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Northern Wyoming Mental Health Center Inc.

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Psychotherapy and Mental Health questions

Is there any help?

Dr Schwartz, I have been searching for help literally most of my life. I have been diagnosed as having moderately severe depression, atypical depression, anxiety disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. These diagnoses came from different doctors at different times in my life, but most of this in the past 5 years. I have been on many different medications and have been through \'talk therapy\' at different times but nothing seems to \'stick\'. I have felt better on some medications but after weeks or months slipped back into the dark cloud of my depression and the same result with the talk therapy. My problems began when I was very, very young, probably four years of age, and I was never really treated for any disorders until I was in my mid thirties. Is it possible that a person can live so long in a depressed state that there is no possibility of getting well or even feeling well enough to lead a functional life? I can no longer stand feeling better for a period of time and then sinking back down into depression. It has become more painful to lose the ground I\'ve gained then to just be untreated and live in a depressed state. I have been prescribed, at different times Serzone, Wellbutrin, Buspar, Prozac, Symbyax and more that I can\'t even remember. The most recent treatment I had was using Ritalin to \'wake up\' the frontal lobe of my brain and help me to focus. This treatment was the most successful so far but even this didn\'t last more than eight months and then the depression took over and completely enveloped me again. At this time, I have not had any type of treatment for a little over a year. Can you please give me an opinion as to if there might be some treatment option that will work and continue working? I would greatly appreciate any insight you can provide. Thank you.

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  • Dr. Schwartz responds to questions about psychotherapy and mental health problems, from the perspective of his training in clinical psychology.
  • Dr. Schwartz intends his responses to provide general educational information to the readership of this website; answers should not be understood to be specific advice intended for any particular individual(s).
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