fighting depression without drugs?

That's very good advice sunseeke

If I feel myself getting down then I do as sunseeker says and set myself little goals to do things I love doing, or even a challenge. Even something as simple as trying out a new recipe, involves looking for one, going to the shop and then hopefully enjoying the fruits of your labour produces a kind of satisfaction.

I'm feeling really bad at the moment due to illness, but writing my Christmas cards and getting them posted was a positive that help lift my spirits and drive me on to do a bit more Christmas shopping..

Also make sure your Vit D is at a good level. This tends to drop in the winter months and will make you feel under the weather and sad.

Whatever you can do to give yourself little moments of pleasure and satisfaction will gradually work.

You can't take St JW if you are on amitriptyline; and your mood may be lowering because you have reduced the dose of amitriptyline or stopped it altogether.

My advice to you would be to go back to your GP and discuss the stress you are under. You may be better to go back to the amitriptyline while you are dealing with all these things and to only look at reducing or stopping it when you have tried other methods alongside it: e.g. counselling, exercise etc - all of which are good. If you start to feel better on these ideas then THAT is the time to reduce the amitriptyline because you have something else in its place. To just stop it with no other fallback help is not wise, especially as life is so difficult for you. The last thing you need is to be ill at this time.

That sounds a good idea sunseeker. ediecat I can't suggest much ( others will be along shortly with tips I hope) but I try and block all negative thoughts the second they enter my brain with a sharp 'Stop That!' To myself. It makes me smile so helps in two ways.You can either use your own voice or imagine the voice of anyone else, a parent or a strict but fair teacher from long ago.?

Try a herbal remedy, there is st johns wort but you cant take that with some prescription meds. If Im feeling low I get a tonic from the chemist, one my doctor recommended is Effico. You must make some 'me' time for yourself too often when we are caring for others we forget to look after ourselves and we hit that low point and its difficult to get out of. Also try doing one positive thing each day, doesnt have to be anything major, a short walk would suffice, pace yourself and stop doing everything at once.

I too took anti-depressants for years and found them no help at all. Most therapists want you to talk about all your problems which just made me feel worse. I then found a therapist who does Solution Based therapy, which worked for me. Basically she said what is past is past, you can't change it you have to concentrate on here and now. The sessions started with listing anything that made me happy during the previous week - initially that was very hard but got easier over the weeks as I began to notice those things more. We then discussed things I could do to increase my happiness level - again very difficult to come up with anything at first and the last half hour was a hypnosis session. Now every night when I go to bed I think about anything that made me smile or happy during the day. This apparently releases endorphins in the brain. I hope you manage to feel better soon.