How do you help someone who is clinically depressed while waiting for the meds to build up? Does it really take weeks for them to kick in or do you start to feel a little better each day? My elderly fil has been diagnosed and I am trying to help him.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, February 7, 2007 - 09:32 am:

I've been through this with my son - who was hospitalized at least 4 times and was on horrendous medications, including lithium, for quite a while, and who has been off lithium for at least a year, down to a very low dose of anti-depressants, and his shrink wants to cut his dose even further. I've also had personal experience with depression, having about three periods of fairly deep depression and several years of therapy.

So much depends on the relationship, the level of depression, the symptoms, that it is hard to generalize. If you want to email me, at klipvm at rcn dot com, be sure I will respect your privacy and confidentiality.

One thing for sure, never say or imply "pull yourself together". If s/he could do that, s/he wouldn't be clinically depressed.

By Hol on Wednesday, February 7, 2007 - 10:29 pm:

Ginny, I'm just curious...why do you say that lithium is a "horrendous" drug? My Michael takes that and Abilify, and it has made all the difference in the world for him. He was such a shattered little boy when he came to us five years ago.

Lithium is present in the brain of everyone. It is an element. It's only when there is an imbalance that supplemental lithium is needed.

By Bea on Wednesday, February 7, 2007 - 11:13 pm:

Different medications take different amounts of time to build up enough potency to help control depression. Is he seeing a counsellor/therapist. Medication alone WILL NOT help a clinically depressed person. At least for me, cognitive therapy made the biggest difference.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 8, 2007 - 06:11 am:

You're right, Hol, and I take that back. He didn't like having to take the lithium because of the reasons he had to take it, and because of the side effects. He considers it a horrendous drug. I know people, like your Michael, who consider it a life-saver, and certainly it was for Scott when he started taking it.

And yes, Bea, cognitive therapy is, in my opinion, absolutely necessary, and has done wonderful things for my son while the meds kept his symptoms in check. Would that health insurance companies would understand how important cognitive therapy is. (My son's employer switched, last year, from a plan that paid for 42 visits a year to 12 visits a year. Fortunately, the group he goes to has a sliding scale fee system - especially since he recently became a non-working full time student.)

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 8, 2007 - 06:14 am:

Anon, Bea is right, the drugs take time to kick in and start working, and it is usually gradual. It may be 4 weeks or more before your FIL starts noticing that he isn't feeling quite so bad. Conversely, it is very, very important to (a) take the drugs on schedule and follow the instructions about how to take them and what not to take when taking the drugs, and (b) don't ever try to stop taking the drugs without medical advice, as usually one needs to be weaned off the drugs - stopping them suddenly and without medical supervision can produce a really bad mood swing and leave the person feeling worse than before they started taking the drugs.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 8, 2007 - 06:16 am:

I should also say that my phrase "horrendous medications" was really poorly chosen. What I should have said was that my son was taking heavy doses of three different drugs, including lithium - and that they helped him tremendously. Because he spent a lot of years resenting his psychological condition rather than accepting and learning how to control it, he always resented having to take the drugs and while he took them, he said lots of negative things about them.

By Hol on Saturday, February 10, 2007 - 12:18 am:

Ginny, I understand. Mike doesn't like taking the meds, either. He tried, when he turned eighteen, to wean off them and found that he really DID need them. We are told that his birth Mom had bipolar disorder, and there is a large genetic component to depression. I told him that it is no different than if he were diabetic, epileptic, etc. The meds supplement something that is missing in his chemistry, that's all. None of us can help our hereditary make up.

In Mike's case, too, it was coupled with early childhood abuse. He has a terrible hand tremor from post traumatic stress disorder. The Abilify has been a wonder drug for that.

I thank the good Lord that we live in these times where there ARE meds, and people like your DS and mine don't have to suffer.