Hi Jeanne. I, too, have had low grade depression all my life, (I'm 75) with bouts of more serious depression. I truly believe, and this is only an opinion, that therapy alone rarely works on difficult cases. I've been on medication for over 30 years, go to psychotherapy, go to a support group, and, believe it or not, I am quite active. My husband just had triple bypass surgery and he is recuperating very well. I think my condition is POSSIBLY caused by faulty brain wiring, and chemical imbalances, as well as environmental factors. You may get some helpful information from this site, but I usually enjoy our populations ranting about their issues, and an occasional post that might be helpful. I really don'td think that I help other people very much, as all I have to say is what I told you. Feel free to contact me at any time.
Callalily74

Hi Jeanne, welcome to Connect! I moved your post over to this ongoing discussion so that you can better connect with the community. I'm happy to see @callalily74 has already reached out to you; also please meet @pirateking, @wolfer1975, @jacko, @ronnie3716, @jay_baruch, @lesbatts and @irvkay312!

We're happy to have you here!

Hey Jeanne. I hope you find what you need from this group. I've had depression my entire life as well, and it has caused me a lot of other complicating things in my years, along with Crohn's. So, I've got the physical and the mental things going on together. Only in the past couple of years have I sought and received any professional assistance to address my psychological ailments. I am on anti-depressant medication, anti-anxiety, and a mood stabilizer to help biologically. The latter help me with the psychotherapy, individual and in group settings. It's rough, but I am seeing improvement.

Hi and thanks for all the feed back from everyone. I fell yesterday and hurt my arm. I can't use it and of course it's my left arm. I'm left handed. I'm going to go get it Xrayed tomorrow if isn't better. I just wanted to say thank you to all for welcoming me to the group.

I too thought I had depression all my life and nothing seemed to prevent the recurrence of deep depression. That is until I was correctly diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and a new med regime helped significantly. I still attend therapy but the frequency of appointments is based on how well I am doing.<br><br>

Yes I also thought I just had depression and anxiety and then I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. I am now on several medications to try and control it. I'm still not stable and have been fighting this for many years. I see a new doctor in November.

Welcome to Mayo Connect.

I have been in and out of counseling since the early 90s. I feel I have to see progress to sick with a counselor.

I discovered in the last couple of years that I need a trauma specialized counselor due to my life long challenges.

I encourage you to tenaciously self advocate until you find the care that you need.

Have a great day!