what can a person do about depression when they cannot afford medical treatment.

[seabeyond]

for at least a year my brother has talked about signs of depression and i received a call today.

probably like chronic. i remember a call from brother about a year ago about sleeping all the time. so not him. lack of energy. failure. could be genetic in a line of family he takes after. i told him to see a doctor but i knew he would reject it. and he did. alcoholic, so i know that effects him and he is not willing to deal with that. but, now it is a matter of doing something about it. he is listening to me. wants advice. does not have access to the internet, i do not believe. and can not afford it. at all.

is there anything others have learned that can be implemented in life that will help. also, i think if i can buy him a good book that will explain the situation he would read it.

[hollysmom]

1. as a chronically depressed person (but still an optomist)

If he is an alcoholic, the best thing he could do is go to an AA meeting. My ex was an alcoholic but was never so happy as when he attended AA meetings- years later he was ashamed and stopped going and became problematic again.

being out in the sun exercising also helps,spring is here, so that should be an improvement.
Get a dog, if he can't afford a dog, volunteer to walk a dog at a shelter, it helps a lot of people, those shelter dogs are so grateful to the walkers, makes your heart sing.

Right now, I am in the situation of sleeping a lot and have injuries so can't walk my own dog, but it turns out my sleeping a lot is medical, My thyroid is crashing and I need to go onto medication.

Should your brother see a doctor who wants to put him on medication, you can look up the cheapest place to get your medication - a friend of mine had her son on an anti-depressant and it cost $200 a month, Checked on line and found costco had it for under $20. There are the priced can range over a large margin and Costco is not the cheapest on every thing.

Good luck, wish I could help my youngest brother, but he is still in denial.

[seabeyond]

3. thank you. he is so social. i think AA would be a perfect fit for him.

and i have not been able to "encourage' him to join. if for no other reason than the social aspect. whether he stops or not.

i am gonna do some research tomorrow on what is available medically.

i appreciate your help.

[hollysmom]

5. how I got my husband to go

After a rough bout in his periodic habit, we spend the night watching lost weekend (ray Milland) And he cried a lot. I told him if he would go to AA I would say I was the alcoholic and he was accompanying me, so he would not have to deal with people approaching him. When we got ther - they immediately surrounded him and told me to go home, they said that many people get into AA that way - and let's just say I used to play saints in school plays, I don't exactly look like I had a wild life, no way was anyone going to believe I was the alcoholic.

So if your brother lives near you, consider that as a way to let him see how non-judgmental it is. As I said, I have one brother with a similar problem and I can never get him to do anything without a great deal of patience that I don't generally have. It took me standing in his house for 3 hours with 2 broken feet and a broken ankle to get him to see our mother when she was dying, he was just afraid his wife would come home and see me there, and she reallllllly hates me.

[seabeyond]

6. wow. to both your stories.

you are giving me some ideas. i appreciate. i wonder if it is his time. maybe from other things i have seen.

thanks again. you certainly understand.

[hlthe2b]

2. Sea, there are sliding scale mental health treatment/counselors available in most areas...but

short of professional treatment (which of course may be very vital and certainly should be pursued), the one thing that helped me through the loss of both parents --one right after the other several years ago--and the overwhelming depression that followed, was long distance outdoor walks, every day, 5-8 miles. It is more than simply anecdotal, as walking has been shown in studies to be beneficial for depression--from the release of natural endorphins to the rhythmic meditative aspects of walking. I kept it up for many many months during this time before backtracking... Now, after the loss of my last dog, I'm back faithfully doing so again. Getting outside, the exercise, the endorphins, greeting other people along the way---all are incredibly helpful.


Doing what he can to improve his diet will also help--perhaps tremendously... That junk food does more damage than just piling on weight and impacting risk for Type II diabetes... It also changes brain chemistry... There is also some data on Omega 3 fatty acids and depression, so supplementing this and eating fish is a good idea. Obviously getting off the processed food and eating a good balanced diet with fruits, vegetables, lean meat and dairy, high fiber grains can help.

Having a support system is also important...

Best wishes to you and your brother, sea

[seabeyond]

4. lots of good stuff in this post.

i can so see how the long distance walking could help him, with who he is. that is very good. now, if he would do something like that. lots of good stuff here.

with effort from me, i think we can come up with stuff. he has never been willing though, so it dampens my willingness to put forward the effort. i like what you are saying.

tomorrow i am gonna get together a plan. really put thought into it.

i have had so much emotional trauma all around me for a couple weeks. yesterday was three people from 8 am until past 2 in the morning. back and forth. then brother calls.

i am about drained. lol

thanks.

[mopinko]

7. boy, it is the biggest problem in mental health.

best of luck. i have no real advice.
love and support can help someone take the first step, but after that, they need to do the walkin.
probably impossible to avoid professional help, and also probably medication, so i would be looking for ways to get that help without insurance. aa works for a lot of people, and it will be hard to do much if he is drinking too much. there are less "higher power" oriented groups out there, too.

i'd think about a few al anon meetings for yourself. you need to take care of yourself, too.

[fizzgig]

8. i agree that meetings would be beneficial for him

alcohol compounds depression.

getting out in the sun helps me, even if it's just sitting on the porch. how's he eating? i know i feel better when i eat better.

hlthe2b pretty much covered everything i was going to.

http://www.nami.org/, the national alliance on mental illness, can connect you with local resources for support.

[bananas]

9. Books, PsychCentral, and The People's Pharmacy

A book that's helped a lot of people is:
"Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" by David Burns
http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-The-Mood-Therapy/dp/0380810336/ref=rec_dp_1


PsychCentral.com has a lot of good information,
including a discussion forum at http://forums.psychcentral.com/
some book recommendations at http://psychcentral.com/lib/2008/recommended-books-on-depression/
and in particular the article: "When You Can’t Afford Psychotherapy"
at http://psychcentral.com/lib/2012/when-you-cant-afford-psychotherapy/


The People's Pharmacy is a weekly radio show by Joe and Terry Graedon,
it's carried on many public radio stations.
Joe is a pharmacologist, Terry is an anthropologist.
Their recent shows can be downloaded free.
Here's a list of their shows on depression: http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/whatailsyou/depression.php
You know it's good stuff because their "about" page says (among many other things):

Joe...was elected to the rank of AAAS Fellow for "exceptional contribution to the communication of the rational use of pharmaceutical products and an understanding of health issues to the public" in 2005.

(What is a AAAS Fellow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellow_of_the_AAAS )

[Downwinder]

10. What State is he in?

In Texas:http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/Mental-Health/

I am not sure how the funding is now.

When I went, all they provided was medication.
Turned out to be an organic problem (MS) after I got Medicaid.

[BainsBane]

11. I was also going to ask where he is

My state has services for the mentally ill. It depends how poor he is. If he is indigent, he should be covered by Medicaid. Otherwise, he could find somewhere that operates on a sliding fee scale. Catholic Charities offers low cost mental health care, as do other local organizations. Obamacare will kick in by the 2014, but some states have already expanded their Medicaid coverage.

For medication, some companies have programs where they provide free medication for the poor. I received some for a while through Eli Lilly, believe it or not, through a program called Lilly Cares.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) should be able to connect him with resources in his area. http://www.nami.org/

It's very common for people to have both depression and chemical dependency, so much so that if you're not chemically dependent some of the programs can seem a bit strange. The one problem with AA is that all of the emphasis is on drinking as a disease rather than the underlying mood disorder that may lead one to self medicate.