Do you sometimes have a good day?
Sounds like an odd thing to ask someone but the reality is that many people actually wake up each day with the reality that today may not be a good day, or that they only have a good day every now and again. If that is you, you are probably one of the millions of people in this country suffering depression.
More than one million people in Australia suffer depression each year and of those about 160,000 of those are teenagers. Australia has the highest per capita anti-depressants use in the world and seeing we are supposed to be the lucky country, many of us are not so lucky it seems.
Many people wake each day to find themselves not wanting to face the day, but rather stay in bed and hide beneath the doona to escape the day that confronts them. Life can seem dark, gloomy and almost not existent. The thought of facing the day, let alone people, can seems like a day in the dark fires of hell. One minute you can be having a laugh and the next minute someone could say the minutest thing and have you in tears.
While you feel so exhausted, sleep can be very erratic. The exhausting takes over, the negative thoughts set in and everything just seems so damn hard and overwhelming. The back dog takes its huge bite and the spiral into the dark realms of a typical day with depression sets in like ground hog day once again. The feels like there is no end in sight, no help and life seems almost pointless.
For millions of people this is how the day starts and the day ends. If this is you, you most likely have depression. But the good news is that there is help out there and there is a way to end the internal fight within.
Multimodality approach
Before I go into what can help, let me be 100% clear about treating depression. It requires a multi-modality approach to treat it, not just a pill. So many people come to see me for help with depression and just want a pill to help it. While there are treatment (medical and complementary medicine) that help with treating depression, there is no one pill to fix it. Because the medical treatment involves a pill, people get so used to wanting a quick fix of a pill, but the honest truth is that anti-depressants, or a pill of any kind, do not fix depression.
Yes, they help with serotonin levels, but they do not treat the root cause of depression. Worse still, long term use of anti-depressants (while beneficial short term) can lead to cardiovascular disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s and other cognitive conditions.
Alcohol and other stimulants
Secondly, alcohol and other stimulants only make depression worse. They not only interfere and affect medications and are contraindicated while taking medications (SSRI’s), but they also interfere with the chemicals in your brain, making depression worse.
Withdrawal effects of medications
The next thing I need people to know is that when it is time to come off any medications (SSRI’s), you will have side effects, even when tapered down slowly. Medications should never be stopped suddenly and always tapered down slowly. Like any drug, you will have withdrawal effect and this is the cause of many people getting scared and go back to the safety net of medications again. Withdrawal is a normal process that you are going to go through and if done properly and in conjunction with natural medicines to ease this process, this transition process will take about two weeks and should be much easier.
The only way to assist with helping depression properly and effectively is a combination of counselling, medications, complementary medicines, diet, exercise and lifestyle modifications. If you miss out one of those components then you aren’t going to treat depression properly and the reason so many people do not get their depression sorted out.
Complementary medicines
There are complementary medicines that may assist depression and mood disorders, but you should always consult with your healthcare practitioner about this options. Please do not self prescribe as certain herbal medicines and supplements may interfere with medical interventions.
Become creative, dynamic and effective
As one of my old lecturers used to say, the best way to treat depression is making someone creative, dynamic and effective. By that we mean get them into something they love to do (Creative). Get the passion for life back. Get them exercising (Dynamic) to get those natural endorphins, dopamine’s, melatonin and serotonin levels working. Give them the right diet, the right supplements and lifestyle adjustments and they will then be on their way to feeling better all over (Effective).
Nobody needs to suffer with having a good day sometimes. There is help out there and it does require a multimodality approach to assist with better moods and a better life.
If you do need help with having more better days, contact my friendly staff and find out how I may be able to assist you.
If you are in crisis, please call lifeline on (131114). You can also attend your nearest emergency center.
You can also see your general practitioner for a referral to a counsellor, psychologist, or psychiatrist. Beyond blue also have some great resources too.
Regards
Andrew Orr
-No Stone Left Unturned
-Women’s and Men’s Health Advocate