Posted by 49er on May 14, 2009, at 18:03:53
In reply to What are our alternatives?, posted by SLS on May 14, 2009, at 15:58:37
> The drugs currently available to treat mental illness are far from being ideal. There are often debates on Psycho-Babble questioning the magnitude of the efficacy of these drugs and their adverse effects. We really don't know very much about how these drugs work and what are the implications of taking them for an extended period of time.
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> The question arises as to what are our alternatives for treating mental illness but to use the currently available resources. Another important and constructive question is what is it that we can do to improve the treatments available to us.
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> - ScottScott,
You're asking a great question but I am sensing that you feel that drugs are still the only choice.
Anyway, you might want to check this website out:
http://www.depressionisachoice.com/index.html
Before you make up your mind based on the title of the website, I would really keep an open mind. The website owner is a psychotherapist who has a history of manic depression in her family. Her father and brother have manic depression and she either has that or depression. I couldn't tell from the site.
Anyway, she was concerned about what meds did to her father and brother and decided against them. She became a psychotherapist to cure herself which isn't a surprise and can be harmful to patients. But it sounds like in her case, she really learned some great tools.
Anyway, some examples she gives are to not give in to the depression. For example, if you want to go to bed, don't do it.
I applied her theory today at work. I was suffering greatly from withdrawal symptoms and didn't want to go walking with my co-workers as I usually do at lunchtime. But I made myself do it and felt immensely better afterward.
I realize this may sound simplistic but I think this woman's point is that you have more power over a depression than you think you do.
Anyway, she provides an awful lot on her website for free.
Interestingly, her theories conflict with someone who has written this blog entry about what she does when she has mental breakdowns:
http://raynesworld.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-i-deal-with-mental-breakdowns.html
This person has gone from spending several years in mental institutions to a drug free life as director of a respite center in Georgia. People who are in crisis can come and stay as long as they want.
Which leads to my next point about needing more places like this for people who are in crisis who don't want to go to psych hospitals and be forced on meds.
Finally, let me talk about my experience as I use alot of self CBT. If I get a negative thought that I know is simply not productive, I simply tell myself to "cut the tape" because I don't want to go there. Again, it may sound simplistic but I have found from repeated practice that it really does work most of the time.
I also feel that a diet of Omega 3's is essential. Unfortunately, I seem to not be able to currently tolerate Omega 3 supplements so I have to make sure I eat fish high in omega 3 every day.
I hope I have shown that there are definitely non med alternatives. Even if you chose to stay on meds, the sites I have mentioned are still helpful.
49er
poster:49er
thread:895787
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090505/msgs/895814.html