Can depression cause so much damage emotionally and physiologically that it’s irreversible?

Depression has completely changed you, left you with heart problems, brain problems, cancer, something that has physically altered you.

[bold]The possibility of neurotoxicity in the hippocampus in major depression: a primer on neuron death.[/bold]

A number of studies indicate that prolonged, major depression is associated with a selective loss of hippocampal volume that persists long after the depression has resolved. This review is prompted by two ideas. The first is that overt neuron loss may be a contributing factor to the decrease in hippocampal volume. As such, the first half of this article reviews current knowledge about how hippocampal neurons die during insults, focusing on issues related to the trafficking of glutamate and calcium, glutamate receptor subtypes, oxygen radical generation, programmed cell death, and neuronal defenses. This is meant to orient the reader toward the biology that is likely to underlie any such instances of neuron loss in major depression. The second idea is that glucocorticoids, the adrenal steroids secreted during stress, may play a contributing role to any such neuron loss. The subtypes of depression associated with the hippocampal atrophy typically involve significant hypersecretion of glucocorticoids, and the steroid has a variety of adverse effects in the hippocampus, including causing overt neuron loss. The second half of this article reviews the steps in this cascade of hippocampal neuron death that are regulated by glucocorticoids.

Just do lots of aerobic exercise to get your brain to start growing new cells. Read the book "Spark*. Relax. I was able to do it and so can you.

Yes. When I was in nursing school I attended a lecture about depression given by a neurologist. He demonstrated with multiple forms of data that episodes of major depression change the brain’s neurochemistry and make one more likely to experience such depression in the future. That is why getting medication and counseling is so important. It’s a vicious cycle.

This has been bugging me lately.

I had a major depressive break with reality about 7 or 8 years ago now, and my symptoms persisted in the textbook way for about 3 years. Since then I've been able to basically function and go about my daily life without crying or locking myself in a dark room or disassociating; however, my ability to focus/concentrate and to function at a high-order level or in stressful situations is FUBAR. I routinely forget things I thought of 30 seconds ago, or information told to me in the space of a conversation. I can't seem to stay switched on in situations like driving a car. High-order functions I used to perform well like playing a musical instrument or reading a dense challenging book seem impossible. I also have an overwhelming sense of apathy and ennui toward things I used to enjoy immensely, and have 'factory-reset' back to the tastes and hobbies I had when I was 16/17 (before I "broke"). No amount of CBT or medication is having any effect on my mind and it is so frustrating. Even everyday exercise and a stressful job isn't helping.

I've explained it to therapist after therapist and they just shrug. Anyone got thoughts on how I can get back to having a working adult brain?

OP I went through a really horrible depression that lasted almost 10 years from 1994 to 2004.

When my cat got sick I could barely leave the house to take him to the vet then the bills were going to be more than I could ever afford. My cat died because I didn't take care of him.

This angered me so much I started hunting for any weight loss method that would work. I eventually found the Atkins Diet. I did low carb for a year and lost 100 pounds.

My point is something about the weight loss "fixed" my brain and I found myself as I used to be fore the decade long depression.

I believe the depression had caused long term physical issues with my body and the diet and weight loss fixed them.

I'm fat again today, not as fat as I was then, but my personality is as it was prior to 1994. I didn't take any medication, I just think the massive and rapid changes I made then fixed me.

R5, your situation sounds a lot like mine. I've had depression and anxiety most of my life (lots of therapy, SSRIs) and now, in my mid-40s, I feel like my brain and energy levels are permanently fucked. I feel like my mental clarity is gone and worry that it could put my livelihood at risk. On the outside everything seems fine (health, friends, good job), but inside I feel like I'm sliding downward.

Well, this is a downer thread. I've always hoped I could actually beat depression one day.

I suspect yes based on personal experiences. My depression is situational however, mainly caused by negative life experiences. My life is pretty much damaged beyond repair and I'm terrified of going on anti depressants. Ptsd, clinical anxiety, detachment issues. Because than I might not be able to numb myself anymore and I will have all this energy but nothing to do with that energy I have memory problems as well but I don't want to fix them because I feel they help numb me. Otherwise I just feel things too much. Another problem I have is severe adhd, that precedes the depression but seems to have gotten much worse.

Yup.

And now i'm just waiting to die because there's no fixing this anymore.

lmao yeah R8. We really need a few people who don't have depression or who have expertise in mental health to look at these threads and post.

Read: The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doig. You are not fucked.

R12 how has that book helped you? I might buy it.

Depression is a symptom, not a cause of anything.

R14 Thanks Oprah, you cunt.

Bollocks to that, R14.

Bump

I'm gonna give behavioural activation a shot over the next few or several weeks, just because I have little else left I can try and because it's free/easy.

Has anyone met with success using it? It essentially looks like timetabling/to-do listing to me, but as a terribly unorganised type maybe it's what I need.

I bought the book The Brain That Changes Itself. Lots of info about neuroplasticity.