Has anyone overcome severe depression?

I am on 45 mg of Remeron and Ativan (occasionally) and go to a therapist. I want to ask...is it possible to overcome severe depression like the kind I have had, and be happy again? If you would like share a success story or two.

I did. Mine was so severe that I was dead to the world for almost 10 years. I bounced around from psychiatrist to psychiatrist and tried every cocktail of meds in every combination under the sun until something finally worked for me. Had to do a couple of stints in the mental health ward of the hospital as well. I've been okay for about 3 years now. It sucks that I lost so much time, especially since they were some pretty key years (25-35), but I'm very glad to be well again. So yeah, there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you follow your doctor's orders and just keep on truckin'.

I don't think I'm at "severe" yet, but the loss of my job (and inability to find something new that I can actually enjoy) has taken it's toll on me. I'm finding it difficult to get up in the morning... but I'm trying to take it one day at a time.

Hopefully getting into trucking will be the remedy I'm looking for. I kind of gave up on it for a little while because I didn't want to spend so much time away from home, but my GF and I have decided that it's really the best path for me in life, as it plays to my strengths and skill-sets (independence, driving, etc).

I don't have a serious case of depression, and feel for anyone who does, but I know what it's like and it isn't fun at all.

Music is the cure, The very dark music. Helped me out, bu again it wasnt that bad, just a little :)

i thought i was getting over my depression but after loosing my gf its just coming right back. i dont know if it is necessarily severe though as i am not on any meds but i probably should be.

i think what you got to do is surround yourself with people that make you happy and laugh, i know its kinda hard cause very few people make me laugh. laughter is the key. you also have to do the things that you enjoy the most in your life. live your dreams. go outside more, wear light colors, exercise, and just dont let the little things bring you down. see the bright side in everything and smile even when something bad happens to you.

wouldn't say I overcame it, I got passed it and learned to live with depression

actually, when I was moving found an old folder of my medical records, according to my therapist when I was young (about 6 or 7) he diagnosed me as depressed then... my parents just didn't do anything about it

I'm also taking meds and I see a therapist every few months and without the meds I wouldn't cope at all.

I haven't overcome mine yet unfortunately I've had extreme depression for 8 years because of extreme loneliness I've always been terrible at making friends, I only like girls though and never in my life had a girl I could hangout with, the only time my depression goes away is when I talk with a girl. I cope with video games and alcohol, music helps too, my doctor gave me a prescription for Celexa but I'm too chicken to take it, alcohol seems to work fine and I don't want to give it up.

?

:(

I'm not sure if I'll ever be truly rid of depression...sometimes when things get harder I can feel it creeping in but overall I have a pretty happy life so considering that a few years back I wouldn't even manage to find the strength to get out of bed I'd say I "overcame depression". In my case, it was the support of the people around me and me being honestly disgusted at my pitiful self that made me kick it into gear and power through.

OP is talking about clinical depression, not simply being sad.

Dude this isn't the best place to ask. Anyway people have turned their lives around but the key is a good psychiatrist and the right meds. Good luck....one day at a time dude.

Gerg do you have to be a gerg in EVERY thread?

I hope the best for you

I hate to agree with gerg, but not everyone should start an exercise regime without first talking with a doctor familiar with your medical history. There could be underlying problems that can easily be aggravated by exercise not done with consideration for those issues.

The Quran

Yes, about as bad as it can get. The human mind functions like a complex chemical process.

-Proper Nutrition

-Proper hydration

-Proper exercise

-social interaction

-quality sleep

-sunlight

are all pretty much necessary for proper brain functions. Pills won't fix your problem, they'll hold off the symptoms for a while until worse ones arise. Correct the things I pointed out and you'll be ok.

Getting to be a bit much, really.

Lots of people have issues TC - I've dealt with depression for years, and was hit hard this summer...but I don't go making a post every two weeks or so talking about it or asking questions that are best left to professionals. Sorry you are having problems, but enough with these threads.

Yeah I had it last year. I wasn't able to come out of my bed... Not being social anymore or hating to do anything.
I'm taking medication for it but I feel much better now.

I don't know anymore whether you're serious TC or not. In case you're serious, I'd advise you to reach out to the spirited part of your soul/mind and stimulate and rely on it to a certain extent at least. Because really, if you're on medication already and seeing a therapist and you still that fragile then I don't know what to tell you. I'm not discouraging you from seeking help. What I'm telling you however is that you'll have a much better chance of beating depression if you at least attempt to rely on your inner strength in addition to medication and psychotherapy. The theory behind this is that no one is ever truly ridden of depression; there's always the possibility that it will strike again at some point or another in one's life. If you maintain this fragility and don't do something about this volatility then you'll spend your entire lifetime either on medication alongside a strict regiment of psychotherapy or in constant and paralyzing fear waiting for depression to resurface in your life. I would call neither living.

Don't take that shit, yeah pills. You're making it worse buddy. Eat natural foods (organic if possible), exercise, and sleep well.

I tried exercise (3 months) and therapy. So much for them both. (The therapy though was a single one-hour-session, during which I was almost the only one speaking ; The baby therapist was just silent almost all session long. Must have been thinking to herself to herself: "Jesus, that's the sickest weirdest patient I ever had. Ain't seen nothing like it.")

Indeed. The anti-medication crowd have no idea what they're talking about.

While I would never tell anybody to drop their meds, in my case I could only beat the depression after I stopped my medication...I found that it was preventing me from analysing situations properly and made it impossible for me to make decisions that would improve my quality of life. Now I won't say that there caouldn't possibly be different medications that would do their job without turning me into a drooling vegetable but the fact is, no medication was the right thing to do for me, so saying people have no idea what they're talking about when you yourself have no idea about every single person went about defeating depression is, in my opinion, almost as big of a disservice as people carelessly advising others to drop their medication.

When I say "anti-medication crowd," I am referring to people who insist that people with mental conditions should stop taking their medicine and that medication doesn't work. These people are either ignorant or have an agenda. My brother has schizophrenia and this one idiot told him to stop taking his meds, which would have resulted in disaster. It seriously pissed me off.

If you're not one of those people who claim that people should stop taking meds, you're not part of the "anti-medication crowd." I have no doubt that medication doesn't work for everyone. Maybe I should have used better phrasing.

@GreySeal9: I understand your point and you are right, but in my case I was surrounded by people who would almost shove the medication down my throat and did not allow me to stop. I felt like if I hadn't been able to catch a break and stopped the medication I would have had gone under permanently, so I just wanted to comment on what you said so that people wouldn't read it as "he's saying that I can never stop taking the medication". We're on the same page in this matter, though ^_^ If it works, keep going, if not, make adjustments, but you should never be coerced into doing something that doesn't feel right, especially if the coercion is coming from people with no medical expertise.

Agreed on all points. The patient is in the best position to judge if the medication is working, so those people who ignored your imput and kept pushing it on you were quite irresponsible.

I surely hope so.

While I'm not anti medication.....medication isn't always the answer either. Not talking this specific case though. I told him to seek a professional and what that entails. But some doctor's over medicate and some people rely on medication which is not always the answer.

I totally agree with you. As I said to Korvus, I'm just referring to those people who go around trying to get people to get off their meds because they're convinced that all medication is poison. This one idiot tried to get my brother (who has schizophrenia) off of his meds, which seriously pissed me off.

Well yeah he would be an idiot. Even a cursory understanding of schizophrenia tells you medication is a must.

I've found a way to overcome it.

I've been severely depressed ever since I was a little kid with a somewhat shitty childhood.

The way I overcame it was automatic.

Slowly overtime my emotions dulled until it didn't bother me anymore.

It kind of sucks though because life becomes a bit grey.

You're right. That statement was probably a bit too strong.