Alternatives to therapy/anti-depressants?

Some famliy members this weekend expressed to me that they think i'm very sad/depressed and that I should be happy after losing so much weight.. Natrually (not) I cried about this for 3 days. I don't really know how I feel about this, they want me to start seeing a therapist but my insurance just changed and co-pays would be 40$ each visit and right now that's not really an option. I would really prefer to stay away from anti-depressants so are there any alternatives to these two things for dealing with depression?

Frankly, I think that therapy during and after such a drastic weight loss can be very helpful. Talking with a skilled therapist can help you to understand your feelings better and help to change the way that you view yourself and the world. It is know as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and has proven to be very helpful. You have been through many changes with the weight loss and perhaps, you don't understand everything that is going on with you. Now, that you don't have food to soothe you, your depression/sadness is coming to the forefront. Sometimes, other people can see changes in us, before we can see them, for ourselves. A therapist can help you to explore other ways to self-soothe yourself. Exercise is great, but may not be enough, depending upon the severity of the depression. You may or may not need medication, but it wouldn't hurt to talk to someone, especially if people that you are close to, are seeing some changes in you.

A forty dollar co-pay may seem like a lot, but in the great scheme of things, it is less than what many people have to pay and what price can you place on your mental health? Therapy can help you to stay successful with your tool.

There are good books out there, but seeing a therapist would be a good start. IMHO.

Also, depo-provera can cause more depression, tearfulness, and mood lability. If you have a history of depression, I would see a therapist. If not, maybe it is the hormone med.

Gail

add on:

Make sure that your thyroid is working well. Hypothyroidism can also slow weight loss and cause depression.

I agree that I would benefit from therapy right now since I have used food as an emotional crutch for...well as long as I can remember. I'm just in a temporary financial situation right now with the University tuition hikes since I can't collect financial aid and interest rates on student loans would be sky high for me. I may just have to wait a couple of months to start therapy. I also think the depo shot might have a lot to do with it. I know that my mom suffers from hypothyroidism and is medicated for it, I will make an appointment to have it checked out. Thanks!

Some folks say that vitamin D and a couple of other vitamins can positively affect your mood. They are not a treatment for deep depression and I would encourage you to seek treatment for depression if that is what you're experiencing. Your issues could also be hormone related and that just takes time to readjust post-WLS. You're dumping hormones out of your system as fast as you're losing fat post-op.

Stay hooked in with us as one of your support systems and we'll help as much as we can from a distance.

((hugs))

--gina

I am having my one year post op labs done this week so maybe something will show up there as far as vitamin deficiencies go. Thanks so much Gina, i'm trying to stick around here more than I was a few months ago!

I remember that you are exercising and that is good.  Studies have shown that exercise is as valuable as anti-depressants in treating depression.

Does your surgeon have a therapist that works with him? We have access for life for free to our surgeons therapist. 

There are free programs around like OEA that may be a place if you truely can't do the $40.  I would seek help somewhere.

Sometimes a visit or 2 may head you in the right direction and you can then make progress on your own. 

I'm definately going to up my workouts, I think that will help. My surgeon doens't have a therapist, they just gave us a list of some they recommended.

Depression can be a serious issue - I'd say try to scrape up the funds to do the counseling. Also, up your exercise and time outdoors. Sunshine and the outdoors is proven to help balance your hormones and improve your feel-good quotient.

There is NOTHING wrong with taking anti-depressants. I had to a few years ago for a short time. I have several friends who take anti-depressants, there is nothing shameful or bad about treating a problem.

It's not that i'm against the anti-depressants, it's just that the career i'm pursuing highly frowns upon any in your backgroud for any reason. So I was trying to find something else besides that and since i'm in the middle of paying my school tuition right now that was hiked up almost $1000 from last semester and I don't qualify for any assistance and school loan interest rates would be sky high for me.

Maybe there is someone you can talk to at school?