Depressives Anonymous?

15 posts / 0 new

Wed, 2012-11-28 11:10

Up until my thirties, I was blisslessly unaware that I drank alcoholicly and used drugs as an addict, and although I knew something was wrong I couldn't attribute my underlying problem to drink and drugs.
From sixteen, I've seen psychotherapists sporadically but none mentioned alcohol or drugs.
I don't think depression was even mentioned until recently.
Now I'm sober for over two years, I can see that drink and drugs are not the problem. I'm the problem. My head is the problem. The way I think is the problem.
And that all boils down to depression, which was the reason I drank and drugged, to effectively 'get out of my head'.
A high proportion of alcoholics and addicts who go to AA and NA are self-confessed depressives, and many only realised what their underlying problem was once they got sober. Drink and drugs were mere symptoms.
While drink and drugs served as a good way to alleviate the brain-pain of life as a young man, it was alcohol and drugs that led me to AA and a new way of life, but for those who suffer depression and do not have self-destructive isms like addiction and alcoholism, what help is there out there other than anti-depressants and expensive psychotherapy?
By and large, one stops working after a while and the other is sometimes no more than a drip-feed of money with no real answers, which I attribute to the fact that if you were given answers you'd no longer need their services, which would be detrimental to your therapist.
On the other hand, AA's free for those who are skint, a quid or two for those who aren't, and the rewards that fellowship and empathy can bring I see every week. If a newcomer reckons it's shit, we welcome the idea that he do more research (which means going back to it) because without first acknowledging that drink/drugs are a waste of life, AA can't do much apart from keeping us away from the pub/dealer while we're at a meeting.
Unlike psychotherapists, AA members regard helping their fellow sufferers as crucial to their own recovery.
Maybe the worst thing about depression is that it's seen as a weakness, like alcohol and drug-use, so many depressives with or without self-destructive habits often suffer alone, and it is a damning indictment on society that at least one in ten suffer this illness. It is also quite telling, perhaps, that one in ten suffer from addiction of one sort or another, although I believe that both these figures are under-estimated.
What if depressives set up a Depressives Anonymous?
Using the steps and traditions of AA, and replacing alcohol and drugs with mental unrest, I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work just as well for depressives as it does for addicts and alcoholics.
For anyone who hasn't needed help with mental illness, this may be a question worth a comedic punt, but to those who have met other depressives and valued their conversations, do any of you think that this could be a way forward?

Wed, 2012-11-28 11:21

alex_tomlin

Definitely an interesting idea. There's a massive issue with the stigma and shame associated with depression and mental illness generally. Anything that gets people to see they're not as alone as they might feel could help. Not sure about the practicalities of it but I have heard that AA has worked for a lot of people so worth investigating.

Wed, 2012-11-28 12:17

God

There already is one on ABC, isn't there? I don't like talking about it, too depressing, but other people seem to get plenty of support.

Wed, 2012-11-28 12:58

thanksforthepar...

I think this could be a very good way forward, especially as it would help conteract the loneliness and isolation often experienced with this condition. Really good therapists who genuinely care about their craft/profession, and people, are willing to work toward the day when their job is no longer needed, it's supposed to be a means to end, not a means in itself. But specialised fields like that can easily become inward looking, 'tis a shame really.

Wed, 2012-11-28 13:53

The Walrus

Any help is welcome when you feel like shit most of the time and nothing you try seems to make you feel much better. I reckon that one of the most helpful things for a depressive going through a particuilarly low point is to be encouraged by someone who really knows how you feel - there's nowt like the empathy of fellow sufferers, because the majority of therapists can't fully comprehend the pain and isolation that sufferers have to endure unless they have experienced the illness themselves. I exercise as much as I can, Francis, though my knees are a little arthritic and I can't tolerate the punishment of running. My major worries concern money, and what I need above anything else is regular employment.

Wed, 2012-11-28 14:00

Highhat

If I was as depressed as I was last winter I wouldn't even be able to get out of the house- let alone join a group.

Wed, 2012-11-28 15:53

Parson Thru

Running works well for a while, but the injuries and prolonged winter poor health get a bit depressing. Thing with the running is right when you are defeated by your own self and you cannot picture yourself ever running again, you grab your stuff and you drag it behind you kicking and screaming to get changed and run. Straight away you are one up on the day. Endorphins are quite cool, too. Might not work for everyone.

Parson Thru

Wed, 2012-11-28 17:30

lavadis

I suppose my problem is that having suffered from depression very seriously about 15 years ago now with the odd twinge every month or two since I would fear any community of depressive people. Put quite simply - I can feel myself getting dragged back in to it. I counsel and help depressed people professionally and have many friends to whom I turn and who have turned to me in times of need as well as very close family. That community - my support network if you like, are what keeps the wolf howling from a safe distance. I totally agree with Stan (as I often do. I also agree with Parson and Barely, running, very serious very competitive running - which has taken me to the outer limits of endurance, has really helped me. I think God is correct when he says that ABC already is the forum you are looking for - you can express your feelings openly and get some really thougthful responses. However if you wanted to start a Depressives Anonymous I think it would be a very good idea and you would be an inspirational figurehead.

Wed, 2012-11-28 21:09

Terrence Oblong

I'm definitely in the depressed runners club.

Wed, 2012-11-28 22:11

#10

johnshade

There must be a link between writing, depression and exhausting exercise. Especially running. It's been my main form of therapy for the last 15 years. Cycling is great too, but it takes longer to get the hit. If you have the chance to swim in a lake or ocean, and not in a 25 metre swimming pool, that's also mighty uplifting. I have the impression, and it's only an impression, that this need for repetitive outdoor physical activity is stronger among men than women. To get back to the thread topic, if you set up a depressives anonymous blighter's, I'm in.

Wed, 2012-11-28 22:14

#11

blighters rock

Sports are well known to help the mind work better and I really should that Clubcard for the leisure centre but it's a bit like going to the theatre; I leave saying to myself I must do that every week but fail miserably to do so. Swimming's the thing I'd like to do but I seem to get anxious in leisure centres, maybe something to do with the past, who knows. Walking in nature's also a brilliantly spiritual thing to do. I agree that AA's not for everyone, Stan. It's generally for the lowest of rock-bottomers, those whose livers and hearts and kidneys and brains could take no more. I'm a binge-drinking alcy who never drank in the morning or at home (did spliff instead) and never got the DTs but it works well for me too. It's the spiritual side of it that interests me the most, that a set of steps requiring humility, honesty, willingness and open-mindedness can give me peace if I'm prepared to do the work, but also the people and their stories remind me how shitty my drinking/drugging/gambling became and what a twat I turned into because of my immaturity (when we start drinking alcoholicly we stop growing emotionally, which means I'm about 18 now). That spiritual side is what I think's missing from the lives of depressives; the thought that they can share their own feelings and find amswers in fellowship and helping others.

Wed, 2012-11-28 22:40

#12

thanksforthepar...

Um just to follow up on the running/ exercise thing, I want to say that diet has been extremely important to me. I've read some quite convincing research on the role of nutrition in mental health and addiction...and even that some conditions can be practically cured by supplements and good nutrition. It's all quite complicated and expensive to follow properly and I've never been able to stick to it, but the simplest version goes like this: Keep blood sugar levels stable No/low sugar (this is meant to be one of the main offenders in memory loss, anxiety, tiredness etc) No/low caffiene No/low alcohol High protein, but protein from low fat, unprocessed sources (esp vegetarian sources like nuts) Oils like Omega 3,6,9 (this is where it can get complicated cos it's about the balance not the amount in the brain. Vitamins, esp B (again it gets complicated because it depends on the needs of the individual, rather than universal daily guidelines) No white flour or unnecessarily processed grains ...and exercise :) I got this cobbled together set of ideas from 'Optimum Nutrition for the Mind' by Patrick Holford. I think even small changes can help, it helps me when I manage to do it, but I know that eating is often one of the first things to downhill in a bad bout.

Wed, 2012-11-28 22:58

#13

blighters rock

Just had a quick shufty on t'net for groups and there seems to be one, formerly known as Depressives Anonymous and now called Depression UK. It looks like it operates out of Nottingham. I only started this topic to float the idea out there and see what people thought. I'm very happy with AA but the thought came to me yesterday that there really should be one for purist depressives (ie. those who don't use drink/drugs/food/whatever to temporarily alleviate the illness), mostly because there are so many of us depressives in AA. It seems crazy that there's a fellowship for co-dependency and sex and love addiction but not a single meeting for depressives (apart perhaps from Depression UK, which seems, by name at least, to have moved away from the AA traditions) and I think someone may help many people by starting a meeting up using the twelve steps. Using AA as a guide, a meeting consists of two people or more. It may be a while before it gets going but that's how AA started in the 30's and now there are millions of us getting and staying sober through the rooms. If anyone's interested in getting a meeting going, please email me through abc for a chinwag.

Wed, 2012-11-28 23:00

#14

rask_balavoine

The thought of getting together with a group of people in the throes of depression or even who have survived it I find most depressing, though I know it works for many. A good hard swim did it for me, and the need to beat it on my own.

Rask

Thu, 2012-11-29 08:29

#15

maggyvaneijk

I've been to an Anxiety Anonymous type group before, which was very strange. Imagine a cramped room full of people who are all trying to supress a panic attack. A couple members ran out (thinking about it, it would make a great comedy sketch) But the plus side of it was that it made you feel like you weren't alone and for all your crazies there's going to be someone crazier. So in that respect I could see your proposal working.