depresse

I can understand if you think your depression is not too bad, and that you might be able to manage it, and it will go away in time, that you do not want to take anti-depressants at this time.

However, if the depression gets bad you might need to reconsider your position and follow your doctor's advice.

If you want to try to deal with it yourself then you will need to actually do something because the doctor or other people can't do it for you.

It is really difficult to offer advice on this matter because I have no idea about who you are or the environment you live in.

If you are overweight and eat junk food and drink soda then you can maybe think about making some changes there.

Another excellent thing that I have done is to walk as much as possible. Just start off small, go for a short walk, then increase the length over time. While you are walking you have a choice of what to do with your mind. For example, you can train yourself to think some positive thoughts, you can listen to some favourite music through headphones, or you can just think about what you can see, hear, smell and feel as you go for your walk.

I know there are a number of people here on the forum who think that walking helps them and I am sure they also have some form of mental release during their walk.

If you can't walk then maybe you could think of some other exercise or activity you could do. Maybe your local government has some advice or help for people as they get older about how they can continue to be active with things to do.

You could also think about joining in some sort of group in your area or volunteering to help people if that is something that suits your personality.

It is also good when feeling depressed to make sure we continue to perform little tasks such as cleaning and looking after ourselves. If we clean and tidy just a small area such as our room or kitchen then it can give us a feeling of accomplishment if we are depressed and show us that maybe we can do other things as well if we really want to do them.

Anyway these are just general suggestions because I don't know anything about you to give particular advice.

If you want to tell us more about how you are feeling and your situation then I would be happy to discuss it some more and maybe do some Internet searches to see if there is advice on the Internet on what could help you.

You could also send me a private message if you want to tell me in private but it would be good if you could post it in the thread because other people who have been through similar experiences might be able to help better than I can.

I will just remind you that if your depression gets worse and stops you functioning or causes some other threat, then you will need to think about taking anti-depressants as a way to returning to good mental health as this is a standard treatment for millions of people around the world.

I hope things get better for you soon.

Sometimes anxiety comes across as depression. Having gone through kidney cancer and surgery it's understandable if you had one, the other, or both. A mild anti-anxiety med like Xanax may help. I too would avoid anti-depressants unless it got really bad. But Supersum is right; exercise definitely improves mood so make sure you get some every day. Walking is good, so is anything as long as you're moving. Hope you feel better soon!

Completely normal.  I preface this by saying that I won't claim to be an expert in the area regarding the mind....other than to share my own experiences.  Take it for what it's worth.  As it has been explained to me, depression is an anger turned inward, if you will.  So if you think about it, one thing we all have to come to terms with in this cancer mess is the fact that we have little control over the fact that we were diagnosed with it.  Speaking for myself, that was no easy task to come to terms with.  I tend to be a bit controlling, admittedly. 

I'm not a big fan of anti-depressants, but then I'm not a big fan of pharmaceuticals in general. That being said, I don't pass judgement on those that feel they need it.  It's a personal decision that only you can make.  Please know that you are not alone in your feelings & emotions.  For me, the depression lifted as I got thru some of the follow-up tests with positive results.....or should I say negative test results.  haha

Best wishes,

Donna~