Treatment and Recovery

Treatment and recovery is possible for all forms of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses.

Counselling/Therapy

Counselling or therapy is a recommended treatment option. Your doctor should be able to refer you to a counselling or therapy service, these may be one on one, group or a combination of both. Counselling/therapy is a powerful tool that will help you learn how to deal with depression or other forms of mental illness. If your doctor can't refer you, or you can't see a doctor you can often find counselling through public organisations such as Salvation Army or local community or church groups.

Counselling/therapy can sometimes be a long hard road, but it does work, and it does help so it's important not to give up on it.

Medication

There are a wide range of medications available by prescription that can help you in your battle against depression and other forms of mental illness. It is important to note that medication will only relieve symptoms, it won't fix the problem. A responsible doctor should refer you to counselling or therapy as well as prescribing medication, if your doctor doesn't offer a referal, ask for one.

Natural Remedies

Not everyone is able or willing to take prescription medication, in this case there are natural remedies available that can help, though they are often not as effective as presciption medication. Ask your doctor or another professional for more information on natural remedies.

Recovery and Relapse

While not all forms of Depression, Anxiety and other mental illnesses can be completely 'cured', it is possible to recover and go on to live a normal happy healthy life.

It is important to know that relapsing after you feel you have recovered is quite normal, some people will relapse once, some multiple times. Many people are unaware of this and end up in a worse state than they were before when they relapse because they thought they were 'cured' and weren't prepared. The important thing is to be prepared for a relapse if it does happen .. and it might not. Learn what your warning signs are, and if you feel you are starting to relapse use the tools you have learnt to deal with it. A counsellor or therpist will be able to teach you these, you will also find some on the 'coping with .. ' pages on this site.

Also keep in mind that you have natural and normal moods cycles too - as does everyone, if you have recovered and then experience a few days of feeling depressed or blue don't panic that you might be relapsing, just use the your tools to deal with it, chances are it's just a normal mood cycle and will pass.

Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact
The grand essentials of happiness are:
something to do,
something to love,
and something to hope for
The easiest way to enjoy life is to enjoy what you do every day - not dream of escaping it
Live joyfully and peacefully, knowing that the right thoughts and the right efforts inevitably bring about the right results
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live
Do what you can,
with what you have,
where you are
Forget regret, or life is yours to miss
Never look down on anybody unless you are helping them up
When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you
Where there is love, there is life
Hope achieves the impossible
When I find myself fading, I close my eyes and realise my friends are my energy
They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel
The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer up somebody else
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people
If you don't learn to laugh at troubles, you won't have anything to laugh at when you grow old
Nobody ever died of laughter
Use what talent you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best
Don't let life discourage you;
everyone who got where they are
had to begin where they were
Without a struggle, there ccan be no progress
Learn to embrace challenges because they are a gift in life and not a difficulty to be avoided
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe
Don't be afraid to take a big step.
You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps
When you learn to believe in yourself, your world will open up to you and you will find your path
Only those that dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly
Our greatest glory is not in never falling,
but in rising every time we fall
Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go
It's always too early to quit
Someone who aims at nothing is sure to hit it
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going
Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there
There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still
People take different roads seeking fulfilment and happiness.
Just because you're not on their road doesn't mean you've gotten lost
It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it's the journey that matters in the end
Dance like no one's watching
Sing like no one's listening
Love like you've never been hurt
And live like it's heaven on earth
Aim for the stars; even if you only reach the moon, that's still a pretty good achievment
Be nice to yourself, in this world there are enough people that will tear you down, you don't need to do it too

Hope A-Z Support for depression, anxiety, bi-polar and mental illness