Depression???

[KathyB777]

Is depression a normal part of detoxing????
Sitting here and a commercial comes on talking about depression and it's like I have all the symptoms.lol No energy, can't concentrate, sad, etc.
Normal right???????

[BIG AL]

Ya its normal.You have to remember you just lost your best friend.The easy way out of things the drink or the drug.Just hang on and the tide will change.Im depressed I am not going camping this weekend.I got everythig read and went shopping and freakin all the parks for miles are full up.So I am unpacking and just going to take the boat out tomorrrow and come home.I should be camping now.One day you will laugh at all this.Just nor right now:12:

[Hagnotes]

Coping with depression is a catch-22.

Depressed people often know what to do to help
with their depression, but the illness hinders
their ability to follow through.

"To recover from depression you should eat well,
sleep well, be active and think realistically,"
says Jon Allen, PhD, senior staff psychologist at
The Menninger Clinic and Professor of Psychiatry
in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry &
Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of
Medicine. "Yet the typical symptoms of depression
include poor appetite, insomnia, lethargy and
negative thinking. Above all, you should maintain
hope, but depression can bring hopelessness."

Since depression runs in families, many people
who are depressed may attribute their illness to
a "chemical imbalance," and discount their active
role in treatment. While depression has
biological origins, Dr. Allen says, the illness
develops from a pileup of psychological and
interpersonal stress over the patient's lifetime.

Dr. Allen writes about stress pileup and how to
overcome the catch-22s of depression in his
latest book, Coping with Depression: From
Catch-22 to Hope, published this month by
American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. He draws
upon decades of experience at The Menninger
Clinic treating patients with depression and
teaching them about managing their illness.

"In teaching depressed patients about depression,
I quickly learned that merely talking about all
the things that they needed to do to recover was
futile," Dr. Allen says. "I realized that we
needed to start with the obstacles to recovery. I
started using the concept of catch-22, from the Joseph Heller book.

Common catch-22s

쨌 Thinking positively: Advice to "look on the
bright side," or "think positively" isn't easy
for a person suffering from depression, Dr. Allen
says. Depression causes negative thinking and
self-criticism that crowd out positive thoughts.

쨌 Maintaining supportive relationships: When
you're depressed, you need support from others,
but depression leads to social withdrawal and is
likely to undermine relationships.

쨌 Having fun: Even having fun is a catch-22 for
the depressed patient. Depression chips away at a
person's capacity to enjoy life and experience pleasure.

Baby steps

Taking small steps is the only way around
catch-22, Dr. Allen says. Persons with depression
can't force themselves to sleep or feel pleasure.
They can become more active one step at a time,
for example, sitting up in bed, getting out of
bed and walking out of the bedroom. They can also
participate in activities that provide an
opportunity to rekindle pleasure such as walking
around the block or going to a movie with a
friend. For the seriously depressed patient, Dr.
Allen recommends a combination of treatment
methods, which may include psychotherapy along with medication.

"I think underestimating the difficulty of
recovering from depression contributes to
hopelessness," Dr. Allen says. "Understanding the
seriousness and complexity of the illness
prepares depressed persons to take an active role
in their recovery by working on their physical
health, negative thinking, emotional conflicts and relationship problems."

Rita R. Handrich, PhD

[sioux]

Things that help with detoxing and depression:

Eating healthy foods at regular intervals
Exercising, like walking and getting fresh air
Breathing deeply
Setting a doctor appointment to get checked out
Limiting TV and computer time; listening to positive upbeat music
Joining a recovery program

I have to be productive and moving forward. I am not suggesting either that depression isn't serious. When I gave up alcohol I had a big loss in my life. Step work with a sponsor, service work, getting healthy...those were things that filled that loss. My serious bout with depression came years later on, and these were the things that were suggested to me, and surprisingly they helped immensely.

When I start to feel down, I look at what I have been doing, and more importantly not doing. Spiritual, physical, mental...those are the three things that are simple to look at. When one house is not in order, the rest start to implode too.

AND I have to say that limiting my television viewing has really been a big help.

I have to focus on what I can reasonably do to be well, not sick. I have to practice sanity on a daily basis.