Coping with mental illness and depression

[sandlion]

Oh also, Effexor RX worked for me very well.

I used Serepax in the clinical times, with Normison and Seraquell for sleeping. These were my short termers.

I would say Effexor has been good to me, certainly it scores as the 'most effective' antidepressant/anti-anxiety medication. I was put on Prozac and that hospitalised me as it made me restless and suffer insomnia.

Good thoughts to all

 

[Julia]

I want to add to this thread with my own experiences:

I have had severe anxiety and depression episodes that come on rapidly, the most recent last year resulted in me admitting myself to hospital, as I truly was not capable of trusting my own decision making. The biggest hurdle for the most part has been feeling afraid of the stigma of 'not coping'. I work in a professional environment where performance is an expectation. Having to admit my 'illness' to my managers was a huge step, but ultimately wise as I was supported and allowed to work my way back to 'myself'. I am lucky in that regard, I am sure many would face an unsympathetic response, which can be ultimately the biggest kick when you are down.

For any who are unfortunate to be suffering or have the scars remaining, or who fear ' the suffering', I can only mention the things that have helped me. It is such a deeply personal thing however, and in itself this is part of the insidious nature of the illness. You believe that your experience is founded so strongly on personal issues that you cannot imagine anyone understanding or helping. Here goes...

1. Find a sympathetic GP, do not relent until you do. For those who don't have the luxury of choice, ask your GP the questions you need answers to, try and encourage their professional interest. Try and see them a minimum of weekly.

2. Sleep. It's the first thing to go usually, that or the routine. You will find yourself awake at the most god-awful times of the night, your heart racing, restless, nervous, anxious, terrified. In the short term medication is essential, it will give you the breathing space and mental respite to start working out a longer term steategy. Do not fear the anti-anxiety drugs, or the sleeping tablets. Just don't overdo it and stick to the prescribed values. I went nearly 3 weeks without more than 1 or 2 hours sleep per night. Don't lie in bed, read or watch TV. Get up, do your taxes, write a letter, update your diary, your address book, do some housework, anything just to stop staring at the walls thinking.

3. Don't hide. Get out, walk, go see someone you know, you won't feel like it but taking the time to focus on something else instead of the sucking blackness in your head can help.

4. Talk. I recommend a friend who you think may be sympathetic. You will be surprised how many people can relate personal experience of their own or a family member.

5. Inform yourself. Use the web, get a book, learn that you are not alone.

6. Take time to realise that you are suffering from an illness. You don't blame yourself when you get the flu. Depression and anxiety are as physiologically linked as they are mentally (and physicallY)

7. Eat. You won't want to. At least try and force it down you. I lost shocking amounts of weight (4-5 kgs a week). I was on the milk as much as possible as it was easier to get down. And I hate milk, so I got on the strawberry milk . Also, get some vitamins in you. Poor nutrition will hinder your recovery.

8. In the longer term, recognise the triggers and signs. Exercise is very beneficial. WHEN you come out the other side, you will have an appreciation for, and a desire to make change in your life. This is something positive and very often a depressive episode can work as a turnaround point.

9. Stay off the p1ss. It's great. It numbs. It gives you a respite. Its called self medicating and you are far better off with proper medication from the GP. The days following 'indulging' can exact a mental toll on you that you don't need. I do like my beers, and I do like hitting the p1ss every so often. You may need to evaluate the effect your drinking has on you.

10. Don't give up. It can bring you to your knees and lower. It can infiltrate every part of your life and taint it. It can make you cry, make you question every last thing about yourself, feel guilty, feel punished, even make you feel like God is exacting some revenge on you or that you are in some way evil. you're not. You're human, and you need help. You need a break. Don't give up. Dom Spiro Spera...while Breath Lasts Hope lives


Anyone struggling, feel free to PM me. I am in Brissie, and very understanding. I am not insane. Well, not recently

Sandlion

Sandlion, courageous and honest post.
Thanks and all the best for the future.

 

[Julia]

nah not tied to the market,, just tied to social relationships etc..

for example, one day everything is going well i think i am on top of things with my friends and then a few days latter i perceive myself and relations differently as though they disregard me or something..probably just irreational thinking

must be normal i'd imagine otherwise if your happy all the time you wouldn't appreciate it as much

Agro, it sounds rather as though perhaps you are fairly sensitive and possibly overreact to some perceived slight from friends/relations. Just guessing here of course as we don't know you.
Generally, when we are feeling OK about ourselves, we care not too much about what others appear to feel or think about us, but if our self image is a bit shaky, then we are inordinately affected by even the slightest criticism.
Perhaps a basic course in self esteem/assertiveness might help.

 

[Doris]

Agro, it sounds rather as though perhaps you are fairly sensitive and possibly overreact to some perceived slight from friends/relations. Just guessing here of course as we don't know you.
Generally, when we are feeling OK about ourselves, we care not too much about what others appear to feel or think about us, but if our self image is a bit shaky, then we are inordinately affected by even the slightest criticism.
Perhaps a basic course in self esteem/assertiveness might help.

A lot of realistic common sense here Julia!

A daughter is a policy planner for the Dept of Child Safety. A very clever young woman. When she told me last year 'things are not always about you Mum', I thought she was saying I was self-absorbed. But what she clarified she meant was that people have their own problems and they are not related to me at all.

For weeks I had a disruptive belligerent behaviour issue with a new senior student and I thought it was a personality problem with me. After talking with several of her other teachers and a GO last week I discovered her attitude was in all her classes and based on her problems with her sexuality and weekend substance abuse. She had come to our school/town because her family had turned their back on her and she had been sacked from her recent part-time job. She is now receiving counselling.

You're spot on in saying when we think we are 'OK' we expect others to think we are too. When we feel we're not OK we look for confirmation by others.

Maybe when we're depressed we tend to be self centred. Maybe we don't notice we don't solicit other people's interests and problems?

When the negatives prevail they need to be refuted... challenge yourself to see why your interpretation may be off the mark?

 

[jman2007]

I want to add to this thread with my own experiences:

I have had severe anxiety and depression episodes that come on rapidly, the most recent last year resulted in me admitting myself to hospital, as I truly was not capable of trusting my own decision making. The biggest hurdle for the most part has been feeling afraid of the stigma of 'not coping'. I work in a professional environment where performance is an expectation. Having to admit my 'illness' to my managers was a huge step, but ultimately wise as I was supported and allowed to work my way back to 'myself'. I am lucky in that regard, I am sure many would face an unsympathetic response, which can be ultimately the biggest kick when you are down.

Anyone struggling, feel free to PM me. I am in Brissie, and very understanding. I am not insane. Well, not recently

Sandlion

Sandlion,

Some great advice there, very similar to my own experiences and methods for getting back on track with life.

The alcohol thing was a really bad combination when I was going through my bad patch. Apparently my upset stomach and "reflux" (the medical term) was a by-product of the stress and anxiety I was experiencing. Even a quiet beer or glass of red wine played havoc with my stomach. Really horrible.

I still think revealing to work colleagues any type of personal problems you may be experiencing is still a huge challenge for me, and a lot of people, so it's good that you had such an understanding employer.

jman

 

[Doris]

Sandlion,

Some great advice there, very similar to my own experiences and methods for getting back on track with life.

jman

Is anxiety a factor in all instances of depression?

Does the period of 'profound sadness' always involve panic attacks?

I thought it did but was talking with someone being treated for depression and she has never felt 'foreboding terror'.
All others I've talked with have felt extreme anxiety.

 

[Julia]

Is anxiety a factor in all instances of depression?

No.

Does the period of 'profound sadness' always involve panic attacks?

No.

 

[Doris]

No.


No.

I always thought that depression was the body's reaction to chronic over production of adrenaline... that it reduced production of serotonin (sp?)to prevent 'blowing a fuse'... that negative thoughts/moods were the body's way of slowing one down, thus producing less adrenaline... less anxiety.

So it's actually one OR the other OR both...

It's interesting how slow breathing tricks the brain into thinking the body is relaxed and the heart beats slower.

Then three minutes of slow breathing enables the liver to break down excess adrenaline... the goal of meditation... clearing the mind of clutter...

 

[teabag]

how well do i know and understand how you feel. very well indeed. for a long time i felt lost too. my partner was lost to depression or the blackness as we called it. but we`ve learnt a lot of "stuff" over the years since our dark days started to disappear. i hope the following helps.

anxiety arises when the ego is faced with situations, conflicts etc we find overwhelming or fearful to cope with. subconsciously these are the triggers which can produce anxiety.

sometimes these situations or conflicts may not have even happened yet. it may be our perception of perceived fearful events that may bring on these anxiety attacts. (fear has a great imagination)

our reactions to these situations can be either, fight or flight. we learnt to fight or flight from these triggers when we were kids. we programmed ourselves by writing a contract albeit subconsciously which we live out everyday hoping to protect ourselves from the primary emotions of hurt fear pain(emotional, physical and spiritual) anger anxiety or loss.

all of us will feel one of these emotions very srongly at one time or another. there will be a predominate one through out our life. but it`s not our emotions that drive us it`s the feelings underneath that we need to look at and deal with. our emotions are reactions to old memories.

i am not my emotions i am my feelings at that point. this is called emotional quotient.

once we allow our anxiety to arise and we flight from it, it can block, restrict, prevent and obstruct us from living great lives. this then brings on other negative feelings eg depression, loneliness, worthlessness, feeling unloved or unloveable, self pity, self hatred, self harm, uselessness etc the list of negative emotions is endless.

what situations and or conflicts do you find overwhelming or fearful, which trigger your anxiety? what childhood memories are you attached to which your emotions react to? what feelings do you feel the most often?

as i said before i hope a little of what i have learnt helps you. we`ve reached a peaceful place in our life with the help of some great people and we found workshops the best way to get the honest help we needed. one or two in particular were very helpful and rewarding giving us the tools of life we were searching for. we are now MOVING FORWARD. all the best for your journey in life. reach out for some good workshops they will help. regards teabag

 

[Julia]

I came across this engrossing and enlightening discussion on mental illness via Radio National:
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/06/171270354/the-unquiet-mind

It includes talks with three highly intelligent and erudite individuals describing their experiences, one with schizophrenia, one with bipolar, and one with generalised anxiety disorder.

It's insightful for those of us who might struggle to understand what friends and family go through in dealing with the terror of psychosis. All the subjects manage to combine vivid descriptions of their experiences with hard won acceptance and humour.

 

[Tisme]

So while the nation seems preoccupied with victim playing, here's an organisation and patron who actually recognises resilience guidance is what we need for children who would otherwise succumb to self doubt and mental anxiety, etc

New document:

http://resources.beyondblue.org.au/prism/file?token=BL/1810_A

 

[Logique]

I reckon this might be at the core of the Aussie tennis player's problems on 'I'm a Celebrity' 2018.

Counselling and medication might make the world of difference for him.

 

[So_Cynical]

Saw an expert on TV the other day and he said that we should be referring to suicide as death by depression, like so and so died of depression, a victim of depression...drop suicide completely as a cause of death.

I think this has some merit.

 

[Tisme]

Saw an expert on TV the other day and he said that we should be referring to suicide as death by depression, like so and so died of depression, a victim of depression...drop suicide completely as a cause of death.

I think this has some merit.

I'm not sure depression drives all or even the majority of suicides, but then again "depression" is a big drag net these days, especially with it being an easy mental disease diagnosis excuse.

 

[So_Cynical]

I'm not sure depression drives all or even the majority of suicides

For under 45 year old's i struggle to see any other cause? depression in general, feelings of overwhelming sadness etc..

 

[Tisme]

For under 45 year old's i struggle to see any other cause? depression in general, feelings of overwhelming sadness etc..

I don't know the % causes, but I have some close family exposure on a couple of fronts. For example the medication for hashimoto's has to be precise, amphetamines another, etc on the medication front.

Exhaustion must play a role, constant chronic pain, old age, ,loss of soul mate, etc. Whether these give pause to depression I have no idea, or if depression has no role to play?

There is also that peculiar event where males who have a suicide in their ancestoral lineage are oddly drawn to the idea too. This is why families tended to bury the cause along with the body.

Ritual suicide and martyrdom for the cause?

 

[noirua]

 

[noirua]

Spike Milligan was a comedian, writer and musician. He often visited Australia and appeared in programmes "The Idiot Weekly" and "Bobby Limb". A suspension bridge linking Woy Woy and Gosford, NSW Central Coast, was named after him.

Spike Milligan was known as a manic depressive and suffered with bipolar disorder most of his life. He suffered at least ten major mental breakdowns, several lasting longer than a year.

He described his illness as: "I have got so low I have asked to be hospitalised and for deep narcosis (sleep).
I cannot stand being awake. The pain is too much...
Someting has happened to me, this vital spark has stopped burning - I go to the dinner table now and I don't say a word, just sit there like a dodo.
Normally I am the centre of attention and keep the conversation going - so that is depression itself.
It's like another person taking over, very strange.
The most important thing I say is "good evening" and then go quiet."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Milligan

Worth bringing up again as Spike Milligan's experience sees matters from the dark side.

 

[noirua]