Clinical depression

I know from personal experience this can be very difficult. I suffer from what they call 'masked' depression - the more depressed I get, the better I am at giving off the appearance of being happy and well. This makes it very difficult to get sympathy from doctors. You just have to be persistent and eventually you will be put in contact with someone who will get it. Usually psychiatrists can see through the front and will be able to help. 

Hi is not nice to not feel supported Donhead your gp, you can ask gp to refer you to mental health team to get the support u need, hope you start to feel better, be good to yourself x

I've been diagnosed as clinically depressed since I was fourteen, it has be come a constant cycle with my doctor - I go when I am starting to feel really bad and they put me on a course of anti-depressants which for a time work and then I start to feel better so I come off them and it all starts again. I need someone to talk to, I need support not just medication - I feel like a zombie half the time, drugged up to my eyeballs just so I can live a 'normal' life. I don't want pills, I want help.

Awe I understand totally is hard functioning when your so numb on all the meds I came off meds because I started to feel better by then had break down so have stayed on mirtazapine for about year now, I'm always here if u need a chat or some posativity, add me if you like, I hope you have had gd day tday x

Hi Sam2011,I feel the same way.I read a book recently called Thrive .And it recommended CBT. Saying 60% of people recover with CBT in comparison to only 40% on just medication alone .Maybe you could see if you are suitable for this? I think your doctor has to refer you but it might help reduce your meds so you can feel less sedated.It can be expensive privately but you can also do it with a book or online I think. If you need to talk just message me .Hope this helps a bit .You can also add me if you like. 

Sinead .

There is very little compassion from the NHS in relation to depression in my experience. This is not to say they don't care, or try their best to help. I have been in hospital,  on various anti depressants,  and none of that has every been as good for me as talking to others in similar situations as myself. I want to stress that I am not against medical treatment as I know it works for some people,  but there are alternatives so never give up hope.

When I first saw my own GP, in 1992, he was brilliant.

He actually had his appointments for the afternoon changed to other Drs in the practice. He was worried because I was homicidal and he pushed and pushed and got me seen within two days by an 'expert'. My homicidal thoughts were aimed at very specific people, so much so that ordinary members of the public were perfectly safe in my company. It was this that probably saved me from being sectioned.

I soon found out that 'experts' vary greatly and to be of any real use, there has to be a connection of some kind.

The first 'expert' I saw, suggested I attend a talk group session. That only lasted for half the session as I apparently scared the other members with my intensity.

The pills I was given didn't have any immediate effect, in fact my GP had to get a special license from the Home Office to prescribe a strong enough dosage to have any effect on me. As you'll know, 200mg a day is the top allowable amount. I ended up taking 435mg a day before I felt any effects.

My brain was racing 24hrs a day and I was sleeping for maybe 2hrs once every 4 or 5 days. I had and still do have, what I can only describe as 'flying ants', what seems like dozens of them, whizzing across my vision, in all directions, sometimes some of them appearing to bang into each other. 

After swallowing pills by the handful for months, my teeth started falling out and I was getting eruptions, or sores appearing all over my head. I started to become very lethargic, to be honest I lost interest in the most rudimentary of things, including washing.

I finally met an 'expert' who I connected with and was able to articulate clearly what I was feeling to and it was during one of our sessions that an idea germinated in the fog in my brain that means I have been able to dispense with the pills.

When I start feeling down, I build, in my minds eye, a glass tank, 3 miles wide by 3 miles long by 3 miles deep. I fill this tank with a mixture of the world's two most useless things, that is cat pee and cat poo. Then I envisage a huge helicopter flying out to the very middle of the tank, with the problems I have dangling underneath the copter, once above the very centre of the tank my problems are let go, one at a time. This never fails to amuse me as I imagine them trying to swim to the sides of the tank through such a delightful mixture.

I have also moved some 400 miles to another part of the country and of course changed Drs. 

Sadly the support I was getting, is not available in the area where I am now. 

I am not better, I doubt I ever will be but, at least I am able to function, even if it is on a rudimentary level, thanks to my minds eye.

I have been on various medications for over 15 years. Have also had a cpn, who was very helpful at the time. Underwent course of physco therapy again which worked at the time. I see a physchiatrist every 3 months. Feel all he does is write out prescriptions and do not feel he is easy to open up to.

At a very low point at the moment, not washing or dressing, lethargic , crying etc. Very lonely and do not know where to turn

Hey all, yes you do have to be very persistent some times, I had gone back for a check up at the start of my latest episode and the guy had only just joined our practice, and look him in the face and said if you don't help me now , you may live to regret it but I sure as hell wont...... he dropped everything medicated me asked if I wanted counselling, my problem was mine was caused by underlying health problems, which are being worked on now, I was on the Meds for 2 years and finally referred to a Neurologist for one of my symptoms and recently got told they think it may be ME, not depression as first thought. now I am not on Anti Depressants for depression , but he has requested I am put on a different one on a super low dose , which should help sleep pain and energy...if I hadn't been persistent   I would still be the Zombie I was (and that was both with and without the medication).

Your GP has a Duty of Care, you know your body and mind push for all the help and support you need because your worth it. Book an appointment with them just like any other illness, and say I need my Meds checked, or is there anything else on offer  x

Hey there, I too am diagnosed with chronic major depression and have also found medical professionals vary considerably. Even with support I feel extremely alone.

Last year when I could feel my mood deteriorating I repeatedly went to the Drs for support. They changed my meds and left me to it, I felt so alone and let down. I became suicidal, and was still fobbed off. Without my uni mentor I'd not be here, I'm not sure how she got me through it but she did. She later told me she nearly got me sectioned and she too felt very disappointed in the care I'd received. It wasn't just the Drs either, it was also my CPN who didn't help either.

Have you thought about seeing a private therapist? I know it may seem like a lot of money but sometimes they do cheaper and your health is so important.

Meds help some of the symptoms, but they may not necessarily cure you and often come with unpleasant side- effects. Managing your depression is a very personal thing, what works for some may not work for others. Unfortunately it's a trial and error type thing.

As for the Drs keep pushing, change them if you need to, there are good Drs out there!

Feel free to add me, I'm always happy to chat :)