hi, along with the med my doc gave me a number to call to speak to someone. i just wondered if anyone had found this helpful? i just can't pluck up the courage to ring in the first place.
nope but give me the no i will try it thanks
i had convinced myself that my depression was just chemical, as i could find no logical explanation for feeling that way. i went to a counseling session after one of my academic advisors said it would help me to get through my exam. And i did feel a bit stupid, because I felt like i had no reason to feel like that and I felt selfish and unreasonable. But we had a chat, and she was understanding and sympathetic and made me realise that actually i have a lot of issues that i have never dealt with.
I think there is only so long that someone can adopt repression techniques before it just takes over their life without knowing it. For me, it took about 9 years. I am starting a course of counseling when my exams are over and I know it will be hard, and will probably mean going backwards before I can go forwards, but these people are trained to understand- you have to remember they are not there to judge you. Whatever your circumstances. Life is not flowers and laughter all the time. I think it's easy with depression to feel guilty for not being happy, and feeling like you're bringing other people down, or you have a duty to be a happy person for the sake of others. But really, whatever situation you are/were in that has made you feel like this, that is part of you and part of your story and you have to be able to deal with it and get over it.
I am not saying that medication is not useful for many people, but I stopped taking Citalopram because i couldn't justify feeling like a zombie for the next year for episodic (rather than chronic) depression. I am hoping that confronting issues through counseling will prove to be more effective.
Give it a go- talking to a stranger is often a lot easier than talking to someone you know. Maybe the first few words are the hardest, so practice a few sentences to explain how you feel and after that you will find that you can talk about things a lot more easily.
Good luck.
thanks i'll plan what i need to get out as the med stops me getting angry and upset etc but the thoughts don't go. i feel like i have been living someone elses life for 7 years like a zombie so the med doesn't seem any worse luckaly thanks though. as far as the help line it's different for different area codes sorry.