Help Did receiving a mental health treatment fix your life?

[NaughtyGirl]

Do we have any examples of people here whose lives became significantly better as a result of receiving proper treatment be it through drugs, electrostimulation, therapies or whatever else is in store for treatment of depression, anxiety etc?

I've heard that anti-depressants sometimes work miracles and to be honest, that's probably the only thing keeping me alive at this moment, that is the hope that once I get diagnosed with something I'll receive meds that will change my brain chemistry in just the right way so that I'm capable of living happily. It's either that or suddenly winning 1 million dollars so I don't have to worry about tomorrow anymore, otherwise I think I'll just kill myself.

 

[ChobaniFlipSmores]

Maybe this post would work better in the recovery section of the site? As for me personally, I think my treatment is putting me on the path towards a better life. However, I also feel that if I was already there I wouldn't be spending the time browsing this forum or at least this section of the forum.

 

[Jblack]

My treatments and meds have left me worse off. I no longer have any feelings or real emotions. I am just angry all the time and hate everything. There is no joy, no looking forward to anything. My thoughts are just random ideas. I could just lay in bed all day. All the money in the world could not change how I feel. After stopping the meds nothing has changed, what life I have has been permanently altered by those incredible know it all doctors. Oh, and I still have panic attacks and extreme anxiety.

 

[hopelessgirl]

Never.

 

[ChobaniFlipSmores]

My treatments and meds have left me worse off. I no longer have any feelings or real emotions. I am just angry all the time and hate everything. There is no joy, no looking forward to anything. My thoughts are just random ideas. I could just lay in bed all day. All the money in the world could not change how I feel. After stopping the meds nothing has changed, what life I have has been permanently altered by those incredible know it all doctors. Oh, and I still have panic attacks and extreme anxiety.

Never.

Case in point, maybe the recovery section would be a better place to ask.

 

[hopelessgirl]

Case in point, maybe the recovery section would be a better place to ask.

Good point :-)

 

[OpheliasFlowers]

Meds, therapy and even being (voluntarily) hospitalized once has not helped my PTSD, extreme debilitating anxiety or major depression AT ALL. I have only gotten worse actually. These so-called "mental health professionals" of any stripe are, imo, utterly worthless and the majority of them in my experience are assholes or even more fucked up than myself (but I could be feeling particularly bitter and angry today because I had a TERRIBLE session with my psych two days ago and I'm basically about to throw in the towel with her...). However, I am very glad for the people meds and therapy have helped so I guess it's unfair for me to call it all a complete waste of time to at least try it; I do wish though I'd been one of those that meds and therapy had helped.

 

[ChobaniFlipSmores]

Good point :-)

No judgement. You feelings are both valid and valued. It's just not what OP is looking for. :)

 

[cooldude420]

exercise diet meditation supplments help me much. i go therapy soon. maybe meds. i need lot self care to jus survive.

 

[NaughtyGirl]

No judgement. You feelings are both valid and valued. It's just not what OP is looking for. :)

Actually, it is what I was looking for. Kind of. Now that I think of it it was a stupid question to ask in a sense because instead of relying on individual accounts I should have simply looked up the actual research with numbers. So I did exactly that shortly after posting and it shows that just anti-depressants alone seem to work and they work more in more difficult cases. Still interesting to hear about other people's personal experiences.

 

[Ash]

I've got friends who have recovered and/or learnt to manage their mental health through a combination of medication, therapy and stuff like walking, creative arts etc etc.

 

[Ednospatient]

I have treatment resistant depression so no

 

[Darkmoon Queen]

No and I don't know of anybody who got better from anything barring anxiety.

I've had a lot of therapy, I know fellow depressives who have had a lot of meds. My old neighbour had electroshock therapy as a young woman. None of it made a dent.

The 'best' outcome I know of is in people who just have anxiety who get put on a low dose of propanolol or citalopram.

 

[existtosuffer]

So far it just feels like papering over very large cracks. Mental health treatment is severely understaffed & I've tried things like meditation, yoga, martial arts, healthy eating etc. Being medicated & sober keeps me trapped in a nihilistic mindset at how boring & depressing reality actually is. I suffer from burnout a lot too because I get bored of things easily. Going for walks with music on is the closest I can get to escaping reality now.

Life fucking sucks.

 

[forgotten15]

Back in my adolescence i was prescribed xanax and zoloft but it didn't really help. Maybe for a short period of time. And i must say after like 2 weeks of treatment I had a serous mental breakdown so they put me for a a few day in the psych hospital.

 

[Darkmoon Queen]

So far it just feels like papering over very large cracks. Mental health treatment is severely understaffed & I've tried things like meditation, yoga, martial arts, healthy eating etc. Being medicated & sober keeps me trapped in a nihilistic mindset at how boring & depressing reality actually is. I suffer from burnout a lot too because I get bored of things easily. Going for walks with music on is the closest I can get to escaping reality now.

Life fucking sucks.

Singing my song here. I do all the 'right' things but I still have no place so I'm floating in nihilism. I also get the burnout thing. I think I go at things too hard and when there's zero reward (and often negatives), stop.

People say that mental health units are understaffed and whatnot and technically that's true but to be honest, what are they even achieving? Does anyone EVER get better? When does it cross over from treatment to playing God? It isn't like fixing a broken leg, you have to change a brain.

I dunno. It's complicated.

 

[Tigri]

Yeah I recovered from anxiety disorder completely with SSRI meds (Effexor and Zoloft), in combination with sports and acceptance / indifference to the panic attacks and anxiety I had at the time. And I was a true basket case, my fear and derealization where total, it was hell. Acceptance became possible (both acceptance of fear and of myself as mental case) when the meds made the fear come down from 10/10 to 4/10, then I could resume life and slowly move on. Shrug when I had another panic attack or was hyperventilating: "oh well".... It was 2 years hell and 2 years recovery. I don't think I could have done it without SSRI so I would def give it a shot!! Contact with fellow sufferers was also helpful towards acceptance

 

[Jacket]

I was on antidepressants for almost a year and they didn't really change anything in the long-term. Know someone who went to a mental health facility for like half a year and it didn't do jack for him either. I guess once you are -severely- depressed it's hard-wired into you and there isn't anything you can do about it.

 

[cooldude420]

I have treatment resistant depression so no

i saw study. magic mushrooms goooood for dat.h ave u tride?

 

[existtosuffer]

Singing my song here. I do all the 'right' things but I still have no place so I'm floating in nihilism. I also get the burnout thing. I think I go at things too hard and when there's zero reward (and often negatives), stop.

People say that mental health units are understaffed and whatnot and technically that's true but to be honest, what are they even achieving? Does anyone EVER get better? When does it cross over from treatment to playing God? It isn't like fixing a broken leg, you have to change a brain.

I dunno. It's complicated.

Yeah I hear you on that. I think the biggest problem with Mental Health is that it stems from the evolution of our survival. Some people's brains are wired differently to others. Sort of like how certain animals became extinct because their bodies weren't better equipped than others.

Someone who has their name on a certificate isn't going to be able to explain the meaning of life & why we're here, and why we're stuck in this average model of meaningless repetition for the sake of surviving until you die.

I mean a lot of technological advances we've made is just to improve how we trade resources on a free planet. We're not much different than an Ant colony.

There's only so much you can do to stimulate yourself until you no longer enjoy it.

It doesn't help being raised as a child getting new toys as Birthday & Christmas presents, because I would get bored of them within a few months then see the next shiny new cool thing to play with, until I got bored with that.

That idea of happiness will just follow you throughout your life.