When I left mine after 6 months of much needed help with situational depression leaving an abusive marriage, I researched other efficacious methods.
Meditation is as effective as SSRI's treating depression as it likely has a similar hormonal balancing effect. Therapy, talking with family/friends, talk therapy are all similarly efficacious treating depression as it seems we benefit simply from knowing someone cares. Please, I beg you, hang out together IRL and create friends and lovers judiciously and preciously (quality over quantity). Sleep deprivation is possibly the number one treatable cause of depression. Exercise and hydration will help with sleep hygiene and also have a hormonal balancing effect that lifts depression. Microdosing ketamine and psilocybin has been shown to be more effective than SSRI's with less side effects. Finally, many studies indicate a full dose of either can CURE depression. Research, find a druggie buddy (if you're not one) who can shepherd you with dosing and hold your hand during the trip if you're a novice and make sure you don't end up replacing the SSRI's with another drug crutch that you may seek to leave later.
P.S. Many SSRI users will benefit from lifelong use. No shame in that at all.
Jun 12, 2024
Related Recs
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- lexapro: first one ever, made me feel very flat and actually more depressed
- wellbutrin: made me manic and possibly activated my bipolar disorder
- prozac: sweaty and agitated
- zoloft: sweaty and agitated
- lithium: sleepy
- seroquel: sleepy
- buspar: didnβt work
- lamotrigine: horrific
- abilify: combined with zoloft + caffeine it felt like I took molly or ecstasy this was actually fun
for me personally the best antidepressant was realizing I was using drugs and alcohol to cope, stopped smoking weed all the time, find a good match for a therapist, ate healthier, got a job that was fulfilling, get off social media, exercise, find a supportive partner (itβs all easier said than done but this truly does help)
Feb 15, 2024
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I drafted this earlier to post tonight and when I signed on, just saw that @tyler posted about Wellbutrin, so the wavelength seems even more correct to post about this. If you are in need and can find a trustworthy psychiatrist that you can collaborate with so that your experience doesnβt feel like a unilateral pill-push, I feel like the results can be excellent. I feel like the meds create a sustainable wave pool baseline and therapy teaches you how to surf.
Meds aside, I also recommend some form of movement to move energy through the body. Getting enough sleep, going outside, eating enough, even if you need to have a smoothie or some nutritional drink, whatever you need to do.
Trying new meds can def be a trial and error thing. In my experience, if you and your doctor think itβs a good idea, I recommend starting low and slow. If some meds feel too activating for you (like SSRIs, SNRIs), but you enjoy the benefits, they might be best paired with a mood stabilizer.
For therapy, I recommend DBT, CBT, or IFS (Internal Family Systems). EMDR and Somatic therapy also seem very promising.
It is important to mention that I am by no means a doctor, I have a high school diploma, and this is not medical advice, just a friendly rec.
Feb 15, 2024
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I started on lexapro which helped w acute depressive episodes and allowed me to do things that would actually make me happy (seeing friends, keeping my life in order etc). I have increased dose/changed meds a couple of times now, and I feel like things get better for a while but then a low to medium-grade depression kinda returns (to be fixed by dose increases or med changes again). Bc of this, Iβm interested in making a sustained effort for a year to make good habits etc etc (+ psychology) which will help me be more resilient in myself, and then to come off them. Extremely helpful and necessary for me when I needed them π
Feb 15, 2024
Top Recs from @indianjones
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So vulnerable, I have to be sincere. European and American art galleries historically are not only promoters of great art, they are creators of markets. That may be where you could shift focus.
Your worth is that you are young, eating rat, living a life of passion, filth, messiness, body horror (per my comment on such) unique and unknown to those with money. They crave you, not for your art. That's worthless to them. The art, as photographs per Sontag in my other rec, is simply a receipt that they owned a piece of your lifestyle for a moment. No one who will buy your art will likely give a fuck about your art. Stop seeking those. Find the Glengarry Glen Ross customers seeking life, escape from drudgery, a need to prove something to themselves. Let your art be that for them.
Enough bs theory, now for implementation. You won't sell your art, but you can sell the frustration, bloodsweattears, dedication, sacrifice that drips from your post. You can do so by simultaneously reminding yourself you are not creating ART but CREATING art. Your work and worth is not on a canvas. It's not the art. It's in you, the artist.
May 11, 2024
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Oct 13, 2024
May 19, 2024