Depression Support Group

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My mood is steadily declining

yoshimi96
yoshimi96

I'm a 21 year old female who has dealt with depression and anxiety since a young age. I've tried several different medications, but I've been on Zoloft the longest (which I'm still currently taking). I've found that while it's done a good job in treating my anxiety, it has not been as effective with the depression. Over the past several months especially, I've felt a steady decline in my mood. It's not just sadness, it's often the inability to feel anything at all. I feel very numb, like I'm just an outsider looking into my own life. It's hard to find enjoyment or pleasure in anything, or even enjoy being around people I love. I don't have any motivation. I feel like I have no energy. No appetite. It's very disheartening. I'm not sure if this is SSRI-induced apathy or if I'm relapsing into some kind of depressive episode, but I'm not sure what to do. Has anyone expereinced this kind of thing before? I know antidepressants aren't the "solve-all", but maybe I should talk to my psych about changing medications. 

Onlythelonely
Onlythelonely
It may be your meds. I used to listen to a call in counseling radio program. The psychologists on the program said that antidepressants should not be taken for long periods of time. Their advice was to take the meds while you are receiving therapy and working through the issues that cause the anxiety and depression. And then you can go off the meds. Otherwise you just become dependent on the meds.
Richielo
Richielo
They only treat ur symptom but don't help you with the cause. Depression and anxiety are images that ur mind creates from yesterday or illusionary future events that cause ur body to react to the imaginary situations. This happens when ur inattentive in the moment, living life in ur mind. But if you're attentive in life, by observing everything as if it was the first time u seen it, without judgement, liking or disliking but being in the moment observing without thought, then there is no anxiety or sadness
sharaninmd
sharaninmd
Sorry for the way you are feeling. I would recommend that you talk with your doctor about the possibility of adjusting your medication. Sometimes they have to add another medication to take with what you are already taking or they may change everything.
Wildseed18
Wildseed18
I have been suffering on and off with anxiety and depression a number of years, they do seem to go together but they are quite different, and is likely the reason your meds aren't as effective as you would like. I found SSRIs to increase my anxiety and I used propranalol to reduce it but increased my depression. I stopped the SSRIs as I found that wasn't for me, of course I discussed this with my doctor but there are other ways to boost your mood, with or without meds, I found the anxiety the most debilitating for me.
Thats not to say you should stop meds without consulting your therapist, but sometimes it takes some experimenting to get it right, as long as you don't do it alone without talking first.
KelleyPaterson
KelleyPaterson
I find the same thing with my medication. I stopped it hoping to take a short break and then try a new medication. It was a very bad decision on my part. I found that it had been doing more for depression than I realized. I am back on it now. I have had a psychiatrist tell me that medication helps about 40%. The rest of it is the effort that you put out. Maybe you should consider therapy? I am waiting to see a therapist myself. There is usually a waiting list.