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Advice 103
it took me a long time to realise this but it could well be that your GP doesn't really know very much about depression. I would advise anyone to do as much of their own research as possible so as to at least pin down what's happening, whether you're depressed, you're suffering from anxiety, whether you have manic depression or phobias etc. I personally find it very reassuring to be able to pin down what is happening and to find out about what is, statistically, the most effective remedy. one thing I read over and over is the fact that pyschotherapy does not work for depression as it is non-directive and encourages the "patient" to analyse too much (as most of you will agree, we're very good at analysis, less good at fixing our own problems). what does have a high success rate is cognitive therapy as well as cognitive analytical therapy (neither of which I have yet tried although I am in the process of finding a therapist). however, when I talked to my GP, she hadn't really heard of cognitive therapy and encouraged me instead to take medication which I'm still not happy to do. It took a lot of research on my behalf to be able to be confident enough to say to her - look, I need a cognitive therapist, I can't afford to pay for one privately, can you please refer me to the NHS. That's the difficult thing about depression - it's very hard to be assertive about your own mental health but if you leave it to your GP you may not actually get the help you need.
Anyway BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies) www.babcp.com will tell you lots about cognitive therapy and help you find a therapist. Think about buying the book Mind Over Mood (you can get it on www.amazon.co.uk): it's a practical cognitive self-help book with work sheets which I personally find very helpful as it gives you some structure as well as explaining what is going on.
www.Clinical-Depression.co.uk also has a very detailed step by step guide to why you are feeling as you do. I found it particularly helpful on explaining why those awful 4 in the morning wake-ups followed by grotesque dreams seem to be a trademark of depression.
Here are some other sources. Good luck. Also - make a deal with yourself. No matter how exhausted you are in the morning - get out of bed at a regular time. And don't skimp on exercise: as a friend of mine has said, stick it in your diary like a business appointment and treat it as such. Exercise may be the one thing you do this week that's exclusively for you.
Computer-aided packages:
Beating the Blues
A computer-aided package using cognitive behaviour therapy techniques to treat anxiety and depression. Developed with Ultrasis by Dr Judy Proudfoot at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London and available at some GP surgeries. For more information see www.ultrasis.com/healthcare/btb/index.html.
Restoring the Balance (Mental Health Foundation, 2000) £25 (single-user) or £85 (multi-user)
This self-help CD-rom is based on cognitive behaviour therapy techniques, includes interactive exercises, and is designed for people experiencing mild to moderate anxiety or depression. It is written in HTML and Javascript so should run on all Windows and Macintosh computers with a web browser. Details from the Mental Health Foundation, at www.mentalhealth.org.uk or tel: 020 7802 0302 during office hours.
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