I've heard that vitamin B-3 (Niacin) is good for depression. It's over-the-counter and can have a "flushing" side effect, so make sure you research it before trying. I've tried it, and it's helped me in the past. I take it occasionally when I find myself becoming depressed, and it works really well for me.

Good luck! Hope you find what works for you

I do not feel mild depression warrants an SSRI until your life/sleep is getting disrupted. Like someone else said exercise works very well and that should get you through. If things ever get worse then maybe consider meds.

You also mentioned anxiety but I don't know how significant it is, people have it at different severity levels. On a scale from 1-10 mine was an 11. If yours doesn't disrupt your life/sleep then I don't feel meds are necessary for that either.

GL.

What is a flushing effect? And what is an SSRI?

Thanks for the input everyone sorry I'm not familiar with all this terminology.

SSRI = Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor

SSRI's are a frequently prescribed category of antidepressants (For example, Prozac).

I'm Bipolar and have been in therapy and on various medications. I think you're on the right track to be looking for a therapist. The kind of therapy that has the best track record for helping mild depression is called Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It's also sometimes combined with Mindfulness Therapy. But you can learn a bunch of the CBT and Mindfulness techniques from books: For CBT I recommend David D. Burns's Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (and there's a handbook or workbook with exercises you do). For mindfulness I recommend Bhante Gunaratana's Mindfulness in Plain English, which is especially good on the subject of mindfulness meditation.

As for supplements, I've tried several, including those other posters have mentioned. Everyone's brain is different, so take this with a grain of salt: the one supplement that's been really helpful to me is N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC). You can buy NAC at health food stores, organic groceries, and the like, and also online. I buy mine from the Puritan's Pride website. I take three 600-mg capsules twice a day. I still have ups and downs, but NAC significantly raises my baseline. I've run out of it a couple of times, and really noticed myself getting depressed without it: I make sure not to run out of it now!

I hope this helps... good luck!

Thank you, the thought of supplements sounds appealing because it doesn't sound too dangerous. Is it like vitamins? My anxiety and stress levels cause me to feel hopeless. My sleep isn't affected day to day, but I can remember plenty of times that I've not been able to sleep due to anger or anxiety. Exercise does help but I am limited to what I can do at the moment due to an injury and time spent on physical therapy. Ideally I want to start a C25K program, take a dance class (which I am) and continue with Qi Gong/Tai Chi (which I'm still trying to figure out when/where).

I know that part of my problem is exacrerbated by an overloading of carbs, I fail sometimes at my low-carb plan and when I do is when I feel the most anxious and hopeless. When I'm on track my mood stabilizes but for some reason I always fall off the wagon.

Wannabeskinny, I just started a new thread on the 300+ forum called "Cravings...let's talk about 'em." You might want to go there and check it out (you'll see 300+ listed with Support Groups) because I'm on a low-carb plan, too, and I listed a whole bunch of things I do when I get hit with a craving for carbs.

I think you may be a worry wart, anxiety is much more complex than what you're describing but I don't know you on a personal level nor am I doctor. I'm only speaking from experience. Sounds like you do have mild depression and you worry about it some nights and it keeps you up. I do not feel SSRI's are dangerous but that's just my opinion, I also don't feel you're at that point of needing meds yet. When/if you do need them you won't be asking, you'll know. In the meantime look into St. Johns wort as a herbal remedy.

The anger is something that can't be fixed with medication. That's something to work out in therapy to get to the root of it all.

I am a worry wart, though at times of real stress when I have an event coming up at work I do wake up with shortness of breath, and have panic attacks. At those times I worry about my heart, and try to calm myself knowing that this is probably not a heart attack. I can even hear myself breathing as I try to calm myself down and read to get to sleep, my heart is beating wildly and I can't settle. That is anxiety from what I understand. It's not constantly like that, but it does bubble up to that.

The anger like I said is a new issue. It probably stems from poorly communicating maybe and being misunderstood. I think I do need to see somebody but cannot devote any of my spare time to it until I finish physical therapy.

Yes, that's definitely anxiety. Luckily it's not constant and hopefully you can manage everything with exercise and therapy. I was not so lucky. :/ I'm not anti-meds but it pisses me off that I have to take them. There was no way around it for me.

Wannabeskinny, I really encourage you to check out those two books I recommended. A practice of regular meditation (that's the mindfulness book) is very good at reducing overall anxiety. And those CBT techniques (those are in the "feeling good" book) are very helpful for things like work-related anxiety.

Thanks Fiona, I will check it out.

I'm not anti-meds either, I just prefer that they are last option. When I was in therapy a couple of years ago my therapist did suggest I go on medication and I refused. I worked very hard to work through my symptoms and came out ok but recently not so much.

First of all, thank you for sharing with us, and I am glad you are looking at your options. Even if you have depression, it is different for everyone and what works for one may not work for another.

Working towards a a healthy lifestyle (emphasis on physical activity and sunshine) will put you in the best starting point possible. From there I would recommend talking to a psychiatrist, if that is an option for you. Physicians are great, but if you decide to start medication a psychiatrist will be most qualified to work with you to find the one that is best for you, and help you in the case of side effects, and adjusting meds.

I have dealt with major depressive disorder for 8 years medically, and have been on 5 different meds. It has not been easy, but I could not have lived my daily life at times without them. Others who have less severe types may be able to work through with lifestyle changes and talk therapy. But I am a firm believer that exploring all of your options is the best choice.

Best of luck to you, and keep reaching out Having support makes all the difference in the world.

Thanks alwaystomorrow I have thought to look for a psychologist first. In my mind I think that a psychiatrist will automatically put me on medication and don't know if they even consider talk therapy or other types of therapy.

I was diagnosed with depression and I went on Lexapro for a while. I think the Lexapro was really important to my weight loss efforts because it gave me the "get up and go" that I needed to get going.

I know exercise can cure depression too, but if you're so depressed that you literally can't pull yourself up off the couch, this fact isn't going to help much. If you're depressed, it can be pretty hard to pick yourself up and start working out. When I was in the deepest throes of depression, I couldn't even motivate myself to start working towards a healthy lifestyle, or to even care about being healthy. Sometimes, really, people can become so depressed that they're incapable of doing much of anything. Depression isn't a "character flaw." It's an imbalance of neurochemicals. And medication will help to correct that chemical imbalance. Since so much of depression is physiological, I'm not certain that it's possible to "just will yourself out of it." For some people, it won't get ever get better until the neurochemical problem is corrected.

The meds gave me the mental boost that I needed to start caring about my health, to pull myself up off the couch, get to the gym, and start working out. Right now, yeah, I find that the workouts do wonders for my mood and I no longer need the medication.

But if someone is overweight and struggling to take those first steps, I'd say medication can really be a lifesaver.

(edited to add: I also did talk therapy along with the medication. No reputable or responsible psychiatrist will prescribe medication without also prescribing talk therapy. Both are very important. But in my experience, talk therapy alone couldn't have gotten me to where I am now. The combination of talk therapy AND medication has been absolutely key to my success so far.)