mushrooms. If done correctly with a good guide, it can be put into full remission in one session. Now being tested in the UK. And works for me though prefer acid. Gives the brain a shake out, it deals with the shit you won't look at normally. Could really do with some now to deal with some lolws I'm going through. Check this out [theguardian.com]

Medication is helpful for some people. Not the right choice for everyone. If you decide to try meds, go to a clinician who has had considerable experience prescribing anti-depressants. Some people take meds for a few months, taper off and quit. Others take meds for many years. It is an individual thing. Also, go online and read as much as you can about medications. Do what works for you.

I too have battled depression and anxiety my entire life. I am now 63 and still manage the conditions as best I can. If you live in a large city, there are secular support groups for people dealing with mental health issues, chem dep issues, etc. If you contact national organizations, they might be able to put you in touch with some resources. In my city, there are secular groups for folks getting out of addiction and other stuff. Do some research, I am sure you can find something. Good luck and keep us posted.

I have tried to commit suicide and get depressed and panic attacks which are horrible. in fact, I'm feeling really down now and pointless. it took me ages to find the right people to talk to. I found one on one was much better and could never do that group thing. religion was never brought up. with your mind, you have to learn to live with it I think.

I agree, it is condescending to deny or refute your experience and feelings. Depression is a tough one to live with like any chronic condition. When I was very young I didn't like being here in large part because people were hurtful although I loved nature, design and my senses. Got into alcohol to be more comfortable until that backfired. Glad you have a place to vent.

Good venting, this is a great place to do it. That God has a higher purpose for you is obvious to all here, ridiculous. It is great you didn't succeed otherwise you couldn't share your story with us and with others who may need to hear it. We get the deck that we have to deal with through our own lives and we have to make the best of it, there is nothing else. It is a miracle that each one of us is here experiencing life, with many terrible things that happen and some good things, we just keep on going and have to learn in some way to enjoy the journey, as this is it. It is always good to read some stoic philosophers like Socrates, Epictetusm, and there are some modern ones also just Google them.

Depression is a electro chemical disorder. You can get immediate relief from the right medication for you. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell which is the best medication without trying it so you may get lucky the first time or have to try a few. That's the short term. Individual or group therapy with a well trained and talented psychotherapist is the long term cure. Talking allows the neurological changes through repetition. Be sure to do your research and find the best trained professionals in your area, both psytriatist and psychotherapist. Good luck

Are you in treatment? I've observed that a proper (and properly monitored) cocktail plus talk therapy can actually work. If you're gonna be a non-theist, put your "faith" in science.

I have Borderline Personality Disorder. Numerous suicide attempts; suicide thoughts daily for decades. Since I became an atheist I have had no attempts or thoughts. For me, I have no imaginary friend to try to please, no one to disappoint which has made my life so much easier.

You need to travel and have fun , life has one purpose which is to enjoy it !

I would assume you live in an area that is highly religious. If you are seeing a therapist ( and if your not recommend it) you should be open honest about your beliefs. They are (by the oath they take) not to revile anything you say and if they are any good they'll understand and try to adjust themselves for you or you can ask other agnostics and atheists in your area who they would recommend.

I was depressed all during my childhood. I had let my parent's church tell me what was right and how to behave, and what was the 'rgiht way to think". It wasn't until I left the church, came out as gay, and started to define my own life path, instead of wht my parents church had laid out for me, that I started to no longer be depressed.

In college, I studied Sociology. The study that started the fireld fo Sociology was Durkheim's suicide study. He found that persons who belonged to religions with rigid beliefs systems were about 3 times more likely to commit suicide. In short, religions, tend to act as if everyone is thee same and that doing the same thing will make everyone just as happy, but that is far from true. people are all unique and the same system will only make a few really happy, and few more moderately happy, and the rest will struggle to be happy under their religious restrictions.

Leaving a religion does nto automatically bring happiness, even if that religion was the source of your unhappiness. You also have to change the way the religion taught you to think and also discard the dogma, as it is only useless baggage. It took me about 5-6 years after levign my parents church to where i strted to fell happy most of the time.

You make small reasonable changes to your life, a little at a time. You should try to deliberately defy those aspects of what you were taught in religion which never made sense to you. That is where I started. Then, there is the differences between known facts and what religion teaches. Read, learn and think and come to your own conclusions that you are both comfortable with and can live with.

Reading the posts here may help you change your thinking much faster than what I experienced back in the early 1980's.

This idea that a god has to "test" us or put things on us, or allow things to be put upon us, is one of my major issues with belief. If there were such a god, why would it feel this need to test us or allow us to go through horrendous things because it has a "higher purpose?" When I was a believer I was always asking "why?" Why would god do, or allow, such horrible things to happen? When one of my brothers was killed, at work, just as he was getting his life together, it begged the question: why did god allow this--and at this time in his 43 years of life? It would have made more sense if it had happened when he was running around being irresponsible--and not when he had a new wife and step children who loved him. As a non-believer, that burden has been lifted from me. I do not have to think there is a god who could have prevented that but chose not to for some "higher purpose." My brother just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time--it happens all the time to millions of people. And, you do not have to think that there is a god who can remove this from you, but chooses not to for some inexplicable reason. My, unprofessional as it is, advice is to seek help from medical experts and find comfort, as you are able, in friends who better understand that depression is not a matter of will but due to changes in brain chemistry. And, this growing community of very like-mined people is a good, and safe, place to "vent."