Hello all,
I have never posted to this sub-forum before, but reading through all of your posts and responses, you all seem to be able to give some great advice.
So I (believe) I have been suffering depression on and off for about 6 years now. I at one point went to my doctor and told them what I needed to so that they would prescribe me something to take the edge off the problem.I was prescribed a low dose antidepressant and during the 6 months that i was on the drugs I managed to gain nearly 30pounds. I made the decision that I couldn't live with the horrible side effects of the antidepressents and as such stopped taking them. Now this all happened about 12 months ago. I was in a horrible place at that time and counselling etc was never offered/
By nature I am a rediculously private person. I don't tend to discuss even trivial problems with friends and never with family, let alone something this large. As a result I am terrified of the idea of actually seeking professional counselling, or even asking for a referral from my GP. Simply the idea of inviting someone into my business that way is ... horrifying.
So I would like to know, how have you gone about overcomming your fears to seek some professional help?
(I should probably make the point that at this stage I am not open to or interested in using antidepressant medication again, I would like to utilise other options first. I am not against antidepressants, they are an invaluble resource, but I do not believe they are right for me.)