My other half has been going through a 'Dark Night of the Soul', to use an old fashioned term for depression. It was a surprise to us all; the last time she suffered with it was about ten years ago when her father died.
Anyway, she visted the GP - with me - and the GP recommended some exercise. Well she does that - to the extreme - already (70 miles a week running and 3 or 4 times a week lifting). She runs and sometimes wins, ultra marathons. She ended up with the standard happy tablets (Certa-something?).
But since then she's been meditating - every evening - using Insight Meditation Timer (like headspace); you get stars for meditation days in-a-row; stars are very important.
But the radical thing she's done is volunteer to befriend a lonely elderly person. She's had an interview, has been found suitable, and is currently getting DBS checked. Once police checked she'll get matched with a local lonely elderly person to befriend and spend a little time with each week.
She still has rough days, but she's tough in that she generally still gets all the stuff done that she wants to get done (and I think she does too much). She says she doesn't feel tough, but she is.
I think she's doing brilliantly; my take on it is seeing the doctor is great - get the happy tablets and get some stability - but don't see those tablets as a solution; they're just to get stable. And then seek other solutions like exercise, meditation, mindfulness, go and help somebody face-to-face (lots of studies show helping others benefits those with depression) and make any changes that may need changing (you'll know the ones).
Citralopram....Prozac, yeh had plenty of those.
What I found with antidepressants, those in particular is they numb the senses, they didn't make me feel happy but took the edge off the feeling like crap...but they made me feel like a zombie, difficult to explain but they reduced the ability to feel emotion, not completely of course but to a small extent.
Medication is useful to take the edge of any would be very helpfull to deal with suicidal type depression but not really an answer long term..
I think meditation really is the key because it teaches detachment from feelings and emotions good or bad.
In order to feel happy you have to notice and believe you are happy just as you have to notice and believe you are depressed.
If you didn't then to be either one is impossible. It's like saying I can or I can't do something, if you say you can you can and you can't then you can't.
Something that we all do, I'll probably do it tomorrow morning when I have to go out into the cold to clean some windows, take a puff of air and say "I can't be arsed"..then my demeanor will change, I will embody that probably by repeating it, some negative thoughts will come into my head, shoulders will drop etc.
My point is that the mind is very powerful and so are our houghts we have to be very carefull what we allow to take on board and what self talk we give ourselves.
The best way I've found to deal with depression is just accept it, let it come and just remember it will go. Just like the tide comes in and out, nothing to try to fight or deny it just is what it is.
I think that the way I look at depression only comes after many years of trying to look for an answer to it. Be that tablets, councilling, CBT, etc I've done it all.
As soon as I stopped trying to find an cure, I found a way of dealing with it by simply accepting it and not giving it any power.
All much easier said than done when you are not depressed of course. Much more difficult when you are feeling low.
But meditation is the key.
With regards exercise, I found that it's almost impossible to be depressed during a hard workout, you know the ones where all you can concentrate on is breathing and staying alive. I'm a cyclist myself and I guess it would be the same with jogging when you are riding so hard all you focus on is the breath, that's a form of meditation in itself as you can't be depressed or have nay other thoughts on that moment, the body shuts off the mind to deal with just simply surviving
