I am a life-long suffer of major clinical depression. I also have PTSD and borderline personality disorder (of sorts) and anxiety/mood problems.
I subscribe to the following weekly newsletters that keep me informed and up-to-date on a couple of my mental health issues without being overwhelming or triggering. There are forums as well but I don't handle those very well.
[url]
http://depression.about.com/[/url]
[url]
http://psychology.about.com/od/ptsd/[/url]
I recently had an genetic-enzyme test to evaluate the way my liver processes certain medications, including antidepressants. One result was that I have the genetic allele that means I susceptible to depression and will often not respond well to medications, requiring many changes without dramatic change. Wow--actually a relief to have my experience confirmed by my genes. People can ask their psychiatrists or doctors.
I gained some advantage from TMS treatment (non-drug, worth the expense)--again ask your psychiatrist. [url]
http://neurostar.com/[/url]
Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) helped tremendously (and is not just for borderline personality disorder). [url]
http://behavioraltech.org/resources/whatisdbt.cfm [/url]
If you have had DBT or CBT (cognitive behavior therapy), these self-help links are quite useful.
[url]
http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/[/url]
[url]
http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/[/url]
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) helped me make significant jumps forward in my progress over years of CBT. [url]
http://www.emdr.com/general-information ... -emdr.html[/url]; [url]
http://www.emdr.com/general-information ... -emdr.html[/url]
Yoga Therapy begun after all the above enabled me to embody all I was learning and experiencing in a way that literally (neurologically) rewired my brain so after on-and-off-and-on therapy, I actually experienced in June 2013 several days of a calm, presence-oriented, near-euphoria (so above the level of dysthymia that was my closest experience to "normal" living). It was like all the skills and knowledge I'd been trying to hard to implement but never seemed to happen naturally had been slowly finally connected and something in my body flipped a switch. I experienced it as a conversion experience--certainly the Holy Spirit had been working behind the scenes as well.
Do realize there is no one thing that brings relief--everything works together and it takes time (speaking years of daily hard work that continues). I'd done only CBT and medication since I was 31 years old (and should have started much sooner than that). After my husband died in May 2010 and that December 2010 after I turned 50, I continued meds and CBT, added TMS; switched from CBT to EMDR July 2011 and separate CBT group classes while continuing TMS boosters; began separate yoga therapy November 2012; to EMDR with CBT and yoga therapy February 2013. Yoga therapy has helped me with some painful physical disorders as well. I no longer need TMS and am working with my psychiatrist to reduce some of my medications. I will always need to continue developing my love relationship with the Triune God.
NOTE: "Yoga" classes are not generally yoga therapy which can be either physical or emotional/mental or both. Check out any potential provider's educational background and number of training hours to ensure you choose someone who knows what he or she is doing. You may also wish to explore International Association of Yoga Therapists: [url]]
http://www.iayt.org/[/url. In just the last few years, mental health yoga therapy has grown exponentially though it's still a relatively new field but there had been some significant research to support sustained benefits.