Continuesly Tired of everything but this ..

[Pinkshadow]

Hey guys & gals (:

I don't really know who else to turn too.
- In the last month my life went from being great to being my own personal hell instead ..

Alot of personal problems came, both with my bf and familiy and ontop of it i went to the doctor, because i was feeling wierd and got scared when i went into places with many people.
- I got send to a shrink or what you call it in english ..

He told me that i'm on the very edge of gettin' a depression, and that i have developed fear of crowds, a sort of anxiety . We talked alot about this, and at this stage i refuse to get medication for it, as i know way to many people who is addicted to meds because they have been depressed.

I'm sort of looking for good tips from you guys, and anything that could help me recover, because atm i don't do much more then sit at home on my computer, and scroll this site or play wow to be somehow social and talk to someone . (:

- If you would like the full extend of why i have gotten this, your welcome to pm me to get my skype or msn to talk, but i can't type it all here <3

Thanks in advance ..

[BabyKittenCandy]

Ok... A short post for now, and I will try and expand it laters....

I have suffered from Depression for many years, at some points bad enough that I even self harmed, not good.  And i too suffered from anxiety in crowds, i still dont like crowds now though i can cope.  The biggest battle with depression is being able to admit that you have it and getting help.

My first bit of advice would be to please please talk to the docs and get meds. Seriously.

If you would like to talk about any fears etc with depression, please dont hesitate to pm me, it saddly runs in my family, both my parents have had it, and me, so I do know what im talking about.

Once you have done the biggest chore (admitting it and getting help) you can start making small changes to your life that will help. Do you have a few close mates nearby? Or other people who you trust and feel safe with? You will need thier support in a very big way and they will need a lot of patience, depression has no quick fix.

I promise hun, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I have been where you are now, and worse. You can get outta it if you will accept help and be willing to help yourself too.

[Sunchaser]

Pink just because others got addicted to meds doesnt mean you will.

For example when i was going through my chemo and everything they prescribed me with oxycodion and meds like that for pain, which there is a market for it for drugs. I freaked out and would refuse to talk them and be in pain so much that i couldnt do much of anything but curl and cry.

Then i decided i needed the meds cause after 1 day of not having any type of pain med i couldnt handle it. Well during the whole time i kept syaing i dont want to get addicted i wotn get addicted enough that i still went as long as possible without taking the meds.

I am to this day not addicted to them and was off of them as soon as i oculd be off of it.

[toffeeca]

Aw Pink *snuggle hugs* If you ever want to talk feel free to PM me.

I have suffered from depression too. I was to the point where I just wanted to kill myself and be done with it. I was put on medication and went to therapy once a week for about a year and a half and I still struggle with it sometimes. You need to keep going to therapy, that is the most important thing that you can do. If you don't want to get medication then we can't make you, but the therapy is something that you just have to do.

I do recommend going to the doctor and talking about getting medication. I don't know anyone who has become addicted to antidepressants, but if you talk to the doctor I'm sure they can work with you to find a medication that will work for you. I know I had to take two different medications. One was an anti depressant and I think the other was an anti anxiety pill. I decided on my own to stop taking the pills (although I don't recommend that) but the pills just helped me calm down and be able to deal with everything. They didn't fix anything. I had to fix everything, hence the therapy, but the pills just made the lows not so low that I couldn't cope.

I hope that things start looking up soon. And if you ever want to talk don't hesitate to PM me.

[Pinkshadow]

I am gonna get theropary as it helps me abit , in many ways ..

I really appriciate that you tell me about your own expirences with it.
- I am not as far down yet, to hurt myself, but i do often feel like just hiding myself very far away to never be found again or just to go sleep and hope i don't wake up. Alot of times when i wake up the morning, i can't even see a point in gettin' up at all. I can lay in the bed for hours without even having the feeling of hunger or thirst, because im just sad and wanna cry and sleep. :/

[Winged]

Poor you! If you ever want to talk to me, feel free to PM me.

While i hope i'm not quite at the stage to needing medication yet, i do feel depression and stress, so i can relate to what you're going through. I have to go to school, so i force myself to to out, but i agree with you, sometimes i just don't want to get up. The thing with me is that it comes and goes, sometimes i can be very happy and then suddenly i'll feel depresed.
I have tried talking to some of my family about it, but they don't understand or think it's a problem. They just think i'm exagerating i suppose. However, one of my friends has some mild depression problems and i can talk to her sometimes.
The main reason for me is that i always used to have quite high aspirations and my family has high expectations of me too, and can pressure me a lot. This year i'm sitting my highers (the biggest exams in scottish high school, that get you into uni) and i'm really struggling. So that has made me stressed and that's sparked other problems.

The anxiety in crowds is something fairly common i think, although of course there are different levals of it. For me, it helps to try to walk faster than the people around me. That makes me think more like i'm in control, and not part of the crowd.

I haven't seen any doctors, although i have thought about that. So i don't know much about that side of things.
I do know a few people who have taken anti-depression meds and  i have never heard of anyone getting addicted. If you do find yourself getting addicted,m i'm sure you could try and use different meds.

[Silvanon]

Well, some anti-depressants do have bad withdrawal effects if you suddenly go off them, so it's best to do it slowly over the course of a few weeks, under your doctor's supervision.  Also it's best to do it under your doctor's supervision so that if it turns out you still need them, you're both on the same page about it and you can go back on them.

That having been said, it seems like a lot of times when people say that others are "addicted" to anti-depressants, what they really mean is that the person is in a situation where they need the medication long term.  I wouldn't call that addiction any more than I'd call it addiction when a person who's lost a leg uses a prosthetic for the rest of their lives.  Some times things go wrong with our bodies, and there's no shame in seeking out the appropriate help for it.

For some people counseling is perfectly effective to help them cope with their symptoms, and I think it's great to try out that option first.  Certainly if you're against medication then it's less likely to help you, our attitudes can really affect things in this arena.  Keep in mind that for a lot of people the option that works out best is a combo - some meds and some counseling.

Personally I spent the 2 years after LilBit was born being a total grouch half the time.  It wasn't post-partum depression, it didn't follow the right pattern, but it was an obvious hormonal change that happened to me after the birth, like flicking a light switch.  When I finally decided that it wasn't going away and I needed to do something about it, I tried counseling first.  That helped some, but I still wasn't anything like before.  When the doctors finally agreed to let me try anti-depresion medication, it was like flicking that switch back again, I was back to my old happy peaceful self.  Maybe someday whatever snapped in my body after pregnancy will somehow go back to how it was, but in the meantime I'm thrilled to have an aid to fix the effects, and if I need this medication for the rest of my life, well, again I'm just thrilled to have something that works.

[springacres]

Pink - believe me when I say I sympathize completely with your situation.  Depression runs in my mother's family, and I myself was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression when I was 14.  When I first started taking the anti-depressants, it was about four weeks before I noticed the effects, but when I did it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.  Medication is not a cure-all, but the right medication, taken as directed and given time to work, can help a great deal.

I strongly recommend that you go to a psychiatrist.  Find one you feel comfortable with, and tell him or her about your worries with medications.  Not all antidepressants are habit-forming (the only ones I've heard about that I know can be habit-forming are more usually prescribed for attention deficit disorders, at least here in the US) and your doctor should be able to provide you with several options.  And the same goes for anti-anxiety drugs - some can be habit-forming, but not all of them are.

Lots of hugs and support from me.  I'm no medical professional, but like I said I've been through similar issues myself - so if you want advice or just to chat, shoot me a PM here.

[Pinkshadow]

I'm really happy for all your answers and help <3
- I'm waiting on a call from the hospital to get an appointment there.

[Scullisto]

*hugs* I am proud of you you are going to make it.

[Zephyr]

Hey Pink!

I struggled with depression for a long time - self injury for years, and suicidal thoughts at times. I went to counselors, and I had people try to suggest medicine over and over.

I don't say taking medication for depression is wrong; I simply believe it is over-prescribed. The 'easy solution'. I refused, every time it was suggested. I didn't want a crutch, I wanted to deal with the issues that were causing the depression. I wanted to know that if i got depressed in the future, I'd have methods I knew could help, instead of looking to get medicated again.

Yes, it was harder. I had to try a lot of methods. Eating healthy, getting regular sleep (and enough of it!), and regular, light exercise can do a lot to make the body - and mind - cope with stress and depression better. Talking with friends, getting sunlight, trying a new hobby, learning something new, getting a cuddly pet, these can help too.

I think for people who truly cannot cope on their own, who have a *severe* incurable chemical imbalance, I have no issue with medication, or for help in a truly horrible situation, but I know too many people who are given medication and then are ignored. Often there's no therapy, no helping a person figure out what they need to do so they can get to a point where they don't need medicine anymore, or how to adjust when they're weaned off it. So they end up right back on medicine, and never learn to cope.

Granted, that's just my experience here in NY, so hopefully things are better where you are! I hope therapy helps you, and remember you don't have to overcome everything at once. And you have friends standing by you!


***edit - I didn't realise this post was older, Secundi moves slower than PI >_<  How are you doing now, a month later?