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Serious Question About Depression Type Stuff

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17 Aug 2012 01:46 #132754 by QPCloudy
So as many of you know, I have been unemployed since January. Over the last eight months it has got my SUPER down. Some days I hardly get off the couch. I know how pathetic it, but some days I sit down and BOOM, the whole day just flashes by. I went to a doctor a couple days ago and he prescribed me Paxil. I did some reading online and I'm pretty much terrified of what can happen when I decide to come off of it, if I commit to trying it in the first place that is.

I'm just wondering what some of you guys, and gals, here on the Fort think or know about it. I trust you lot more than a bunch of random internet loonies. Wait. . . ;)

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17 Aug 2012 02:21 - 17 Aug 2012 02:23 #132755 by bfkiller
My wife's suffered from depression for about 15 years. A few pieces of advice off the top of my head:

- If you have a local mental health clinic, go there and see a psychiatrist to get a second opinion about your meds. I don't know about you, your doctor, or the drug you were prescribed, but most general practitioners aren't experts when it comes to mental health.

- Try not to feel ashamed or guilty. Depression is an illness, not a personal failing. My wife was in the same spot as you for about a year -- not working and pretty much unable to leave the house. Supporting her was hard work, and it was tiring, and it could be frustrating, but I was never upset with her.

- Drugs have a bad rep, and they aren't appropriate in all cases, but they can be very helpful for some people. If your depression is related to something not firing properly in the brain or a chemical imbalance, how is it any different than a diabetic taking insulin? They sure as shit make my wife's depression manageable.


Anyways, good luck at finding a new job, and I hope you find a way out of your depression.
Last edit: 17 Aug 2012 02:23 by bfkiller.
The following user(s) said Thank You: JMcL63, QPCloudy

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17 Aug 2012 02:33 - 17 Aug 2012 02:35 #132756 by Black Barney
I don't want to sound a scientologist but I don't think drugs are as effective as therapy. Just talk to someone. A professional, preferably. It'll help.

Finding work is tough. Do you know the average time it takes someone to find a job in your region? I bet that statistic will help enormously (I like math myself, I wear the logic like warm blanket). Like I bet you the average time to find a job is like 11 months or something like that. So i's totally normal that you haven't found something since Jan.

Also you're a cool guy and people like you, so don't forget that. You have value and you've made me laugh for more than once (that's reason enough to feel fulfilled in life, in my opinion. I think everyone should aim at pleasing me in some form or another to be more content in life).

Oh, and if you want to avoid getting depressed further, don't read Barnes' latest article. Good LORD that's some bad writing.
Last edit: 17 Aug 2012 02:35 by Black Barney.
The following user(s) said Thank You: QPCloudy

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17 Aug 2012 02:48 #132757 by daveroswell
I was diagnosed bipolar in 1991. My best advice for you is:

1) Got to a doctor you REALLY trust. If you don't trust him/her, go shopping for a new doc immediately.

2) Especially when you are on new meds, monitor everything for a while.

3) Be completely honest when explaining dosage, including if you slacked off taking something for a while.

I hope things get better for you soon. If you ever want to chat, you can always PM me.

Dave

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17 Aug 2012 02:53 #132760 by QPCloudy
To top things off with being uneasy about the Paxil, I called the Dr.'s office today and told his assistant how I felt last night. I was totally zombified. I just sort of sat on the couch staring not really feeling anything at all. I told them I didn't like it.

I'm not depressed 24/7/365, it's just some days are REALLY bad. I told them I didn't want to get on something that was going to have me dependent after a week and I'd feel more comfortable if there was something I could take only when needed. The assistant called back and told me the Doc wants me to try it. The thing I'm worried about is after two weeks of taking it, I'll be in danger of suffering the major withdrawal symptoms, from what I've read at least.

I'll be calling the psych for a second opinion tomorrow.

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17 Aug 2012 03:49 #132761 by ThirstyMan
Having had this myself in the late 80s, I would agree with Barney. Meds are often less effective than therapy and definitely therapy should be part of the treatment and not just meds.

SSRI's were not that effective for me and I stopped them cold (probably not a great idea) but had no bad things happen because of it.

I enrolled in a correspondance course to keep my mind active at the time and forced myself to do it (it was an essay writing/research History course). Also I forced myself to do some hard exercise every day (which I actually hate) on a stationary bike. I think both of these helped kick my brain out of the rut it had been in. I appreciate these things don't work for everyone but it did for me. Oh yeah, keep off the sauce while you're rebooting your brain...

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17 Aug 2012 04:07 #132763 by Dogmatix
@Barney: Meds *can* be an enormously effective therapy, but they're not usually most effective in a vacuum. Speaking from experience (both my own driven by a temporary situation relating to divorce and through my wife's more long-term experience), the combination of meds and at least some talk therapy are helpful. That said, sometimes it really *is* purely (or mostly) a chemical situation and some type of med will prove hugely beneficial to achieving and maintaining "normal".

@QP: See a proper psych MD (that, as Dave says, you truly trust) to work out a regimen that *works* for you. As for withdrawal symptoms, drugs (of all stripes) have wildly different impacts on folks. A proper doctor will help you through tapering off a med that isn't working [or, in the case of my wife, the process of getting pregnant and breastfeeding] without sending you around the bend. And, of course, take *everything* on the Internet with a grain of salt. There's so much half-assed or just plain bad data running around out there, particularly on medical topics, it's kind of scary.

On a purely personal level, I'd be careful starting with the "just when I need one" position--the classic "Mother's Little Helper". While a handful of Valium (or whatever) "for just when I'm a bit off," can be handy to have on-hand, they can be more of a mask than part of a proper therapy. Again, the right course is going to be very personal/individualized/custom to your situation, your head and your chemistry. A good doc that you trust will work with you to find that mix. The better you pay attention to the impact treatment has on you, the better it can be tuned.

Edit: and that was a long way of saying *exactly* what Dave said. He's a smart dude on this shit.

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17 Aug 2012 04:47 - 17 Aug 2012 04:49 #132768 by Octavian
Definitely find a therapist to talk to. If nothing else it will help to have a regularly schedule appointment to look forward to. There are many different types of therapists and you may want to narrow your search based on what you're looking for in one. If you want to focus just on symptoms then look for a cognitive-behavioral therapist. If you would find more value in talking out what you've going through you should look for a therapist with a more humanist approach. And don't be shy to ask any of the therapists you check out if they can recommend others that might be a good fit for what you're looking for. Referrals are common, and finding someone that best fits your needs should be the primary concern.

On the meds, they can definitely be helpful if things are debilitating. But they seldom represent a fix on their own. It's possible you'll find alternatives to needing to rely on the medication. Or it's possible a lower dosage combined with therapy would be more helpful. These are more things to discuss with a therapist.

Finally, it sounds like this is linked fairly closely to the loss of your job, however you don't mention if the depression lead to your unemployment or if the depression came on afterwards. In either case (but especially if it is the latter) you should also think about engaging in some other regularly scheduled activity that gets you out of the house and doing something. You could take up a new exercise routine or find some free classes on whatever sounds interesting, or volunteer at a local shelter - anything. Whatever you pick, treat it like it is a job.
Last edit: 17 Aug 2012 04:49 by Octavian.

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17 Aug 2012 04:55 #132769 by engineer Al
Depression is tough because it can snowball, as in you are overwhelmed by feelings that make you incapable of acting that leads to more bad feelings and on and on. The proper combination of medication AND therapy can be very useful in digging your way out of that hole. BUT, do find someone you can trust and who LISTENS to what you have to say.

I also agree with Andy about the exercise part. Keeping your body active REALLY does help the brain to funtion properly.

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17 Aug 2012 09:55 #132771 by bomber
I've had experience with this too QP, and I'd be happy to discuss via PM but maybe an open forum thread is not the best place for it. I would say that you should rely entirely on a qualified professional, both psychiatrists and psychologists and rely on them rather than us lot, even if we've had similar situations. Whether or not this or that drug or technique worked for us has absolutely no bearing on what it might do for you, so try not to rely too much on recommendations here and get as much face time as you can with people who have professional accreditation and will speak to you face to face. Best of luck pal.

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17 Aug 2012 10:00 #132772 by daveroswell
[quote="Dogmatix" post=132763
Edit: and that was a long way of saying *exactly* what Dave said. He's a smart dude on this shit.[/quote]

Well, I'm not THAT smart; it's more of a do as I say not as I do situation...

QP...I agree it sounds like at first glance your depression is linked to your job loss and not a condition. You are on the right track; you really don't want to exascerbate a problem by creating the potential issue of withdrawl. Keep talking to professionals until you are comfortable. I also agree with volunteering. It keeps your mid off things and potentially could get you leads to a pying gig.It's great if you can volunteer doing something you want to get paid to do. People look at you differently, as a passionate gut who's doing it because he loves it, not totally for the money.

My advice about volunteering is don't do too much. You still want to give yourself time for the job hunt.

Finally: Avoid my mistakes.

1) Whatever your plan to battle your depression; stick with maintaining the plan. That is very tough for me because of my condition, but you seem to be on top of things. Keep on it; it is a contiuing procees.

2) Along the same lines: stuff like doctors and drugs cost money. It is important you spend what you have to spend. THIS is the biggest problem for me, and one of the main causes of my occassional relapses.

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17 Aug 2012 10:23 #132775 by SuperflyPete
Carmen...what kind of work do you normally do and whatnkind of things do younknow how to do?

Best therapy for you seems to be a job! Let's see what we can do there.

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17 Aug 2012 11:31 #132781 by luckyb0y
The problem with drug treatment is that it takes a while to kick in (at least couple of weeks) and there are so many different drugs available. Doctors are usually as much in the dark as you about which one to prescribe so pretty much the only way to go is to try several them. That means it could take several months to find something that is really helping. I'm not really aware of anything that you only use when it's particularly bad.

Another thing that might help is to keep yourself occupied. You say you can spend the whole day on the couch, but are you just staring at the wall or watching the telly/browsing the net? It's really easy to fuck around all day like that when you are unemployed but it's a downward spiral. You don't do shit so you fell like shit so you don't do shit. Any activity is good for you. Go for a walk, play with your kid, exercise, start a hobby project. Things that require longer commitment are the best cause they can force you into a routine that will keep you occupied. Imagine all the things you wanted to do but never had the time, now is the time to try.

In the end Superfly is probably spot on with the job comment.

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17 Aug 2012 13:04 #132785 by Ska_baron
Just wanted to chip in and say God Bless and that you've got a great group here to BS with. We're not a replacement for therapy/meds/job/exercise/etc, but I'd like to think we're a damn fine addition!

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17 Aug 2012 13:37 #132788 by SuperflyPete
You misspelled that Ska... "addiction", not "addition"! :)

I have valium for the vertigo and I fucking hate it. It works great for the most part, but coming off the stuff is "bamboo under fingernails" terrible. So, I take it only when I absolutely have to (ie. just drove 4 hours to a sales meeting..) and I'm worthless and nauseated for a week after.

Fuck pills. Hopeless and shameless optimism is the key to maintaining mental sanity whilst unemployed. I was out of work for 9 months, starting a week after 9/11. There simply WERE no jobs. I knew a PhD who was working at Wendy's because that's all there was.

So, I cleaned the house, spent time with my kid, jobhunted, and played a fuckload of Counterstrike. But I always knew that there would be an end to the unemployment...nobody's luck is that bad.

Ended up taking a job that moved me from my beloved Texas to Kentucky. The rest is history.

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