*can depression be cured(go away)?

[Justneedcomfort]

This question has probably been asked about a hundred times on this forum but I need to know. With antidepressants and all the mumbo-jumbo can depression go away? Or should I just give up all hope n just stay in my bed. It's been two months and I've been on Celexa and Buspar and in the beginning it was manageable but now it feels like I'm not getting better if anything worse. Please help.

[Justneedcomfort]

Thank you all. I posted this when I was 17 and now I'm 20 about to turn 21 and am about to graduate college and feel way better than I did. Life is great and you CAN GET BETTER. Depression is not forever and again I truly appreciate the feedback from all of you! I just came back here to see what I've been through and to thank you all. Good luck in life and I'm praying for all of you!

[brice1967]

I'm no doctor so I will not give you medical advice.  What I will do is give you information from my own personal experience.  

"...can depression go away?"  Valid question, difficult answer.  I hope I can make sense of this for you.  Depression is a real deal. It's a medical condition and there is hope.  There is no magical pill that just makes depression go away and then makes the unicorns and rainbows come back into every day life.

There are hundreds of things that can happen during the course of a day that can set you back on your heals.  Depression is the inability to see each one of these things for the negative things they are, accepting it, embracing it, and then being able to let it go.  Depressed folks like me tend to give things more value than they deserve.  And worse yet, depressed folks like me tend to take today's problems and adding them to all of the potential things that could happen tomorrow.  Next thing you know, something "bad" happens tomorrow and we think "Yep, just like yesterday.  Back to bed with me.  Nothing bad will happen there."  I lived it.....

Life doesn't have to be that way.  I'd suggest you speak with your health care provider about the problem and ask for more help.  Addressing the root cause of the depression is essential and it often takes time to get there.  A pill can't make that problem go away.  Nothing works that way.  A pill might numb the pain, but if the cause is still there, it all becomes a viscous cycle.  

The hardest thing for me was acknowledging there was a problem and then reaching out.  The second hardest thing was me committing to going to therapy and doing my homework in an attempt to help myself get better.  

After I realized that I was supposed to be in control of my happiness, I stepped in and got proactive.  I read dozens of books.  I went to therapy for a good long time and I realized '**** happens" (excuse my language, please) but that it doesn't get to dictate my life.  learning to accept the bad things that happen as just simply that and at the same time grabbing a hold of all of the good things that happen during a day that I might not have been previously aware of.... and its abundant.  

See a doctor.  Change meds if necessary.  Talk a walk.  Look at things differently.  Notice things you've never seen before.  Listen to things and hear the laughter and good times around you.  Accept those things and pursue those things in your own life.  Cut drama... nobody needs more than we already have.  Go fishing, hiking, walking, camping... meditate, read more... do whatever makes you HONESTLY feel better.  Being in bed doesn't make you feel better, it just allows you to not face the day.  

Each day is yours and I am confident that if I can find help, you can too.  Please reach out.  Celebrate the little victories.  There are billions of them and you get to claim all you want.

[Jjj10]

It can be maintained and managed. As long as you don't stop taking them you should be fine.

[Paxiled]

Just to be a little more optimistic, the above states that in most cases it is always there.  I don't think we actually know that, nor do we even know whether in most cases depression is even the right diagnosis -- often years later people find out it was a physiological problem lazy and ignorant doctors never looked for.  We can't make predictions about something we really don't know that much about.  The above also says counseling doesn't cure depression, but in many case in does.  In many it doesn't.  We know current medications don't cure it, but with therapy, many do get better permanently as far as we know -- and again, since in most cases nobody's counting (anyone ever contact you about whether your medication or your therapy worked?  Didn't think so) you just have to hope you're a lucky one and keep trying to be that lucky one, because one thing I can tell you, once you quit trying nothing good happens.  

[4Maddie44]

It can improve.  With some people they have one bout and it goes away and does not return, but in most cases it is always there, but may be in the background.

You won't always feel as bad as you do now, and perhaps in your case it will go away.  Let's hope so.  If you have depression once, then it is more likely to return, but may not be for years later, or maybe not at all.

Unfortunately pills and counselling do not cure depression, but they can make it bearable.

You have not had depression for long, and it may go on for longer, that is something we cannot know.

I have my ups and downs and good and bad days and have had depression for many, many years.  I manage.  We learn to live with it.

I do hope you feel better soon.  Keep on fighting.  Don't give up.

[Alice52396]

First off, don't give up. I understand how you feel, but it goes away - I have seen it happen. I have seen friends who are, sort of like you I suppose, and are now able to see the good things in life - they're genuinely happy.
Obviously, this might seems like a bunch of rubbish - but it get's better. Not always permanently, but I promise you, giving up all hope (despite it possibly seeming like the only option at times) just eliminates the chance of it truly getting better. It get's better, and then it may get worse again - but you have to focus on the fact that it does, and will get better. Try to focus on the good things, as hard as that may be for you.
You are totally unique, and you're worth happiness (sorry for the slight cliche) so hold on, don't give up.

[CRSeaside]

Yes. That's true.
For me a Pdoc and pills weren't enough.
I hired a psychologist, learned CBT.
I went to a support group.
Stayed in closer contact with family and friends.
Exercised more.
In my opinion you need to be assertive with mental illness. It would be day if you could just take a pill and be cured. But that's not enough for me. Maxy

[Paxiled]

Antidepressants only manage symptoms, they don't cure depression.  If there is a cure currently it's through therapy and altering the way you think.