Treating depression without drugs – Part I

I have used both medication and non-medicinal methods for treating my depression.  The first time I went through a depression, it was overwhelming.  I was a full-time student and working part-time in a Biotech lab with grad students so I had to stay focused.  I was a little scared at the ease of actually getting a prescription for antidepressants.  It was a list of questions that qualified me as a candidate (if the patients says yes to any of these then they qualify).  

I started them at low doses and read the warning label.  (Warning:  if you stop using this medication without doctors consent, you may have suicidal tendencies.)  I did a lot of drugs when I was younger and can honestly say that the first few days were like taking ecstasy but only a bad trip.  I wanted to stop taking it because I felt chittert and high all the time.  Then the effects subdued.  I didn’t care about anything anymore so nothing bothered me.  It was hard to care about studying for test too but I got through my semester.  It was better than trying to study and go to work without sleep and not eating all day.  I was an advocate for antidepressants for that very reason. 

But my problem was never solved.  After the cause of my depression was a distant memory, the same cycle started again.  I was depressed all over again with the same symptoms.  I was a little older and tired of the cycle so I did some research on my own.  I self-diagnosed myself as codependent and started therapy, exercising, and group therapy.  Exercising was great but the effects are not instantanious like you would expect.  It took time for my adrenaline levels to reach their peak, like weeks.  Then I felt great.  I was strong physically and mentally.  (And I looked great too.)  People started to notice the change which made me feel better .  Likewise, therapy helped me treat the problem, not just the symptoms.  

I still get sad, angry, and frustrated but each episode is shorter and less intense than the last.  My most frequent lasted only one afternoon.          

I am just starting this journey of depression/anxiety treatment. I am seeing a counselor which helps a little. I think therapy would be more effective if the couselor/patient match was better. She recommended that I take antidepressants and scheduled me to see a Nurse Practitioner who gave me sample doses of Lexapro to try for 3 weeks. That was a week ago and I have yet to take the first pill. There is just some sense of apprehension inside me not to do so, even before researching the side effects, which, by the way, the nurse didn’t share with me.
I am hoping that my condition is temporary and related to a number of major changes I have experienced in the past couple of years and will eventually get better. I am going to try some of the recommendations in this article. I used to practice yoga, meditate and run regularly but stopped doing so once this depression set in. I am going to do my best to start these practices again. I’m also going to try eating healthier as I find I eat lots of junk food in response to stress. That can’t be helping the cause!
My dad committed suicide 2 years ago. My main fear is that I will end up like him.

First let me say thank you Ralph for your personal response.  I hope you are doing well.
It’s been 9 months since my previous post on this site. I did not take the SSRI prescribed to me in 07/2009.  I started seeing a new counselor who is a better match for me. She is actually teaching me things which are helping me tremendously.  I have started taking better care of me by doing things I used to love: running, yoga, meditation.  I have been certified in first degree Reiki and am taking the second degree Reiki class tomorrow. Reiki has been wonderful for me; it relaxes and calms me like nothing else. I’ve learned to speak up for myself instead of constantly feeling like a victim. My self-esteem is getting stronger. I’m learning about myself and why I act and react the way that I do and how to change those actions that are less than desireable. I’m learning that it’s okay to feel unhappy, sad, mad, happy, glad, etc. I’d put myself into a spiral of guilt because I thought I should be happy all the time. My life is really good so why would I feel sad? I realized that I was/am grieving the loss of my single life after I got remarried a year and a half ago to a wonderful man with a lot of baggage in the form of an ex-wife, 2 children and an overly involved mother! No wonder I was unhappy! ha!
Anyway….what I want to say is that I am glad I didn’t go the medication route. For me it was not the best treatment.  I am not even sure that I was really depressed. Yes, I displayed some symptoms of depression but I think I was in mourning. Mourning the “death” of my previous lifestyle.
I can’t say that I agree or disagree with the treatment of depression with medication. I guess if the disease is debilitating and the person doesn’t respond to any other treatment then okay. I am blessed and grateful that I am not in that situation.
Peace and blessing to all that are.

I am 60 yrs old and have taken SSRI steadily for the past 13 yrs.  My first experience with antidepressants was at age 34 when I took a TCA for 3 months -  I was reluctant to see what I was experiencing as Depression (ie meeting DSM3 (at that time) criteria but was persuaded to try a TCA just for a couple weeks to see if I got any response.  I did, and it started on about the 7th day.  It was like a miracle.  Profoundly helpful.  I had every side effect in the book and successfully went off the medication after 3 months which was what was recommended at the time.
I continued to be highly reluctant to take medications to treat subsequent episodes of depression.  I have tended, since I have studied pharmacology, and do have a healthy degree of scepticism, to want to avoid drugs when ever possible.  I have suffered through periods of depression without meds but with substantial costs in my family life, and costs in terms of personal suffering.
I have worried that I  might be doing harm to myself by not treatment depression chemically.   Several years after developing a chronic illness (autoimmune) that i decided to take drugs if they helped.  So now I have taken Celexa for 13 yrs.  At times I have reduced the dose form 40 to 20 mg, but have not done that for at least 6 years.
There is multigenerational suicide and depression in my family -and I have felt very lucky to live in a time when antidepressants are available.  I have accepted that I do have a genetic tendency toward depression.  I do light therapy in the winter as I do also have SAD.  Aerobic exercize is not a possibility for me.
I am concerned re long term side effects of Celexa and do want to get off of it.  So,I am planning to do another trial of reduction of dose.  I will of course go slow.
What suggestions do you have for things I can do to mitigate against the disruption I am bound to experience with a brain that has become accustomed to Celexa for so long?
 
Thanks,
Joan