I was on 400mg Abilify injections every 3 weeks for 5 years, started at 20mg orally and the dose kept climbing with little to no improvement. I was in patient for 2 consecutive years, tested many medications (zoloft, clozapin, seroquel...) during my longest stay, my psychologist thought of alternative therapies, and even though I was very opposed to any therapy, my psychiatrists forced me to go (my parents signed off as I was 13) on a planned outdoor trip with a group of out-patient kids just like me, our psychiatrist, nurses and a guide. We camped up in the mountains for 2 weeks, far away from the city, and this huge wave of relief came over me sitting in the canoe under the moonlit sky... I'm now off all medications and no longer need my therapist, I'm 20 years old. Things get better, but you need to stay strong and keep fighting for your freedom from depression. Just because one treatment doesn't work, doesn't mean none will. Thank you for this video ❤
I wonder if the medications were making your depression worse. One has to wonder how the brain deals with all of the changes from switching from medication to medication. Too bad there isn't a way to measure what is going on. Glad to hear you are doing better though.
@@DrTraceyMarks interesting points ,if anyone else wants to discover dealing with depression try Elumpa Depression Cure Alchemist (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some super things about it and my brother in law got great results with it.
Probably the first actually good video on depression. No overly positive talk, no treating psycho therapies like they are a godsend, just tackling topic seriously with hard facts, in respectful manner. More people should watch your channel.
How could anybody NOT get more depressed if they gained as much as 70lbs. Am I glad Dr. Tracey you told us chronic depressives that side- effects. Thanks. Namaste. Z.
Hi Dr. I am a Reg N who assists in the ECT lab and I have done TMS. I am enjoying your videos. We are now using Ketamine which seems to be working well for a lot of folks.. Thanks for your expertise ! Very informative . Merci !
@@zwatts38 Doctor, you did not mention MAOI. According to some persons, they are really really effective for people who have tried everything without success, even though they can be very dangerous (you have to avoid a certain list of food to avoid having a deadly hypertension).
I am a very treatment resistance paciente to medication and had 18 ECT sessions last year and it was the BEST. That memory loss is no big deal comparing to you suffering from a severe endogenous depression for years. So I have used my fabulous cognition to get a group of friends to remember me of things like living diaries with descriptions and, of course, not feeling that bad I've learned and created new good memories.
I’m considering ECT, but I have heard of side effects, I’m not scared of memory loss, but what about the cognitive decline. People say all kinds of things: teachers who can’t teach anymore because learning new stuff is difficult, smart people who claim that all of a sudden math is really hard, people who say they have trouble finding the words for what they want to say that lost all of their vocabulary and have a delayed response and have trouble learning anything new. Did you experience any cognitive issues?
After a year of going through the electroconvulsive therapy process, I was diagnosed with markers of high abilities and giftedness, as well as performing well above average on cognitive tests. I think people get very scared and don't stop to think that even after treating severe depression with ECT they will still have to continue on treatment and all of these things that you described as a side effects like memory failures and learning difficulties are also comorbidities that come from depression. It is quite likely that the scare of undergoing ECT treatment will make people pay more attention to these symptoms that already existed. Talk to medical and psychologist specialists about this and mention this issue of the reports of limitations that are already typical of a severe depressive condition being accentuated after treatment with ECT. My doctor makes an inventory of everything I feel and even the physical impressions I give and when I questioned him about these side effects he showed me that they were symptoms that I already had and according to the follow-up reports that I had been responding to. I was, in fact, improving, I just put a lot of attention on that...
@bzyspecialI understand you perfectly because I've tried ECT and more than 40 different types of medicines of all the possible classification. Have you tried something at any specialized medicine school? My doctor is a reference in research here in Brazil and he told me, when I was feeling SO BAD that he wouldn't stop without finding something that works. And it is working. After so many years of resistance, I'm winning. Try to always remember that everything you feel is a symptom, never let your mind go to weird places, try your best to make use of your cognitive functions to help your survival instinct. And something that is very important: have a rest sometimes. We wasted LOTS of energy trying to find ways, trying to take the control of the situation, but sometimes we just need to lie down on our bads and recognize we are doing our best. Recover your energies. It's quite difficult, but this crazy world do not deserve the waste of our lives. Feel everything, my friend, be who you are and think about how the world is not ready for us.
I could watch you speak all day! I like how you give us lots of detail and demystify medical concepts for us. Many doctors oversimplify things and like their profession to be a mysterious art. You, however, are very transparent. Thanks!
As a parent, learning about bipolar due to my daughter's diagnoses - you've shared more than I've ever heard from any of her doctors. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Dear Dr Marks, I am a physician. I can understand how difficult your job is. You are trying to build a bridge between nonmedical people and medical professionals. You make things easy to understand for everyone, at the same time highly educative for non psych medical professionals. Good enough that they should accredit these courses for CE and CME! Difficult assignment you have taken on yourself. And you are doing a great job of it. Keep up the good work.
Doctor, you did not mention MAOI. According to some persons, they are really really effective for people who have tried everything without success, even though they can be very dangerous (you have to avoid a certain list of food to avoid having a deadly hypertension).
My best friend has TRD and people with traditional depression are constantly refusing to believe her since treatments worked for them and depression didn't last long...In my friend's case she's on year 11 of the same depressive episode with no end in sight. :/
Yeah some people just can't understand.. I've had diagnosed depression for 15 years and no meds are helping, the doctors just try the same meds over and over... Im now refusing to take them anymore since they don't help me. I've come to a conclusion that my depression and anxiety comes from past traumas. I fit the diagnose of c-ptsd to a TEE but it's not an official diagnosis here where i live. Maybe your friend has c-ptsd too? It could be a good idea to look up the symptoms (or a video) about it.
I have a list of different diagnosis. My dr was treating my insomnia and put me on nortriptyline(sp?) And it's actually helped my depression! After doing some research I found that it can be used for treatment resistant depression. Maybe it's something you could talk to your Dr about? (If you haven't already)
Yeah same /: tried 5 different ones plus therapy. Also recovered from ed, ocd, ptsd, insomnia, got help for my tmj disorder and my autism. Absolutely nooooothing helps my depression. Going on 10 years lol
I have treatment resistant depression. I’ve been through 3 different anti-depressants and no difference, even on 200 mg of sertraline. So my psychiatrist recently put me on 300 mg of lithium and it is a night and day difference. I’m so relieved honestly.
lithium ; Make sure you get the lithium levels blood test as otherwise it could cause medical issues; I think it can damage the kidneys if levels are too high and amounts in the body change even if you take the same amount of lithium
I have recently discovered your channel, and even as someone who is deeply critical of psychiatry and biological reductionism, I appreciate your honesty, your thoroughness, you taking time to investigate concerns, and your remarkable and unusual responsiveness to comment threads. Kudos here. That being said, I feel that what gets mostly ignored in the conversation about depression is the intimate interplay between the individual and their environment, and the profound influence of environmental and psychosocial factors on mood. If a person is struck in intolerable circumstances for indefinite periods of time, which they are unable to significantly alter or influence, and where their quality of life becomes little else beyond survival in ever more precarious and uncertain circumstances, they will almost certainly become depressed, and no quantity of antidepressants will remedy their mood, beyond perhaps making them simply numb to their unfortunate circumstances. The discussion about depression isn't complete without a discussion of capitalism and individualism. When our society is structured on a pseudo-meritocracy, where one's worth (and sometimes survival) hinges upon being seamlessly productive, where circumstances are always precarious, and where there's great social fragmentation, it becomes a very convenient exercise to blame individual psychic exhaustion to intolerable systemic factors on biological, genetically-mediated "chemical imbalances" that determine one's fitness and capacity to "cope" and maintain a perpetually sunny disposition in perpetually grim circumstances. If we are looking for a good antidepressant, we would be hard pressed to find something better than cocaine and heroin -- which almost universally produce euphoric effects. The only difference here is what types of drug use that society tolerates and what, in accordance with prevailing policy and politics, is regarded as an illicit drug or an essential medication. I'm agnostic on the matter of individual psychotropic drug use -- whether illicit, recreational, or prescribed -- but it's something to reflect upon.
Bravo, Larry. My STANCE XACTLY!!!!! As u just said; mental health conditions r ENVIRONMENTAL IMBALANCES (NOT CHEMICAL IMBALANCES). When some1 gets abused, bullied, & harassed by other people, what r we 2 do? Accept the abuse, bullying, & harassment by being a human "punching bag"? There4; it's natural human instinct 2 fight back & stand up 2 abusers, antagonists, & bullies. When we do, we get branded as having an "attitude problem" & get put on psych meds 2 "control" our behavior while the abusers, antagonists, & bullies get off "scot-free" (primarily when the latter r those in authority; e.g.: parents, law n4cmnt, medical pros, court personnel including judges, etc.). U r so SPOT-ON!!!!!
Genesight (genetic) testing was the only way to convince my healthcare team that really none of my medications worked and I could be "referred" to the TRD-specialty team for considering the options you discussed here. We decided ECT is the best course.
I've been in therapy and on meds since I was 15. I'm 35 now. I grew up with some special needs, mostly just mild learning disabilities. Over the years I have been on every medication under the sun and never got anywhere. Everyone treated me as just another really depressed and anxious person. A few years ago I found out that my whole life I'm actually a higher functioning autistic, which explains why I've never gotten much relief through medication. If you've been struggling with this all of your life I encourage you to find a psychologist and get tested. Unfortunately many psychs and therapist aren't trained to spot autism. I even went for TMS treatment recently, the full 6 weeks and only saw a very slight benefit from it. For many autistics with treatment resistant depression it comes down to more life skills and training and figuring out how to cope with the bad depression days than actually getting rid of it completely, since autism itself can mimic many of the signs of depression emotionally wise.
Indeed - why can’t I get clear, objective information like this from my doctor(s)? You really are providing a service to the underserved Dr. Tracey - thank you so much.
I'm exhausted from medication. I'm on my 8th antidepressant and did ECT and yet I'm still depressed. It must be nice to be normal. Edit: 8/18/22 - still super depressed and took abilify/prozac for the last three years. Have terrible lip tremors from it. I was doing better for a little while but the meds suddenly stopped working. Ketamine is still an option I haven't tried yet.
Meds can make you more depressed... I wish I never started meds because I was better before them when I didn't have to deal with side effects, withdrawal, and relapse.
I have learned alot from your videos. In this video, you spoke about things that can complicate depression or not completely getting better. I have hypothyroidism, sleep apnea and suffer from chronic pain. The only thing I can do, is to make sure ALL of these conditions are maintained so that my symptoms of depression are not as profound. I am on medication and am in CBT therapy, which has made all the difference in the world. Your videos help me to remember to recognize depression symptoms before they get out of control. Thank you again for your time.
Dr Marks, can you explain why people with depression seem like they don’t get better? I have a friend who’s had intensive therapy, and has been on multiple medications for years. She still has cptsd, MD and panic attacks. Why can’t patients like her get better or at least improve?
My psychiatrist choose Lamotrigine, an anticonvulsant, to help the zoloft I was already taking. It is amazing what medicines can help that they weren't originally made for.
Thank you so much for this video and many others. I got diagnosed with bipolar depression 3 months ago, and am still trying to get on the right combination of treatment that works best. This reassures me that I can and will get better.
I can't stop watching your videos. Thank you for publishing your knowledge. I'm on Cymgen 60mg and although I am not down all the time I get nothing done. I'm so tired and demotivated. Regards Teri
thanks Terry for binge watching.😊 what you’re experiencing could be left over untreated depression or a medication side effect. Your doctor would be the one to help figure this out based on the timing of what you’re experiencing. If it’s looks like untreated depression then a solution would be to increase your medication. However some people will experience low motivation and fatigue from too much of the medication.
Thank you so much for this. Ive tried so many SSRIs and SNRIs and none of them worked. This is something I can at least ask some advice or reviews about.
thanks for considering the weight gain a serious side effect of meds. so many doctors ignore it . i've seen some gain over 100 pounds on some meds which isn't something to ignore and just deal with it.
Can you do a video on how sometimes meds work for a while but suddenly just stop. I have this problem, every med I’ve tried either doesn’t work or does for several months and then they stop. Why? BD2
That's a good subject I have the same problem , my first antidepressant was proxetine 30mg/day it changed my life, but after around 3 months of use it stpped working , then I have tried 40 mg but no change , then Fluoxetine, Escitalopram,Venlafaxine, Clomipramine,Sertalin , 'Escitalopram+Clomipramine' , 'Escita...+Antipychotique' ALL THIS without result , I hope get the same change of the first use
For me TRD has been/ is taking every single ssri, snri, mood stabilizer, a few tricyclic antidepressants, every atypical antipsychotic for augmentation, other atypical antidepressants (Remeron etc..) and so on. I’ve tried over 60+ meds over the last couple decades 😞 The ssri and snri meds always stop working for me after 1 or 2 years, or don’t help at all. Most mood stabilizers gave me dreadful side effects, or did nothing. After being suicidal (again) for almost a whole year, I finally did 6 ketamine infusions recently - I feel (maybe 75%) better for the 1st time in decades. Safer than ECT, proven efficacy (unlike TMS) and the only catch is that it’s expensive. But it’s been a small miracle.
Oh that’s so great to here. I did a video on ketamine after this video came out. I also talk about spravato nasal spray. In case you’re interested. ruclips.net/video/uB-LomU_Td4/видео.html
@Dr. Tracey Marks Sorry I never realized you replied (RUclips is rather glitchy, I seem to get 40% of my notifications) but I appreciate that you did, I just found out now 1 year later. I have been struggling a lot, the ketamine is too expensive for me to do often enough :( I did look into the nasal spray, sadly my insurance (Medicaid) won’t cover it; since it’s much less effective than the infusions anyhow I’m just sticking to that, when I can handle the guilt of my family paying for it. I’ve turned their offers down even during suicidal bouts. How I wish I could do maintenance by getting both infusions & the spray! Thanks again for your reply, I’ll check the vid you linked. Love your channel, hope you’re safe out there 🙂
@skOsH I’ve been told by many psychiatrists & therapists that I have ptsd as well, based on the intensity of my symptoms & other factors. I don’t know where one illness starts or the others begin - diagnoses never really matter when nothing helps, I know you understand :/ I just barely made it out of another suicidal period, lasted several months, right now I feel awful, unstable, panicky, yet not suicidal - no idea how that shifted..it’s always a short break though. I feel hopeless almost every waking second - I understand - but please don’t give up. *Can you consider getting ECT for example? Most insurance will cover it, & it’s pretty effective for TRD & suicidal states. Do you have any insurance right now? Btw the “cocktail” of meds I take too do almost NOTHING - I’m usually just able to make it through each day, not much more. If you’d like to talk let me know, our situations are alike.
@skOsH I feel you. I'm in the same boat. I am planning to have TMS Therapy in the New Year, and if all else fails, then ECT. They offer it here where I live, but I'm a bit scared to have it done here only because the medical field here in my country isn't the best. And having induced seizures by a subpar Doctor is just stupid and dangerous, so I may be SOL.
I had exhausted the ssri options at age 44 after a lifetime of struggling with depression. Then one trip with mescaline and I'm off the ssri and, frankly, have a different mind. I'm much better.
I was on Zoloft 50mg for 5 years and for the first year it kind of worked quite well. Then it stopped working, so I increased it to 100mg. I had major fury outbursts and after 2 days, had to go back to 50mg. After about another 6 months, I tried 100mg again, and this time felt no anger, but only felt maybe a 25% improvement in my overall mental state. In total, I've been on Zoloft for 7 years, tried Lexapro for 6 months (felt nothing from that), Moclobemide for a month (I had to stop due to always being asleep), and Effexor for 2 months (no real benefit). Meh.
I was always scared of being put on sertraline because I thought it would be way too strong for me. Turns out it wasn’t strong enough because even on the highest dose (200 mg), I wasn’t feeling any improvement. I’ve been on 2 other anti depressants as well over the course of 6 months to no avail. I sent my psychiatrist a text saying I may have to re-admit myself into an in-patient facility. She prescribed me lithium and boy was it a game changer. I am forever thankful. She is literally the best. Had no idea my depression was that bad a long with other psychiatric disorders.
@@poisonivy6477 I'm glad you found something that works for you. Its great to know that people can feel better with the medication especially if all seems lost after trying multiple types. I've had SSRI's and SNRI's, nothing has worked well for me. Some would make me really anxious with no depression then some would have the opposite effect with huge mood swings. Doctors here is Australia are too quick to push meds and CBT which I've tried multiple times and just referrals to multiple Psychologists. I keep asking to see a Psychologist to get to the root of my trauma and work from there but to no avail. So now for the last year and a bit I've had to suffer in silence without any support from any medical professional cause what's the point if nothing and nobody is helping right? Anyway, all hope and happiness to you and your struggles. I hope you have a great year ahead of you. 😁
@@poisonivy6477 We're you bipolar? Or were you unipolar depression? Did you have fatigue, avolition, anhedonia, etc? I have heard of lithium being used as a depression adjunct for even monopolar depression.
Very informative. My son has schizoaffective disorder with bipolar & depression , and I have anxiety and depression , he takes Abilify & Lithium right now & I take mirtazipine and Prozac
I wish my former psychiatrist would have just concluded I was treatment resistant. But every problem I had simply had to be my own fault somehow because I allegedly wasn't taking my recovery seriously. My innards are never gonna recover from all the damage. Even if my stomach lining recovers I still have a hiatal hernia right in my esophogous and am now prone to intense IBS symptoms. If you feel like the medication is hurting more than it's helping say something and if the doctor doesn't relent you need to get the fuck outta dodge. Don't make my mistake and let someone incompetent destroy your health.
I’m extremely self educated from experience and constant research on treating my bi polar disorder and my severe DSPS. It’s quite rare I learn something new in these treatment areas which is why I found it fascinating this Doc mentioned that a bi polar patient may really need to try getting thyroid levels in at least mid range normal instead of low normal. I don’t know whether I was low normal or mid normal so I will address this potential tweek with my primary doc to be sure I’m not missing out on better treatment. I also have psoriatic arthritis but symptoms don’t really bother me but based on this video, will plan to ask my doc what med I may want to try in case some of that psoriatic immune disease is keeping me fatigued and still mildly depressed. Thanks to all docs like this for their work in educating the public.
I look forward every week to ur videos, it's like u are my therapist which is awesome since I can't afford one. I suffer from depression and take medication for it but I have extreme anxiety and almost daily have some sort of panic attack of course I take medication for anxiety too on top of ambien to sleep.. I hate being on medicine but I took my self off slowly this summer but ended up in the er with severe attack they ran all these test on my heart etc and I m fine and better but still not back to normal so I know I must have my medicine. It's really a sad life if I think abt it but just hoping it gets better? I m 53 and had ovarian cancer 6 yrs ago so I think have been put in menopause and can't take anything for it because of the cancer has made it worse. Sorry for the long post, thank u for listening and always being here for us😊
I tried 20+ antidepressants with none particularly working. Trauma and Feminist (empowerment) Therapy, plus learning my extended family had many Narcissists, finally helped. Learning to manage the narcissists (NC; Grey Rock) and un-learning the guilt/shame/blame, resolved my ‘depression’.
lovely video already knew this explained it well for lay people. I had must be 1000 ECT’s.Helped me a lot. I wouldn’t even be working now if it wasn’t for ECT.
Thanks José. I'm still surprised at how much people share about themselves in the comments. I feel it's only right to respond.. I'll keep it up as long as I can. 🙂
what about tinnitus? Raising serotonin in the brain may louden tinnitus levels. So basically, tinnitus sufferers such as myself, we have to choose between anxiety / depression and loud tinnitus. It is not fair, they should find a cure to tinnitus.
A close friend of mine had this treatment resistant depression and she did this Genesight test she showed me and it showed the majority of medicine was listed in the red category. She said the provider explained that the treatment resistant depression was caused by significant gene drug interactions to more of the medications than norman and then the doctor said he has seen the test with some people show most meds in the green or good category. She told me that the test showed all the 8 pervious medications she tried were red and she only had Pristique in the green category and when she got on it, she said it saved her life. Have you heard of this? That this Genesight test can explain who has treatment resistant depression?
Since the beginning of last year.. I have been taking antidepressants.... Mood stabilizers... Anti anxiety medication....panic attacks medication... Am just confused and I really don't know whether am improving or not... Am also starting to doubt my doctor... I experience emotions and changes in my brain and body that I can't explain eg suicidal thoughts (mainly)....am really having alot of mixed feelings and thoughts.. like when will I get better and go back to my normal self
Thank you for your interesting and informational you tubes. Love them all! Very good you tubes! Last year I had an incident with someone for which I had to involve the police and it triggered a lot of fear and anxiety for me. I find myself still ruminating over it, wanting to understand why I fear this person. I am a senior and have what I feel is a low grade depression even before the incident.. I want energy, motivation and pep back.I have always been enthusiastic, accomplished a lot in my life. I have had major depressions before but this time I feel I have a low grade version. I have tried ALL antidepressants (but without therapy) and cannot tolerate the side effects. I walk 30 min - briskly every day, but have no enthusiasm, no appetite to do much more. I sleep good, and want to do projects but never finish them even if I do start them. Have Short term memory issues. Very impatient. Sometimes I think it is my thyroid but it has been tested though levels drop each year. Last year the result was 1.69. The year before was a "sensitive" test and all with what my physician says is within normal range. Want to see a psychiatrist so that I can be diagnosed for physical or mental issues- depression.. I just feel it is more about hormone levels, immune system. Even tried an endocrinologist. What path should I take? Psychologist or Psychiatrist?
Abilify aggravated my depression to the Nth degree, but subdued anxiety. Coming off kept me from devastating remorse, but amplified anxiety to the point of feeling continually short of breath.
TRD is actually common in clinical practice and again I think we need to accept that treating depression comes down to a lot more than popping pills even in the cases where they help some. They do not cure.
thank you for making those videos you really helped and educated me and others a lot my question is does lamotrigine work on unipolar resistant depression ?
Undiagnosed “quiet “ BPD for 30 years was totally hellish. Still not free of suicidal stuff and deep long dives. No real consistent relief ever. I’m. 58. And I consider that my rapid cycling bi polar is part of the package. DID. Truly treatment resistant.
Boy that's tough Kathy. I some other nonstandard treatments that are included in this video are ketamine for depression ruclips.net/video/uB-LomU_Td4/видео.html and bright light therapy ruclips.net/video/aw3XVzXXT_k/видео.html
14 different meds, currently on an MAOI, and went through 8 ECT treatments that they had to stop (was supposed to be 12) because I experienced retrograde amnesia. Still dealing with memory issues, and it's frightening and frustrating. I've also got PTSD and GAD. I'm ready to throw in the towel.
Me too. How do your keep your head above water? I have been on as many medications as you. I started Nortriptyline a couple of weeks ago and lining up TMS Therapy in the New Year. I had considered ECT, but hearing stories like yours stop me in my tracks. Its just so hard when nothing is working, you'll try anything.
Thanks Carlos. I was podcasting before I started doing RUclips videos. I only lasted two years before I podfaded. But that subject matter was on Working Moms and not general mental health. I didn’t think people were wanting/ready to hear about mental health. Now I see otherwise.
All of this is so information for me. I’ve been on 5 antidepressants and none of them have helped a bit. My psychologist think I have bipolar disorder for a multitude of reasons. Over all I’ve been on 16 different medications before. I’m on lamictal right now and if that doesn’t help I’m gonna lithium. Thank yo!
You're welcome Madi. Lithium is a very good drug, but lamictal is easier to take as it has less side effects and you don't need blood levels. Fingers crossed🙂
@@DrTraceyMarks Hi tracey i've been on zoloft and zyprexa for a year no results i've been off 3 months with withdrawal very bad and have very bad suicidal thoughts mostly at night do you think its a good idea to tell my doctor to try Lithium or lamictal, i'm also a strict vegan and take supplements along with exercise Thank You
I tried Abilify and Rexulti but it caused the restlessness so bad that I scratched my skin off by accident. Seroquel made me sleep eat. My psychiatrist didn’t believe me but then my boyfriend caught me eating an entire container of cold rice with a handful of butter on top of it right in front of the fridge maybe 2 hours after I took my meds. I’ve been on medications for my resistant bipolar for years and I still am severely depressed and severely suicidal and unsure of what to do at this point. My therapist gave up. Psychiatrist gave up and I can’t risk going inpatient because I can’t afford missing work ^^ I don’t have a support system anymore and my family has outed me as a black sheep at this point. This gave me some insight but I’m not even sure on what to even do. I’ve tried Wellbutrin, tried combinations of antidepressants and mood stabilizers and so many others and nothing has worked..
Thank you so much for your video, Im really following and watching all your video as I can, its very helpful specially my husband has all those illness and its challenging in our marriage right now.. Thank you for this video, bcoz its atleast gives me ideas about my husband been sufferings..
You're welcome JasJin. Thanks for taking this kind of interest in understanding him. I make this information for people who are affected as well as for family/friends who just want to know more. Thanks for watching.
Dr. Marks, I felt really positive about your videos -- until this one. ECT, seriously? It almost ruined my life, and I'm far from alone in that. Prospective ECT patients can't give *real* informed consent, because we aren't told the actual risks and how commonly they occur, and especially how often the negative, catastrophic effects are permanent. Edited to add: it didn't even touch the depression for me. What if did affect was huge chunks of my long-term memory -- lost permanently -- and my ability to form/retain new memories. And I have known several people who permanently lost *procedural* memory after ECT. Anyway, does it not seem a bit strange to induce seizures intentionally as a therapy? Right, right ... "we don't know how it works" ... I wouldn't be surprised if a major reason that some patients report that shock treatment worked is because they believed so strongly and hoped so desperately that it would help.
I've heard bad things about ECT. Psychiatry is a pseudoscience. There are so many adverse effects and long term side effects in every single treatment in psychiatry. I've had my fair share in psychiatry. Never again...
*DO NOT TAKE ANY PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS THEY DAMAGE YOUR WHOLE BODY FROM YOUR CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM TO YOUR GUT!! THEY ARE POISON!! PROTRACTED WITHDRAWALS AND PERMANENT DISABILITY ARE EFFECTS OF LONG TERM USE THAT YOU WILL NOT FIND ON THE PACKET!! *
Because you dont get a good quality of sleep which makes you fatigued, gives you poor concentration, poor memory, poor immune system, mood swings and depression. Sleep is incredibly important and if we dont get enough theres a high risk for becoming depressed
You know it AMAZES me how LITTLE we have come in the past 70 years - when electro shock therapy is actually STILL being harolded as an actual "cure" or helpful therapy for depression/anxiety - really for helping the patient in anyway at all. I see the "theory" behind it (resetting the electrical activity) and sadly I have personally suffered - not only from extreme refractory anxiety and depression since I was VERY young - and sadly these "panic attacks" almost always ended in seizures and as I will attempt to describe my first anxiety attack that occured from a mere blood glucose test performed by my pediatrician not only resulted in a grande mal seizure - but my heart had stopped as well! My Dr. had to perform CPR on me. These panic attacks followed by seizures - were and STILL are some of the most terrifying things I have EVER had to face. Clonazepham has helped greatly, however without it; especially having been put on it by a Dr in my early 20's - without this medication (as I am 47 now) I can expect seizures that could very well lead to coma and possibly death. I wonder - how many psychiatrists have had electric shock therapy and found their own medicine to be at all helpful? Having a seizure is a VERY painful experience - like your brain is being bombarded with so many random images that you can only surmise that being dragged face down by a truck going 140 mph would be the only thing I personally could compare it to - without the obvious facial damage of course - yet you are STILL hurting from it and feel exhausted. Have you personally had a seizure Dr. and actually felt well afterward????
there has literally been ONE psych breakthrough med wise in 30 years, the ketamine therapy which is safer and more successful thus far that ECT - and cheaper! BUT no one will cover it. The nasal spray is less effective at maybe 30 - 40 % and highly expensive (spravato) also not covered. the infusions are 80 % effective...ive been following the research over 10 yrs
@@katinas9847 Funny, I've been looking into it as well. There's an infusion center near me - but no insurance will cover it and at least years ago it was 450.00 per infusion - not sure I can afford it... 🤪
@@lauralewis5726 its disgusting cause ketamine is one of the cheapest drugs on the market..thats why vet clinics use it and soldiers n the battlefield..smh its sickening. I read an article not long ago where someone said "Om..so this means people who need it wont be able to afford it.." thats bout right... smh when I was home it was 4 k a treatment at the ONE place I could find - and like I said insurance doesnt cover it,,,,its pathetic and sad. But they cover ECT- my great Aunt had ECT's and when she died, the ME said her brain SHRUNK and said it was from the ect's...they can say all they want but the new ECT is NOT kinder or better they just give people something to keep the convulsions from being visible and sedation. - We cant execute people via electricity cause it isnt humane..tell me how the F is ect humane?! Not only that the side effects are nuts and people lose patches of memory - no guarantee which..smh
I HATE Sertraline. I have OCD, and BD, and my psychiatrist prescribed Sertraline for my OCD. I had a lot of horrible side effects such as tachycardia, dizziness, and strong headaches. She said all medications have their side effects, and that my body would get used to it eventually. I told her I was NOT going to take that stuff.
I really enjoy your videos. There’s only 1 psychiatrist in my area that’s on my insurance. I’ve been seeing him for over a year but my next appt will be my last. I don’t feel like he cares and I’m just a guinea pig.
Akathisia is horrible, I had it with all the antipsychotics they tried for my depression. The doctor finally found an old, old med navane that works okay, no major side effects. But I still have crappy levels of depression. I've learned to live with it.
Hi Dr Marks. Thanks again for the video. I just got out of the hospital because my doctor could not get me in. Anyway the visit was not as great as I had hoped. The lithium is definitely working for the suicide but the voices are at a medium. I'm relocating this Saturday to a better support system and I am hoping to do much better. Also I will get therapy which you suggested would help. I'm just hoping to be able to differentiate real from reality with the voices so I can live a normal life. They hospital also gave me resperidone along with the lithium and I'm hoping that I did not develop a tolerance for the meds. I was just hoping the hospital would have listened more to me when I spoke to them. I believe I will be in better care soon. There are just to many triggers where I currently live. Thanks again.
Hospital oh dear...I'm glad you're moving to a more supportive environment. That helps more than people realize. With less triggers, maybe your voices will get quieter and easier to ignore.
Doc I placed on Seroquel for my anger and sleep I'm not psychotic but my anger was out of control Seroquel is a bad medication because caused a lot of problems like cholesterol problems triglyceride levels through the roof at a dangerous level to be at risk for stroke they took me off of it too fast and I lost control so, doctor and put me back on it and gradually reduced me to none
I gained a lot of weight while on Seroquel too. Worse, it caused me to sleepwalk for the first time in my entire life. That might not have been so bad, except that I also sleep-DROVE.
I think my depression is situational. Antideppressants just drain me of life. Something good happening in my life is the only thing that makes me happy.
Today, the mushroom compound is being used in clinical trials for end-of-life anxiety, treatment-resistant depression, cluster headache, addiction, eating disorders and other conditions with unprecedented success, and psilocybin-assisted therapy has been given FDA “breakthrough therapy” status as a treatment for depression.
@@adamsvictoria3339 I'm in Australia Adam. I am trying different microdosing n stuff when the opportunity arises. Im not a believer in making substances illegal; to me it's an over reach of power. I'll keep searching.
I felt really good when Vraylar started to kick in. Then by the 3rd week I got so restless I couldn’t stand it. I was taking off Vraylar. My Lamictal was raised from 200 per day to 300.
Thank you! Wish I could pay you to be my dr here in Canada! Tried many meds. I did get a little results from psilocybin microdosing but started to get heart palpitations which is unfortuned cause in 20 years I did get the odd day of feeling normal!
Sorry for the spam, but have you hear of Patrick McKeown and Buteyko breathing? Or of vagus nerve exercises? They might help you, but I don't know what the likelihood is.
Lithium messed up my thyroid in 2,5 months. It was really bad, I never felt so terrible. Had to stop taking it. It took more than a year to get my thyroid back to normal. But still it's not the same it's been. The worst part was that my psychiatrist told me that I'm hysterical and didn't want to look at my blood tests...
Oh that’s a real shame. Periodic blood testing should be a part of lithium treatment. That’s pretty quick for it to have that effect on your thyroid. Sorry that happened. I hope you got on something else that worked well for you.
What if becoming drug dependent seems a bigger problem than being depressed? These “solutions” seem like way too many drugs and the complications would make me super unhappy! Ugg. Never ending self imposed complex drug issues!! My mother never found relief in drugs, and ended her life, she tried everything except expressing her emotions and being transparent. I’ll stick to prayer, and talk therapy,reading, listening to healthy podcasts. I’m only speaking for myself. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼✝️ I realize that some folks find relief from drugs, and that’s great if it helps you! God Bless us all who suffer from mental health issues. There are no cookie cutter answers. I pray for us all. 🙏🏼
Hello , first and foremost thank you a lot for your videos 🙏. Believe it or not, An AI, advised me to watch your videos. I've tried multiples medications before finding one that suits me , but I am still wondering sometimes, if I take too much medication . Do you think, it's possible to recognize signs of over medication ? I get sometimes conflicting medical recommandation, which makes me a little be perplexed. My open question is the following : How can we differentiate between signs of over-medication and transient side effects of an adequate dosage ? Thanks again
Dr Marks where can I get the information about increasing the thyroid dose. My t4 and t3 are low with a normal TSH. Every time I get the higher dose of levothyroxine I feel better. Depression and hypothyroid symptoms decrease. Then my TSH will be too low and the dose is lowered again. Can’t convince anyone to treat the symptoms instead of the numbers. So if I can find the relevant info, maybe they will reconsider. Thanks
Hi Dr. Tracey, Thank you for this video, I was beginning to worry my depression was treatment resistant because I am not able to tolerate the side effects of ssris well and have tried 4 different medications. Now I know that is not the case. Could you do a video on depression with elevated mood, or subclinical hypomanic symptoms? My depression fluctuates with stress levels, involves frequent crying spells, heavy rejection sensitivity, low energy/tiredness, excess guilt or anxiety, social anxiety, and if I'm really stressed out, suicidal ideation, but is sometimes interspersed with elevated mood at random. Ive had my thyroid tested several times and always get normal results. I also have longer periods of normal mood in between bouts of depression, and can knock out some depression or elevated mood by doing things like going to sleep at a good hour, walking a few blocks, or just riding out the moods themselves. Although I sleep less when I have elevated mood (4 hrs or so) and have elevated sex drive, and have a super high sense of confidence, I don't do things like risky sexual behaviors, overspending, gambling, drinking, or drugs. I am confused about my depression and I wish I had a better diagnosis.
@@RebelCheezIt I got a good therapist (with clinical training) who did some cbt-based therapy with me, who was able to help me address the different mental "parts" of myself as useful, while helping me place my depression oscillation in a normalized context and help me explore past negative experiences, and how the substance abuse issues in my family affected me. My mood has settled out by and large. Not perfect, I still buckle into depression with triggers, but my mood is not oscillating as much as it used to. It was VERY helpful. He kept notes, tracked progress on my goals, and was able to use actual techniques with me. First time I've really had a useful therapist. I would recommend finding a therapist who you know can meet your needs. Don't stop till you find the method that works for you. Keep exercising, don't push yourself to overachieve,, and know that your goals and your own peace is valid. Not others' expectations.
Dr. Tracey, Thank you so much for these video's. They are very informative . I have been suffering from depression most of my life with relapses after relapses again and again and once again I feel a relapse coming on after 3 years of depression fee. I am so scared I am not going to be able to get out of this one because it was 4 years of debilitating depression and trials of medications after medications before getting well. Now here I am not wanting to get out of bed again.
Hi Kim. I'm not sure if you saw my video on wake therapy for depression. It's kind of an out-of-the-box way of approaching depression that can help even with your medications. This is for the person who over sleeps when you get depressed. ruclips.net/video/4iyDPHxPH78/видео.html
@@DrTraceyMarks You should make a video about the use of pramipexole in treatment resistant depression. There is almost no available information on this topic. I turned up only one video by a Dr. Jan Fawcett.
My meds weren't working well in 2023. Around Christmas I became very anxious and stressed. I was fed up and stopped taking them in march 2024. Im 6weeks off and doing ok. I swapped my meds for a lions mane Nootropic. 6wks off and had the odd headache. Diarrhoea, insomnia, and some fitigue are still are a daily reacurance. Anxiety and depression are completely gone. I will never ever go back on antidepressants.
I've come to accept that psychiatry will always fail some people with TRD because they don't actually understand it or potentially undiscovered subtypes of depression that may not be obvious by presentation alone. I've tried over 15 different psychiatric medications, some at very high doses in various combinations, and found no relief from any of them. TMS made me much worse (no, it wasn't a "dip"). I've known people who've done ECT who experienced severe memory loss and the rate of long-term damage with ECT is vastly underestimated, for example some people I know lost skills and basic information like where they live, so I refuse to do that. Ketamine helped briefly but no longer works.
Failure to respond (and antidepressants making me worse, including suicidal) were the trigger for my gp thinking I might have bipolar. My treatment was back and forth for a while until genetic testing was recommended by my psychiatrist. Turns out I’m genetically inclined to be very negatively reactive to SSRIs and other antidepressants.
I'm glad you were able to get the genetic testing. It can be extremely helpful in eliminating a lot of the trial and error with meds. Unfortunately, insurance companies have not gotten on board enough for most people to be able to get the testing.
Hi Dr Marks, I'm 32, from Australia & have treatment resistant MDD, yet have ZERO positive response in 12yrs of treatment. Tried all groups of antidepressants (am on Parnate now with no + result) that's 20 meds over that time span, including combining lithium & Lexapro. I've had 6 sessions of bilateral ECT, and TMS, again ZERO positive response. I've done many types of talk therapy also. Also tried Seroquel and Largactil. If you have any advice I'd be incredibly grateful! Thank you!
thank you for this video! it gives me hope that a dr can know whats happening to me & what treatment is necessary. i just tried another medicine that didnt work for me. i let my dr know about symptoms i thought it was causing & now my dr has DROPPED me. and the thing is, im STILL having side effects and/or withdrawals from the last med. please tell me where to find someone as knowledgeable as you in my area. Please!
I’m sorry that happened with your doctor. I would suggest you search on psychology today website. They have psychiatrists on the site as well. It allows you to search using your ZIP Code so you can get someone close by.
Would really love to see a video about mood dysregulation disorder with psychotic features (Bipolar with schizophrenia) in teens and what medication is recommended for a teen with severe depression who hardly has manic episodes only depressive states.
Why leave out all the treatments that affect the Glutimate system? Do’nt they show overwhelmingly more success than anything else? And with no side effects? Is the reason some folks don’t talk about them lack of pharmaceutical profit?
Antidepressant SSRIs do the complete opposite to me. I get irritable and murderous at so much as someone chewing or tapping a pen... my memory gets considerably worse, on top of the common side effects.
Good day Dr Marks, can you do a video of how to transition from one antidepressant to another, within the sa e class and different classes, and whether u need to start back at lower doses of the new drug or use an equivalent dose as the previous drug.
I was given Clonazepam and mind shut down at work. They thought I was on a drug and drug tested me. I resigned and stopped taking anything. I just get through this daily.
Nothing wrong IMO in throwing in the towel once you've tried your best for years & life had always been a torture. There are no Brownie Points for who suffered the most! There is no upside to prolonged suffering.
You're totally right. I know so many people say "How could you do that to your loved ones?!" They clearly have never been through the hell that is treatment resistant depression. I don't think I'm going to make it through another year if I don't get some kind of relief soon. This is no quality of life.
@@jpmcfluffies9451 I Feel for you! I totally get where you are coming from. Have you suffered all your life? I believe our existence should not be based on "Life at ALL COST" but rather making the "BEST DECISION POSSIBLE" for a given situation. I believe. if you have lived a CURSED life & have tried All Viable Options, then you have to look at alternatives to end the Intense Sadness & Torture of everyday life.
When i was on lithium, they never did any bloodwork and made my symptoms worse. Once they removed it, i started randomly falling asleep, blacking out and hallucinating. Before, my body treated it as a stimulant
That’s a really strange reaction to being off lithium - especially the hallucinating part. But lithium definitely needs laboratory monitoring if you’re going to be on it.
@@DrTraceyMarks i'm not sure what's going on. I'm currently now only on zoloft, trileptal and xanax. It may be one of those medications. My current doctor seems to just throw me on random medications
The MAOIs are the best. Nardil and Parnate. Extremely effective medications. Have a few side effects at the start, but are definitely worth it. Surprised this lady did not mention them.
Yes the week therapy video came after I made this video. I don’t know that people would think of week therapy as something to use for treatment resistance though. but I respect your opinion. I think if it works then it works.
@@DrTraceyMarks in all honesty I've tried everything from ssris to snris to Wellbutrin to Remeron Seroquel Trazadone. The ONLY thing that worked was sleep deprivation. I cannot thank you enough for posting the video on how to possibly gain extended benefits. I am actually trying it tonight with your guide I downloaded. I already had a lightbox. Wish me luck!
I was on 400mg Abilify injections every 3 weeks for 5 years, started at 20mg orally and the dose kept climbing with little to no improvement. I was in patient for 2 consecutive years, tested many medications (zoloft, clozapin, seroquel...) during my longest stay, my psychologist thought of alternative therapies, and even though I was very opposed to any therapy, my psychiatrists forced me to go (my parents signed off as I was 13) on a planned outdoor trip with a group of out-patient kids just like me, our psychiatrist, nurses and a guide.
We camped up in the mountains for 2 weeks, far away from the city, and this huge wave of relief came over me sitting in the canoe under the moonlit sky...
I'm now off all medications and no longer need my therapist, I'm 20 years old.
Things get better, but you need to stay strong and keep fighting for your freedom from depression. Just because one treatment doesn't work, doesn't mean none will. Thank you for this video ❤
Oh Kara Thank you for this! It's so inspiring. What a journey you had. I'm so glad you've come out on the other side. 🙂
wow. amazing. good fro you!
I wonder if the medications were making your depression worse. One has to wonder how the brain deals with all of the changes from switching from medication to medication. Too bad there isn't a way to measure what is going on. Glad to hear you are doing better though.
Things got better for you. You're young and had opportunities. Congratulations
@@DrTraceyMarks interesting points ,if anyone else wants to discover dealing with depression try Elumpa Depression Cure Alchemist (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some super things about it and my brother in law got great results with it.
Probably the first actually good video on depression. No overly positive talk, no treating psycho therapies like they are a godsend, just tackling topic seriously with hard facts, in respectful manner. More people should watch your channel.
Yeah I have no idea who this lady is let alone what her credentials are, but I'm only about a minute in and I already hit subscribe
Not really all she talked about was meds for most of the video.. kinda useless to treatment resistant people lmao
@@makimaistrash I don't think there really is anything that could help people that are treatment resistant. Haven't found any help yet.
@@makimaistrash just drink your vitamin c and kelp juice and your good for layf 😘🧑🦲💅✨
@@WwZa7
How are you now?
You have been the most direct person I’ve seen on RUclips when it comes to depression . Very good video .
How could anybody NOT get more depressed if they gained as much as 70lbs. Am I glad Dr. Tracey you told us chronic depressives that side- effects. Thanks. Namaste. Z.
Because some people don't give a shot so much about there appearance as you do
Gaining weight is exactly why I stopped taking my meds. Fuck being fat. Not to mention the meds didn't really do much anyways.
Hi Dr. I am a Reg N who assists in the ECT lab and I have done TMS. I am enjoying your videos. We are now using Ketamine which seems to be working well for a lot of folks.. Thanks for your expertise ! Very informative . Merci !
@@zwatts38 Doctor, you did not mention MAOI. According to some persons, they are really really effective for people who have tried everything without success, even though they can be very dangerous (you have to avoid a certain list of food to avoid having a deadly hypertension).
I am a very treatment resistance paciente to medication and had 18 ECT sessions last year and it was the BEST. That memory loss is no big deal comparing to you suffering from a severe endogenous depression for years. So I have used my fabulous cognition to get a group of friends to remember me of things like living diaries with descriptions and, of course, not feeling that bad I've learned and created new good memories.
I’m considering ECT, but I have heard of side effects, I’m not scared of memory loss, but what about the cognitive decline. People say all kinds of things: teachers who can’t teach anymore because learning new stuff is difficult, smart people who claim that all of a sudden math is really hard, people who say they have trouble finding the words for what they want to say that lost all of their vocabulary and have a delayed response and have trouble learning anything new. Did you experience any cognitive issues?
After a year of going through the electroconvulsive therapy process, I was diagnosed with markers of high abilities and giftedness, as well as performing well above average on cognitive tests. I think people get very scared and don't stop to think that even after treating severe depression with ECT they will still have to continue on treatment and all of these things that you described as a side effects like memory failures and learning difficulties are also comorbidities that come from depression. It is quite likely that the scare of undergoing ECT treatment will make people pay more attention to these symptoms that already existed. Talk to medical and psychologist specialists about this and mention this issue of the reports of limitations that are already typical of a severe depressive condition being accentuated after treatment with ECT. My doctor makes an inventory of everything I feel and even the physical impressions I give and when I questioned him about these side effects he showed me that they were symptoms that I already had and according to the follow-up reports that I had been responding to. I was, in fact, improving, I just put a lot of attention on that...
@bzyspecialI understand you perfectly because I've tried ECT and more than 40 different types of medicines of all the possible classification. Have you tried something at any specialized medicine school? My doctor is a reference in research here in Brazil and he told me, when I was feeling SO BAD that he wouldn't stop without finding something that works. And it is working. After so many years of resistance, I'm winning. Try to always remember that everything you feel is a symptom, never let your mind go to weird places, try your best to make use of your cognitive functions to help your survival instinct. And something that is very important: have a rest sometimes. We wasted LOTS of energy trying to find ways, trying to take the control of the situation, but sometimes we just need to lie down on our bads and recognize we are doing our best. Recover your energies. It's quite difficult, but this crazy world do not deserve the waste of our lives. Feel everything, my friend, be who you are and think about how the world is not ready for us.
Hi I did ECT too and unfortunately my depression got worse.. happy to hear it worked for you.
I could watch you speak all day! I like how you give us lots of detail and demystify medical concepts for us. Many doctors oversimplify things and like their profession to be a mysterious art. You, however, are very transparent. Thanks!
You have no idea how much I appreciate these videos. Thank you ❤
Thanks Dr. Marks. Your videos are always informative and you can easily tell that you have a genuine concern for the well being of your audience.
As a parent, learning about bipolar due to my daughter's diagnoses - you've shared more than I've ever heard from any of her doctors. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Dear Dr Marks,
I am a physician.
I can understand how difficult your job is.
You are trying to build a bridge between nonmedical people and medical professionals.
You make things easy to understand for everyone, at the same time highly educative for non psych medical professionals. Good enough that they should accredit these courses for CE and CME!
Difficult assignment you have taken on yourself. And you are doing a great job of it. Keep up the good work.
I am a nurse in psych, as well as family mental illness , and I agree Dr Marks is fabulous !
Doctor, you did not mention MAOI. According to some persons, they are really really effective for people who have tried everything without success, even though they can be very dangerous (you have to avoid a certain list of food to avoid having a deadly hypertension).
Thank you for taking time to produce these vids! So much extremely important info. It's DEEPLY appreciated!
You're so welcome Artistically Random!
Thank doc.for your advice superbly!!!☺☺☺
My best friend has TRD and people with traditional depression are constantly refusing to believe her since treatments worked for them and depression didn't last long...In my friend's case she's on year 11 of the same depressive episode with no end in sight. :/
Yeah some people just can't understand.. I've had diagnosed depression for 15 years and no meds are helping, the doctors just try the same meds over and over... Im now refusing to take them anymore since they don't help me. I've come to a conclusion that my depression and anxiety comes from past traumas. I fit the diagnose of c-ptsd to a TEE but it's not an official diagnosis here where i live. Maybe your friend has c-ptsd too? It could be a good idea to look up the symptoms (or a video) about it.
I have a list of different diagnosis. My dr was treating my insomnia and put me on nortriptyline(sp?) And it's actually helped my depression! After doing some research I found that it can be used for treatment resistant depression. Maybe it's something you could talk to your Dr about? (If you haven't already)
@@Lyndzi85
What dose of nortriptyline are you on?
@@gregorymalchuk272 20mg at night. I started out on 10mg
Yeah same /: tried 5 different ones plus therapy. Also recovered from ed, ocd, ptsd, insomnia, got help for my tmj disorder and my autism. Absolutely nooooothing helps my depression. Going on 10 years lol
I have treatment resistant depression. I’ve been through 3 different anti-depressants and no difference, even on 200 mg of sertraline. So my psychiatrist recently put me on 300 mg of lithium and it is a night and day difference. I’m so relieved honestly.
Were you bipolar? Did you have any avolition, anhedonia, or brain fog?
Lithium is a miracle drug for me.
lithium ; Make sure you get the lithium levels blood test as otherwise it could cause medical issues; I think it can damage the kidneys if levels are too high and amounts in the body change even if you take the same amount of lithium
I have recently discovered your channel, and even as someone who is deeply critical of psychiatry and biological reductionism, I appreciate your honesty, your thoroughness, you taking time to investigate concerns, and your remarkable and unusual responsiveness to comment threads. Kudos here.
That being said, I feel that what gets mostly ignored in the conversation about depression is the intimate interplay between the individual and their environment, and the profound influence of environmental and psychosocial factors on mood. If a person is struck in intolerable circumstances for indefinite periods of time, which they are unable to significantly alter or influence, and where their quality of life becomes little else beyond survival in ever more precarious and uncertain circumstances, they will almost certainly become depressed, and no quantity of antidepressants will remedy their mood, beyond perhaps making them simply numb to their unfortunate circumstances.
The discussion about depression isn't complete without a discussion of capitalism and individualism. When our society is structured on a pseudo-meritocracy, where one's worth (and sometimes survival) hinges upon being seamlessly productive, where circumstances are always precarious, and where there's great social fragmentation, it becomes a very convenient exercise to blame individual psychic exhaustion to intolerable systemic factors on biological, genetically-mediated "chemical imbalances" that determine one's fitness and capacity to "cope" and maintain a perpetually sunny disposition in perpetually grim circumstances.
If we are looking for a good antidepressant, we would be hard pressed to find something better than cocaine and heroin -- which almost universally produce euphoric effects. The only difference here is what types of drug use that society tolerates and what, in accordance with prevailing policy and politics, is regarded as an illicit drug or an essential medication. I'm agnostic on the matter of individual psychotropic drug use -- whether illicit, recreational, or prescribed -- but it's something to reflect upon.
Bravo, Larry. My STANCE XACTLY!!!!! As u just said; mental health conditions r ENVIRONMENTAL IMBALANCES (NOT CHEMICAL IMBALANCES). When some1 gets abused, bullied, & harassed by other people, what r we 2 do? Accept the abuse, bullying, & harassment by being a human "punching bag"? There4; it's natural human instinct 2 fight back & stand up 2 abusers, antagonists, & bullies. When we do, we get branded as having an "attitude problem" & get put on psych meds 2 "control" our behavior while the abusers, antagonists, & bullies get off "scot-free" (primarily when the latter r those in authority; e.g.: parents, law n4cmnt, medical pros, court personnel including judges, etc.). U r so SPOT-ON!!!!!
Genesight (genetic) testing was the only way to convince my healthcare team that really none of my medications worked and I could be "referred" to the TRD-specialty team for considering the options you discussed here. We decided ECT is the best course.
The testing, didn't do me any good, because none of the 8 antidepressants worked.
This is the 1st time I have heard this explained so I could understand. Thank you.
Oh my gosh! I’m so happy that I found your videos. You’re so knowledgeable and I wish I had you as my psychiatrist. I need serious help.
I've been in therapy and on meds since I was 15. I'm 35 now. I grew up with some special needs, mostly just mild learning disabilities. Over the years I have been on every medication under the sun and never got anywhere. Everyone treated me as just another really depressed and anxious person. A few years ago I found out that my whole life I'm actually a higher functioning autistic, which explains why I've never gotten much relief through medication. If you've been struggling with this all of your life I encourage you to find a psychologist and get tested. Unfortunately many psychs and therapist aren't trained to spot autism. I even went for TMS treatment recently, the full 6 weeks and only saw a very slight benefit from it. For many autistics with treatment resistant depression it comes down to more life skills and training and figuring out how to cope with the bad depression days than actually getting rid of it completely, since autism itself can mimic many of the signs of depression emotionally wise.
Indeed - why can’t I get clear, objective information like this from my doctor(s)? You really are providing a service to the underserved Dr. Tracey - thank you so much.
I'm exhausted from medication. I'm on my 8th antidepressant and did ECT and yet I'm still depressed. It must be nice to be normal.
Edit: 8/18/22 - still super depressed and took abilify/prozac for the last three years. Have terrible lip tremors from it. I was doing better for a little while but the meds suddenly stopped working. Ketamine is still an option I haven't tried yet.
Well, there's ketamine ruclips.net/video/uB-LomU_Td4/видео.html
I'm in the same exact boat as you
Luca did ECT help u
...my dr told me to go fr ECT
Being normal is overrated. I just want to be content or in control. Or atleast not freak out when I wake up everyday, disappointed I did.
Meds can make you more depressed... I wish I never started meds because I was better before them when I didn't have to deal with side effects, withdrawal, and relapse.
I have learned alot from your videos. In this video, you spoke about things that can complicate depression or not completely getting better. I have hypothyroidism, sleep apnea and suffer from chronic pain. The only thing I can do, is to make sure ALL of these conditions are maintained so that my symptoms of depression are not as profound. I am on medication and am in CBT therapy, which has made all the difference in the world. Your videos help me to remember to recognize depression symptoms before they get out of control. Thank you again for your time.
You’re welcome Arun. I’m glad that videos are helpful. I wish you all the best with your CBT. 😊
Bi polar diagnosis serms to be a catch-all for everything or anything that cannot be explained or understood.
Dr Marks, can you explain why people with depression seem like they don’t get better? I have a friend who’s had intensive therapy, and has been on multiple medications for years. She still has cptsd, MD and panic attacks. Why can’t patients like her get better or at least improve?
My psychiatrist choose Lamotrigine, an anticonvulsant, to help the zoloft I was already taking. It is amazing what medicines can help that they weren't originally made for.
Thank you so much for this video and many others. I got diagnosed with bipolar depression 3 months ago, and am still trying to get on the right combination of treatment that works best. This reassures me that I can and will get better.
You’re welcome Keith. I wish you well 😊
I can't stop watching your videos. Thank you for publishing your knowledge. I'm on Cymgen 60mg and although I am not down all the time I get nothing done. I'm so tired and demotivated. Regards Teri
thanks Terry for binge watching.😊 what you’re experiencing could be left over untreated depression or a medication side effect. Your doctor would be the one to help figure this out based on the timing of what you’re experiencing. If it’s looks like untreated depression then a solution would be to increase your medication. However some people will experience low motivation and fatigue from too much of the medication.
@@DrTraceyMarks thank you so much. Will talk to my psychiatrist. Thanks for your informative videos. Regards Teri
Thank you so much for this. Ive tried so many SSRIs and SNRIs and none of them worked. This is something I can at least ask some advice or reviews about.
You're welcome Michael, I'm glad it was helpful.
thanks for considering the weight gain a serious side effect of meds. so many doctors ignore it . i've seen some gain over 100 pounds on some meds which isn't something to ignore and just deal with it.
Can you do a video on how sometimes meds work for a while but suddenly just stop. I have this problem, every med I’ve tried either doesn’t work or does for several months and then they stop. Why? BD2
That's a great question. I'll add it to my list. Thanks for the suggestion.
me too. for yearsssss.
Same here too. Tolerance always builds up after a couple of months.
same here. I 'tolerate' and adapt to drugs too well
That's a good subject
I have the same problem , my first antidepressant was proxetine 30mg/day it changed my life, but after around 3 months of use it stpped working , then I have tried 40 mg but no change , then Fluoxetine, Escitalopram,Venlafaxine, Clomipramine,Sertalin , 'Escitalopram+Clomipramine' , 'Escita...+Antipychotique'
ALL THIS without result , I hope get the same change of the first use
For me TRD has been/ is taking every single ssri, snri, mood stabilizer, a few tricyclic antidepressants, every atypical antipsychotic for augmentation, other atypical antidepressants (Remeron etc..) and so on. I’ve tried over 60+ meds over the last couple decades 😞 The ssri and snri meds always stop working for me after 1 or 2 years, or don’t help at all. Most mood stabilizers gave me dreadful side effects, or did nothing.
After being suicidal (again) for almost a whole year, I finally did 6 ketamine infusions recently - I feel (maybe 75%) better for the 1st time in decades. Safer than ECT, proven efficacy (unlike TMS) and the only catch is that it’s expensive. But it’s been a small miracle.
Oh that’s so great to here. I did a video on ketamine after this video came out. I also talk about spravato nasal spray. In case you’re interested. ruclips.net/video/uB-LomU_Td4/видео.html
Can you explain a bit how the process of ketamine goes please .
@Dr. Tracey Marks Sorry I never realized you replied (RUclips is rather glitchy, I seem to get 40% of my notifications) but I appreciate that you did, I just found out now 1 year later. I have been struggling a lot, the ketamine is too expensive for me to do often enough :( I did look into the nasal spray, sadly my insurance (Medicaid) won’t cover it; since it’s much less effective than the infusions anyhow I’m just sticking to that, when I can handle the guilt of my family paying for it. I’ve turned their offers down even during suicidal bouts. How I wish I could do maintenance by getting both infusions & the spray! Thanks again for your reply, I’ll check the vid you linked. Love your channel, hope you’re safe out there 🙂
@skOsH I’ve been told by many psychiatrists & therapists that I have ptsd as well, based on the intensity of my symptoms & other factors. I don’t know where one illness starts or the others begin - diagnoses never really matter when nothing helps, I know you understand :/ I just barely made it out of another suicidal period, lasted several months, right now I feel awful, unstable, panicky, yet not suicidal - no idea how that shifted..it’s always a short break though. I feel hopeless almost every waking second - I understand - but please don’t give up. *Can you consider getting ECT for example? Most insurance will cover it, & it’s pretty effective for TRD & suicidal states. Do you have any insurance right now? Btw the “cocktail” of meds I take too do almost NOTHING - I’m usually just able to make it through each day, not much more. If you’d like to talk let me know, our situations are alike.
@skOsH I feel you. I'm in the same boat. I am planning to have TMS Therapy in the New Year, and if all else fails, then ECT. They offer it here where I live, but I'm a bit scared to have it done here only because the medical field here in my country isn't the best. And having induced seizures by a subpar Doctor is just stupid and dangerous, so I may be SOL.
I had exhausted the ssri options at age 44 after a lifetime of struggling with depression. Then one trip with mescaline and I'm off the ssri and, frankly, have a different mind. I'm much better.
I was on 100mg Zoloft for about 8 months and i was feeling the same as the day i started.
That's not good. Sorry you stayed on it so long with no improvement.
I was on Zoloft 50mg for 5 years and for the first year it kind of worked quite well. Then it stopped working, so I increased it to 100mg. I had major fury outbursts and after 2 days, had to go back to 50mg.
After about another 6 months, I tried 100mg again, and this time felt no anger, but only felt maybe a 25% improvement in my overall mental state.
In total, I've been on Zoloft for 7 years, tried Lexapro for 6 months (felt nothing from that), Moclobemide for a month (I had to stop due to always being asleep), and Effexor for 2 months (no real benefit).
Meh.
I was always scared of being put on sertraline because I thought it would be way too strong for me. Turns out it wasn’t strong enough because even on the highest dose (200 mg), I wasn’t feeling any improvement. I’ve been on 2 other anti depressants as well over the course of 6 months to no avail. I sent my psychiatrist a text saying I may have to re-admit myself into an in-patient facility. She prescribed me lithium and boy was it a game changer. I am forever thankful. She is literally the best. Had no idea my depression was that bad a long with other psychiatric disorders.
@@poisonivy6477 I'm glad you found something that works for you. Its great to know that people can feel better with the medication especially if all seems lost after trying multiple types. I've had SSRI's and SNRI's, nothing has worked well for me. Some would make me really anxious with no depression then some would have the opposite effect with huge mood swings. Doctors here is Australia are too quick to push meds and CBT which I've tried multiple times and just referrals to multiple Psychologists. I keep asking to see a Psychologist to get to the root of my trauma and work from there but to no avail. So now for the last year and a bit I've had to suffer in silence without any support from any medical professional cause what's the point if nothing and nobody is helping right?
Anyway, all hope and happiness to you and your struggles. I hope you have a great year ahead of you. 😁
@@poisonivy6477
We're you bipolar? Or were you unipolar depression? Did you have fatigue, avolition, anhedonia, etc? I have heard of lithium being used as a depression adjunct for even monopolar depression.
Very informative. My son has schizoaffective disorder with bipolar & depression , and I have anxiety and depression , he takes Abilify & Lithium right now & I take mirtazipine and Prozac
I wish my former psychiatrist would have just concluded I was treatment resistant. But every problem I had simply had to be my own fault somehow because I allegedly wasn't taking my recovery seriously. My innards are never gonna recover from all the damage. Even if my stomach lining recovers I still have a hiatal hernia right in my esophogous and am now prone to intense IBS symptoms. If you feel like the medication is hurting more than it's helping say something and if the doctor doesn't relent you need to get the fuck outta dodge. Don't make my mistake and let someone incompetent destroy your health.
I’m extremely self educated from experience and constant research on treating my bi polar disorder and my severe DSPS. It’s quite rare I learn something new in these treatment areas which is why I found it fascinating this Doc mentioned that a bi polar patient may really need to try getting thyroid levels in at least mid range normal instead of low normal. I don’t know whether I was low normal or mid normal so I will address this potential tweek with my primary doc to be sure I’m not missing out on better treatment. I also have psoriatic arthritis but symptoms don’t really bother me but based on this video, will plan to ask my doc what med I may want to try in case some of that psoriatic immune disease is keeping me fatigued and still mildly depressed. Thanks to all docs like this for their work in educating the public.
I look forward every week to ur videos, it's like u are my therapist which is awesome since I can't afford one. I suffer from depression and take medication for it but I have extreme anxiety and almost daily have some sort of panic attack of course I take medication for anxiety too on top of ambien to sleep.. I hate being on medicine but I took my self off slowly this summer but ended up in the er with severe attack they ran all these test on my heart etc and I m fine and better but still not back to normal so I know I must have my medicine. It's really a sad life if I think abt it but just hoping it gets better? I m 53 and had ovarian cancer 6 yrs ago so I think have been put in menopause and can't take anything for it because of the cancer has made it worse. Sorry for the long post, thank u for listening and always being here for us😊
You're welcome Rhonda. Thanks for letting me know you're out there and continuing to watch. Congrats on being an ovarian cancer survivor 6 years out.
I tried 20+ antidepressants with none particularly working. Trauma and Feminist (empowerment) Therapy, plus learning my extended family had many Narcissists, finally helped. Learning to manage the narcissists (NC; Grey Rock) and un-learning the guilt/shame/blame, resolved my ‘depression’.
How long did it take for you to "unlearn"
lovely video already knew this explained it well for lay people. I had must be 1000 ECT’s.Helped me a lot. I wouldn’t even be working now if it wasn’t for ECT.
Did you experience any adverse effects? 1000 times? That doesn't sound healthy
Really interesting video. I'm impressed that you are replying to all the comments!
Thanks José. I'm still surprised at how much people share about themselves in the comments. I feel it's only right to respond.. I'll keep it up as long as I can. 🙂
what about tinnitus? Raising serotonin in the brain may louden tinnitus levels. So basically, tinnitus sufferers such as myself, we have to choose between anxiety / depression and loud tinnitus. It is not fair, they should find a cure to tinnitus.
Bring. Up. Psilocybin.
What about MDMA?
and microdosing LSD!
do you have any advice on how to get started
A close friend of mine had this treatment resistant depression and she did this Genesight test she showed me and it showed the majority of medicine was listed in the red category. She said the provider explained that the treatment resistant depression was caused by significant gene drug interactions to more of the medications than norman and then the doctor said he has seen the test with some people show most meds in the green or good category. She told me that the test showed all the 8 pervious medications she tried were red and she only had Pristique in the green category and when she got on it, she said it saved her life. Have you heard of this? That this Genesight test can explain who has treatment resistant depression?
Love this woman, she is so smart,l applaud her, she is great, keep up the great work 👍, thank you so much.
Since the beginning of last year.. I have been taking antidepressants.... Mood stabilizers... Anti anxiety medication....panic attacks medication... Am just confused and I really don't know whether am improving or not... Am also starting to doubt my doctor... I experience emotions and changes in my brain and body that I can't explain eg suicidal thoughts (mainly)....am really having alot of mixed feelings and thoughts.. like when will I get better and go back to my normal self
Thank you for your interesting and informational you tubes. Love them all! Very good you tubes!
Last year I had an incident with someone for which I had to involve the police and it triggered a lot of fear and anxiety for me. I find myself still ruminating over it, wanting to understand why I fear this person.
I am a senior and have what I feel is a low grade depression even before the incident.. I want energy, motivation and pep back.I have always been enthusiastic, accomplished a lot in my life.
I have had major depressions before but this time I feel I have a low grade version.
I have tried ALL antidepressants (but without therapy) and cannot tolerate the side effects. I walk 30 min - briskly every day, but have no enthusiasm, no appetite to do much more. I sleep good, and want to do projects but never finish them even if I do start them. Have Short term memory issues. Very impatient.
Sometimes I think it is my thyroid but it has been tested though levels drop each year. Last year the result was 1.69. The year before was a "sensitive" test and all with what my physician says is within normal range.
Want to see a psychiatrist so that I can be diagnosed for physical or mental issues- depression..
I just feel it is more about hormone levels, immune system. Even tried an endocrinologist.
What path should I take? Psychologist or Psychiatrist?
psychiatrist for the meds, psychologist for the CBT to acquire skills
Abilify aggravated my depression to the Nth degree, but subdued anxiety. Coming off kept me from devastating remorse, but amplified anxiety to the point of feeling continually short of breath.
😮
TRD is actually common in clinical practice and again I think we need to accept that treating depression comes down to a lot more than popping pills even in the cases where they help some. They do not cure.
thank you for making those videos you really helped and educated me and others a lot
my question is does lamotrigine work on unipolar resistant depression ?
Yes, lamotrigine is a good adjunct treatment for depression. Adjunct means we add it to the antidepressant.
Undiagnosed “quiet “ BPD for 30 years was totally hellish. Still not free of suicidal stuff and deep long dives. No real consistent relief ever. I’m. 58. And I consider that my rapid cycling bi polar is part of the package. DID. Truly treatment resistant.
Boy that's tough Kathy. I some other nonstandard treatments that are included in this video are ketamine for depression ruclips.net/video/uB-LomU_Td4/видео.html and bright light therapy ruclips.net/video/aw3XVzXXT_k/видео.html
You are the best Doctor...
14 different meds, currently on an MAOI, and went through 8 ECT treatments that they had to stop (was supposed to be 12) because I experienced retrograde amnesia. Still dealing with memory issues, and it's frightening and frustrating. I've also got PTSD and GAD. I'm ready to throw in the towel.
Me too. How do your keep your head above water? I have been on as many medications as you. I started Nortriptyline a couple of weeks ago and lining up TMS Therapy in the New Year. I had considered ECT, but hearing stories like yours stop me in my tracks. Its just so hard when nothing is working, you'll try anything.
@@jpmcfluffies9451 nortyptilne was bad for me . Still need medication that works i have tried over 14 .hope you doing better
How are you now?
Another great video 👏🏼. Dr. Marks have you thought about opening a podcast on these issues.
Thanks Carlos. I was podcasting before I started doing RUclips videos. I only lasted two years before I podfaded. But that subject matter was on Working Moms and not general mental health. I didn’t think people were wanting/ready to hear about mental health. Now I see otherwise.
Thank you so much for these videos. They are packed with good, helpful information.
You’re welcome Ellen and thank you! 😊
All of this is so information for me. I’ve been on 5 antidepressants and none of them have helped a bit. My psychologist think I have bipolar disorder for a multitude of reasons. Over all I’ve been on 16 different medications before. I’m on lamictal right now and if that doesn’t help I’m gonna lithium. Thank yo!
You're welcome Madi. Lithium is a very good drug, but lamictal is easier to take as it has less side effects and you don't need blood levels. Fingers crossed🙂
@@DrTraceyMarks Hi tracey i've been on zoloft and zyprexa for a year no results i've been off 3 months with withdrawal very bad and have very bad suicidal thoughts mostly at night do you think its a good idea to tell my doctor to try Lithium or lamictal, i'm also a strict vegan and take supplements along with exercise Thank You
Thank you very much for doing these videos, they are very well done, you are a great human being for doing them !,😁
Great information without judgement. Thank you!
You're welcome Tao Tao!
I tried Abilify and Rexulti but it caused the restlessness so bad that I scratched my skin off by accident. Seroquel made me sleep eat. My psychiatrist didn’t believe me but then my boyfriend caught me eating an entire container of cold rice with a handful of butter on top of it right in front of the fridge maybe 2 hours after I took my meds. I’ve been on medications for my resistant bipolar for years and I still am severely depressed and severely suicidal and unsure of what to do at this point. My therapist gave up. Psychiatrist gave up and I can’t risk going inpatient because I can’t afford missing work ^^ I don’t have a support system anymore and my family has outed me as a black sheep at this point. This gave me some insight but I’m not even sure on what to even do. I’ve tried Wellbutrin, tried combinations of antidepressants and mood stabilizers and so many others and nothing has worked..
Thank you so much for your video, Im really following and watching all your video as I can, its very helpful specially my husband has all those illness and its challenging in our marriage right now.. Thank you for this video, bcoz its atleast gives me ideas about my husband been sufferings..
You're welcome JasJin. Thanks for taking this kind of interest in understanding him. I make this information for people who are affected as well as for family/friends who just want to know more. Thanks for watching.
Dr. Marks, I felt really positive about your videos -- until this one. ECT, seriously? It almost ruined my life, and I'm far from alone in that. Prospective ECT patients can't give *real* informed consent, because we aren't told the actual risks and how commonly they occur, and especially how often the negative, catastrophic effects are permanent. Edited to add: it didn't even touch the depression for me. What if did affect was huge chunks of my long-term memory -- lost permanently -- and my ability to form/retain new memories. And I have known several people who permanently lost *procedural* memory after ECT.
Anyway, does it not seem a bit strange to induce seizures intentionally as a therapy? Right, right ... "we don't know how it works" ... I wouldn't be surprised if a major reason that some patients report that shock treatment worked is because they believed so strongly and hoped so desperately that it would help.
Thank you for sharing. I wish all the best on your journey.
A lot of people report the same things and really regret doing it
I've heard bad things about ECT. Psychiatry is a pseudoscience. There are so many adverse effects and long term side effects in every single treatment in psychiatry. I've had my fair share in psychiatry. Never again...
*DO NOT TAKE ANY PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS THEY DAMAGE YOUR WHOLE BODY FROM YOUR CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM TO YOUR GUT!! THEY ARE POISON!! PROTRACTED WITHDRAWALS AND PERMANENT DISABILITY ARE EFFECTS OF LONG TERM USE THAT YOU WILL NOT FIND ON THE PACKET!!
*
@@explosive214 psychology is not pseudoscience... just go to wikipedia and read up on the scientific method.
You forgot to mention the cost associated with ECT and TMS. Why is that?
Thanks for the video. Could you explain why sleep apnea makes depression worse?
Because you dont get a good quality of sleep which makes you fatigued, gives you poor concentration, poor memory, poor immune system, mood swings and depression. Sleep is incredibly important and if we dont get enough theres a high risk for becoming depressed
you should talk about shock therapy for depression if you haven’t
You know it AMAZES me how LITTLE we have come in the past 70 years - when electro shock therapy is actually STILL being harolded as an actual "cure" or helpful therapy for depression/anxiety - really for helping the patient in anyway at all. I see the "theory" behind it (resetting the electrical activity) and sadly I have personally suffered - not only from extreme refractory anxiety and depression since I was VERY young - and sadly these "panic attacks" almost always ended in seizures and as I will attempt to describe my first anxiety attack that occured from a mere blood glucose test performed by my pediatrician not only resulted in a grande mal seizure - but my heart had stopped as well! My Dr. had to perform CPR on me. These panic attacks followed by seizures - were and STILL are some of the most terrifying things I have EVER had to face. Clonazepham has helped greatly, however without it; especially having been put on it by a Dr in my early 20's - without this medication (as I am 47 now) I can expect seizures that could very well lead to coma and possibly death. I wonder - how many psychiatrists have had electric shock therapy and found their own medicine to be at all helpful? Having a seizure is a VERY painful experience - like your brain is being bombarded with so many random images that you can only surmise that being dragged face down by a truck going 140 mph would be the only thing I personally could compare it to - without the obvious facial damage of course - yet you are STILL hurting from it and feel exhausted. Have you personally had a seizure Dr. and actually felt well afterward????
there has literally been ONE psych breakthrough med wise in 30 years, the ketamine therapy which is safer and more successful thus far that ECT - and cheaper! BUT no one will cover it. The nasal spray is less effective at maybe 30 - 40 % and highly expensive (spravato) also not covered. the infusions are 80 % effective...ive been following the research over 10 yrs
@@katinas9847 Wow, it's if they want to keep us depressed, controlled and worse yet - suicidal.
@@lauralewis5726 exactly..or they simply do not care....=/
@@katinas9847 Funny, I've been looking into it as well. There's an infusion center near me - but no insurance will cover it and at least years ago it was 450.00 per infusion - not sure I can afford it... 🤪
@@lauralewis5726 its disgusting cause ketamine is one of the cheapest drugs on the market..thats why vet clinics use it and soldiers n the battlefield..smh its sickening. I read an article not long ago where someone said "Om..so this means people who need it wont be able to afford it.." thats bout right... smh when I was home it was 4 k a treatment at the ONE place I could find - and like I said insurance doesnt cover it,,,,its pathetic and sad. But they cover ECT- my great Aunt had ECT's and when she died, the ME said her brain SHRUNK and said it was from the ect's...they can say all they want but the new ECT is NOT kinder or better they just give people something to keep the convulsions from being visible and sedation. - We cant execute people via electricity cause it isnt humane..tell me how the F is ect humane?! Not only that the side effects are nuts and people lose patches of memory - no guarantee which..smh
I HATE Sertraline. I have OCD, and BD, and my psychiatrist prescribed Sertraline for my OCD. I had a lot of horrible side effects such as tachycardia, dizziness, and strong headaches. She said all medications have their side effects, and that my body would get used to it eventually. I told her I was NOT going to take that stuff.
I really enjoy your videos. There’s only 1 psychiatrist in my area that’s on my insurance. I’ve been seeing him for over a year but my next appt will be my last. I don’t feel like he cares and I’m just a guinea pig.
Akathisia is horrible, I had it with all the antipsychotics they tried for my depression. The doctor finally found an old, old med navane that works okay, no major side effects. But I still have crappy levels of depression. I've learned to live with it.
Why isn't it considered that maybe antidepressants aren't effective and don't work for many people??
I wish you were my doctor!
Thank you Chris! 😊
@@DrTraceyMarks ooh ooh
Hi Dr Marks. Thanks again for the video. I just got out of the hospital because my doctor could not get me in. Anyway the visit was not as great as I had hoped. The lithium is definitely working for the suicide but the voices are at a medium. I'm relocating this Saturday to a better support system and I am hoping to do much better. Also I will get therapy which you suggested would help. I'm just hoping to be able to differentiate real from reality with the voices so I can live a normal life. They hospital also gave me resperidone along with the lithium and I'm hoping that I did not develop a tolerance for the meds. I was just hoping the hospital would have listened more to me when I spoke to them. I believe I will be in better care soon. There are just to many triggers where I currently live. Thanks again.
Hospital oh dear...I'm glad you're moving to a more supportive environment. That helps more than people realize. With less triggers, maybe your voices will get quieter and easier to ignore.
i battle suicidal thoughts and feelings everyday !
Doc I placed on Seroquel for my anger and sleep I'm not psychotic but my anger was out of control Seroquel is a bad medication because caused a lot of problems like cholesterol problems triglyceride levels through the roof at a dangerous level to be at risk for stroke they took me off of it too fast and I lost control so, doctor and put me back on it and gradually reduced me to none
I gained a lot of weight while on Seroquel too. Worse, it caused me to sleepwalk for the first time in my entire life. That might not have been so bad, except that I also sleep-DROVE.
Seroquel made me constipated!
I think my depression is situational. Antideppressants just drain me of life. Something good happening in my life is the only thing that makes me happy.
Today, the mushroom compound is being used in clinical trials for end-of-life anxiety, treatment-resistant depression, cluster headache, addiction, eating disorders and other conditions with unprecedented success, and psilocybin-assisted therapy has been given FDA “breakthrough therapy” status as a treatment for depression.
I'll refer you to this mate who sells em and other psychedelic substance
tha_black_chief ¿¿‽‽¿
He on lnstagram¿‽‽
@@adamsvictoria3339 I'm in Australia Adam. I am trying different microdosing n stuff when the opportunity arises. Im not a believer in making substances illegal; to me it's an over reach of power. I'll keep searching.
I have had some good results on certain meds at the start but I have yet to come across an anti-depressant that has positive effects after 6-8 months.
I felt really good when Vraylar started to kick in. Then by the 3rd week I got so restless I couldn’t stand it. I was taking off Vraylar. My Lamictal was raised from 200 per day to 300.
Thank you!
Wish I could pay you to be my dr here in Canada! Tried many meds. I did get a little results from psilocybin microdosing but started to get heart palpitations which is unfortuned cause in 20 years I did get the odd day of feeling normal!
I definitely have treatment resistant panic disorder.
Daniii Akasha Look into Dr Pat Ogden and Dr Peter Levine’s books and RUclips videos.
Sorry for the spam, but have you hear of Patrick McKeown and Buteyko breathing? Or of vagus nerve exercises? They might help you, but I don't know what the likelihood is.
Hi, are you better now?
@@Frobe8 mostly 🤷🏻♀️
@@daniiiakasha4711 thanks for sharing.
Lithium messed up my thyroid in 2,5 months. It was really bad, I never felt so terrible. Had to stop taking it. It took more than a year to get my thyroid back to normal. But still it's not the same it's been.
The worst part was that my psychiatrist told me that I'm hysterical and didn't want to look at my blood tests...
Oh that’s a real shame. Periodic blood testing should be a part of lithium treatment. That’s pretty quick for it to have that effect on your thyroid. Sorry that happened. I hope you got on something else that worked well for you.
@@DrTraceyMarks ffs are you really sorry?
Why not take thyroid meds if lithium works? Suggest search for recent study out of Germany.
What if becoming drug dependent seems a bigger problem than being depressed? These “solutions” seem like way too many drugs and the complications would make me super unhappy! Ugg. Never ending self imposed complex drug issues!! My mother never found relief in drugs, and ended her life, she tried everything except expressing her emotions and being transparent. I’ll stick to prayer, and talk therapy,reading, listening to healthy podcasts. I’m only speaking for myself. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼✝️ I realize that some folks find relief from drugs, and that’s great if it helps you! God Bless us all who suffer from mental health issues. There are no cookie cutter answers. I pray for us all. 🙏🏼
Dr very much informative your mental health education is immensely helpful thanks.
Lithium causes headaches even in low doses.
Hello , first and foremost thank you a lot for your videos 🙏. Believe it or not, An AI, advised me to watch your videos.
I've tried multiples medications before finding one that suits me , but I am still wondering sometimes, if I take too much medication .
Do you think, it's possible to recognize signs of over medication ? I get sometimes conflicting medical recommandation, which makes me a little be perplexed. My open question is the following : How can we differentiate between signs of over-medication and transient side effects of an adequate dosage ?
Thanks again
Dr Marks where can I get the information about increasing the thyroid dose. My t4 and t3 are low with a normal TSH. Every time I get the higher dose of levothyroxine I feel better. Depression and hypothyroid symptoms decrease. Then my TSH will be too low and the dose is lowered again. Can’t convince anyone to treat the symptoms instead of the numbers. So if I can find the relevant info, maybe they will reconsider. Thanks
Hi Dr. Tracey, Thank you for this video, I was beginning to worry my depression was treatment resistant because I am not able to tolerate the side effects of ssris well and have tried 4 different medications. Now I know that is not the case. Could you do a video on depression with elevated mood, or subclinical hypomanic symptoms? My depression fluctuates with stress levels, involves frequent crying spells, heavy rejection sensitivity, low energy/tiredness, excess guilt or anxiety, social anxiety, and if I'm really stressed out, suicidal ideation, but is sometimes interspersed with elevated mood at random. Ive had my thyroid tested several times and always get normal results. I also have longer periods of normal mood in between bouts of depression, and can knock out some depression or elevated mood by doing things like going to sleep at a good hour, walking a few blocks, or just riding out the moods themselves. Although I sleep less when I have elevated mood (4 hrs or so) and have elevated sex drive, and have a super high sense of confidence, I don't do things like risky sexual behaviors, overspending, gambling, drinking, or drugs. I am confused about my depression and I wish I had a better diagnosis.
This describes me exactly. Have you found any relief? It's so frustrating to me.
@@RebelCheezIt I got a good therapist (with clinical training) who did some cbt-based therapy with me, who was able to help me address the different mental "parts" of myself as useful, while helping me place my depression oscillation in a normalized context and help me explore past negative experiences, and how the substance abuse issues in my family affected me. My mood has settled out by and large. Not perfect, I still buckle into depression with triggers, but my mood is not oscillating as much as it used to. It was VERY helpful. He kept notes, tracked progress on my goals, and was able to use actual techniques with me. First time I've really had a useful therapist. I would recommend finding a therapist who you know can meet your needs. Don't stop till you find the method that works for you. Keep exercising, don't push yourself to overachieve,, and know that your goals and your own peace is valid. Not others' expectations.
@@RebelCheezIt Glad I'm not alone in this.
Dr. Tracey, Thank you so much for these video's. They are very informative . I have been suffering from depression most of my life with relapses after relapses again and again and once again I feel a relapse coming on after 3 years of depression fee. I am so scared I am not going to be able to get out of this one because it was 4 years of debilitating depression and trials of medications after medications before getting well. Now here I am not wanting to get out of bed again.
Hi Kim. I'm not sure if you saw my video on wake therapy for depression. It's kind of an out-of-the-box way of approaching depression that can help even with your medications. This is for the person who over sleeps when you get depressed. ruclips.net/video/4iyDPHxPH78/видео.html
@@DrTraceyMarks
You should make a video about the use of pramipexole in treatment resistant depression. There is almost no available information on this topic. I turned up only one video by a Dr. Jan Fawcett.
My meds weren't working well in 2023. Around Christmas I became very anxious and stressed. I was fed up and stopped taking them in march 2024. Im 6weeks off and doing ok. I swapped my meds for a lions mane Nootropic. 6wks off and had the odd headache. Diarrhoea, insomnia, and some fitigue are still are a daily reacurance. Anxiety and depression are completely gone. I will never ever go back on antidepressants.
I've come to accept that psychiatry will always fail some people with TRD because they don't actually understand it or potentially undiscovered subtypes of depression that may not be obvious by presentation alone. I've tried over 15 different psychiatric medications, some at very high doses in various combinations, and found no relief from any of them. TMS made me much worse (no, it wasn't a "dip"). I've known people who've done ECT who experienced severe memory loss and the rate of long-term damage with ECT is vastly underestimated, for example some people I know lost skills and basic information like where they live, so I refuse to do that. Ketamine helped briefly but no longer works.
Failure to respond (and antidepressants making me worse, including suicidal) were the trigger for my gp thinking I might have bipolar. My treatment was back and forth for a while until genetic testing was recommended by my psychiatrist. Turns out I’m genetically inclined to be very negatively reactive to SSRIs and other antidepressants.
I'm glad you were able to get the genetic testing. It can be extremely helpful in eliminating a lot of the trial and error with meds. Unfortunately, insurance companies have not gotten on board enough for most people to be able to get the testing.
I’m curious, where did you get the dna test? Thanks
@@DrTraceyMarks BUT will insurance companies , insure you if the find an issue??
Never knew there wass such a test. I've tried everything and it all made me wors😢
Hi Dr Marks, I'm 32, from Australia & have treatment resistant MDD, yet have ZERO positive response in 12yrs of treatment. Tried all groups of antidepressants (am on Parnate now with no + result) that's 20 meds over that time span, including combining lithium & Lexapro. I've had 6 sessions of bilateral ECT, and TMS, again ZERO positive response. I've done many types of talk therapy also. Also tried Seroquel and Largactil. If you have any advice I'd be incredibly grateful! Thank you!
There's intravenous kétamine and esketamine nasal spray.
Read the book The Iodine Crisis by Lynne Farrow.
Ketamine...or Mushrooms at this point.
thank you for this video! it gives me hope that a dr can know whats happening to me & what treatment is necessary. i just tried another medicine that didnt work for me. i let my dr know about symptoms i thought it was causing & now my dr has DROPPED me. and the thing is, im STILL having side effects and/or withdrawals from the last med. please tell me where to find someone as knowledgeable as you in my area. Please!
I’m sorry that happened with your doctor. I would suggest you search on psychology today website. They have psychiatrists on the site as well. It allows you to search using your ZIP Code so you can get someone close by.
Would really love to see a video about mood dysregulation disorder with psychotic features (Bipolar with schizophrenia) in teens and what medication is recommended for a teen with severe depression who hardly has manic episodes only depressive states.
Why leave out all the treatments that affect the Glutimate system? Do’nt they show overwhelmingly more success than anything else? And with no side effects? Is the reason some folks don’t talk about them lack of pharmaceutical profit?
I was on Prozac for three years and it didn't do poop. My new PA put me on Cymbalta. What a difference.
I'm glad the Cymbalta did more than poop 😃 It's a shame you spent so long on it without it helping. Glad your on the right track now.
So did you fuck your life over with Cymbalta yet? Heard from pretty much every source I go on that you're basically destroyed once you stop taking it.
Antidepressant SSRIs do the complete opposite to me. I get irritable and murderous at so much as someone chewing or tapping a pen... my memory gets considerably worse, on top of the common side effects.
Good day Dr Marks, can you do a video of how to transition from one antidepressant to another, within the sa e class and different classes, and whether u need to start back at lower doses of the new drug or use an equivalent dose as the previous drug.
I was given Clonazepam and mind shut down at work. They thought I was on a drug and drug tested me. I resigned and stopped taking anything. I just get through this daily.
PLease do a teaching on CES Therapy
Nothing wrong IMO in throwing in the towel once you've tried your best for years & life had always been a torture. There are no Brownie Points for who suffered the most! There is no upside to prolonged suffering.
You're totally right. I know so many people say "How could you do that to your loved ones?!" They clearly have never been through the hell that is treatment resistant depression. I don't think I'm going to make it through another year if I don't get some kind of relief soon. This is no quality of life.
@@jpmcfluffies9451 I Feel for you! I totally get where you are coming from. Have you suffered all your life? I believe our existence should not be based on "Life at ALL COST" but rather making the "BEST DECISION POSSIBLE" for a given situation.
I believe. if you have lived a CURSED life & have tried All Viable Options, then you have to look at alternatives to end the Intense Sadness & Torture of everyday life.
When i was on lithium, they never did any bloodwork and made my symptoms worse. Once they removed it, i started randomly falling asleep, blacking out and hallucinating. Before, my body treated it as a stimulant
That’s a really strange reaction to being off lithium - especially the hallucinating part. But lithium definitely needs laboratory monitoring if you’re going to be on it.
@@DrTraceyMarks i'm not sure what's going on. I'm currently now only on zoloft, trileptal and xanax. It may be one of those medications. My current doctor seems to just throw me on random medications
The MAOIs are the best. Nardil and Parnate. Extremely effective medications. Have a few side effects at the start, but are definitely worth it. Surprised this lady did not mention them.
Wake therapy as you go into in another video should be (in my humble opinion) mentioned here. Better results for TRD and NO drugs.
Yes the week therapy video came after I made this video. I don’t know that people would think of week therapy as something to use for treatment resistance though. but I respect your opinion. I think if it works then it works.
@@DrTraceyMarks in all honesty I've tried everything from ssris to snris to Wellbutrin to Remeron Seroquel Trazadone. The ONLY thing that worked was sleep deprivation. I cannot thank you enough for posting the video on how to possibly gain extended benefits. I am actually trying it tonight with your guide I downloaded. I already had a lightbox. Wish me luck!