rustybrain wrote:It took six weeks to kick in for me, which I think is pretty standard.
I think anhedonia is actually a more common symptom of depression than rage, hypersexuality, fear, difficulty concentrating, etc. That sounds very "up." Have you considered the possibility that you might have something cyclic?
Six weeks, for Wellbutrin, to kick in; I will keep it in mind, as I start trying supplements like mucuna, Tyrosine, and %HTP. How long does it take for them to kick in, effectively? (I assume their rates vary, per supplement.)
Maybe, I should try Wellbutrin, again.
-- Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:17 pm --
antijoy wrote:I know this is some major thread necromancy, as the original thread is from 2011. I'm sorry if this is frowned upon here. However, what Noitartst wrote sounds very, very much like me. If anybody has experience with something similar, I'd be keen to hear. I suppose the difference between me and Noitartst is that I still often feel anxious and not calm. But I am largely out of touch with my emotions.
Unlike my previous experiences with depression, this one is massively different: I can (generally) do practical things, go to work etc., but I get no joy or satisfaction from just about anything I do, and I feel like I'm just constantly going through the motions, kind of like acting a role where even I don't really know what that role is supposed to be. I achieve those practical things by distancing myself from them and other people emotionally. Everything's just more or less a blur.
At some point I began to question just about everything, which easily turns even momentary good feelings into anxiety. Feelings of uncertainty and emotional insecurity make me socially rather anxious and withdrawing, and since I've been unable to express any of this and tried to keep up a facade in most of my social circles, I've sort of built myself into a situation where the social me is this mostly calm and rational role rather than the anxious and massively insecure guy who has a really hard time dealing with almost any kinds of emotions. I've been kind of trying to act the guy I feel I used to be, but it's been more and more difficult, and I've been getting more and more tired of acting. It seems to be leading nowhere, since emotionally I just haven't been able to be what I used to be. I'm sure many people around me even notice something is not right or the way it used to be, but I haven't been able to blurt out the truth that I've been having some major emotional problems.
This has been going on for a few years already, and while I sometimes feel a bit better for a while, sometimes I'm afraid I'm too far down the road to be able to get back. I'm getting talk therapy now (finally) and I hope it's going to help at least a bit. The therapist has already noticed that I intellectualize things a lot, so maybe he could try to help me regain touch with my emotions, at least so some degree.
Like Noitartst who started the thread, I've also tried similar things (actually all of those things, although I've mostly done a different martial art). But the issue is that a lot of my original anxiety and pain is actually associated with those things in one way or another, so that has not been helping. And meditation I've found occasionally calming, but at other times just yet another something that I'm forcing myself to do regardless of how I feel, and I then question whether it is a good idea at all or whether it's just going further down the same road.
Any experience with something like this?
Me, I'm committing to the work of CBT, friend.