Just before Christmas I took a severe period of depression, I was on cymbalta 30 mg doc changed me to Sertraline 50mg just didn't work. Now I've been put on mirtazapine 30mg. My doctor keeps telling me a pill won't take away depression, you must face why your depressed. I find this hard to take, should I change my doctor. Has anyone else had a unsympathetic doctor? I've had to take time off work.
I found that the pills took the edge off my depression, so that I was better able to think clearly, and work out why I was depressed. I was also better able to work hard on a course of CBT and counselling, vwhich has helped a lot. Without the medication I just wasn't able to function at all. I still take venlafaxine and mirtazapine, but I haven't had any serious problems with depression and anxiety for a long while now (I hope I'm not tempting fate by saying that!). The CBT has taught me the coping mechanisms I need to use if I feel myself slipping again.
I personally would not be happy with his view. I resisted taking any ADs for years,mbut went on sertraline last May and now currently into second week of mirtazapine. They are not perfect and come with side effects, but they can help your mood so that you are more able to confront your own personal demons...or at least start to assess where you are and where you want to be. IMHO I think they work best alongside counselling. My work has arranged 1:1 counselling and this has been enormously helpful and valuable....but I don't think I could have engaged with it properly were I not onnADs. Has he just told you basically to get on with it? At the very least, ask about counselling. Wishing you well and hope you get what you need X
I agree with the others that the meds should not be a stand-alone approach to depression, and maybe that is what your doctor was trying to get at, that ultimately the thinking that leads to the depression is still there, just dampened down by the meds. The problem with meds is that when used long term, they tend to worsen depression, and eventually they poop out and people do end up with "relapse," though it is actually caused by the med! Then they either up the dose or switch to the new one.
If your depression makes you so non-functional as to be irrational, then the meds can calm that and give you a platform from which you can then do the work. But ultimately, you must do the work, and if you do, then you may no longer need the meds. CBT is the way to go. When people say that it didn't work for them, I wonder if the meds made them too apathetic, not caring to do the work, not trying. The meds can be that numbing for some. Also, it may be down to the therapist and whether they are using the right CBT approach with you.
I would step back from the situation with your doctor and see if maybe you took what he was saying with a too-hypersensative filter. When I was on a higher dose of Effexor, I was super sensitive about stuff and usually over-reacted. I can see that now.
I am just mentioning this in case. If the doctor truly was insensitive and had a just get over it attitude, then time for a switch.