Posted by Mair on June 10, 2001, at 22:25:58
In reply to Re: Can one think their way out of major depression?, posted by Glenn Fagelson on June 10, 2001, at 16:39:21
> > Sorry Glenn but I just checked in after being away for a few days, and felt I had to weigh in here.
First of all, I don't think you should sweat the sleep drugs. I've been taking small amounts of klonopin on a daily basis for years and periodically I, too, have worried alot about my dependency on this drug or others like it. Fortunately it's no longer an issue that seems to haunt me like it used to. Both my prescribing pdoc and my internist have told me repeatedly that I'm not taking it in large enough doses to really develop a physical dependency, altho I do think I'm psychologically dependent. More importantly lack of sleep has been an obvious trigger for so many depression relapses, that at some point I made up my mind that taking sleep meds was a small price to pay to avoid sleep deprivation.
Secondly, I, and not my therapist and ex-therapist, got on this real kick for awhile (and still occasionally) that I should be able to will myself out of depression. I don't know where this came from except that when I feel okay, I can't imagine why I succumb so easily. A corollary to this is that I must not want to stop being depressed because if I really was resolved, I wouldn't fall into poor thought patterns and I would more seriously adopt a lifestyle more conducive to keeping depression at bay (eg, mostly I'd vigorously exercise on a consistent basis, and try to find any way to switch careers and/or my job). Fortunately, no therapist I've had has ever tried to encourage that line of thinking, since self-blame isn't very productive for the chronically depressed. She may be very loving and well-intentioned, and there are no doubt alot of things she sees which we can't, but I'd certainly not stop taking ADs without the blessing of a pdoc, and the fact that you are so confused about what she wants you to do, tells me that she's not communicating very well with you on this issue, or that she needs to help you feel alot more comfortable before you head out in a new direction. Good luck
Mair
poster:Mair
thread:6363
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010526/msgs/6394.html