[jypjoh]

ive been living with depression since i was probably about 11 years old. i started drinking alcohol on the weekends. ive tried suicide 4 times and had anorexia about 4 years till i got pregnant. after that ive pretty much kept myself from becoming completely obsessed with keeping myself from eating. but the last time i tried suicide was the first time anyone found out. my mom found me and called 911. but when i realized how much my family and friends love me and are there for me and how selfish i was being i promised my sister it would never happen again. so now i take my depression pill everyday and do what i gotta do but i still have a substance abuse problem because drugs help me to get out of bed and do something other than lay thefre watching tv so i dont have to deal with anything. anyone know what else i can do to help my depression with the pills? they help but im not myself and im ready to stop letting myself be this person ive become.

[Soul Quake]

Try rehab.

[alias123]

You could try talking to your doc about this so they can help to wean you off of the pills or whatever and then maybe go to NA meetings.

Dunno! Good luck!

[Perna]

I would look into therapy/counselling if I could. Often that works better with depression than just pills alone.

Otherwise I would try to think up games; an "interest scavenger hunt" maybe where I arbitrarily pick and activity and start doing it, see what thoughts I have/where it leads me, what I "see" and then jump to that and follow it to the next thing and then the next, etc.

If I decide to vacuum my upstairs, for example, and look out the window and wonder "how deep is the snow on the deck?" I would go find a ruler and go out and measure :-) Or, "what kind of bird is that" I would go to the library and find a bird book and look it up (after taking a picture of it with my phone camera or writing a description, etc.). Maybe at the library I see a book on Audubon and get reading about his life growing up in France and remember that last month I wished my French were better so I could talk to French Canadians in Florida, and on and on like that, as little or much as you want (one can stop and start doing something in depth).

Thinking of the problems of being depressed, I am always reminded of the adage about how it's hard to steer a vehicle (car, sailboat, anything) that is not moving very fast. It is hard to be interested if there isn't some momentum going, whether one is depressed or not?

[cherrygash321]

I've been hospitalized for self-injury and had depression since I was young too. I've had a substance abuse problem and what helped me was getting a DUI. I had a blow device in my car for almost a year. Other than that it was/is still hard dealing with self medication. I go to a support group that deals with ptsd/substance abuse, it gets me out and lets me connect with others. I'm thinking of getting an AA sponsor or just trying to go to one to see how it fits. I may not need it all my life but in the hard times it could be a good option. Also, individual therapy I believe would help tremdously with everything you're going through. Hope you find some help.

[Sunna]

Originally Posted by jypjoh

anyone know what else i can do to help my depression with the pills? they help but im not myself and im ready to stop letting myself be this person ive become.

I think you have made a crucial first step. Hang on to that thought. You have taken ownership of yourself. That is the key to freedom, and key to happiness. You might have heard that no one and not a thing can make us happy. It is true. Do you realize how many people walk through life blaming everything and everyone for who and how they are? They would never say "stop letting myself be this person I've become", like you just did. They may wish not to be in pain, but they will not stop seeing themselves as a victim, and thus make it someone else's job to fix them. It takes quite some courage to step into a driver's seat, because that means accepting what we had done to ourselves, and require us forgive (ourselves most importantly, and others too). I see just that courgeous a person! Please recognize this seemingly small statement for a tremendous achievement it is.

But there is always a lot of resistance of the old ways trying to hold you back, to what was. Lifetime of habits, that don't serve you anymore. How do you become a new person?

One of the great advices I received for mastering new life skills is "Fake it till you make it." What the person you prefer to be would be doing right now? Would she be exercising? Taking a walk in a park, striking a conversation with someone in a book store? Do it! Painting her room a cheery color? Pretend you are her. Walk like she would, talk like she would, if only for a few minutes at a time. Watch how you feel when you do it, and cherish those minutes when you find yourself "gee, I forgot to be depressed!". The idea is you will like it, and little by little fall into a role of this new happier, shinier you.

Most importantly, don't believe you are lacking willpower. You have a POWERFUL will, a steeltrap of a will. It's just that will has been used to serve a different vision of yourself.

Use your intelligence to help yourself. If, for example, what's stopping you is not being dressed, and the fact that you have no clean clothes to wear to go out, because you've been too depressed to do laundry, don't give up. Focus on one small step at a time so you don't fall under the seemingly overwhelming amount of work required to get out and do something.

A good therapist, and a support groups are great ideas! Sounds like your family also could be helpful.

I found a great help in listening to motivational speakers, like Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Caroline Myss. There are many others. Christian, Buddhist, New Age, or totally non-religious, any flavor you like.

And dancing. OMG! When it's just you and tv, and the show is soooo boring, make yourself turn your tv to a some lively music channel and dance around the room. Have you watched Grey's Anatomy? How Christina dances out her issues? It helps. It moves energy, it generates energy, and then you have momentum to do other things.

Best wishes to you. And congratulations!!