Anti-Depressants

My understanding of todays synthetic antidepressants is their negative side effects are varied and sometimes quite severe depending on the person. Their is much conjecture over the long term side effects, and whilst nobody knows quite what they are yet, my gut feeling (as well I'm sure the gut feeling of most people here) is that they may well be quite damaging.  Basically if there is any alternative to starting one I would take it.

I have recently got through the worst year of my life, which culminated in a very severe depression where even getting out of bed was a major effort, and I simply had no motivation, sense of humour or joy in my life.

So, with my life at the lowest point it's probably ever been I turned to St Johns Wort.

Here's a great place to start if you havn't done any research yet :-

http://www.sjwinfo.org/

I started taking 900mg (300mg three times a day), and felt alot better after a week. After approx 2-3 weeks I felt so much better it really was like "errrrr?? what am I taking this for again?"

I would definately give it a go, but do your research first. Taking with other AD's is a BIG no no.

Good Luck, and hope that helps.

I agree with StarCat, nothing about the process is easy. I would use the synthetic pharmaceuticals as a last resort.  I personally have used St John's Wort with success, but it doesnt always work for the next person. I have way too many friends on anti-depressants, seems to be the drug of choice. My grown daughter has been on a number of different anti-depressants and it hasnt really been doing any good for her, but her problem lies within and she wont make the effort ot work on that, but instead waits for a miracle to happen with the drugs.  My friend who is bi-polar feels the gazillion different drugs she's on are helping, but quite frankly, I dont see a difference, at her age (40's) the bizzare behaviour is so ingrained in who she is that I dont think it matters what they give her.   I guess what Im trying to say is, with my own experience and the observation of those around me, is that synthetic drugs dont fix the problem, that in combination with careful diet, and lifestyle changes, AND inner work, is a more effective way of treating mood disorders.    Good luck

I agree with StarCat's cat, it has a point . . . (specifically an apostrophe...)

I agree with the above posts. St. John's Wort is effective. SAM-e is very good as well (both are natural, and assist the physical and emotional bodies through their "downtimes").

Helping others out is actually quite therapeutic too. If you can help those out who have a condition similar to what you believe you have, that's the best therapy. It may appear to be nonclinical in nature, but it has been proven to assist one out of his "funk".

I seriously don't recommend the synthetic AD drugs. Their chemical structure is based on the element fluorine (ring a bell, anybody?), and most people on this forum know about that (if you don't, I'm sure I or someone else can provide you with many links...).

I have a friend who used to be on Prozac. Even though she was "over" the emotional pitfall (several relatives passed away in a short time period), her doctor recommended that she continue taking it because it "helped her arthritis"!! I convinced her to discontinue the use of it, because she appeared so 2-dimensional while she was on it. It was like she wasn't all there, like she wasn't a "real person".

BrainWave Generator is helpful in that area, and for those who are sensitive to electromagnetic waves (they have been known to have an oppressive/suppressive quality on human beings, and unfortunately they aren't going anywhere anytime soon) I recommend carrying a kyanite crystal around with you. It helps to modulate the EM fields so that you're not as negatively affected, and doesn't need "clearing". I have felt that this has been helpful, along with Crystal Catalyst Beads (http://www.ylana.com/beads.htm). Many feel that this is "unscientific bunk", but our society is gradually developing the technology that is able to detect the remediation abilities of these devices. I always wondered why I couldn't use an electric blanket, now I know why.

I hope, in some way, that we've helped. I think more and more people are experiencing this syndrome, and I personally think one of the causes is the proliferation of EM waves. You didn't hear about depression 50 years ago. And if anybody states that it's the brain "not manufacturing certain chemicals", try reading up on some of Bruce Lipton's work (http://www.brucelipton.com/). I believe that we are responsible/capable of more than "they" are letting on . . .

Remember, youre not alone. (I left out the apostrophe for StarCat's cat . . . )

holo-

I wouldn't consider it appropriate to give suggestions without first knowing why you are depressed.

More often than not we know why we are depressed, but just don't know how to deal with the situation as it seems hopeless or overwhelming.  Other times we know what to do about it, but lack the energy.

Just talking with people on NR was very helpful for me during a bout of depression last November as I was able to make adjustments to my mental framework for interpreting the events that led to the depression.  Remember it's not what happened, it's how you feel about what happened that's the issue.

I generally recommend against pharmaceutical intervention, but that depends on the length and severity of the depression, coupled with your personal motivation to use it as a springboard for growth.  As was pointed out, many people don't want to deal with their depression.

Hi cyborg,

I have a personal account with Prozac.

In my experience, depression can be summed up as being overly attached to emotion.

That is not to say emotions are bad, but balance is needed.

In 1992, I played around quite a bit with psychotropics.

Had some awesome revelations as far as what is "possible", in a short period I went from being sort of average, to being keen on how limited our "normal" perceptions are.

In short, I quickly became very bored with sober reality.

The separation in the two different "realities" became too much to bear, and it made my pre-existing depression magnitudes worse.

So at the prompting of my parents (who were unaware of my dabblings)
I began to see a psychiatrist.

All they were seeing was my negativity and hopelessness, and they were understandably concerned.

After 2 or 3 sessions, my shrink prescribed to me Prozac.

This was late '92, and SSRIs were still relatively new, I believe they were only approved by the FDA a few years prior.

My doc told me I needed to take the Prozac for 2 or 3 weeks before they would "kick in"

He also warned me not to discontinue them abruptly, or without notifying him.

Well, about the time they did begin to kick in, I knew I was in a world of shit.

As I said above- I think a main factor in deep depression is being unable to let go of some things, or trivialize them when they really need to be trivialized.

But I did a 180. On the meds I began to feel profoundly detached, like I was losing my being, and my identity.

The depression was nowhere near as bad as being under the influence of Prozac.

I shortly thereafter removed myself from the meds, and stopped seeing my psychiatrist.

Because before the Prozac, I was unhappy, yes very unhappy.

I tell you this with no reservation, I knew if I continued with the "therapy"
I would be dead.

Not unhappy, dead.

At no point in my life did I feel more futility, more regret and more pain than when I was wearing that mask.

I will take depression over that anyday.

What the Prozac did was show me how horrible it is to become completely separated from one's own emotions, and I realized that me and only me could fix, or begin to alleviate
the depression that I had brought upon myself.

This is key.
Most people who suffer true depression do so because they simply feel too many things are "out of their hands".

And guess what?

THEY ARE!!

None of us has the power to change the world.

We DO have the power to change our
PERCEPTIONS of the world.

This set me on my path of spirituality.
And 14 years later, it's all so clear why I had to endure this test.

I'm sure you've all heard, "In order to understand, to appreciate what life really is- we must hit rock bottom"

.....Or something to that effect :-)

I am a survivor, and I am proud to say I overcame this myself.

    I hope this helps!     J

Someone touched on emotion and its critical we expand on this....
This is also a difficult subject. Many of us incarnated here with high sensitivity which crosses over into this area.
This is an asset and a weakness. A paradox.
It is by the emotional body that we get led down the garden path so to speak. Part of what happens is emotions have been set up to trigger improper responses from the logical mind which is the most myopic part of self and the one that has become dominant with the egos elite status and the falsehoods that the social order has imposed on our consciousness. This causes us to get stuck in circular patterns of our emotive-mental response which is mostly inaccurate. This is an after effect from the forces of materialization entering fully into our consciousness.
I have mentioned before how those forces of structure become destructive when allowed out of their proper domains. Also for those confused about the agendas of those forces and their earthly agents.....human souls were never meant to inhabit the subatomic realms and this matter is going to be rectified soon.
I hope some can read between the lines on that note.
Back to the main subject.
This is very difficult to language, but possibly someone can hook into what I am trying to convey and add to it. Too often we buy into bad ideas and let them dominate our consciousness like they are the only choice...which they are not. One thing that has come front and center is the way memes are operating in our mindspace. From John Lash on metahistory, I take this fascinating paragraph on the subject of language and I ask all of you present to consider how when we get stuck in emotions....the inner voices are always raging in our minds and in a strictly " linguistic sense." When this happens we are ignoring our subtle feelings which are there to guide us thru anything but which have been suppressed in these times. Our task is to stop the improper inner dialogue for starters and quiet the mind. It is sometimes helpful to parry the negative inner chatter with counterspeak.
The Toltecs have gone into great detail about the nagative manifestations of mankinds inner talk.
The four agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a book that will help anyone begin to reclaim personal power.
Real power not the false kind that the politique runs on.
IN the passage below I find it even more interesting that Thoth is said to have brought in language.
IN the biblical sense, language divided mankind. IN the tarot the swords represent the element of air and the mental plane. It is always by language that things are divided. The archons always operate first thru the mental plane. Your thoughts are not all your own, and not all of them are healthy. This is the reality of being human.

    "The warning that technology can overwhelm and harm those who adopt it was signaled loudly and clearly by the most revered representative of the classical Western tradition, Plato. In the dialogue called Phaedrus Plato recounts a meeting between Thamus, an Egyptian king of the region of Thebes, and Thoth, legendary Egyptian sage and inventor. Where the text says, “Thoth came to show the king inventions,�  the word used is technas, plural of techne. Several inventions were discussed, but the one that provoked the strongest response from Thamus was writing, alphabetic script (grammason). Thoth praises it highly: “This invention will make the Egyptians wiser and will improve their memories, for it is an elixir of memory and wisdom.�  To this the king replies, “Most ingenious Thoth, some have the ability to create arts, but to judge their usefulness or harmfulness belongs to others... You, who are the inventor of letters, have been led by your affection to ascribe to them a power the opposite to that which they really possess.�  The King explains to Thoth how the alphabet will discourage the use of the innate powers of memory. He warns that the tool to aid memory will come to replace it and the corresponding faculties will decline. Moreover, the King says, alphabetic writing is not an “elixir of wisdom�  (sophias pharmicon): “it offers not wisdom, but the appearance of wisdom, for the people will read many things without instruction, and will therefore seem to know many things when they are for the most part ignorant, and so the will find it difficult to agree on what is known, since they are not wise, but only appear to be.�  (Quotations from the Greek/English text of Phaedrus in the Loeb Classical Library. See Bibliography for details.) "

http://www.metahistory.org/themes_technology.php

If people are to heal, they have to believe in the force of love and redemption at large in this universe.
It IS there but sometime very hard to feel. It hard to get out of our own way in these times.
Even in this forum I see people hurting inside, afraid on some levels to bare themselves which is understandable.
Even myself trying to make friends over distance, I find my ability sorely lacking....my ability to communicate thru the media of language falling way short. Terrence McKenna was a great speaker. He had the gift of speech.
I hope this helps.

Good luck on the path