Giving It A Try

[Lady Lullaby]

Hi There!

I have only been a member of one other forum and it was unrelated to mental health. I'm here today because I've felt frustrated that I'm still experiencing ups and downs despite a good 6 year history of doing CBT and medications, exercising and relaxation exercises.

I know I'm in a manageable place mentally and emotionally - I've seen much lower. But I feel that I'm just managing and if life gets stressful, (as it has recently) then I tip over the edge of managing into the 'struggling to keep it all together' state.

I want to hear others' thoughts about the back and forth I go through in trying to determine - is my anxiety causing my depression and I need to give that more attention? is my depression just not getting enough treatment and anxiety is one of the symptoms so I need to give my depression more attention? It's confusing when I've read that anxiety causes depression and yet, anxiety can be a symptom of depression!

My doctor says I'm a 'lightweight' when it comes to treatment - meaning a little effects me a lot. So I've been on 100 mg of Wellbutrin for the past 5 months (I was on it before for about 3 years but then went off for 9 months). I also am on 10 mg of Celexa (I had been on 20 mg during the earlier 3 years of Wellbutrin but felt the effects were tapering off but I was increasing in sexual side-effects, the withdrawal from Celexa was awful, and yet anxiety and depression un-treated was way worse).

So now I think I am trying to decide how to explain what I'm looking for to a new psychiatrist - - I feel like my anxiety is just so low-grade but persistent, as is my depression that I can't tell which is causing which nor what really needs attention.

I only have one more week with my current job and then I'm back on the job hunt - - I want to feel better and to have the energy and focus it will take to pursue this next phase of life.

Thanks for listening. It is nice to find a place where there are those who understand and are willing to walk the road with you.

Thanks again!
Lady Lullaby

[Sheep]

Hey Lullaby, nice to meet you

I've never had to take medication so I'm not sure what kind of advice I can give you there, but as for getting help from a new psychotherapist I suggest that they help you work on both your anxiety and depression, in small steps.

I know that when my anxiety got really bad over this past year, eventually I developed a kind of depression because I just felt no escape from the feeling of being tense and on edge. I got so tired of not finding a fix for it that I just got a little hopeless and depressed. I think a good sign if your anxiety was causing the depression is if the anxiety came FIRST. Meaning that you already had trouble with being anxious before you started feeling depressed. If that makes sense.

I guess it would be up to you to determine which needs more attention at the moment. There was a point where I got pretty depressed and it was ruining the relationships I had with other people and with my studies. So I would've considered it a major problem at the time. At a different point, I was suffering from frequent anxiety attacks, without necessarily that hazy fog of depression, so at that time my anxiety needed to be addressed. I think things can change from week to week or even more frequently than that, so I would suggest to tackle both of them in small steps.

I hope this was a little helpful, feel free to contact me to chat more if you need it

[4EverMe]

Hi Lady Lullaby,
I empathize with your frustration of these mental 'parasites!' Of course, a psychiatrist is best suited for a more thourough diagnosis of you. I can only offer what I know, based upon my own experience...

My issues of anxiety and depression are totally separate, although I do believe they can feed off of one another. Yes, each can be caused by, or manipulated by the other. However, as I stated, they can each be an individual diagnosis. Hope this is comprehensible...These problems are sometimes hard to differentiate amongst themselves. (for a lay-person)!

[kittycatlover]

Hi, Lady Lullaby,

I think of anxiety and depression separately.

I describe anxiety as "What if," and depression as "so what?"

In other words, when anxiety gets to me there are always a lot of "What if's?" running around in my mind. When depression gets to me, it is more "So what?" and "what good does anything do, anyway?"

As I mentioned in another thread, Kava has been very effective for me for anxiety. I have the tea and the drops. I am not sure about the interaction with your current medication.

Have you considered, or are you, exercising? Exercise also can help with anxiety and depression.

Knowing that you are facing a job hunt would be enough (if it were me) to generate anxiety.

Best wishes..