medication for depression: part two

as a fellow depression sufferer myself, i can tell you that this body problem is a real, biochemical, brain disorder. it's a genetic disorder that you can trace in your family tree. anxiety runs in my father's side of the family and depression in my mother's. my handsome husband can definitely tell you that medications work to help me feel better. if my neurotransmitters are out of wack - seratonin, norepinephrine, dopamine to name a few - then i'm sick and not only do i need to pray, meditate, focus on God's truths, exercise, practice good self care, rest more often, reduce my commitments outside the home but i also need to take medication, have a medication adjustment, get in to see the doc.

another thing about treatment for the body problem of depression and other things like it is the length of time you need to take meds.  if you have an infection, say a URI (upper respiratory infection), you might be placed on meds for 10-14 days or on a z-pack for 5 which covers you for 14. but for anti-depressants you have to take these for a minimum of 6 months and up to one year.  why you ask?  as dr. seuss said "i don't know, go ask your mother!"  no, seriously, i can't explain it to you medically i just know it to be true according to all the research.  we don't know if that's the time it takes for the brain to heal itself while the medication is treating the symptoms or just what.  you've heard it called the "practice of medicine."  all we know is that it works. someone who has had more than two or three episodes of depression has a chronic illness and is most likely going to need meds the rest of their lives (sorry to be the bearer of good/news bad/news).

the last thing to mention to you while i've gone from "preaching to meddling" is that if you suffer from depression or one of the other mental illnesses like it, research shows the best results in treating these ills come from the combination of medication and psychotherapy from someone like me! psychotherapy (a fancy way of saying talking to a trained professional that's not involved in your situation) changes a person's body problem for the good!  sometimes folks start out with meds alone. sometimes they start out with counseling alone. but the best results are from the combination of the two.

borrowing a line from steven brown, one of our favorite modern day theologians who has a radio gig, you think about that!