Can depression be cured?
Something I've been wondering already for quite some time, and hopefully maybe one of you knows the answer to my question. :-)
When I was 20, which is 13 years ago, I was so sad and felt terrible that my mom made me go to the doctors. There I was told I had a depression and I got medicine for it. The medicine helped and on top of that I also started seeing a therapist who helped me. I got the diagnose of depression somewhere in September and after about a year I could slowly lessen the amount of medicine I was taking so after some time I was free from those medicines.
Meanwhile quite a few things happened and especially the last year has been emotionallyvery hard, lots of bad news which hurt terribly and made me cry a lot. Some days are really bad and it seems all I can do is cry and make me feel I'm in that darkness of my depression againand some days it's not too bad. Although it feels different from what I felt when I was in my 20's, but from time to time I do wonder if I suffer from depression -again- or if it has always been there but more on the background.
And so I started wondering, can one really be cured from depression? And if so, are your chances higher to get another depression then someone who never had it? Or do we keep running around with it, but is it more as if it sleeps?
First of all, I am NOT a trained therapist nor a counselor. I am 22 years old and I've had depression since I was 8 years old. At first, I self-diagnosed but later I was saved by a doctor who recommended me to a psychiatrist. First of all, I wanna say I'm sorry to hear that terrible things have happened to you. I truly am. Second, yes. Depression can be cured. But this is only; 1. If we allow help 2. If we seek help 3. We accept that we need help 4. We accept the help, instead of just listening and not doing anything about. Third, address what bothers you the most. And the events that make me feel depressed. Then try to overcome it. With help, professional help, friends and family. Last of all, have faith, my dearest. All illnesses can be cured, so if you accept and try to move on, a lot of possibilities are opened to you. Of course, you might need some motivation and undivided attention (i find it the most with my best friend). And keep. Trying. Try and try and try. Also, yes, if you've had depression before, you are at risk of getting it again. This is why it's important to heal your wounds the first time around. Hope i I could be of help!
I've been wondering this too. I feel okay, and focus on doing things for my own happiness, but I was wondering if I am in a similar to state that I was in before depression, or if I'm just permanently at a lower scale of depression - if that makes sense. I'm wary of things that I do as I'm worried I'll slowly slip back down that road...
@faesarah
This is a very interesting question, and I wanted to give my thought on it as well!
Personally, I think that no, you can't 'cure' depression. I think that taking antidepressants can help to surpress the feelings of depression, and having therapy/counselling can help you to overcome these feelings, and to cope with them, but I think that's a fix, not a cure. I think a cure is something that would mean we wouldn't have depression again. But I don't think that's always the case. We can take meds, have therapy, and feel better, but if we stop looking after ourselves, we can very easily fall back into the depression, having already had it...