The Student Room Group

Can you just have talking therapies for depression and not medication?

Diagnosed with depression. My personal preference to not take medication. Can you just have counselling, cbt etc and not antidepressants? I want to clear my body of medication Ive been taking isotretinoin (roaccutane for acne) for 6 months and had side effects and just want to clear my body. Like i said, my choice so no hate please.
ALSO the fact I am depressed over circumstances, my environment, the people around me, I cant change them but I can only change me and my way of thinking so I believe I would benefit massively from talking to a professional to help me change my ways of thinking and my mental barriers.

Thanks

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I've chosen and specifically told everyone I don't want any medication for depression and so they've just referred me to lots of people to talk to and CBT :smile:
Don't worry, loads of TSR users that have experienced depression will be happy to hear your story. They won't judge you but will be quick to empathise. (i.e. your listener doesn't have to be "professional", just "been through it before")
Reply 3
Original post by selenerrr__x
I've chosen and specifically told everyone I don't want any medication for depression and so they've just referred me to lots of people to talk to and CBT :smile:


Good to know, thank you. I just dont want the side effects and alot cause weight gain. I have problems with eating, you could say eating disorder but im healthy weight, bmi etc. So I wouldnt want to gain weight I would sink lower into depression
Original post by Anonymous
Good to know, thank you. I just dont want the side effects and alot cause weight gain. I have problems with eating, you could say eating disorder but im healthy weight, bmi etc. So I wouldnt want to gain weight I would sink lower into depression


Same for me, GPs seem to like pushing prescriptions to solve everything but I don't want those side effects, I have plenty enough of my own and I don't want to become reliant of taking medication in the future
I used to have an eating disorder too and got sent boxes load of these milkshakes to gain weight :/
And now I'm constantly binge eating
Yes you can absolutely, doctors will probably agree this is a good thing if the depression is circumstantial. You have the right to choose not to take any medciation your doctor prescribes you. No one can force you to take it.

Just ask your doctor to refer you and/or see if there are any services in your area where you can self refer or if school/college/uni has a counselling service you can access.
Reply 6
Original post by selenerrr__x
Same for me, GPs seem to like pushing prescriptions to solve everything but I don't want those side effects, I have plenty enough of my own and I don't want to become reliant of taking medication in the future
I used to have an eating disorder too and got sent boxes load of these milkshakes to gain weight :/
And now I'm constantly binge eating


Binge eating on milkshakes? If you need to gain weight then dont worry! I have had bulimia on and off for 2 years. Never went to doctors but its coming back with the depression so I went last week to my gp.
Original post by Anonymous
Binge eating on milkshakes? If you need to gain weight then dont worry! I have had bulimia on and off for 2 years. Never went to doctors but its coming back with the depression so I went last week to my gp.

Haha no, before I was very underweight because I didn't have any desire to eat, everything seemed like cardboard to me and so the GP gave me "scandishakes" to gain weight
This was a couple of years ago and now I'm so stressed I turn to food for everything and just binge on whatever is near me/in my fridge
Reply 8
Original post by Kabloomybuzz
Yes you can absolutely, doctors will probably agree this is a good thing if the depression is circumstantial. You have the right to choose not to take any medciation your doctor prescribes you. No one can force you to take it.

Just ask your doctor to refer you and/or see if there are any services in your area where you can self refer or if school/college/uni has a counselling service you can access.


Thank you so much for your response. It is much appreciated. I am relieved now. Ive already contacted wellbeing at university and they can offer upto 6 counselling sessions. And there is a self referral for talking in my area and I am also going back to my gp to ask for a referral for the eating disorders maybe for cbt as the others are just general counselling.

I just dont even want it on my record that I have been prescribed antidepressants.
Reply 9
I want under 18 when my depression was at its worst so I didn't have the option of medication as it was considered unsafe. Talking therapies seem to have helped me, as I've completely changed my mindset
Original post by Anonymous
Thank you so much for your response. It is much appreciated. I am relieved now. Ive already contacted wellbeing at university and they can offer upto 6 counselling sessions. And there is a self referral for talking in my area and I am also going back to my gp to ask for a referral for the eating disorders maybe for cbt as the others are just general counselling.

I just dont even want it on my record that I have been prescribed antidepressants.


You do need to know that its really not a good idea to have multiple counsellors at once. Most counsellors won't see you if you're already seeing somebody else.
Original post by selenerrr__x
Haha no, before I was very underweight because I didn't have any desire to eat, everything seemed like cardboard to me and so the GP gave me "scandishakes" to gain weight
This was a couple of years ago and now I'm so stressed I turn to food for everything and just binge on whatever is near me/in my fridge



Ah right okay, well good luck with it all! I actually told the doctor I have binge eating disorder but when I got home and did some more research I realised I got it wrong. Bulimia I had for 2 years but I did it after binging on junk. Id eat like a massive massive amount like 3000 calories and then vomit it up. I thought this was binge eating but its a type of bulimia. I stopped myself for 9 months but this month it has come back. Its on and off
Original post by Anonymous
Ah right okay, well good luck with it all! I actually told the doctor I have binge eating disorder but when I got home and did some more research I realised I got it wrong. Bulimia I had for 2 years but I did it after binging on junk. Id eat like a massive massive amount like 3000 calories and then vomit it up. I thought this was binge eating but its a type of bulimia. I stopped myself for 9 months but this month it has come back. Its on and off


I think you should definitely talk to someone to help with the bulimia
I think I probably would've had that except I didn't understand how to throw up after binging and I did attempt it and never got to the part where I actually felt sick enough to throw up
Original post by Kabloomybuzz
You do need to know that its really not a good idea to have multiple counsellors at once. Most counsellors won't see you if you're already seeing somebody else.


Oh right okay thanks for the heads up! Im not taking the counselling from uni. I live far away and I only go in part time and they said they do skype sessions but I am not comfortable with that so Im not taking there counselling and 6 probably wouldnt be enough for me with all the issues I have so I thought it would be pointless to just stop talking to someone Ive gotten to know and theyve gotten to know me aswell and it to be cut.
Original post by iJess
I want under 18 when my depression was at its worst so I didn't have the option of medication as it was considered unsafe. Talking therapies seem to have helped me, as I've completely changed my mindset


Thats good to know, thanks. Im glad it helped you without the need for meds.
I've always been so agaisnt taking tablets for anything even pain killers I never use them. I recently discovered that my depression is severe to the point it is actually borderline bipolar if I didn't discover this sooner it could of gone full blown it certainly explains a lot of my past behavior I've been depressed for years and just put it all to the back of my mind.

I've started sertraline and literally from the day I took one tablet my mood sparked right up :smile:. I certainly don't want to stay on them and know I can come off easily but for now it's a significant help and I feel better than ever before almost as happy as the times I was happy with my ex but like literally a constant happiness.

The only side effect I have is when I yawn my teeth chatter afterwards but otherwise I'm fine sometimes a bit of a headache but totally bareable however, if I just had something slight and my mood wasn't really affecting my life then I'd totally just stick with talking and Cbt tablets affect everyone differently I've only just remembered my ex
Used antidepressants and he used to mention migraines quite often I never connected the two as he came off them for a bit but never told me he went back on I noticed his headaches went away then came back but yeah I never thought about that
Absolutely. Changing cognitive thought processes, distortions, assumptions, biases, determining value system, behaviours, triggers etc. via counselling e.g. CBT, is much more effective long term in situational or mild depression.

Anti ds really should be a last resort for a severe case, and ALWAyS in conjunction with some form of talking therapy, imho.
Original post by Anonymous
<snip>

I just dont even want it on my record that I have been prescribed antidepressants.


any particular reason for this ?

if it's for work etc - then it's immaterial it's the fact you had depression that is the Occy Health issue , meds can be issue but that in more into the realms of when people have had prolonged periods of antipsychotic meds not a time limited course of SSRI /SNRI
When I saw my doctor about depression she gave me a prescription for SSRIs which I could decide to fill or not after I'd seen a counsellor. The counselling by itself was fantastic and I never filled the prescription.
Original post by zippyRN
any particular reason for this ?

if it's for work etc - then it's immaterial it's the fact you had depression that is the Occy Health issue , meds can be issue but that in more into the realms of when people have had prolonged periods of antipsychotic meds not a time limited course of SSRI /SNRI


Oh yeah I know that ive had to fill in a occupational health questionnaire for fitness to teach about two months ago now. But actually they ask and then they ask if you had any medication. But yeah Id rather not have it on my record that I needed medication to help me when i think i do not. But more than that it is the fact, she mentioned just dont take them if they are prescribed. But thats misleading.

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