5 Tips For Depression:
1. Recognize the Reality of Depression. Your depressed phase has lasted too long, with too many disruptive or intense symptoms - erratic sleep and eating patterns, frequently on the verge of tears, chronic procrastination and difficulty completing projects. You "just want to disappear" (as a client recently expressed), and there's a generalized loss of interest, pessimism, distrust and disorganization. The problem is likely more than just extended grieving or having "a sad personality," as one therapist told her client. The client had asked for a second opinion when, despite nine months of therapy, good insight and vigorous daily exercise she still felt on the verge of exhaustion. This woman still had to strain continuously to just keep up.

2. Begin to Let Go. Normal ways of coping won’t work in this existentially and biochemically troubling period. You're not just grappling with depressive symptomatology, but also likely struggling with denial and shame; one must admit that will power is not sufficient. This can be particularly confusing with moderate chronic depression. In the past you were able to get yourself out of your depressive box or cave. Alas, as we age, ongoing stress can impair the effectiveness of our biochemical and hormonal systems. In fact, just using will power, thrashing about to break the depressive bonds will probably exhaust you further. You feel trapped in that black hole or have a heightened sense of whirlpooling madness.

3. Acknowledge Shame and Ignorance. Too many people associate depression with cocooning under covers for hours on end or covering up through various addictive tendencies – compulsive eating, drinking and sexing, TV watching, video game playing, out of control shopping, etc. And, in fact, these may be accurate warning signs. However, many Type A achievers also struggle with depression. (Don't let resume size blind you to the possibility of depression.) For such hard-driving folks, shame and inaccurate information often impede getting the needed psychological and medical help. Especially if there's family history of mental illness or mood disorders, acknowledging that one hasn't fully escaped a genetic legacy can be a difficult step. And if you were or are the family standard bearer, the one who exemplifies "improvement in the generations," then giving in to depression becomes a sign of failure, of letting others down.

4. Beware Drug Reaction. Despite the widespread use of SSRIs, many are still resistant to exploring the use of antidepressant medication. These include individuals who: a) erroneously see medication as a crutch or as a means of simply numbing or masking emotions, b) had a troubling trial with the older generation of antidepressant meds – tricyclics or MAO Inhibitors, c) had an unsuccessful brief trial with an SSRI, including troubling side effects and don’t understand that a meds trial is as much art as science; for some Zoloft works better than Prozac or Wellbutrin may interact differently than Serazone with other prescription drugs and d) have psychological if not medical scars from previous drug or alcohol history; folks with family members who've struggled with substance abuse also may be guarded.

Warning: If you are using alcohol in anything but very strict moderation, taking antidepressant medication is inviting trouble. In fact, alcohol is contraindicated. And remember, alcohol is a depressant drug.

5. Admit Dread of Losing Your Edge. For individuals with an agitated depression as well as cyclothymic (a cycle of mood swinging) or bipolar tendencies with pronounced highs and lows, especially where the agitation-mania fuels productive efforts or creative outbursts, there may be understandable resistance to a meds trial. There is a natural fear that ones existential and emotional range, post-Prozac, will extend from the mediocre to the tapioca, that is the blandly normal. While there is an adjustment period, with the proper medication and dosage, over time my bias supports the likelihood of more energy being freed for creative endeavor. Performance may take on a somewhat different hue, but will still have your distinctive quality. (Email stressdoc@aol.com for a provocative, counter-intuitive essay on "Van Gogh, Prozac and Creativity.")

Suggestion for When you are Feeling Depressed :
1) Exercise
2) Read a good book
3) Take a bath
4) Phone a friend
5) Meditate or Pray
6) Bake/Cook
7) Watch a movie
8) Watch TV
9) Journal
10) Garden
11) Make Crafts
12) Plan a special event
13) Remember good times
14) Listen to Music

1. Treatments for depression:

Depression has been called the "common cold" of psychological disorders. It is the number one reason people seek mental health services. Depression strikes the old and the young, the rich and the poor, and a significant amount of people between the ages of 18-22. I fall into the last category and have myself suffered from depression along with thousands of other college students. I designed this web page in the hope that it might provide comfort, help, and information on this difficult yet very common disorder. Read further and visit the symptoms of depression and treatments for depression pages for information on depression and other links pertinent to the disorder.