Posted by sweetmarie on September 19, 2001, at 11:44:07
This is a question about Dysthymia plus severe depressive episodes (`Double Depression`), the role of medications and the role of therapy.
I suffer from `Double` depression, which is complicated by the fact that I`m treatment resistant. I have suffered Dysthymia ever since I was a child (I can remember being depressed at the age of 6, and I had a major episode at the age of 11 - 12). I have had a series of severe episodes since then, and was diagnosed with depression when I was 23 - although I knew that I had been depressed for a long time before that. My parents always `made light` of my depression, and had always put it down to moodiness and laziness. A very severe episode at age 23 made me eventually go to the GP, when I was prescribed with Dothiepin.
This `worked` 100% first time (after being on it for a day), 2nd time it took about 8 months for me to feel a benefit. The only other medication that has worked for me was Seroxat (Paroxetine), which worked in the end - but it was about a year before I was having more good days than bad days. Since then, I have been on various meds and haven`t had any success.
I was recently in hospital for 4 months, where I was started on Mirtazapine, Venlafaxine and Lamotragine. By the end of the 4 months, I was functioning and even having SOME good times (but not many). However, before admission, I was just existing - I couldn`t do anything but the very basic things, and wanted to be dead 98% of the time. So, I did come some way, and was prepared to keep working at my progress after discharge. After discharge just about everything that could go wrong - went wrong (after-care not being available, being alone again, plus this recent disaster). Basically, the momentum that I had built up came to a grinding halt.
My question is about what my consultant (who is a leading professor in the field of TR depression) told me regarding recovery. He told me that recovery was likely to take about a year - maybe more. He said that this was generally the case with chronic (treatment resistant) cases like mine - this current episode has been going on for about 6 years. He explained that with such deep-rooted depression, meds would take longer, plus I had to deal with all the accumulated negative thought patterns that had developed as a result. I am due to have Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help me with my automatic negative thoughts - it`s well recognised as a good treatment for treatment depression (or so I`ve heard).
In the meantime (over the past years), my life has `narrowed` to just me and my family. I haven`t worked for 3 and a half years, and haven`t seen most of my friends for years. My self-confidence is minimal, and leaving the flat is a major thing for me.
The stuff that my consultant told me makes sense to me logically - especially given that I have a `depressed personality` to begin with. My own consultant agrees with his interpretation, and has always emphasised my need for regular `social` contact, and also exercise - neither of which I have taken seriously in the past. My sister (who is a psychiatric nurse) also subscribes to this opinion - based on experience of working with chronic cases of depression.
Has anyone got any feedback on this - i.e. whether or not this makes sense?
Any info would be good.
Thanks,
Anna.
poster:sweetmarie
thread:79075
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010917/msgs/79075.html