Thread: Depression and stress, etc

Good post spangles, I would second what you have said.

Self medicating as we speak :-( carbs and a glass of the hard stuff.

Not to worry tomorrow is another day x

In my opinion, join some laughing clubs to start a morning. Exercise is also good to remain free from stress. Keep yourself busy with your family, play games, go outdoors for picnics with family or friends, this keeps you away from depression or any stress. Take rest or sleep about 8 hours in a day.

Hey all.
Just been reading this thread, a bit old I know but your posts have been helpful.

I've had depression on and off for the past 10 + years - have been on Sertraline (anti-dep) for the last 5years, due to experiencing horrible ocd and anxiety attacks. However, I reckon I've put on about 3 stone since being on Sertraline. Went to the docs about this - they referred me to a psych who suggested I may have atypical depression, and suggested the dose be increased...which it was, to 150mg - but a year later, it's still not made a difference to my binging, carb and chocolate craving, although it's helped stabalise my moods and help me to be able to cope a bit more.
What are other people's experiences of sertraline, if any? (sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, it's just be helpful to know). Have done a search on this forum.

I guess everyone is different and maybe my dose needs to be higher. I will go def go back to my GP as I feel like my weight/self image/esteem is a big part of this (well, it's all a viscous circle really!!!).
I've had quite a bit of psychotherapy and CBT in the past, both of which have been amazing and really helped me to move on, so that could be an option too.
It's just frustrating because I know what my issues are and how I use food to self medicate and yet wonder if there is some kind of biochemical addiction to chocolate going on in my brain which another form of medication may help in kicking it in the butt....
All in all I know this can be beaten and I intend to lose some serious weight in 2012, probably going back to Slimming World, setting some decent realistic goals, getting some excercise in.

Another thing that has really helped me manage my depression is to treat myself kindly, even though I may not feel like it. The other day I had a bit of a revelation - following a severe self critical beating after a mistake I'd made at work- is this the way I would respond to a friend in the same situation? How would I feel to hear her talking about herself that way? I was really horrified!

Hope this helps someone x

My depression is about 15 years old and at present it is rearing it's ugly head again strongly.

However, I realised my overweight wasn't down to my Depression but down to me. I can feed it and let it make me feel worse...ot just feel bad but don't overeat or eat cake and chocolate for a very short term 'fix'...actually although I can say I would love cake, actually I know I won't eat it.

Yes..feeling bad at present...but there's lots in my life I can't control because of stupid past mistakes. However I can control what I eat...and I want control over something so this is what I choose to control!

I suffer from depression and social anxiety. I always thought my depression was linked to my weight. However a few years back I lost the weight (sadly put it and more back on) and I was no happier. My health was better in general though and that helped stress wise. Oddly enough it was when I was thinner my normal sized now ex partner decided to cheat on me.

I comfort ate my way this way. If I wanted to feel better I would eat chocolate and junk food all the time. If I wanted to block out stress I would drink so I could know what planet I was on let alone anything else. I did not drink everyday or even very week but I had started the habit of when i did drink it was always because I wanted to block something out so about every month I was getting off my face and I smoked everyday too.

I gave up smoking, alcohol and junk food. I know its not my weight that makes me depressed but my health and I needed to cut all these things out. Coming off these things and a long term relationship has been very hard but I am trying to be positive. Not to say I am not stil depressed I really am. And that can affect the exercise part of my weight loss as when your down the last thing you want to do is go out and exercise. Couple that with social anxiety you get the idea. But so far I have been good exercising 4-5 times a week. Something there is no way I could have done a few months ago.
Sorry for going on but I do sympathise those with depression and stress. As I have been on anti-depressants for years and struggling even now.
But your totally right about control. Depression can make everything spirial out of control and life issues too. But you can control what you eat good or bad but its always good to know you have been good to your body eating well even when not everything inside feels the same.

Hi all,

I just stumbled across this thread and wanted to thank you all for sharing.

After a course of CBT, I'm getting myself back on track. I had depression/anxiety issues and was taking antidepressants for 18 months. I find it reassuring that there are people here brave enough to talk about their experience with depression and weight loss.

I really need to start shifting some of this weight I've gained over the last 18 months from comfort eating, but I also need to learn to accept myself, good and bad, and deal with things in a more positive way.

Hi everyone, I'm currently on anti depressants, I was on them for 12 years, stopped them a few years ago, then had a boss who bullied me about my weight, which set of my depression again, so found it had to stay on track at slimming world, put alot of weight I lossy back on. Been back on anti depressants about a month now.

I have had depression on and off for about 3 years now, it got pretty bad after the birth of my son and while I am about 90% okay now I have days where it just comes on me out of the blue and I can't do anything. I also seem to forget about eating healthy on those days and pig out.

I find exercise helps even if its just a walk around the block. I have started doing more things for me as well. After my son was born I think I forgot about myself and my needs for a while so I have started going to drama classes and I do a thing called laughter yoga as well that has really helped.

I think it will be something I will struggle with for a long time but I think half the battle is having ways to deal with it when it happens.

I also have gained a lot of weight due to over eating but totally agree with BehindBlueEyes about self acceptance, its important to have a goal but to still love yourself while you are on the journey.

Thanks for sharing your stories xx

I've suffered with poor mental health since my teens and I had my first full on breakdown when I lost a much wanted pregnancy in my early 20s. Fast forward to today (20 years later) and I have accumulated a raft of diagnoses in my time - anxiety, depression, schizoaffective disorder - bipolar disorder being the most recent diagnosis.

I suffer really badly with anxiety as well as depression. I have been taking escitalopram for the last five years but I've been taken off it because of cardiac problems. Over the last fortnight I've tried Prozac (fluoxetine) and then Lustral (sertraline) but neither of them agreed with me. Now my doc is trying me on Cymbalta (duloxetine) so fingers crossed it will work for me.

Over the last five years my weight has been all over the place due to comfort eating and the side effects of meds (olanzapine being particularly evil in the weight gain stakes). I've managed to shift 3 and a half stone in the last year though and really hope this change in meds doesn't cause me to gain again.

Thankyou all for being brave enough to share your stories. There's still an enormous stigma attached to mental health problems so it isn't always easy to open up about them. Let's take strength from each other as it's so helpful to know you're not the only one and you're not alone in dealing with these problems

I suffer from clinical depression and SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which affects me on wet/overcast days as well as in winter. I also have pretty severe binge eating problems and I think that without them my depression would be worse, but I remind myself that compared to a year or two ago (when I could barely get out of bed) I've come a long way. I am on antidepressants and hate the way they make me feel, but slowly coming off them. No amount of therapy, counselling or CBT seems to help me so I've pretty much given up on that idea

I'd check out eft. It might help & it can be free. Just Google it.

I've had depression since I was in my tweens. It's been hard to get through sometimes. It's far easier to manage when I have things organized; house, diet, work, etc. Having schedules and staying busy is super helpful for me.

Depression is such a tough thing to live with, I've been on citalopram for almost a year and most of the time it works pretty well for me. I'd say they saved my life...

My GP recommended moodgym (google it) so I've worked through it, and it helped me. Depression is such a personal thing and I know mine has a lot to do with my weight and self esteem and I've still got a lot of work to do in these areas, but there are times when i just want to crawl under a stone and hide - it sometimes all feels too much.

xxx