Deleted by Will

[Alberto]

Re: Deleted by Will

With all due respect for therapists (which tend to have a statistically significant presence in zen gatherings), I can make a humble suggestion: start with a board certified psychiatrist, preferably one with recommendations. A good old Serotonin reuptake inhibitor (or some other modern pharmaceutical) and some exercise have no parallel in improving depression and anxiety associated to depression. Not an opinion: scientific fact. Another scientific fact is that antidepressants don't work for everyone, but the sad stories of one or two or ten persons do not contradict the fact that most people do benefit. Furthermore, if one medicine fails, a different one or a different dose of the same may help.

Therapy may help, but it is not the first line of defense against depression. Again, my respects for the professionals that provide this line of treatment.

Now, beyond the hard scientific facts, and with a lot of fear of sounding sentencious or zennish, let me point something you know

I do feel this need to have a meaning for what I'm doing that transcends what I make up as I go along. Is this a displaced psychological need, or something "more"? Going to a therapist will certainly help me sort that out.

I point at your need for meaning and transcendence like I tell somebody : "Hey dude, you're smoking". Useless attempt to help from a nosy guy, but please consider that my intentions are the best.

[Shindo]

Re: Deleted by Will

Hi Stephanie - I am sorry to hear about your continued struggle.

My two cents - I think Alberto's advice is sound. A psychiatrist will also check out to see if there are some other medical disorders which may becausing you dip in mood. A couple of years ago, just before I was diagnosed with cancer, I went through an extremely dark period in my life - I attribute that to my anaemia caused by the bleeding tumor (my heamaglobin was 7 on admission, and it should have been 14 - 16). So you might want a full blood work out just to rule out any other conditions

Take care
Jools

ps - thanks for the advice you gave Stephanie Jundo - I also found it equally pertinent

[Aswini]

Re: Deleted by Will

Shit! You guys are deep. Real too. (haha, with zen being the nature of reality and all that).

A deep gassho to u all.

Mettha.

Aswini.

[disastermouse]

Re: Deleted by Will

With all due respect for therapists (which tend to have a statistically significant presence in zen gatherings), I can make a humble suggestion: start with a board certified psychiatrist, preferably one with recommendations. A good old Serotonin reuptake inhibitor (or some other modern pharmaceutical) and some exercise have no parallel in improving depression and anxiety associated to depression. Not an opinion: scientific fact. Another scientific fact is that antidepressants don't work for everyone, but the sad stories of one or two or ten persons do not contradict the fact that most people do benefit. Furthermore, if one medicine fails, a different one or a different dose of the same may help.

Therapy may help, but it is not the first line of defense against depression. Again, my respects for the professionals that provide this line of treatment.

Now, beyond the hard scientific facts, and with a lot of fear of sounding sentencious or zennish, let me point something you know

I do feel this need to have a meaning for what I'm doing that transcends what I make up as I go along. Is this a displaced psychological need, or something "more"? Going to a therapist will certainly help me sort that out.

I point at your need for meaning and transcendence like I tell somebody : "Hey dude, you're smoking". Useless attempt to help from a nosy guy, but please consider that my intentions are the best.

My experience with psychiatrists is vastly different. Misdiagnosis and attempts at medicating the problem were the order of the day. For Sidd's sake, it was OBVIOUS I was cutting myself (teenage years) and one of them STILL tried to diagnose me with a subset of Bipolar Disorder (cyclothymia, I believe). Kudos to the one P-doc (my ADHD specialist) who recommended me to a psychologist - but even then, she recommended me to a behavioral shrink. She (psychologist, not P-doc) made the Borderline diagnosis but didn't want to tell me about it (WTF??).

Years later, it was an old-fashioned Jungian talker who helped the most. As a matter of fact, if you're in the LA area, I can't recommend him highly enough.

In short, if you have childhood trauma, a psychiatrist will probably only help in tandem with a psychologist.

Also, I probably don't have to say this, but Stephanie - keep your attitude of skepticism if you dip into the world of psychiatrists and psychologists. I've seen several (about 6) and exactly 3 have actually been helpful at all and only 1 (one) has been truly worthwhile. Them's pretty sketchy numbers.

[AlanLa]

Re: Deleted by Will

Psychiatrists are medical doctors, and thus typically not all that great with talk therapy. They can be great for psychotropic medication management, however. So, in tandem with a psychologist or licensed counselor would be my recommendation. And also exercise, which brings me to my next comment...

True, medication and exercise do work wonders, and there is no substitute for them. But sometimes they may just be masking deeper issues that need resolving. As such, there is also no substitute for some good old fashioned talk therapy for the stuff that exercise and psychotropics can't reach.