A medical issue caused my nutrition to be poor.
After a while from this condition I noticed weird feelings. Sort of a sad, hopeless, moody almost like a hormone imbalance issue. After taking common multivitamins, (which helped my sleep, and going back to exercise) my mood improved back to normal.
Sometimes the most simple solution may need to be tried.

Do most people need vitamins? I doubt it. Can it be a good starting step? Yes, along with good nutrition, exercise, regular sleep, avoiding too much caffeine, alcohol and stress. Learning your own mind and how others think is also a good start. Consider an old book, "I'm OK, You're OK." If you don't believe you are OK, you can't be OK.

I'm afraid I won't be helping, but you do know that it can be risky to combine tryptophan with SSRIs, don't you? (And, yes, I do know that you could be in a situation in which it might be dangerous not to combine tryptophan with an SSRI, which would change the significance of that comment).

Please check the full 'warnings and contra-indications' on your current medications to check that there isn't anything warning you off taking tryptophan in combination. I know Sertraline, for example, does have such a warning.

Well when I'm depressed, I talk to my mom. That works every time.

Regards.

When I had my supply of triptophan, I wasn't prescribed SSRI. I was combining triptophan with zolpidem. Hell, here is the combos I been trying with better luck than now, because it is almost 4 am and I have yet to sleep.

Zolpidem
Zolpidem + valerian root
Zolpidem + valerian root + triptophan
Zolpidem + valerian root + lorazepam
Zolpidem + lorazepam
Those resulted in sleep at least.

Then...

Zolpidem + 5-10mg of melatonin... sleep.

As stated before, now I'm out of zolpidem .... fine, I figured I gotta get off that crap sometime right?

Now I tried just 15mg of temazepam ONLY (without lorazepam, because really why would I take two types of benzos, even I'm not that daft, even though I just listed a combo of zolpidem (nonbenzo hypnotic) a friggin z-drug). that I also been purposely avoiding...and here I am posting .... I took it when... 9:30pm last night? been in and out of bed , no sleep whatsoever


Oh yea and when all this started, I purposefully tried to just break zolpidem in half , but I would wake up in the middle of night..


And I recall the triptophan was 500mg..

I guess now I have no choice but to just stay up until I crash.

--edit

In case questions arise, I did run out of melatonin as well and no more valerian root. Also as for the SSRI, I only took that for a week, and in the morning only with nothing else, which just made me feel worse thats even though 'SSRI's don't take effect until a few weeks, but I just remember it making me sick to my stomach outright)

Just a comment since I haven't noticed anyone making the direct distinction between at least 2 kinds of depression

1) Depression aka Situational Depression - This is absolutely normal and correct. We are supposed to experience negative emotions when things don't go well. Learning how to let that pass, correct that situation, or rise above is the path to emotional maturity. Some just grow hard or numb and that's not particularly healthy.

is not at all the same as -

2) Clinical Depression - This is an internal chemistry problem, most of which is hereditary but also whose severity can be triggered and escalated by some external events such as various kinds of drugs both legal and not.

Repeat - if you're depressed because you lost your job/wife/house/etc, that is to be expected but if you're depressed despite getting a new job/wife/house/etc, you might want to check into the root causes of that.

Note that many doctors these days are so lock-stepped with pharmaceutical companies that even they will not make this distinction largely because they want to prescribe SSRIs. I assume they make themselves believe this fits "First, do no harm" because they rarely have the inclination, let alone the time to screen out those who are adversely affected by so-called "anti-depressants". It seems that many doctors assume we would all be better off (or at least stop bugging them) if we were all numbed out on some sort of anti-depressant and unfortunately this has contributed greatly to blurring the line between these two very different states of health and mind.

The "when I'm depressed, I talk to my Mom" is situational, not clinical. (Probably, but could be mildly clinical. Causes such as nutrition and so-on are possible, although "talking to your Mom" is working.

Jeebiz's story is very frightening to me because it describes "self-dosing," perhaps through the night(?), in hopes that "something will work and I'll get to sleep." Uh huh ... maybe sleep forever. Careful, careful.

Yup, we all get depressed occasionally in this stressful life, talking to somebody who actually cares for you and can give a bit of advice works, doesn't matter how far they are.

And yeah, clinical depression should be treated clinically. I've almost reached the edge of it last year for some unmentionable reasons, I just quit my job, went back to my native for 2 months, spent time with family, took care of health and came back as a new man. That's just my case.

Regards.

It's nice to hear that. When I talk to my mom I end up depressed or furious. It's legitimately nice to hear that not everyone has fractious relationships with their parents.

I wholeheartedly agree that making a distinction is important, extremely difficult for both doctor and patient, and often it's labelled a disease far too quickly.

Accepting it as a disease can create both positive and negative consequences.

I do believe that whether or not it's clinical or situational, it's not the person's fault. Even if it's situational, a person can't be expected simply to "snap out of it", or "pull himself up by his bootstraps", and I don't think it can be dismissed as self-pity.

When a person suffers from prolonged/long-term situational depression, they often don't have to tools necessary to cope with stress or have a handle on how to address their problems efficiently and in a healthy manner. Of course in some cases, a situation (maybe more than one) has arisen that would make it difficult for anyone, even the most well-adjusted person, to cope.

There are different methods to learning coping skills, and other forms of therapy designed to help a person who's distorted thoughts contribute to depression (CBT, DBT, etc). These often take a long time to make a dramatic difference, and require routine practice. Changing one's way of thinking is no easy task. If someone gets frustrated or takes a break from trying, or doesn't believe it will ever help... I can hardly judge them.

I'll give a little personal background to help illustrate:

I'm aware that I have distorted thoughts that contribute to my depression, also that I can alleviate some depression by modifying some of my routine behaviors, such as brushing my teeth, or taking a shower, or eating better. When I'm aware that something is bothering me, when it's something I have the power to do something about, I try to address it, so it's just one less thing I have on my mind weighing me down. Sometimes it's a major effort, a chore, and I procrastinate anyway.

I wasn't around positive people growing up. After my father died, we moved almost every year or two. I was always an outsider, criticized by many people. I never learned how important self-love or self-acceptance is, as a child I had to figure out how to deal with most of my problems. There was little stability and security. There was really no reason for me to believe I had a bright future. There was no reason to believe in myself. Let me tell you that the effects of low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence can sure FEEL like a disease.

I'm working on that stuff by the way. I haven't accepted that just because some negative ideas are ingrained from childhood, that I can't have a more balanced view of myself and the rational world we live in.

One a more positive note: I don't mean to imply it was all bad. Things could have been a lot worse. My mother tried very hard after my dad was gone. My grandparents helped out immensely. There were kind people here and there, I did have a few good friends and good times. My Aunt and Uncle have made a huge difference in my life.

So now I'm forty-one. I was introduced to CBT circa 1992. I would be a lot worse now if not for that.

I do also believe there are some biological issues working against me as well. My body doesn't seem to regulate my moods or energy levels very well. My "highs" never get too high, and it seems that if I do have a high, when I have more energy and motivation than usual, am less likely to get overpowered by depression, it is inevitably followed by a low.

When I go out and socialize, afterward I feel wound up and my thoughts race and it delays me going to sleep by an avg of three hours. No matter what, I can't stop it. I can get my mind off it sometimes by doing other things, but when I have to step away from the hobby or the "escape," the thoughts go back to racing. "Self-talk" (CBT) and meditaTion almost never have a calming effect during those times, or very little.

Well, there are other clues too, but I'd best tie up my thoughts and make a point.

I mentioned above negative and positive consequences about make general statements about it being a disease...

I get the impression from reading patient blogs that once it's accepted as a disease, it takes incentive away for people to make changes that might help. To change the things that they do have power over. In fact, once it's accepted as a disease, it can add to the feeling of being helpless and powerless.

There really needs to be more emphasis on making distinctions. Some people are more self-aware than others so I know this is a tough issue. Doctors and therapists really need to be more pro-active in their approach to identifying as many factors as possible.

Does saying it's a disease and convincing the public it's a disease make it easier to accept prescription drugs as a treatment option, and cause over-prescribing to be common? Does classifying it as a disease help to ensure that medication is covered by insurance? Anyone have opinions or knowledge about these questions?

I won't cover the "positive" consequences of calling it a disease; I think those are more obvious.

I failed to emphasize that I most certainly believe that working with a good therapist—rather than by yourself—can be TREMENDOUSLY beneficial for those who are focusing on treatment without drugs, using methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and the many other forms of non-pharmacological methods I haven't mentioned. Remember that doctors and therapists can only recommend, they can not force you to take prescriptions. If you feel that your doctor is pushing it or not acknowledging your feelings about it, or thinks you're being uncooperative, or seems not very not pro-active—get a second opinion, or a third opinion. There are many good therapists and doctors so try not to let the bad ones discourage you from getting effective treatment.

—
Forums at Psych Central
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Call 24/7 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Absent: The Movie | Documentary on the social pandemic of fatherlessness afflicting today's societies.

For sure do NOT take triptophan and MAOIs, that would lead to serotonin syndrome.

I think that might be true of any chronic condition including things like diabetes and heart disease. It's awful easy to turn over personal responsibility for managing a chronic condition to the medical community. That doesn't fix the situation of course, but actively taking steps to address any chronic condition is so much harder than just taking a pill, whether the self managed steps are diet and exercise or self-talk.

Also I think there are a lot of duds out there in the therapy world. There are some gifted individuals, but there are some duds. Therapists are like hair stylists. You just have to try them out and see if the style works for you. I mean no offense to either therapists or hair stylists (though the bill for a cut and color is the same as a therapy session).

Well put. I'm glad you filled in some gaps I left.

—
Forums at Psych Central
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Call 24/7 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Absent: The Movie | Documentary on the social pandemic of fatherlessness afflicting today's societies.

When I get depressed I say to myself: get off it or stop feeling sorry for yourself.

And sometimes it works.

Although I was depressed at one point for a few weeks, I recovered without intervention. I was on a trip at the time, I don't remember where, but maybe something was affecting me there. Most other times I can readily turn sadness into anger, so I rarely get depressed. Not very productive you may say, but it has kept me alive so far. Sometimes I am able to simply preoccupy myself with something else, often I try to improve everything I can in the hope that my mood will change, and it usually does.

When I feel I have too many things that it all seems impossible to deal with, I try to tackle one thing at a time. Even it's really small, that's one less thing that weighs me down. I try to determine what I have control over and what I don't.

And yeah, sometimes I also will call my mother.

Sometimes "getting outside myself" helps and I watch the news (which can be depressing so I can only take so much), or read a book, a biography, some history, or sci-fi. I go for a walk, chill at the library, see if my nephews can pull themselves away from the video games to do something together, or just ask them how they're doing. Playing the piano usually elevates my mood but like some other things I can't always do that when the depression hits really hard, and sometimes my hands get sore from just holding a book when reading. But the point is there's a lot of little, realistic things I can do.

Oh, and I try to get the proper nutrition, even when I'm not hungry if I know I'm behind on eating. I drink water and have breakfast right away in the morning, so I can rule out that I've not been affected by skipping a meal.

When I started learning meditation it was pointed out to avoid things that can create negativity—and a "side effect" of the meditation is that I'm more aware of how dark or violent movies affect me, and now rarely watch them. Usually I go with comedies.

Unfortunately it can get so severe for some people, myself included, that sometimes I can't focus well enough even to read a book, watch tv, or play piano. Then I remind myself that it will pass and not feel guilty about it. That it probably means that I have to face it for it to pass and not hide from it. But even then, something simple like having the opportunity to hang out with friends and relatives can help make that dissipate. Seems like everybody's got computers or devices these days they don't want to leave.

Unrelated, but I want to mention that everyone gets sad or depressed sometimes. There's varying degrees and beyond the scope of what I could say here, but for me, sadness is a very small part of depression. Depression is separate from sadness. Actually I read once that depression is anger turned inward. I don't know how often that's true. But yeah, sometimes I get sad, but sometimes it's more like... hold down a button, that button is "depressed". Now keep holding that button. That's depression. Feeling weighed down, energy and motivation sapped for no obvious reason, and not even being able to predict how one's going to feel and think from one hour to the next. Getting irritated with oneself because something that's interesting one day may hold no appeal the next. Though some of what I described might fall more in line with bi-polar disorder or some other mood disorder than depression alone.

Once I was also diagnosed with Dysthymia so my symptoms may not be "typical" of "standard" bi-polar, depression, etc.