Surprising Silver Lining of Sadness & Depression

What if feeling depressed is actually a positive thing that makes you healthier?

By Ginny Graves, Prevention

Dina S.* had already been on antidepressants for a few months when she got the most devastating news of her life: Her beloved husband of 10 years had been killed on impact when the small plane he’d been piloting crashed. The next days and weeks were a tearful, painful blur, but even as she grieved, the 50-year-old was dismayed by her own response to the tragedy–it felt hollow somehow, as if she weren’t able to access the full depth of her anguish. So after 2 months, she made a decision that was squarely against her doctor’s advice: She gradually weaned herself off the antidepressants.

5 Solutions to help you thrive under stress.

As the effects wore off, her emotional agony became profound. “I was tortured by the fact that I did not get a chance to say good-bye to my husband,” Dina says. She took a leave from work and let her raw emotions take over, aware that this meant she would have to confront the pain of her husband’s death as well as the anxiety issues that prompted her to start taking the drugs to begin with. “I felt I had a choice–to take antidepressants to just get through the day, or to stop and potentially grow and learn,” she says. “I chose the latter.”

“Is depression really a disorder? Or is your sad mood sending you an important message?”

Dina’s decision to part ways with a pharmaceutical solution puts her in an ever-growing minority. Antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in America for adults under age 60. At any given moment, about 10 percent of the adult population is taking them, double the percentage just 10 years ago, and about twice as many of them are women as men. And at the same time, talk therapy as treatment for depression is becoming increasingly uncommon. An American Journal of Psychiatry study published last year found that among people being treated for a mental health issue, 57 percent used medication only, while just 11 percent used psychotherapy alone and about one-third used the two treatments together.

“There are lots of reasons why drugs are so popular,” says Mark Olfson, MD, an author of the study and a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University School of Medicine. One of them is the widespread attitude that the easiest way to deal with whatever ails you is by swallowing a pill. “People hear about antidepressants in TV ads and ask for them by name,” he says. The way insurance companies reimburse for services only supports this easy-fix expectation. “Insurers tend to be much more generous with coverage for antidepressants than for psychotherapy, which means patients who don’t want drugs often have to pay a lot more out of pocket for it,” adds Dr. Olfson. The financial incentives work both ways: Because psychiatrists can make more money doling out meds in 15-minute office visits than seeing patients for 45-minute talk sessions, more and more of them no longer even provide talk therapy as a service. “The decline in psychotherapy is a huge loss, in my opinion,” says Dr. Olfson.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

resignd C.

10:37AM PDT on Jun 23, 2011

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Excellent article. I think the part regarding when going through a loss or grieving, that the benefit of spending more time alone, that they have increased time to evaluate and analyze the situation and other situations for that matter. That was after the article stated that being social beings we spend most of our time interacting with others. The best thing that happened to me while working was the long drives from Seattle to Bellingham, WA. My radio broke and I did wasn't sure if I was going to replace the car of get a different radio. So I rode in silence with only my thoughts. That is when I started questioning everything in my life, things that I generally accepted. And I questioned politics. I had a lot of 'What if' questions, playing the devils advocate and now more than twenty years later cannot stand listening to the radio in the car, only on rare occasions. I do not like the intrusion into my thoughts. We spend a great deal of time letting the television, friends, and the radio doing their commentaries. When do we have time to examine our own lives.
And grieving is a time to that we can examine what is bothering us and why, and examine if whether the grieving is related to another loss, as often it is. A loss of a neighbor might connect you to the loss of a loved one, such

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Jane W.

12:33PM PDT on Jun 18, 2011

something to think about

Ro G.

7:01PM PDT on Jun 14, 2011

True depression is an epidemic and I find it unconscionable that therapy is being slowly abandoned courtesy of big pharma and big insurance. The reality? only about 15% that take anti depressants fully recover. Also, not all depression is the same and not everyone responds to the same treatment. Visit Dr. Richard Brown's website, he is prof. of psychiatry at Columbia U. Read Dr. James Greenblatt's "The Breakthrough Depression Solution" I have been through the wringer with depression and it's treatment...meds put me in complete remission for a short time--that is 2 out of 25 different trials. SAMe also put me in complete remission but also stopped working. TMS is a good option for many as well as Neuroreplete. I believe that for me the biggest breakthrough has been having first a rEEG then a qEEG, as well as. being prescribed Neurofeedback. I do not know where I would be today if the last Dr. I went to did not suggest the qEEG...it was very revealing.

Judith C.

3:50PM PDT on Jun 14, 2011

If tablets are needed then this article may encourage people to stop taking their medication.Speak to your doctor and see if you are able to lower your dose but please do not stop suddenly.

Faith P.

2:06PM PDT on Jun 14, 2011

as someone who is on a low dose of lexapro and wants to wean off of it soon, this article really supplies some great advice. especially the writing, i find writing letters that i don't intend to actually send out is very thereapeutic
thank you for the article :)

Carina E.

12:50PM PDT on Jun 14, 2011

My earlier comment was unfortunately interpreted as an insult and I'm sorry for that. I didn't mean that antidepressant is bad and that everyone can walk out from a hell by them selves. I know the difference between depression and DEPRESSION ( clinical ) and I'm really sorry if someone got hurt, it wasn't my intention. In my country it is unfortunately a common thing that doctors prescribe antidepressants without consulting psychiatric doctors or nurses and the patients are left with lots of questions. It's seems to be cheaper to prescribe a pill than to prescribe 10 or more sessions at a psychiatrist. And I still see that many actually believe that it is something wrong with them selves when the problem is outside them selves. I really sorry if I made someone angry and hurt with my comment. In the future my comments will be more clear and complete.

Ainsley C.

9:46PM PDT on Jun 13, 2011

I suffered depression for a few years. ADs helped but a book i read by david burns called "feeling good" (ISBN 0 7318 1036 8)showed that my thoughts needed to be changed (called cognitive behavior therapy). readjusting my thinking to a more positive region resulted in less depressive episodes and me giving up ADs. being a christian also helped me greatly. as the bible says "a cheerful heart doeth good like medicine" and to be "renewed in the spirit of your mind" . in other words think more positively.

Lynn C.

7:04PM PDT on Jun 13, 2011

Very good article! Also some great comments. Thank you.

Scott F.

4:40PM PDT on Jun 13, 2011

Many experiences in life leave scars. Some grief will be taken all the way to our grave. For some things there are no cures; this is just life. It is not just for enjoying and for being happy.

We must not let these trials destroy us or make us mean and moody. We must still be generous and kind, even loving. It is not so important how bad it is; it matters which direction you are headed – either you are getting closer to God/self realisation or you are not listening to your heart or conscience.

If your life is awful or your mind is in misery then make someone else’s life a little better with charity and kindness. Perhaps some quadriplegics don’t have a great deal of power to change their practical life but our focus is our choice.

God doesn’t require us to worship Him or to be grateful for His sake; it is for our own sake. The forbidden things are not restrictive of our fun; God is protecting us from them (intoxication, gambling, etc). Clean up your life, exercise if you can, be loving or just be nice and you will cope. Don’t wait for someone/thing else to fix your life for you; get started and they are more likely to come.

People get stuck by wishing it was much better instead of accepting where they are presently and working on small improvements. Struggle is sometimes inevitable by suffering is optional.

CarlaJeanne V.

3:06PM PDT on Jun 13, 2011

My grandmother was prescribed antidepressants every single time she left the hospital after her many, many angina episodes. My mother and I knew that my grandmother used her angina as a way to say "I can't handle this anymore." After my grandmother's death, one of the things that was revealed was my grandmother's long, long history of untreated depression. At times it would get so bad that she would no longer know her children's names. Her self-treatment was always to just lay in bed or on the couch, telling everyone that she was too sick to do anything else. I tell you this story to illustrate a point. Some people simply WILL NOT do what is needed to help themselves, as far as thinking about what they could have done to change their circumstances, etc. I've learned to do that through therapy. I've met a lot of people in therapy and most people j.u.s.t d.o.n.'.t g.e.t i.t. no matter how hard the therapist tries. Those people need drugs to keep them from killing their coworkers or eventually dying early because of complications.