What can I do for my social anxiety/depression besides medication and therapy?
ByI’ve been in therapy and on medication for about a year now, and I don’t think that it’s been doing enough. It’s so hard for me to make close friends and I don’t have a good relationship with my parents, so there isn’t anyone that I can talk to. Please help if you can….
Hi,
The 3 best things to do first are to:
- make sure you are getting at least 7 hours sleep a night (and not less or too much more than that - don’t sleep all day)
- exercise a few times a week where you actually sweat, this release nature pain killers and feel good chemicals and can reduce stress
- eat good foods or at least cut out the bad foods. You brain and body gets all the vitamins and minerals that are digested in your stomach and if you don’t give it good foods then you don’t have the fuel to think clearly and you will have less energy to move around…etc.
If you are successfully doing these 3 things and are still having issues, which many us are, then write down how bad you feel and for how long it has lasted… if you feel you can not cope with depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. and it is seriously negatively affecting your life for long periods of time, then yes go talk to your doctor to refer you to a councillor or psychiatrist and one of the best things you can do is look for a local support group for depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. as these have helped me very much. If you go to Craigslist website for your city, you should be able to search for a group. Or call your cities specific crisis hotline and they should be able to give you some group names and other resources you can utilize to help your condition.
My opion of psychiatrists is that although they can usually tell you what you are suffering from or give it a name, they are not so good at treating it naturally or with groups, most of them give you drugs unfortunatley. Drugs are good if you are so deep in depression that you almost can’t work or go to school and you are having longer periods of depression …etc. They can get you out of the hole, but research very carefully what you take as most of them have side effects and some are very hard to get off of once you get onto them.
Before taking any drugs, talk to a support group or join an online support group such as one of the several on yahoo groups or google groups and see what they are talking about and post a question to them as they would have years of experience about that. Then compare what they said to other resources that you may have access to and them make a decision to use drugs or not. For me, just going to my weekly meetings keeps me feeling ok for now and met some good friends I can talk to. There are several other natural ways to fend off mental issues if you study and reseach it. Could be you are not eating properly or have bad digestion or have a thyroid issue …etc.
I would suggest to get a regular phsyical exam done by doctors to see if anything comes from it. Especially test your thryoid and adrenal glands as my sister had a thryoid issue that affect her energy and moods and I had a DHEA and Cortisol level issue (both produced by adrenal glands) where I ended up taking some DHEA suppliments and eating more foods for it, and felt much better.
Hope this helps and take good care of yourself. This will get better if you just put in a littel time and effort and have faith that you can and will get better.
If you feel you can not cope with depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. and it is seriously negatively affecting your life for long periods of time, then yes go talk to your doctor to refer you to a councillor or psychiatrist and one of the best things you can do is look for a local support group for depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. as these have helped me very much. If you go to Craigslist website for your city, you should be able to search for a group. Or call your cities specific crisis hotline and they should be able to give you some group names and other resources you can utilize to help your condition.
My opion of psychiatrists is that although they can usually tell you what you are suffering from or give it a name, they are not so good at treating it naturally or with groups, most of them give you drugs unfortunatley. Drugs are good if you are so deep in depression that you almost can’t work or go to school and you are having longer periods of depression …etc. They can get you out of the hole, but research very carefully what you take as most of them have side effects and some are very hard to get off of once you get onto them.
Before taking any drugs, talk to a support group or join an online support group such as one of the several on yahoo groups or google groups and see what they are talking about and post a question to them as they would have years of experience about that. Then compare what they said to other resources that you may have access to and them make a decision to use drugs or not. For me, just going to my weekly meetings keeps me feeling ok for now and met some good friends I can talk to. There are several other natural ways to fend off mental issues if you study and reseach it. Could be you are not eating properly or have bad digestion or have a thyr
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4 Comments
August 22nd, 2009 at 7:48 pm
you can use this support site http://selfhelp.yuku.com it has sections on depression and anxiety and the people on the site are really helpful and supportive i hope you like it and that it helps you.
References :
August 22nd, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I have the same issues that you have. The only thing I can really recommend other then therapy and medication is to do something fun! For me, I will make a list of what I like to do and then I will decide on one thing to try and do it! There are times when I will watch TV, or play a computer game, or go for a drive, or something to get my mind off of things. Music is also good.
I don’t know if you have any siblings, but I enjoy hanging out with my brother and going to do stuff with him and his wife and his dog. Pets really help too!
Good luck!
References :
August 25th, 2009 at 6:09 am
Hi! I have been exactly where you are.
It can be a tough place to be sometimes. smile and don’t give up :)!
First of all if you have been on medication for a year and you do not think it’s doing enough you may want to suggest a different dosage of medication or maybe even a new medication all together to find the one that is best for you. don’t be afraid to speak up to your Dr. about this!
Sometimes therapy doesn’t work for everyone. It call all depend on the doctors methods or even just the fact that they are a stranger to you on the outside
besides your sessions with them, not someone you personally know and can confide in 100 %. I was in therapy from the age 9 to 18 and it personally never worked for me.
What did work for me was writing in a diary and writing music lyrics or a song, you know,just write out your feelings and thoughts and you may find when you get some things out of your mind, a little weight is taken off your shoulders and mind. and Or you could be making a smash hit for the future!
save your writings
Excercising helps greatly, go for a walk,bike ride,swim,run.That can rid you of alot of your anxiety by pushing yourselfto be a little more active.
Get out in the sun and get some of those much needed natural vitamins!
Make sure you are eating well also. Eat those healthies! fruits and veggies and protein .Sometimes we may not realize but food can effect our mood in big ways. Turkey makes you sleepy, you eat alot of mcdonalds and feel greasy and full later and are like "why did i eat that?". Getting hyper from candy,sweets or energy drinks and then crashing later.
Just some of the ways food may effect you.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to your parents when you need someone to talk to ,that is what they are there for, even though it may seem a little bit daunting at times. You may even want to try talking to your counselor at your school or reach out to a friendly teacher.
Making close friends takes time. try to smile, be friendly or start a small conversation,invite your new aquaintences to do something fun and never lose touch.
Often with deppression you have your ups and downs somedays are awesome or just ok and some are just down right horrid. Just stay positive and hopeful everything is going to work out!
I hope I helped a little and I hope you find the best ways to help you and I wish you all the best!
References :
August 26th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Hi,
The 3 best things to do first are to:
- make sure you are getting at least 7 hours sleep a night (and not less or too much more than that - don’t sleep all day)
- exercise a few times a week where you actually sweat, this release nature pain killers and feel good chemicals and can reduce stress
- eat good foods or at least cut out the bad foods. You brain and body gets all the vitamins and minerals that are digested in your stomach and if you don’t give it good foods then you don’t have the fuel to think clearly and you will have less energy to move around…etc.
If you are successfully doing these 3 things and are still having issues, which many us are, then write down how bad you feel and for how long it has lasted… if you feel you can not cope with depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. and it is seriously negatively affecting your life for long periods of time, then yes go talk to your doctor to refer you to a councillor or psychiatrist and one of the best things you can do is look for a local support group for depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. as these have helped me very much. If you go to Craigslist website for your city, you should be able to search for a group. Or call your cities specific crisis hotline and they should be able to give you some group names and other resources you can utilize to help your condition.
My opion of psychiatrists is that although they can usually tell you what you are suffering from or give it a name, they are not so good at treating it naturally or with groups, most of them give you drugs unfortunatley. Drugs are good if you are so deep in depression that you almost can’t work or go to school and you are having longer periods of depression …etc. They can get you out of the hole, but research very carefully what you take as most of them have side effects and some are very hard to get off of once you get onto them.
Before taking any drugs, talk to a support group or join an online support group such as one of the several on yahoo groups or google groups and see what they are talking about and post a question to them as they would have years of experience about that. Then compare what they said to other resources that you may have access to and them make a decision to use drugs or not. For me, just going to my weekly meetings keeps me feeling ok for now and met some good friends I can talk to. There are several other natural ways to fend off mental issues if you study and reseach it. Could be you are not eating properly or have bad digestion or have a thyroid issue …etc.
I would suggest to get a regular phsyical exam done by doctors to see if anything comes from it. Especially test your thryoid and adrenal glands as my sister had a thryoid issue that affect her energy and moods and I had a DHEA and Cortisol level issue (both produced by adrenal glands) where I ended up taking some DHEA suppliments and eating more foods for it, and felt much better.
Hope this helps and take good care of yourself. This will get better if you just put in a littel time and effort and have faith that you can and will get better.
If you feel you can not cope with depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. and it is seriously negatively affecting your life for long periods of time, then yes go talk to your doctor to refer you to a councillor or psychiatrist and one of the best things you can do is look for a local support group for depression or anxiety or lack of motivation…etc. as these have helped me very much. If you go to Craigslist website for your city, you should be able to search for a group. Or call your cities specific crisis hotline and they should be able to give you some group names and other resources you can utilize to help your condition.
My opion of psychiatrists is that although they can usually tell you what you are suffering from or give it a name, they are not so good at treating it naturally or with groups, most of them give you drugs unfortunatley. Drugs are good if you are so deep in depression that you almost can’t work or go to school and you are having longer periods of depression …etc. They can get you out of the hole, but research very carefully what you take as most of them have side effects and some are very hard to get off of once you get onto them.
Before taking any drugs, talk to a support group or join an online support group such as one of the several on yahoo groups or google groups and see what they are talking about and post a question to them as they would have years of experience about that. Then compare what they said to other resources that you may have access to and them make a decision to use drugs or not. For me, just going to my weekly meetings keeps me feeling ok for now and met some good friends I can talk to. There are several other natural ways to fend off mental issues if you study and reseach it. Could be you are not eating properly or have bad digestion or have a thyr
References :