Mother not open to doing anything differently.

[ButtonB]

Hello, every year from around late March until September my mother (in her early 70s) slips into a prolonged bout of depression. She has been taking an SSRI for quite a few years now and even increased her dose before during depression bouts. The medication does not seem to assist though during this time. She has just become depressed again this year and she says she will just "put up with it" again and is really resistant to seeking help other than discussing her medication dose with her GP as she does each year. She's really closed to seeing a counsellor - she believes they don't help. I'm seeking other ideas on what alternative support and possible remedies might be available to her as I don't believe she just needs to go through this each year for the time she does. I'd welcome others suggestions and thoughts. Thanks in advance.

[SubduedBlues]

My grandpa had to retire from work due to emphysema, at first he loved the free time. He and grandma traveled the country in their motor home. But when he got too sick to travel anymore, he started to get the blues all the time. We bought him a puppy dachshund, and that puppy/dog cured him of his blues. Later when he passed away, the little sausage dog was the companionship grandma needed to get through her grief.

Maybe a house dog can help your mom too?

SB

[ButtonB]

Lovely idea SubduedBlue's - thank you so much for the suggestion.

[geoff]

hello ButtonB, a great suggestion as they can make an enormous difference, I couldn't live without my little puppie, the one that is shown, because she comes everywhere with me, sleeps with me and sits and looks at me, aphobiabut she knows when I am upset or when I fall over and barks to alert anyone who is close by, unfortunately there isn't.
If she gets worse during these months it maybe a relapse which she has learnt over time, in other words when March is getting close she knows that she will become more depressed, so she knows that this time of the year is when she normally becomes more depressed, so you can see she has learnt to feel this way, so somehow you have to distract her, hide the calendar or seek help from a psychologist who will treat her by using CBT, or even try desensitisation, which you can google.
It teaches people how to overcome a particular fear, normally by having a phobia, whether or not you want to classify this as a phobia is up to you, but the principle is very similar. Geoff. x

[ButtonB]

Thanks Geoff, the relapse being something she has learnt is not something I had thought of and the desensitisation is something I will look into for her. I really appreciate your suggestions.

[geoff]

hello Button, thanks for your reply, can I suggest for you to look at some other type of phobia that someone else is struggling with before you can relate it back to this situation by using desensitisation, only because they might be frightened off from using it.
People like your mum believe that they can never get any help, only trusting and believing in what their doctor says, she relies on her doctor as she has done this for years, so if the doctor suggests something new then she may accept it and then try it, but it has to come from her doctor. Geoff.