What are some intensive depression treatments?
ByI’ve tried 3 anti-depressants and some therapy (which I’ve never really liked and never felt like it helped). I also have chronic eating problems (probably a combo of 3 childhood feeding disorders) and lots of stress. I’ve tried residential treatment for the eating problems, as well as an intensive outpatient program. But now my eating and depression are both getting worse. I’m losing weight and the depression is getting to the point where if it continues getting worse, I don’t know how well I’m going to do when I return to college in less than 2 months. I should also mention that I worked at a camp (outside almost 24/7 in Texas) and was still very depressed. That was sun plus lots of exercise plus being around kids and still that did not help. Is there a searchable directory of partial hospitalization programs or something similar? Have you tried 5HTP or St. John’s Wart? What did you like and dislike about them? I live in Wisconsin and can’t seem to find anything more than individual therapy sessions. Thanks for reading!
3 Comments
September 6th, 2010 at 8:19 am
Well if you have tried multiple avenues to treat your depression and it is not situational and more of a chemical imbalance you could try ECT therapy. I know it sounds barbaric and scary but it is really not and I have seen it work miracles for people. You have to prove that all avenues to treat your depression have failed. And do a lot of research on it.
September 6th, 2010 at 8:40 am
St John’s wart will only work on mild cases of the blues. It won’t make any noticeable difference for you. If you are getting therapy, it sounds like it is a psychologist. Now normally I think people should go to psychologists, not psychiatrists, but it sounds like you have tried that therapy and you may really need meds.
Ask around for recommendations for psychiatric help.
September 6th, 2010 at 8:41 am
Wow…that sounds dangerous. I hope you are still in treatment. This sounds way too severe for St Johns Wort–that is a very mild herbal antidepressant. Talk to your doctor about alternatives–and if by any chance you are relying on a general practitioner instead of a psychiatrist, go to a psychiatrist. (Since you mention outpatient programs, etc, I’m assuming you are working with a competent psychiatrist and therapist, but some people surprise me. GP’s will prescribe anything that’s been approved for the general public and rarely have a good understanding of what your symptoms are and which medications are most appropriate to treat them.)
Some people with severe depression have experience good results–believe it or not–with electroconvulsive shock therapy. (Sounds medieval, I know–but for some reason it works and has been successfully used with severe cases of post traumatic stress disorder.) If your symptoms are not responding to antidepressants, you could talk to your doctor about that–if nothing else it will convince him or her that you are serious about needing help.