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How to overcome depression?
Sorry if this has been asked before. I am on Citalopram and suffering mild depression. I have no drive, ambition or motivation at the moment. I wish to change for the better for me and others. But at the moment my mind zips from lows to wanting to be the centre of attention. From suicide acts to being an action hero. I am craving attention but at the same time I want to be left alone because I am shy. I spend my life day dreaming and not doing anything of value. I suffer many delusions such as jealousy & ego. Many of these delusions come from the fact I dont think I can hold anyones interest in me. I get jealous of how people make friends, how they have fun and can laugh when I am alone. When I try to attempt to befriend people I think they find me boring.
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I'm so sorry to hear about your difficulties.I looked up Citalopram and some of the symptoms you describe such as thoughts of suicide are listed under possible side effects of the drug, which it said should be reported to your health care provider.
I strongly advise you to speak to your doctor again and also ask if MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) is available to you as an alternative. In the meantime, if you are spending your day daydreaming and don't have a job, is it possible for you to take up a regular daily exercise programme for some of the time ?
You might find that's of some help to you.
with kind wishes,
Dazzle
Talk to your doctor about possibly moving onto something less inhibiting.
Ask to see a counsellor, and get medical attention.
Until such a time, its impossible to advise anything other than that, because I don't think your meds are doing what you need.
Please - see your doctor.
If you want break a cycle of depression or pain - i think your the best person to do this to empower yourself. I drifted into buddhism as I needed answers for suffering and my dad suffers from depression and i needed to try and understand the concept of why human beings suffer. Besides that I had period of long term illness (incorrectly diagnoised lung disease ended up being asthma!) and my meds for that were making me exhausted and leading me to mild depression. I feel as though you may need to pin point what is causing you to feel like this? My case was long term ill health and the fact I had a stressful lifestyle.
I started Meditation and Yoga and then began disassociating all my issues amd treating them all individually while the yoga and meditation helped my body and mind to heal. Like others have said here you may need medical advice on the first instance - but only you can allow yourself to be happy.
LL
The Buddha advised us the spiritual path begins with spiritual friends.
If you feel Buddhism can help you, then, in my opinion, it is best to visit a Buddhist centre where there a genuinely kind & accepting people.
In an atmosphere of genuine love & friendship we can learn slowly about what is genuine love & friendship.
We can slowly lose our anxieties & build our sense of self-worth.
My best wishes for you
DD
What exactly do you mean by "suicide acts"?
For this reason schedule small activities that are sensory. Such as music, walking meditation, a light snack or juice, a creative enterprise, a short reading, a walk outside for recreation as opposed to walking meditation. You mention that you don't have many friends, but if there is somebody occasionally call them and ask them what they are doing, don't dwell on yourself but in a back and forth discussion you may share what you are going through if you wish. Online is good too, you can meet people on this forum in dialogue if you are persistant.
These activities help cope with the energy state. In depression it is difficult to see if these are rewarding so you have to have a certain amount of being fed up with how things are. If you don't make any changes the depression can always get worse! And thats motivation to 'do the right thing' even if it requires some effort.
Of course you may choose the things that you feel you can accomplish without setting off to climb mount Everest or fantasize about how you 'should' be making a friend or whatever. By accomplishing small things your sense of curiosity and natural confidence will increase. As well as the word of truth you have with yourself to do what you believe is right.
Which if you dwell on fears of it getting worse, lets get back to the single most powerful remedy, realize that thoughts are just thoughts. They are not real and what they say isn't reality that will happen. Daydreams and fears are just thoughts.
Take care and hope to hear from you again.
I'm also a Retail outlet manager, and a dog behaviourist - my work entails contact and dealing with people 100% of the time.
if you're reclusive, you need to work on this.... because you've chosen it.
Learn sign language (it's incredible at confidence-building and makes communicating with the deaf and hard-of-hearing very rewarding) and practice lip-reading.
It helps my hearing a lot if I can see people's lips moving while they talk to me.
Deafness is only as inhibiting as you let it be,. It can become an excuse for not developing yourself further.
Sure your self-esteem can suffer, but really, it's up to you to know that the main inhibitor is you.
Try googling how widespread deafness (or even minor partial deafness) actually is. A huge portion of the population, everywhere, has some degree of hearing loss.
But for the longest time I didn't know where the lightbulbs were and it seemed hopeless.
PS. What helps me ease my discomfort is being of help to someone, which can be as simple as making them smile. Also, being out in the nature, which seems to be an almost infinite source of positive energy (even a city park can work wonders).
-/\-
CoffeeBean
I'm on 20mgs per day, which helps my pain, but my depression problems seem unaffected by it. OTOH I have reactive depression, secondary to chronic pain, so its not depressive illness per se. When my pain is better, my mood tends to be better. Mindfulness and meditation are very helpful for my sort of depression and coping with my pain, but they are not enough on their own.
If I were you, go back to your doctor and explain that your depression is not being well managed on Citralopram alone. Maybe you need a different antidepressant that is more effective, but I would also ask about talking therapies, such as CBT. Also ask about support groups in your area - other people can sometimes be a great help.
Remember that depression is an illness - it is not a sign of a weak character, or a bad person, it is just rotten luck, just like any physical illness. I sincerely hope you feel better soon.
btw, I heard that HMO doctors sometimes push less effective meds because they are generic and thus save the HMO money. You may want to research your med options.
:screwy: