It would make me crazy to know that I need medication for feeling happy instead of carrying it off on my own.
The truth about whether you can pull off being happy on your own is separate from whether you take the drugs - and, more importantly, you don't get to choose whether it's true or not. If you can't be happy on your own, choosing not to take the drugs doesn't change that fact, it just changes whether you are able to be happy, or not. And taking the drugs for a while doesn't mean that you definitely can't learn to be happy without them, either. You can do both - take the drugs, and also go to therapy to learn to avoid thinking in ways that lead you to be depressed.
Thanks, that sounds logical for me. And I don't mean that I can't learn to be happy without them. I already have found out some ways on my own to cope better.But I can't "heal" it completely.And I have also started a therapy now.It seems like my psychotherapist understands me but I'm not really sure whether he can help me or not. ( I was only once there and my second date will be next week)
My girlfriend suffers serious depression. She has sleep disorder, anorexia, chronic pain, problems to concentrate, low selfesteem, daily low mood, listlessness and is very indecisive. On the other side she considers herself very happy apart from the "depression periods" and we have a great time together. We already consulted a psychotherapist, but there is waiting time about one month. I buyed her fishoil capsules, because she eats no fish and there is mild evidence that it helps treating depression (I don't think this will affect her depression greatly, but fishoil seems like an overall good idea). We often go on walks to catch some sunlight and get her some exercise.
She says she never want's to take antidepressants because she fears to get dependent from them. I think she might change her mind if there are very good arguments in favour of them. She is quite rational in spite of not knowing the LW-stuff. Does anybody of you know if there is any information of the succes rate of medicamentous (and psycho therapeutic) treatment available?
I highly appreciate any advice.
Furthermore i want to call attention to the topic of depression. A huge share of the population suffers at least once in their lifetime under depression (~20% in Germany). Sadly it's often not taken serious and a big taboo to speak about. Many people see it as self-inflicted. My girlfriend's mother doesn't believe in depression as a disease (see diseased thinking). It's a paradigm of irrationality that hurts people.