Hi, Grape... this is one of those questions that would be best answered by one of the moderators in here so wait a while and you'll benefit from their experience.
For myself, when the overall sadness climbs over me dragging it's blanket, I use the CBT to question the hows and the whys and then force myself to carry on with the simplest routine ( sleeping, getting up, showering, eating, staying warm and reading a lot - I read non-fiction deliberately to keep a grip on "purpose" and "knowledge" etc.)
And when I'm so far into the Abyss that activity is impossible I take to my bed and sleep ( Yeah, easy for me because I'm retired and don't work)!!
I alter my routine if I feel the Black coming on... going outside and seeing people sometimes helps... I have a genetic history of depression in both my maternal and paternal trees. I live with it as best I can. I used to try to self medicate when I was younger with alcohol and cigarettes and morphine and cocaine and whatever to "escape" but it took me years to figutre out that none of that stuff worked - just made everything much worse and took way too long to arise from the Bog Of
Sad.
Sorry I can't be more helpful. Keep talking to us...
I'm just starting the program and have a question about others' experience with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I understand it pretty well and have have some mild success with it in addressing specific issues in the past. What I'm not sure about is when you are addressing depression that is partially "hard-wired" into your system. I've kind of been of the belief that you use the drug therapy to address the brain chemistry and the behavior therapy to address specific thoughts and behaviors, but now I'm wondering how realistic that is.
For me, depression runs in my family and it's very easy to see that there is an element that is just purely brain chemistry. To address that, I've tried different antidepressants - and some of them work for a while and then stop; some of them don't work; some work, but I've never found one that makes me feel "balanced" mood-wise on a regular basis. I've made a lot of effort to understand how my moods and feelings don't always reflect my actions or anything specific happening to me. For instance, today I'm having a crying day. I just feel like crying for no reason at all. Recent events in my life have been on an upward trend, I'm not having negative thoughts about myself. How do I use CBT when it's not a specific thought, just a feeling of sad?
I try to just tell myself it's a feeling that will pass if I just wait, but it doesn't make me feel any less horrible. I just get so sick of it. I've tried so many different drug combos .... do I just keep trying different ones, as frustrating as that is, or is there something I'm missing? Have any of you found a helpful way to deal with this?
