Rose, sorry to hear you are feeling down. In my personal opinion Drs are way too inclined to hand out meds to people with the blues. I think there is a difference between this and what I would call clinical depression (for which I do agree with medication but I think it should be combined with therapy with a view to getting off it again once better). I can understand why they do it because obviously if you get any worse you will have a serious problem, which they wish to forstall. They only have a limited no. of options and they want to do something to help.
But to me feeling down is a symptom rather than a disease. Like being run down physically, it is a wake up call to take a look at your life and start sorting out the problems. Actually that is what I think the main difference between feeling down and depression is. Depression is where no matter how good things are you still feel depressed. Feeling down is where if you took yourself off for a nice day out with friends you'd have a great time. You might feel bad when you are alone with the housework but you don't always feel bad.
Look I am not in any way qualified to say this, it is just my personal way of doing things. If I feel down (which I do sometimes) I look at my life to see if there is anything in it I can improve, any unnecessary stresses I can remove, anything I could be doing to make myself happier. I try to think positively a la feel the fear and do it anyway (have you read this book? It's great), I never dwell on my problems- if I find myself worrying I use some form of escapism to forget my troubles (I read somewhere that this is actually a good way to avoid getting depressed). I used to be a worrier, I think this is a behaviour you learn from your parents, my Mum is a terrible worrier and so is my Gran. But worrying does not solve any of your problems. You only need to think about them once, come up with some kind of solution, and then forget them.
I think you've had a stressful time over the last few years. Even good stress, like getting married can take it's toll. You've had a lot to deal with, and it's no wonder you are feeling a bit worse for wear. But if I were in your shoes I would start looking at anti stress techniques, massage, relaxation, physical exercise, acupuncture ?( I tried it for a bad shoulder once and it seemed to help) healthy eating ect. Maybe have a holiday (an easy one no stressful travelling), make sure you take time out to do things you enjoy. Positive thinking!!!!! It might take a while to get really healthy mentally, just as it takes a while to get really healthy physically. Well they both go together so you need to look after your body and mind. This might help the high BP too. If you do feel you need the meds right now then do take them but be sure to do all the other stuff as well. That way you can get off them asap and you will feel a lot better as well.
