Shaking my head.
See, I am 73 years old, diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1992. BTW, there's a direct correlation between fibro and chronic depression. I tried every non-pharmaceutical treatment for the fibro and chronic depression and childhood sexual abuse. I went to workshops and group therapy. I had several therapists, and worked out a lot of my sh*t in writing...FOR DECADES.
I did try multiple dietary changes, and while eliminating gluten and lactose from my diet helped a lot with the pain -- and every time I go into denial and eat whatever I want, I swell up 30 lbs on water weight and ache like crazy. I developed my own water exercise routine, and traded that back ond forth with riding my bike an hour a day.
And yes, it helped.
But it didn't help ENOUGH.
See, no matter how hard I worked on all those non-prescription things, I'd always eventually hit a slump. Taking anti-depressants was my best route back to doing the OTHER things I needed to do to take care of myself.
I gotta ask you -- have you ever done more than just CONTEMPLATE suicide? Have you never done anything to actually HURT youself and put your life in danger?
If not, you have no idea what the deepest, most intransigent levels of depression are.
Guess what? Like i said, taking a specific anti-depressant helped me with PHYSICAL as well as mental issues.
It got me back to doing ALL THE OTHER THINGS I needed to do.
Your approach WORKED FOR YOU. I'm glad it workd for you.
It DIDN'T work for ME.
And there are a lot of people out there who need to be on anti-depressants at some time in their lives. It doesn't have to be permanent (especially if they don't have serious pain issues like me). But sometimes you need it to keep yourself from trying to drown yourself in a fast-moving river.
One thing I know for certain from my time with fibromyalgia support groups is that ...
Every BODY is different.
Just because YOU managed your depression and trauma w/o anti-depressants doesn't meaan it will work for everyone
That is a mantra for every fibro group.
Incidentally, taking anti-depressants didn't stop me from having to WORK THROUGH my issues. I am STILL working through them, and I will be working through them until the day I die.
I've had 30+ years of therapy -- workshops, groups, and individaul therapy -- and all sorts of ways of getting at my issues regarding childhood sexual abuse, including 50 years or so of journaling and trying everything under the sun. IN ADDITION to anti-depressants.
What worked for YOU doesn't mean it will work for EVERYONE.
I hope you will someday get that straight.
And frankly, I think it is unwise for anyone to claim authority over the defitinion of depression without serious, discip;lined study (as in, not solely reading on your own).
Glad it worked for you. But please, dump the "I truly believe" thing.
"Nothing more than chronic unhappiness." Indeed.
The "believe" part indicates your ideas about depression are not based on any disciplined study,. And drawing global conclusions out of personal beliefs can be dangerous.
