I'm 65 years old and I think I've suffered from depression my whole life, for various reasons. I've been diagnosed as depressed at least 3 times, treated for it twice, both with very poor results. The diagnoses have all been by psychiatrists and the last one, last fall, again tried meds but I refused the drug treatment. My gp confirmed my refusal. It seems to be an intermittent thing but it is not going away and it relates to just about every area of my life.
I know from life experience that the best way to deal with anything that is adversely affecting your life is too talk about it. And this the place I've chosen to do that. Part of the reason for that is because it's Canadian and I am a proud Canadian. I hail from Edmonton and I know that there has to be ways in this city to help me deal with depression without the use of drugs. Another reason for wanting to be active in this forum is because I've read enough to know that there are some very caring and knowledgeable members here. I do have lots of other conditions, diseases and disorders, as I'm sure everyone does. I will talk about some of them as time goes by; about how they relate to my depression.
The two biggest issues that are prevalent in my life right now (other than depression) are obesity and epilepsy. I've been seeing a dietitian for about fifteen years now. For the last year or so it's been every two months. One day last fall I found myself driving out in the nearby country crying uncontrollably while I pondered suicide. When I mentioned this to my team I was referred to a psychiatrist because apparently you can't lose weight if you're depressed. That was a new one on me. It only took two days to get that appointment and that was when I refused drug treatment. In conjunction to my weight loss issues, I was referred to the Adult Bariatric Clinic and during that process I visited with both a psychologist and a psychiatrist. They both saw no reason for a followup visit.
The other condition that I mentioned was epilepsy. That is a very scary condition. It was under control for 31 years before I had a seizure in 2007 which was caused by a drug interaction, caused by a doctor and a pharmacist. Since that time, I've had regular seizures for various reasons. Two were caused by drug reactions from antidepressants.
Anyways, for now I'm out of time. Thank you for reading, listening and I will be back. I look forward to hearing from some of you.
Thtufus
I know from life experience that the best way to deal with anything that is adversely affecting your life is too talk about it. And this the place I've chosen to do that. Part of the reason for that is because it's Canadian and I am a proud Canadian. I hail from Edmonton and I know that there has to be ways in this city to help me deal with depression without the use of drugs. Another reason for wanting to be active in this forum is because I've read enough to know that there are some very caring and knowledgeable members here. I do have lots of other conditions, diseases and disorders, as I'm sure everyone does. I will talk about some of them as time goes by; about how they relate to my depression.
The two biggest issues that are prevalent in my life right now (other than depression) are obesity and epilepsy. I've been seeing a dietitian for about fifteen years now. For the last year or so it's been every two months. One day last fall I found myself driving out in the nearby country crying uncontrollably while I pondered suicide. When I mentioned this to my team I was referred to a psychiatrist because apparently you can't lose weight if you're depressed. That was a new one on me. It only took two days to get that appointment and that was when I refused drug treatment. In conjunction to my weight loss issues, I was referred to the Adult Bariatric Clinic and during that process I visited with both a psychologist and a psychiatrist. They both saw no reason for a followup visit.
The other condition that I mentioned was epilepsy. That is a very scary condition. It was under control for 31 years before I had a seizure in 2007 which was caused by a drug interaction, caused by a doctor and a pharmacist. Since that time, I've had regular seizures for various reasons. Two were caused by drug reactions from antidepressants.
Anyways, for now I'm out of time. Thank you for reading, listening and I will be back. I look forward to hearing from some of you.
Thtufus
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