Depression

[Julia]

Do you find being with some people encourages you to say things you regret even as you're saying them, conversation that makes you feel bad about yourself? Remove yourself from the situation and just don't place yourself in their company. That might sound simplistic but I am trying to say remove the things around you that make you feel uncomfortable about yourself. You need to travel a smooth road, not a rocky one.

.

That's a really interesting comment, prozac. I've noticed myself that following contact with some people, my mood is affected. Often ask myself if it's my reaction that is unreasonable, but I think you're right. Some people are actually quite toxic and we're better off without them.

Thanks, too, for describing your own experience. Sounds like you're coming through it well. All the best.

 

[nunthewiser]

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?


Just in case not mentioned yet , may help , may not


Thoughts are with you Brad im just not as brave as you to share my shadows of the past in public.

There is light out there and good to see you looking for it.

take care.

 

[JTLP]

http://www.news.com.au/features/fed...al-health-pledge/story-fn5tar6a-1225886457823

Did anybody see this story?

Good on Tony and finally some substance for an election. I like the idea of scrapping that stupid medicare after hours thing and the GP Superclinics...what the hell!

 

[Julia]

http://www.news.com.au/features/fed...al-health-pledge/story-fn5tar6a-1225886457823

Did anybody see this story?

Good on Tony and finally some substance for an election. I like the idea of scrapping that stupid medicare after hours thing and the GP Superclinics...what the hell!

I'd like to ideally see both. The 24 hours GP Superclinics would take some of the pressure off hospital emergency departments.

It's a great initiative from the Libs and one that could well be a vote changer, given the considerable focus on mental health at present, especially with
the government's chief mental health adviser, Professor Mendoza, having just resigned in frustration over the lack of funds for mental health.

Probably an indication of how the Libs are going to seek out holes in the government's policies, and make their own offer to please that section of the electorate.

 

[BradK]

Hi,

Finished work today and now off for 2 weeks of holidays to Beechworth in Victoria.

As part of my therapy, I have been doing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). It is based on the premise that our thoughts determine our mood and behaviour. I am practising it as I get better. It has five points:

a) The situation
b) Thoughts
c) Feelings
d) Physical feelings
e) Actions

Working through these slowly and picking apart situations and my behaviour has been very helpful. I find it amusing (tragic?) that I was never taught these skills as a young person or an adult. These skills are empowering.

As a school teacher, I am determined to bring this stuff into the curriculum.

The ironic thing about this, the timing, is that in my role at the school I have been part of introducing the Mind Matters material into the curriculum to help adolescents with mental health issues. We are supposed to connect it to the curriculum.

The other day, I was teaching Summer of the Seventeenth Doll to some year 10 students. I presented a PowerPoint presentation on Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence and linked it to the text. The students LOVED it - yes, even the boys. They were able to name their own emotions, learn to manage them, learn to read the emotions in others and then use this knowledge to handle relationships.

We then applied what they learned to some of the characters in the play - Barney, Roo and Olive, all arguably emotionally immature characters.

Like money management, emotions have largely dropped off the face of the school curriculum and it is up to the drive of the individual teacher to squeeze it in and make it meaningful. With a bit of forethought and planning, I believe this can be done meaningfully.

On a plus note, when I first started this thread, the dips put me down to about 10% capacity... now I think I am operating at about 85%-90% and the dips are sending me down to about 65%. Certainly feeling a lot more in control of my thoughts and thrilled to be so.

Cheers
Brad

 

[blackfred]

Your story sounded so familiar to me that I wanted to say how depression can strike at anytime and how a lot of people still don't understand.

About 5 years ago my husband of 24years suffered from depression. He started out not sleeping and gradually got to the stage that he could not shower, stayed in the same cloths for days and was suicidal. He was off work for 2years and in the end someone had to be with him at all times to make sure he didn't harm himself. He had a couple of stints in hospital and took numerous medication but in the end had to go into hospital for two months to have shock treatment. The decision was taken out of our hands as his doctor had him committed.

It was the worst 2 years of my husband and my families lives. I too wondered what would of happened to him if I just left as I can tell you it would of been much easier to have packed up and left than stay.

Lots of our family and friends just couln't understand why he just didn't wake up to himself and they stayed away in droves. We were also blessed with some wonderful friends who were with us throught out this journey.

Luckily the shock treatment worked where nothing else did and we have since gotten on with our lives. My husband would like to forget this painful time in his life but I am very aware that it could return at any time.

I hope Brad that everything works out well for you and your family.

 

[BradK]

Your story sounded so familiar to me that I wanted to say how depression can strike at anytime and how a lot of people still don't understand.

About 5 years ago my husband of 24years suffered from depression. He started out not sleeping and gradually got to the stage that he could not shower, stayed in the same cloths for days and was suicidal. He was off work for 2years and in the end someone had to be with him at all times to make sure he didn't harm himself. He had a couple of stints in hospital and took numerous medication but in the end had to go into hospital for two months to have shock treatment. The decision was taken out of our hands as his doctor had him committed.

It was the worst 2 years of my husband and my families lives. I too wondered what would of happened to him if I just left as I can tell you it would of been much easier to have packed up and left than stay.

Lots of our family and friends just couln't understand why he just didn't wake up to himself and they stayed away in droves. We were also blessed with some wonderful friends who were with us throught out this journey.

Luckily the shock treatment worked where nothing else did and we have since gotten on with our lives. My husband would like to forget this painful time in his life but I am very aware that it could return at any time.

I hope Brad that everything works out well for you and your family.

My goodness. Sorry to hear this. Not sure that we are too similar though. Luckily, I have never been suicidal through any of this. I have a beautiful wife and 4 year old daughter and that would simply not enter my mind to leave them alone.

Good on your for sticking it out. I am sure it made all the difference to your husband. You sound fantastic, and I hope that the experience drew you closer rather than tore you apart.

Brad

 

[kelvin]

Hi brad,

I have suffered from depression for as long as I can remember, and surprisingly, the burden has lifted in the last couple of years.

The best advice I was given over this long drawn out process was a psychologist who recommended to me to really focus on what I was doing at the time.

I know this sounds lame, but if I washed the dishes, I focussed on washing the dishes, if I had to work< I focus on working instead of focussing on my dark thoughts. This helped me to not only learn to concentrate but to get away from the demons.

I wish you well as depression is such a horrible state to be in. I lost alot of friends who would prefer me to be "happy" and "get on with life, and what is the problem, you are so lucky" frame of mind. That in the end I stopped talking to people, they quite clearly did not understand the state I was in.

Have hope..........you will get there and you will find out how strong you truly are.

wishing you well,

Kelvin

 

[Muschu]

Hi brad,

......The best advice I was given over this long drawn out process was a psychologist who recommended to me to really focus on what I was doing at the time.....

Kelvin

This sounds like excellent advice Kelvin and is probably based on an approach called Mindfulness Therapy [MT]which can go hand in hand with CBT. I'd be very much inclined to stay away from the boring fluffiness of Eckhart Tolle but a Google on MT will turn up some good reading on the topic.

I think it is fabulous that so many people are now talking openly about depression as others do about diabetes or many other illnesses.

Brad and yourself are to be congratulated. It is not an easy path but there are ways out of the depths as you are finding.

Best wishes

Rick

 

[BradK]

Hi all,

Just an update. I have spent the past two weeks in Beechworth with my wife and daughter. Very relaxing holiday... bumming out, seeing the sites, doing a tiny bit of work each day, and generally relaxing and abusing that lovely Beechworth Bakery!

I have not had a low point in the full two weeks now. I think the medication must be well on the way to mending me, but also the psychological and physical work I have been doing makes me feel like a new man.

I have truly spent the past 2 months smelling the roses, finding out what is important in life and putting myself first.

I put it all down to getting help early and following doctors instructions and having determination to beat this - I guess I have learned that in the powerlessness (and those who have suffered this know what I mean), you can still make some decisions which will stead you when the dips come to dump you on the your head I am determined that this will be a one episode case - however, I also know that I need to walk slowly and calmly in the other direction if I see the black dog about to attack.

Thanks for everyone's kind words and sharing your own stories in this thread. I am back to work next week, so I do wonder if there will be some challenges that I need to deal with slowly.

Cheers
Brad

 

[robots]

hello,

good stuff BradK

thankyou
robots

 

[sails]

So good to hear you are working through it, Brad...

I think now you have some benefit of "hindsight" in recognising any hint of unwanted feelings and be better equipped to become proactive quite quickly.

I think it is wonderful you have shared your story and your progress on the forum. I am sure you will help others as much as it may have helped in your own progress.

All the best and sincerely trust you keep going from strength to strength...

 

[frankie_boy]

Hi Ramon,

Seven weeks ago, I would have said exactly the same thing. Exercise, placebo, etc. Medication helped get me to a place where I could function again. We are not talking about a low mood here.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Brad

Mate, Hang in there. I am 4yrs on from something similar. It took me a good while to deal with losing my Grandfather who i was very close to, a breakup, and there was something else, all in a very short period. I didnt cope, hardly able to work etc etc you know the drill.

As my Doc said, the antidepressants were only there as a bandaid, gives you the ability to think with a clearer head and be able to attack the problem that is causing it. I tried exercise, ran till i was sick really, but didnt help, the brain still didnt stop revolving around the issues.

What really helped me in the end was NLP therapy. Neuro Linguistic Programing. I met this bloke through a friend and in a 4 hr session broke me out of this cloud that was stopping my sun from shining for around 2 yrs. I am not usually one for alternate stuff, am an engineer, logic works for me, not the airy fairy phycology stuff that drags into session after session to cash up their pockets..

I found NLP really worked for me because it made sense. It was logical. The brain has a pattern that, lets say in depression, it just goes round and round in circles.. you need to break that circular motion..

It was the most amazing thing to be walking in with a frown, 4 hrs later.. free.. and smiling!

 

[skc]

Thanks for everyone's kind words and sharing your own stories in this thread. I am back to work next week, so I do wonder if there will be some challenges that I need to deal with slowly.

Great to hear things are on the mend, Brad.

With returning to work - I (from experience) found that I was worried about how people will see / judge me. But in the end I was surprised on how understanding most people are. Perhaps more people (than I realise) have been touched by it directly or indirectly, and therefore have very high level of empathy.

 

[Timmy]

Saw this hospital treatment article over weekend and thought would post it up. Hope it is of interest and perhaps may be helpful to some people.

Doctors at The Alfred hospital say transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has a high success rate

... and those suffering severe depression after head injuries sustained in road accidents are also seeing results in as little as four weeks.
...
Professor Fitzgerald said the therapy had become a mainstream mental health procedure in the United States with up to 250 centres offering it as a standard clinical treatment.

http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/...-arise-in-magnetic-fields-20100828-13wxy.html

and more at:
http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/ironing-out-the-highs-and-lows-20100828-13wy0.html

Also, link to the hospital mentioned in the article:
http://www.alfred.org.au/

And to the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre
http://www.maprc.org.au/

 

[sails]

Thanks so much for the heads up, Timmy. I will let my daughter know so she ask her doctor about this new treatment. At least it offers a little hope for a better quality of life...

 

[xyzedarteerf]

Hi all,

I have truly spent the past 2 months smelling the roses, finding out what is important in life and putting myself first.

I put it all down to getting help early and following doctors instructions and having determination to beat this - I guess I have learned that in the powerlessness (and those who have suffered this know what I mean), you can still make some decisions which will stead you when the dips come to dump you on the your head I am determined that this will be a one episode case - however, I also know that I need to walk slowly and calmly in the other direction if I see the black dog about to attack.

Thanks for everyone's kind words and sharing your own stories in this thread. I am back to work next week, so I do wonder if there will be some challenges that I need to deal with slowly.

Cheers
Brad

Good to hear things are getting better...challenges will always be there sometimes our mind makes us think its far worse than what it really is.

 

[awg]

Just listening to Prof Gordon Parker on the radio, saying spring is the season for mood disorder, especially mania, but also depression.

Interestingly, he stated lifetime risk for Bipolar Type 2 is know regarded as 6%..up from 1%.

This is a very high figure, more than 1 in 17...think of how many ASF posters could be nuts...DYOR on investment advice:

Very few people understand the way this illness manifests itself.

Take the case of Matthew Newton..a more obvious case of unstable Bipolar could not be found, so why do they just not come out and say so?

Even though I understand he has been previously diagnosed, the charade continues.

It sounds like he is psychotic, which can lead to persons becoming violent

Abuse of many recreational drugs leads to a psychosis so similar to other pychosis that up to 2 weeks in a mental health unit, detoxifying is required to stabilise the patient

There is a high correlation between personality disorder, substance abuse disorder and bipolar in the past, and they are difficult to treat if they wont stop abusing recreational drugs, or adher to other aspects of a good mental health care plan

 

[waza1960]

Well I'm sorry to say the Black dog has really got me ATM .The purpose of this post is not to gain sympathy but to understand some aspects of depression that haven't being explored as yet in this thread.
I'm probably a little impaired in perspective ATM but it could be beneficial.
The main thing I'm struggling with is it depression if you have a life time of negative events which feel accumulative which bring you down or is it when it just gets you when you can't find a specific cause or are these in both instances depression .Is depression more related to the depths that you get to or the length of time your in it . What is depression and does it even matter to quantify it although probably helpful to determine if medication is needed.
I have being seeing a councillor which helps a little but I may have to consider Medication seeing the doctor next monday just hoping to make it through till then.

 

[sails]

Well done for sharing, Waza, I admire your courage...

I think the cause of depression can be so varied and the term "depression" is a huge umbrella covering all sorts of medical and/or psychological issues. Most likely the negative feelings are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, regardless of what upset those imbalances initially. The main thing is that, while it is very unpleasant to go through, things can and do get better. Even if it means a change to lifestyle, there is always hope for improvement - and more so with help.

So glad to hear you are seeing your doctor - that's another positive step as you are recognising something is not right. If you feel you can't hang in there until Monday, one option is to give LifeLine a call 13 11 14. I had to phone them once with my daughter and they were so helpful and understanding.

If things get too desperate, the other option I would suggest is to go to emergency at your local hospital as they will possibly give you medication to help take the edge off the negative feelings until you see your own GP. My experience with the public hospital on another occasion when my daughter needed help urgently was a positive experience.

My daughter has talked about some of her darkest times and so I have the greatest respect for those who face the black dog. She has found improvement with medication which has helped to bring some balance back to the chemical issues in the brain.

Please let us know how you are going and, above all, don't allow the dog to win. At least give treatment a big priority..