Alternatives for prozac/anti-depressants?

[GOD]

What are you talking about Mystic ? Cureing depression with a shaman ? With drugs ?

 

[Bastiaan]

I think god illustrates the best ways to 'cure' depression very well
Therapy can also of very great value, but you do need the right therapist for the job
I think certainly not all 'proffesional' therapists are cut out for this, even though they claim to be
So finding a good therapist deserves lots of attention imo
Depression won't be miracoulesly be cured by drugs of course, for they don't act on the scource of the problem
I must say though a single ayahuasca session (wich I did alone, don't know if this is the best way though, many emphasize doing it in a shamanic setting, doing it alone worked for me though) helped me quite a lot! Afterwards life really felt more meaningful and ever since I have been feeling quite a lot better then before
I'll probably do another one this month!
Has your friend tried ayahuasca? I mean, don't expect anything from it and definately don't expect only ayahuasca will be able to take on the root of the problem and thus cure the depression
I'm just saying, it helped me to the point I was and still am quite astonished by it
That I was mildly depressed was not the reason I tried it and I did not expect it to be of any influence
But it was

 

[Meduzz]

Prozac/antidepressants only cure the symptomes not the cause of the "depression". I have never had a depression in my life, so I could be wrong when I say that to cure a depression you have to be true and go introspective. No drugs, no psychiatrists, no doctors, no chakras or accapuncture...

 

[GOD]

"you have to be true and go introspective."

Agree , but a good therapist can point you in the right direction by pointing out to you the questions you need to answer . Usualy they just say "why" at times when they think you need to answer that question .

 

[zezt]

Here are some ideas you may like to explore, if you choose to

Have you tried person centred counselling--making sure its not a volunteer/someone just starting out, but an experienced PCC. They're good because they are not invasive and are trained to listen...

Of course psychedelic experience with deep respect. By this I mean really paying attention to good set and setting, and intent--being open about what you want to achive with the Tryp. You want to explore why you feel like you do, etc. A great book I recommend is Sacred Mushroom of Visions: Teonanacatl, Ralph Metzner

Also as an amzing complimentary. This is a book I have been reading for last several months and is a lifechanger of a book. It is The Spell of the Sensuous, by David Abram. And why it is so good is that it opens you up to understanding how peoples from Indigenous oral traidtions experience Nature. As full of meaning.

For, from my own personal experiences with sadness, and from seeing friends, and others, and what I have read about it. A big part of it is a deep sense of meaninglessness. So we need to know the roots of this feeling, which can become severe in modern times

 

[mysticwarrior]

What are you talking about Mystic ? Cureing depression with a shaman ? With drugs ?

I am not talking about just curing a depression with entheogens... I forgot to quote. Sorry about that. But i read that someone talked about degeweidereis.nl. This guy gives ceremonies, but he is not exactly a shaman his self. And i read also somewhere in this thread that someone said there where no shamans around Amsterdam. But they are, and if someone gives me a PM i can help them get in contact with this shaman.

But my opinion about healing depressions, is that it is not easy to explain how someone has to defeat there depression. There are to many factors and reasons why people can get stuck in negative thought patterns which can led to an depression. It can be a bad food habit, i can be a trauma in the past, it can also because living in wrong circumstances etc etc. So no i don't believe that ayahuasca or a shaman just can cure an depression. But i also think that other medicines can also not cure someone. In some cases it can, but it really depends on why someone is depressed. In my opinion all this medicines make it more easy to life with an depression.

I think the only one who can defeat an depression is the person who has it! And there are a lot of tools out there, but these won't work if the person him self dont really wanting to be helped. This person just need to look at the cause of his depression and then choose what would work for him/her.

Once i was also depressed without having trauma's etc. I could not find an purpose in life. I could not understand why we where here on earth. And i got stuck in some very negative thought patterns which almost driving me insane. After i used some mushrooms, i suddenly understood that there was more in life. And that life was not so flat and boring as i thought it was. So for me psychedelics worked fine. I also think that it could help someone who has trauma's. But i don't think it will help someone who's living in wrong circumstances, so i think it really depends on the cause of the depression.

Greets,
Mystic.

 

[restin]

I think that we have to differ between the illness "depression" and the state of mind. I mean, feeling bored or unpleasant situation (in family etc.) can bring you into a state of mind that some would call depression. There, it is very useful to call the friends or if the possibility is there, to go on holidays, get a hobby. But the illness is not always caused by "boredom". Often there are chemicals that the body doesn´t produce e.g. I read about lack of lithium by bipolar disorders. Just going on anti-depressants doesn´t solve the problem. First of all, I´d go to a doctor,let him make a blood-test/allround test and look if every thing is alright in the body. Depressions are very individual. Of course, most of them are caused by things that happened but some people get depressions e.g. when they missed the train. And,on the other hand, not every one gets depressed (here in the meaning of the illness) if a relative dies. So be careful with all-round-cures...

 

[GOD]

Thanks for the explenation Mystic , we agree on everything .

A good place to start to understand what you have if you think your depressed is :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression

 

[restin]

A good place to start to understand what you haveif you think your depressed is :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression

Not neccessarily. E.g. in the bipolar disorder section (in German), there´s a list where you can "check" if you have it. When you think,you are depressed,you tend to agree more on the points than not. E.g. in hypomania: more talkative, and need to talk. there you can say "well,yeah,sometimes maybe..." and in your self-evaluation you are hypomanic in the end...

 

[GOD]

Strange the differences between the entrys in different languages . Selber testen ist daemlich , die meisten menschen schummeln..............


( self testing is stupid , most people cheat ) .

 

[Forkbender]

People tend to take their depression way to seriously. In my conception the only way out is through self-understanding. And I don't mean you have to dig up your past, although it could be part of the process.

 

[mysticwarrior]

People tend to take their depression way to seriously. In my conception the only way out is through self-understanding. And I don't mean you have to dig up your past, although it could be part of the process.

I agree on that

 

[GOD]

Good sex works wonders to .

 

[Meduzz]

http://www.humo.be/cps/rde/xchg/humo/hs ... ukkig.html

A Belgian (quite sensational but independent) magazine had a big article about the industry and the money making behind prozac, ritalin and others. The link contains only the first part of the article and some videos that are worth checking out.

 

[angeliki]

I was sexually abused as a yound child, which led to panic disorder, and anoreixia at the age of 13... I almost died a few years ago when I was 109 lbs. I pulled myself up without PaxilCR which my doctor tried to give me. With the help of my parents, and family members and a doctor in Greece, who guided me ..

In the past I have taken medication and it didn't help. It made me numb, I had no feeling whatsoever, and absolutely no sex drive. My psychiatrist never cared for me, I went there for 1 hour and all she said how are you, here are some more pills. I started to think that the pills are not doing anything, so I quit. The problem is I need to learn how to deal with my problem of being sexually abused as a child, my anxiety, and my anorexia. I'm sick of psychiatrists because I think they are all fake.. I won't give up yet, because I think I am headed in the right direction, but if I get to a point where I feel I can't take it anymore I will give into the drugs, and become numb for the rest of my life. I just feel bad for my parents, because I'm all the got, so I wish I could live like a normal human being , and enjoy life... It saddens me that no one cares enough to go deep into the problem, and just feels like giving a 23 year old some pills will solve the problem, but we live in a world where money rules the world...so ENOUGH SAID

 

[Forkbender]

^The book by Dehue is pretty well received here in Holland, even in quality newspapers that actually read the books they review. Hasn't been translated far as I know. Depression is a multimillion euro business, with tons of people's jobs depending on it. Don't trust a doctor who is dependent on his patients staying sick.

 

[angeliki]

I just want to say a few more things...I asked a doctor is St John Wort works, and he laughed at me.. I 'm afraid to give it a try, because what if it has a negative affect on me?


Also like someone else has mentioned...I have been having the same thoughts lately, why are we here, and what life is all about, and I saw my goals just not seem goals to me anymore, like I gave up. I dont know what to say

 

[Meduzz]

Also like someone else has mentioned...I have been having the same thoughts lately, why are we here, and what life is all about,

That's normal, I have it 70% of the time.

and I saw my goals just not seem goals to me anymore, like I gave up. I dont know what to say

I have a light form of this right now with some exams I have to redo. You just need a break I think.

The point is, people are getting the label "depressed" to fast and to easy. I don't know how "bad" it is with you (no offence) with being abused and all that, but the symptoms you describe don't sound really bad at all...

I would like to say to people that they have to stop taking their anti-depressiva but I'm not a doctor and even if I were I can't get enough info about someone over the internet... and I have zero experience with depression....

 

[Forkbender]

St John's Worth has been used for centuries for mild depression. It doesn't hurt to try. Be careful as it may interact with your contraception (if you use any) or with other medicines.

About the sexual abuse: it is something you will have to learn to live with. I can imagine it is hard to think you didn't do something wrong, that you were somehow punished. At least, that's what you hear a lot in these cases.
Body-centered therapy can really help in my opinion. Wouldn't know any in Greece, of course, but they must be around. Look around at centers for meditation/yoga/etc, there are usually flyers for these kinds of things.

Why did you come to this forum? Do you have a special interest in psychedelics? Or were you just looking around for alternative therapy?

 

[restin]

Strange the differences between the entrys in different languages . Selber testen ist daemlich , die meisten menschen schummeln..............

I know, my english is better actually but I´m on the holiday drug so I don´t concentrate on language very much (I´ll try though)

Yes, they cheat,you understand me. That´s why self-analyzation and self-healing is to be questioned. "Oooooh, I´ve got a depression, I think I´m gonna take some meds..."

@ Angeliki: I think,also with psychedelic experience, the people in this forum aren´t professional...the only thing I could advice is changing the environment...because, as I would say, sexual abuse isn´t something you can get clear with like a broken relationship or so, it is a fact in your life you can´t change...The only thing I can do is wishing you the best. Haven´t you got any friends that are doctors or have such an education?