I dont do stuff like that anymore, but parasites, candida is a scam too, and that stuff is everywhere. Then there are the 'blood cell analysis' in health food stores too...

Anyway, people with depression who are seeking treatment have to be careful not to spend money, time, and hope chasing remedies that dont work, that are totally useless. Such treatments may not be as harmful as drugs, though assaulting your liver with excessive supplements can contribute to fatty liver and damage your liver, but investing in alternative solutions that don't work can prolong suffering, and cause harm by delaying getting treatments that do work, too.

Hi there. I understand where you are coming from. I have been without therapy for 6 months now because i fired my therapist and my psychiatrist. I haven't pursued another therapist and I really need to. Group therapy helps me the most for some reason. I guess I will try one more mental health clinic in the valley and see if they work for me. But I have never heard of being in therapy for too long or for too many years. That is an oxymoron to me.

The problem is that the level of scrutiny applied to so called "alternative" treatments is not also applied to mainstream allopathy. It's collective brainwashing. Colonoscopies are a great example. They are monstrously profitable, almost entirely ineffective in preventing disease, involve toxic clean-out/prep regimens, they are a surgical procedure with all the attendant risks, anesthetic is toxic, and there has been controversy over the impossibility of completely disinfecting the probes used hence the real chance of spreading disease. Plus how insane is it to use an invasive surgical procedure to promote health. An ineffective colon cleanse in comparison looks trivial.

There is no "alternative" healthcare. It's a term of propaganda, If anything, taking an SSRI to artificially tweak brain function is wildly "alternative" while taking something like Zinc or fish oil is much less so, being closer to basic nutrition.

eta: Speaking of Zinc, a book I read recently about orthomolecular psychiatry identified Zinc as the nutrient supplement most frequently used to good effect in mental illness. So if OP wants something simple to try as an alt to meds, could be worth a shot. You can make a mess if you don't know what you're doing with supps, but a trial of 30mg of Zinc Piccolinate could be fairly easy and safe. Most people are deficient and it's a critically important mineral. Just an idea, not giving advice.

Hmmm....I think you should go with your gut instinct on whether more therapy is what you need. I'm not familiar with your situation so it's a general thought that came to me upon reading your post.

Completely different context, but a T bluntly told a friend of mine "she wasn't a candidate for therapy". Apparently, my friend didn't "open up" at the rate T desired. Sheesh! My friend hasn't sought therapy since then.

I skimmed all the posts about the Vitamins, etc. I don't know your situation but you do what is best for you. A T can give input - but they may be projecting. Maybe they have a point, who knows. Maybe augment with third-party support. Take a break. Bottom line it's your mental health and you're the driver. Best wishes.

Thanks for all of the input. I'm sorry I don't have time to go through each one and thank and answer you all individually but to summarize...

I have done a bit of research and found that it is not usual for doctors to do blood work over here unless they have reason to believe there is a thyroid problem (which I am sure isn't the case anyway). You can get vitamin levels tested in health stores but the results are apparently very inaccurate. I am considering supplementing with vitamin D and/or zinc anyway for my acne so I will see if there is any improvement in my mood at the same time.

I do agree that mainstream treatment (i.e. drugs and therapy) are experimental and clutching at straws. Drugs are the go-to thing for any doctor or psychiatrist to suggest as it's quick, effortless on their part, and in the long run, cheaper than therapy. I'm not saying they don't work for some people, clearly they do, but for me, taking medication is like putting a plaster on a shark bite, and I am tired of the endless pill pushing.

I think you're right, I do need to go with my gut feeling if I think therapy will help me. It's hard to listen to my own instinct sometimes when so called "professionals" are giving advice left right and center, dismissing the fact that deep down, only I can be the judge of what treatment is right for me.