Golden Era Cures for Depression

[Dr Doran]

Paisley, great story, and we are rooting for your friend.

 

[Chas]

As far as depression goes, I think that I can speak with some authority on this, both as someone who went through a period of clinical depression, and as a mental health professional for some 18 years now.

Instead of re-treading what has already been posted (most of it very good advice, by the way), I would add that:

~Psychiatric med's are very helpful, but have their limitations. Some form of talk therapy is a highly useful adjunct to antidepressants. Keep in mind, also, that antidepressants take some weeks to really kick in. Weekly sessions are good to start with, eventually tapering off to bi-weekly and then when needed, or, as we nurses say, PRN. If the $200/hour psychotherapist isn't within means, try to tell your friend to find someone through the local health unit, or some other community agency. Sometimes you can find therapy on a 'sliding scale' basis, based upon ability to pay. You don't know, unless you ask!

It has already been mentioned- but keeping busy is totally legit. It's essentially distraction from one's own thoughts.

Remember - this is a long haul! Depression is one of the most difficult of the mental illnesses to treat. It's so insidious, and it's a long, tough road. Don't expect instant success.

As far as "back in the day" was concerned...

I suspect that people self-medicated with alcohol a lot. A lot!

But outside of that, there was ECT, Insulin Shock Therapy (overdoses of insulin which induce a diabetic coma for several days), incarceration in a state hospital, and hydrotherapy (warm baths). Needless to say, many, many didn't get better. But some did.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Some great advice on this thread, but as far as Golden Era treatments go: My grandmother had a nervous breakdown in 1946 and was forced to have electric shock treatment and was then prescibed heavy duty barbiturates that resulted in a 30+ year addiction. She tried to come off them several times during the 50s and 60s and was told by doctors that if she did, she'd be ill again. I'm fully convinced that her Alzheimers was probably a result of her long-time addiction. So I'd say treatments back then probably weren't always for the best!

 

[Diamondback]

Good point, Fleur--sometimes medication is necessary, but there are also a number of shrinks who overmedicate, either from overreliance on "conventional wisdom" or desire of a continued revenue-stream from prescription-renewal. (Part of the reason for my aggressive regimen was telling the doc upfront "you got two years--I want this problem dead as that greaseburger you're eating by then or I'm taking myself off-meds; a pill or two every day for the rest of my life doesn't work."

Generally, the broad-spectrum approach, working the issue from multiple angles, is better--not in all cases, though, and in mine it helped that my shrink viewed me not so much as "helpless patient" but as a "partner" in attacking the problem.

----------------
Now playing: John Williams - Carbon Freeze - Darth Vader's Trap - Departure of Boba Fett
via FoxyTunes

 

[Paisley]

Yes, I think counseling would help Kim, if she is ready to break out of some patterns that aren't serving her very well. Counseling may be very painful in the short term--it brings up all those problems that are making you depressed.

As for medication--I was always afraid it would turn a person into a Stepford wife. But the person I talked to the other night has had a definite change for the better on Xanax.

I think a reasonable time limit is a great idea. It used to be trendy to see a shrink--and some people saw them indefinitely. Counseling probably goes faster if you're open to seeing yourself as others see you and don't demand coddling. Dr. Phil says he wasn't popular with his patients in marriage counseling because he was too direct. You've heard him: "What were you thinking?" "Uh huh...and how's that working for you?"

 

[Lady Day]

I was diagnosed with severe depression a few years ago. I wasnt suicidal, but I completely shut down for 5 days and did nothing but sleep.

The key for me was finding the right medication from a good doctor, and, my dog.

The right medication helped me function, but my dog kept me connected to the world. I HAD to walk her, and I HAD to feed her, and I HAD to pay attention to her.

Ive been off the meds for three years, but I still have the dog I think its something many take for granted to feel normal in your own state of mind. Being depressed is such a burden.

Paisley, I wish your friend well, and think, like in the Golden Era, interaction weather they want to or not, is a strong factor in recovery.

LD

 

[Paisley]

When I was a new homeowner and was laid off from my job, I promised my dog I'd take care of him. I think having some responsibility is important--even having a houseplant you have to keep watered is good.

That was the case with Margaret Yates: she didn't say she was depressed (in 1944, people tended not to admit such things), but her sudden and serious responsibilites got her back in the game of life. It's interesting how cases at the state hospital in NC increased after the two world wars (see Bigman's post) and Fleur's grandmother had a breakdown in 1946 (again, after the war). Did the anticlimax bring on a lack of purpose in people?

 

[Diamondback]

Plausible, Paisley--with the end of the Berlin Wall, there were a number of Cold Warriors who did the same thing, and I'd suspect it may have also been a component of the post-Nam issues for many returning vets.

 

[tempestbella42]

I was diagnosed with severe depression a few years ago. I wasnt suicidal, but I completely shut down for 5 days and did nothing but sleep.

The key for me was finding the right medication from a good doctor, and, my dog.

The right medication helped me function, but my dog kept me connected to the world. I HAD to walk her, and I HAD to feed her, and I HAD to pay attention to her.

Ive been off the meds for three years, but I still have the dog I think its something many take for granted to feel normal in your own state of mind. Being depressed is such a burden.

Paisley, I wish your friend well, and think, like in the Golden Era, interaction weather they want to or not, is a strong factor in recovery.

LD

we have the same cure!! ..except my dogs a he!!:eusa_clap

ive had depression for yrs...recently was told its clinical,ive been on and off meds also all the advice on here is great,
paisley...i found that when i could talk to friends i wanted/want to talk about ANYTHING other than my moods! it helps bring me out of it and laughing with friends is the best pastime ever!!
your friends lucky to have you, [angel]

 

[Tatum]

Paisley, I'm glad that you are concerned about your friend and her well-being. I have a friend, also a Kim, that has just started therapy, and I jumped up and down in delight and support when she told me that she was going. She has had issues for a few years now (more like lying to get attention, severe self-centered-ness, that kind of thing) but I remember when she was pretty "normal", and I missed those aspects of her that had disappeared.

Everyone here has had great advice; exercise is a really easy way to elevate one's mood, and I also know from experience that surrounding yourself with positive people makes a huge difference. Even one very negative influence can affect someone a great deal. I had a roommate who was constantly negative, and I didn't realize how much it affected me until we went our separate ways.

You are a good friend, she is lucky to have you.

 

[Edward]

I was diagnosed with severe depression a few years ago. I wasnt suicidal, but I completely shut down for 5 days and did nothing but sleep.

The key for me was finding the right medication from a good doctor, and, my dog.

The right medication helped me function, but my dog kept me connected to the world. I HAD to walk her, and I HAD to feed her, and I HAD to pay attention to her.

Ive been off the meds for three years, but I still have the dog I think its something many take for granted to feel normal in your own state of mind. Being depressed is such a burden.

Paisley, I wish your friend well, and think, like in the Golden Era, interaction weather they want to or not, is a strong factor in recovery.

LD

Your experience sounds very similar to my own. I'm still on the meds (citalopram - wonderful stuff). Been on it for a year. Eventually, I'll have to come off it, but that's in the future for now. Having a pet definitely helps - my kittens arrived maybe eight or nine months after my diagnosis, and while they are much more independent than would be a dog, it made a huge psychological difference to me gonig home ta night to my girls rather than going home to an empty flat.

In my own case, having good friends around who understood the issue and, when I was ready to hear it, nudged me towards gonig to the doctor, was an incredible help too.

I suspect that, back in the day, most of us who are diagnosed with relatively mild depression would have gone on for much longer and been a lot worse before it was picked up on.

 

[Paisley]

Depressed? Have another baby!

A Boulder, Colorado man developed amnesia due to depression and went missing for two weeks.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/oct/27/amnesia-diagnosed-in-husbands-disappearance/

 

[Kassia]

Your experience sounds very similar to my own. I'm still on the meds (citalopram - wonderful stuff). Been on it for a year. Eventually, I'll have to come off it, but that's in the future for now. Having a pet definitely helps - my kittens arrived maybe eight or nine months after my diagnosis, and while they are much more independent than would be a dog, it made a huge psychological difference to me gonig home ta night to my girls rather than going home to an empty flat.

In my own case, having good friends around who understood the issue and, when I was ready to hear it, nudged me towards gonig to the doctor, was an incredible help too.

I suspect that, back in the day, most of us who are diagnosed with relatively mild depression would have gone on for much longer and been a lot worse before it was picked up on.

My dh's been on Effexor since the summer of 2000.. His doctor told him he'd never NOT take antidepressants.. I keep a close eye on his pill bottle just to make sure he is taking them every day.. He still struggles with some things but rarely talks to me about it..

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

... Fleur's grandmother had a breakdown in 1946 (again, after the war). Did the anticlimax bring on a lack of purpose in people?

Well her breakdown could be attributed to the end of the war and the ensuing events. My grandparents got married in June 1942, and then in October 1942 my granddad was shot down and spent the next 3 years in Stalag Luft 3. When he got out, she got pregnant with my mother almost immediately, and gave birth in a maternity hospital run by nuns, who apparently told her to 'stop making such a fuss' during labour. Then, hours after giving birth, my granddad informed her that he was going to leave her and take the baby with him and his mistress, which triggered the breakdown. That didn't happen, but my grandad continued to have very indiscreet affairs for the rest of his life, and when he died my mum and aunts discovered a secret second house he had had for many years. This is, in my opinion, why the old way of not divorcing because it wasn't 'the done thing' was a very bad for some couples. I'm sure my grandmother would have been much happier and healthier if they had parted.

But, despite all of that dreadful behaviour, my grandad was a loving and caring person when he was with his family.

I truly think that his ability to have this extreme dual personality (which could even be symptomatic of borderline personailty disorder/PTSD) was due to the hardships and extreme stress he had to endure during his time as a POW.

Of course this is all speculation on my part, but when I suggested it to my mother, she was quite amazed that she had never considered it as it all fits perfectly with his behaviour.

 

[Paisley]

Well, that would make a person depressed.

As for your grandfather's behavior being due to being a POW, I don't know. Maybe it did. But a lot of ex-POWs don't do that, and a lot of two-timers have never seen military service.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Well no, I didn't meant o imply that all POWs were like him nor all two timers ex POWs...it's just he went in a normal young man who had a normal relationship and came out a very different person. There is no doubt it changed him irreversibly.

 

[Lady Day]

I suspect that, back in the day, most of us who are diagnosed with relatively mild depression would have gone on for much longer and been a lot worse before it was picked up on.

See, I debate there wasnt as much depression in those days. People were interdependent. They socialized in large house holds, went to church together, helped out on each others farms, etc, etc. I do attribute a great deal of modern depression with solitary lifestyles that many live today (me included).

They may not have liked all of who were around them, but the people had a chance to vent, purge, if you will on nearly a daily basis a lot of small things that can build up. Im not saying there wasnt sadness, but I dont think depression as we know it was what it was back then.

LD

 

[Kassia]

Well no, I didn't meant o imply that all POWs were like him nor all two timers ex POWs...it's just he went in a normal young man who had a normal relationship and came out a very different person. There is no doubt it changed him irreversibly.

Yes it's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder nowadays...

 

[jayem]

Some hard liquor and a good laugh.

 

[Warbaby]

"The cure for anything is salt water -- sweat, tears or the sea." - Isak Dinesen