Thoughts on therapy the second time around?

[EDM21]

Hi everyone,
A little bit about my history, I am in my mid 20's and have suffered from depression and panic attacks since I was in high school. Have been on many different medications. Currently, I am taking Cymbalta, which I have been on for a year and a half and was feeling like myself again, but a couple of months ago, my depression crept back. I went to my psychiatrist and he put me on Wellbutrin along with taking the Cymbalta. I feel like it has helped the physical symptoms of my depression ( headaches, fatigue, tired, yet agitated) But, mentally, I still feel sad,hopeless and find it hard to concentrate on anything.
I'm so frustrated that I feel this way again and everyone says, I need to do therapy. But, I've done that for 6 months about a year ago. Shouldn't that have helped? Have any of you ever felt like it was pointless to talk about yourself again and scared that you will still feel depressed?
Thanks.

[whodunnit]

Clinical depression simply means "a depression under treatment". Sites like Wikipedia list it as a type of depression but it is not. It just means you are seeing a doc really. Therefore, clinical. OK?

I'm a deep depression turned into BP2. Had it most of my life but did not treat it seriously until about a decade ago. Ignored it for many, many years as I didn't really know what it was and didn't ask. I thought it was normal, truly did.

Is it worth talking about your history etc over and over again? It is very taxing to do it and I hated having to do it with every change of doc etc. This time I've had the same one for nearly 10 years so we just progress. I'm fairly stable but now, age 58, this things isn't going away for me.

The purpose of all that talking really is to discover why you have it, what caused it, when and why etc. We all feel that if we know that then it will resolves or something similar. It doesn't necessarily follow at all. I have solved all my why's etc, finally and it gave me great relief but the depression remains. I've had it since I was 10 so I think it's just so ingrained all I can do is relieve it with meds and work around it.

You don't need to follow my bad example. You know now, you're young and therapy is so much better than it was.

I would not suggest doing the same therapy again and again. Try a different approach if you can find such. If you do the same thing youalready have the answers ready in your head you see.

Another thing you may not have done is talk to the various relatives involved or who may have known what happened, who was involved. All that. They can unlock those hidden issues we know about but hide from ourselves.

Give you an example. All my life at work I was fine, always confident, assured, relied on and promoted quickly. Moved up well and loved it and the people who all looked up to me. I had many staff over the years and very few ever disliked me. Some, unavoidable if disciplined of course.

However, step outside the door and I was a mess. Could not handle relationships and family. Friends were fine and easy. I pondered why for most of my life but then someone on a forum gave me the obvious answer.

At work I knew exactly what I was doing and there were rules you could not infringe without specific punishments or counselling etc. So I thrived in that environemnt as I knew what to expect. With outside? Shaky ground. I learnt that verylate, after I stopped work but it's obvious in retrospect.

So I guess what I'm saying is I found forums as good as many docs as others have experience docs don't.

Whatever you do though you must have someone you trust and preferably get along with well to achieve anything. My view.

[therese83]

Left coast chick has given some good advice there about looking at you r medication.

I just want to add that the 'right' medication works for me.

No amount of therapy does anything for me.  I know people swear by it and it can aid recover, and it is important in Therapy to focus on your recovery and steps forward.

But the kind of therapy where you 'ruminate' for years going over 'stuff, does nothing for me.

For me it is certainly Chemical, I am a very balanced person who has come to terms with any issues in my past a long time ago.  But I have a family history of mental illness, I dont know if it is 'Chemical', this is one theory, but it is definately that my Brain doesnt function properly and needs medication to do so.

So think about it, is Therapy right for you?

[LeftCoastChick]

The best way to see if they are working is to track your moods, there is a tracker that you can use on the site. If you are having far more low moods then feeling okay, then it may be time to augment or change meds, there are a ton out there. It's a trial and error method, because there isn't a clinical way to figure out which chemical you are missing. I hope that comes sooner rather the later.  Meds like you know aren't a miracle cure, dang wish they were lol. It sounds like you are on the right path - I'm not sure either what the difference is either, but I know that Major Depression doesn't go away on it's own.

[EDM21]

Thanks for your reply. My physician diagnosed me with Major Depression and said I have a chemical imbalance. I'm not quite sure what's the difference between clinical and major depression? I just know it always seems to come back..ugh

This is true, there is no easy way out, and i will have to do the work.
I have trouble "really" knowing if these pills work? You know what i mean? Like, maybe they don't work as well but i stay on them because i think and WANT them to work and balance me out.
I'm glad I found this group, i don't feel so alone in this!

[LeftCoastChick]

Firstly. what is your diagnosis? Many folks who suffer from depression have a chemical imbalance so it may be persistent. You may have to go on a different med, you may be going through "poop out" which happens with some of these meds, especially if your diagnosed with a different mood disorder like Bipolar- which itself has panic attacks and depression as two of it's symptoms.

I can't diagnose you, but I would ask about that. Talk therapy is really important, pills can help to balance you out, but you still have to work as well. A well there are plenty of different meds out there like Mood Stabilizers that help with depression.

One suggestion is, you might want to write down your moods when you are in them, so even if you are in a good mood when you see your shrink, it will help to figure out what med you may need.

Depression and other mood disorders can be very frustrating, especially if you've tried a few drugs, you feel like you are on a never ending little gerbil wheel. I'm on Lamictal, which was origninally on the market for epilepsy, but used widely as an anti-depressant.It works extremely well.   Maybe ask your pdoc about changing classes of drugs. I find with SSRI/SNRI's poop out is common, I've been on 8 of those in those drug classes. So don't give up hope, you'll get back on track.