Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)I no longer use antidepressants. [View all]
I very much doubt I ever will again.
Wrestling with my dark feelings made them worse. I have come to the conclusion that, for me, I do not suffer from depression but benefit from seriousness. I do not have a sick mind, but a mind that wishes to take things seriously.
I have benefitted enormously from allowing myself to accept emotional pain, sometimes long term, and let it sink into me and alter my personality, rather than wrangle with it in the hope that I can maintain a youthful outlook. I no longer want a youthful outlook. I want MY outlook, and I no longer believe that sadness is an illness, not even if it lasts for years.
In 2012 I learned to accept that the world around me can be dark and terrible but that does not mean that it is off-kilter, upset or out of balance at all and in fact is functioning perfectly normally.
The result of all this is that for the first time in years, particularly over the past few months, I have been able to accept an increasingly giving world, have stopped taking the love of my friends for granted and have been rewarded with acts of forgiveness and kindness (that in fact were always there but I had been ignoring them through a strong desire to influence them and bring them about myself), acts I had long since stopped paying any attention to because I had fallen into the habit of believing that feelings were inherently suspect.
I have thrown away the desire for happiness, and finally it has reappeared.
So, in a slightly counter-intuitive sense, the Mayans were right.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
112 replies, 27829 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (70)
ReplyReply to this post
112 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
You did the right thing. A youthful outlook comes from the ignorance and inexperience of
Squinch
Dec 2012
#4
Thank you pecwae... and it may interest you to know that this whole process started with yoga...
sibelian
Dec 2012
#59
"a dedication to difficult but worthwhile things for very little reward" = indeed. the scars are
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#68
As I have gotten older and reflected more, I came to the understanding of who I am vs. what I want
Dustlawyer
Dec 2012
#89
Well I'm doing okay... I'm not necessarily advocating my experience as a panacea...
sibelian
Dec 2012
#65
"Do not encourage mentally ill people to stop appropriate treatment." The poster didn't. Quite
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#70
you might find this video of a former pharmaceutical representative interesting
green for victory
Dec 2012
#38
interesting that you were prescribed ssri's as a sleep aid. what was the medical rationale for
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#93
Ha! Of course not, sibelian. Please have a fun and safe trip =) ! Oh, and happy new year! eom
ChisolmTrailDem
Dec 2012
#87
Addendum: the gene sapolsky talks about at the end is 5-htt. after more research it turns
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#96