Originally posted by Soledad
Mahayana - You have never experienced depression, am I right? That's what I gathered from your other posts.

There are many people who simply do not have the luxury of abstaining from medication. To do so would put their lives in jeopardy. Would you still insist on therapy only methods?

I think medication has saved a lot of people from the crippling effects of depression, and while we have to be careful about its overuse, I do not feel it is helpful to anyone to rule it out entirely.
I've gotta chime in here too, as someone for whom talk therapy has been worse than useless--including (especially!!) the cognitive therapy espoused in "Feeling Good," one of the books mahayana recommended.

Folks with chronic depression are not depressed merely because of "problems." They are depressed because of chemistry. When I was a small child, with no "problems" to speak of, I'd sometimes burst into hysterical tears for no good reason. Although a life crisis can certainly trigger a major depression for me, it's not a necessary prerequisite.

Depression is an illness. Talk therapy works for some, but not for all--and for major depressions, I believe most psychiatrists recommend a combination of medication and therapy, not therapy alone. If someone has a raging infection, most people wouldn't tell him to just go get some talk therapy and skip the antibiotics.

Also, there's a common misconception about antidepressants--that they're "feel good" drugs that get you high. I've never gotten a buzz from an antidepressant. Generally, the only way I can tell if one is working is that I can think more clearly and feel more "normal." If someone who isn't depressed takes an antidepressant, he or she won't get high. More likely, that person would just feel sick from the side effects.

I'm not advocating the "take a pill, make it go away" easy-fix mentality. There is no easy fix for chronic depression. I've spent many, many years trying to live in a way that allows me to manage my dysthymia without medication--and I've only taken the meds during major depressions that were otherwise uncontrollable. I hate the side effects from antidepressants.

But please, don't discourage a depressed person from seeking whatever form of help is available! For someone to think that they're not as good or as strong a person because they're taking medication will simply aggravate his or her illness.