Depression

[Tulip]

I suffered for years with depression, since my very early teens, finally being diagnosed at 16 with depression, OCD, and agoraphobia. I think the hardest bit was that when you're suffering you think you'll never get better, you think you'll be like it forever and it will just have to be managed. When I got better I realised this was part of the illness, and finally after years I'm happy again and though I still occasionally have a wobble day (usually in very crowded places) I'm fully recovered.

[Perthbum]

I suffered for years with depression, since my very early teens, finally being diagnosed at 16 with depression, OCD, and agoraphobia. I think the hardest bit was that when you're suffering you think you'll never get better, you think you'll be like it forever and it will just have to be managed. When I got better I realised this was part of the illness, and finally after years I'm happy again and though I still occasionally have a wobble day (usually in very crowded places) I'm fully recovered.

 

A few months ago I would have not even read your post and would never clicked this thread on depression, I was the first to think that people just make an excuse for being depressed because they felt a bit down, suffering myself has made me a more understanding person in a funny kind of way and has made me realise how blinkered I was.

[Petals]

Sorry, but I cannot understand why anyone should be depressed. Seriously, take a look at yourseves and STOP feeling sorry for yourselves.

 

And, before anyone makes caustic comments, I have had a few more bad and sad things happen to me, seeing that I'm about 30 years older than the majority of you. Remember that you only have one life so, get out of the rut and begin to live, really live!

 

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

Depression is different for people. I never felt sad just anxious and it got worse and worse, I hid it and put up with it for years. Then I had a major episode and had no idea it was depression. Depression can manifest in physical ways with some people. Its just a word, its when the brain catches a cold.

 

I am fine these days, just take a pill, same as having blood pressure, just take a pill every day.

 

Until it happens people have no idea, its like slamming into a wall. Cannot think straight, no energy, anxious, panic, agoraphobic, cannot be bothered, withdraw from friends.

 

We are so fortunate these days that treatment is available, depression was always around and in the early part of the twentieth century Gin mother's ruin was the antidepressant.

[blobby1000]

Sorry, but I cannot understand why anyone should be depressed. Seriously, take a look at yourseves and STOP feeling sorry for yourselves.

 

And, before anyone makes caustic comments, I have had a few more bad and sad things happen to me, seeing that I'm about 30 years older than the majority of you. Remember that you only have one life so, get out of the rut and begin to live, really live!

 

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

Let me try to help you understand BobJ.

 

If it were as simple as "getting out of the rut" then people would, and that would mean that they were not suffering from depression. Depression is basically an inability to get out of that rut....through illness not laziness.

The fact that you have had some "bad and sad" things happen to you but you are Ok is because you are not suffering from depression. It's an illness not a mindset that people can particularly control.

 

There are, of course, personality disorders also which are entirely different from depression, but real depression is a terrible illness and telling people to pull themselves together is rather unhelpful. Im my experience medication is the thing needed to give a bit of a kick start to the individual and then they can start to alter the way they think and behave once the medication has dampened down the worst feelings of depression and hence increased motivation.

 

People that are truly depressed cannot get out of it just like that or else they would do.

 

Oh and Bi-Polar disorder (or manic depression as it was formerly known) is a massively debilitating illness, which can involve not only periods of major depression but also psychotic elevated states which just cannot be "faked"....no point telling these people to get out of a rut, when manic they can feel they can take over the whole universe.

Edited April 18, 2012 by blobby1000

[blobby1000]

Yes, I knew he was a manic depressant. So was Spike Milligoon. Still cannot understand why, though.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

Nobody knows why anyone gets bi-polar really and it can effect anyone. Although recreational drugs certainly don't help, no link between their use and mental illness has never been catagorically established

[petersloan]

Yes, I knew he was a manic depressant. So was Spike Milligoon. Still cannot understand why, though.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

Not to sound obtuse here Bob, but if you happened to break your leg and someone told you to "get over yourself and head out for a walk..."

can you understand how you couldn't possibly do it?

 

Endorphins in your brain are released when you feel happy. When you suffer from depression you have a low level of endorphins to give

you the feelings of well beingetc..

 

I suffer from it, have done for years so like any normal human being I go to my doctor and through using antidepressants and stopping to

think about ways around small problems I am quite a happy chap...

 

If you had a sorehead would you take a tablet or suffer?

 

I have no qualms whatsoever talking about it and anyone who feels they have it believe me the best thing to do is talk to someone...

You'll feel the weight of the world lifted of you....

[MARYROSE02]

'Anxiety' and 'Health Anxiety' has always been my problem and it's been nothing to do with living in OZ, although moving here on my own may have started it. The problem with mental illness is that so many people (like Bob!!!) can't accept it IS an illness, including, sadly, many of the ones who suffer from it, so they won't seek help from their GP's. I tried to tell a lady I usually like that I take one prescribed medication for my anxiety and another for high cholesterol. There's no difference between the two conditions, in a medical sense, both diagnosed by my GP.

 

In Australia, if your GP feels that you do have a problem, you can get a certain number of referrals to a psychologist - ten? with a further five? It was twelve with a further six in any twelve month period. I'ev been seeing a psychologist for three years now and I can see HUGE improvements in my outlook on life. I look forward to seeing him once a month or so and we discuss my successes and failures and he will sometimes suggest ways I can improve - probably using a combination of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and other things - 'Mindfulness' is one, I know.

 

I don't know about ladies' toilets! But in many of the gents there are posters for 'Beyond Blue' I think it's called, trying to encourage men who don't just feel a little sad, to seek medical help. It always helps when a prominent public figure 'comes out' as it were. I seem to recall one of WA's Premiers did so? Then there are the telephone help lines with their numbers displayed prominently at places like The Gap in Sydney.

 

I feel I'm being a bit 'below the belt' if I talk about Gary Speed but telling him to 'snap out of it' would not have 'saved' him.

 

PS, if you get those referrals from your GP, you can get them at a reduced rate, or sometimes free depending on the therapist. I pay $120 per session but get $85 back from Medicare.

Edited April 18, 2012 by MARYROSE02
I forgot someething!

[Bobj]

Not to sound obtuse here Bob, but if you happened to break your leg and someone told you to "get over yourself and head out for a walk..."

can you understand how you couldn't possibly do it?

 

Endorphins in your brain are released when you feel happy. When you suffer from depression you have a low level of endorphins to give

you the feelings of well beingetc..

 

I suffer from it, have done for years so like any normal human being I go to my doctor and through using antidepressants and stopping to

think about ways around small problems I am quite a happy chap...

 

If you had a sorehead would you take a tablet or suffer?

 

I have no qualms whatsoever talking about it and anyone who feels they have it believe me the best thing to do is talk to someone...

You'll feel the weight of the world lifted of you....

 

Sorry mate, but I broke an ankle and had to walk out then drive home

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/chewing-fat/119713-camping-incident.html

 

But I do take your point; it's just that I cannot understand it is all.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[Perthbum]

Sorry mate, but I broke an ankle and had to walk out then drive home

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/chewing-fat/119713-camping-incident.html

 

But I do take your point; it's just that I cannot understand it is all.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

You never will bob, I was the same, I hope you never get it but if you do you will understand.

[wakeboard1980]

Sorry mate, but I broke an ankle and had to walk out then drive home

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/chewing-fat/119713-camping-incident.html

 

But I do take your point; it's just that I cannot understand it is all.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

That's the thing Bobj, if you could understand it then there would be many that would as well. If people knew the answers then we would be a lot better off.

 

If I lived like you, fishing every day, then I would be a happy man all of the time:biggrin:

[blobby1000]

Breaking an ankle hurts I imagine, but its relatively straightforward...it breaks and you get it fixed. Depression doesnt work like that, if it did it would be easier for people that have it!

 

Nevertheless, walking home with a broken ankle is still impressive.

[Tulip]

I can completely understand why others may not understand it and just see it as a lack of coping mechanism. In my opinion it's almost like some are more sensitive to it and more susceptible to the chemical imbalance in your brain. If I hadn't suffered from it I probably would just think it was someone being lazy and not shaking it off. The thing is that shaking it off is the most difficult thing in the world when you're depressed; it's like having a tumour. It feeds on you, every sad thought, every sad thing you see, every moment of paranoia, when you don't even wash or leave the house for weeks, and you can't help but find a coping mechanism in the most self-destructive way, just to have an ounce of control over this beast that breathes down your neck every minute of the day, waiting until the weakest moment, waiting until you're just staring at the kitchen tiles whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. When it pounces and you cry so hard your body aches for days after wards, you can tell me it's laziness, or a lack of strength, but all you're doing is telling the blind to open their eyes. It simply isn't possible when you're in that state of mind. You don't need to snap out of it, you don't need to be fixed. You need to want to fix yourself. That's the first step of recovery and I want anyone who's reading this and feeling that way to know that even after years of suffering, *it can happen to you*. You will get better.

[Bobj]

Breaking an ankle hurts I imagine, but its relatively straightforward...it breaks and you get it fixed. Depression doesnt work like that, if it did it would be easier for people that have it!

 

Nevertheless, walking home with a broken ankle is still impressive.

 

 

It did hurt...a bit.

 

I tell a fib...I did get depressed once...B@#$% 16 stone forward tackled me at rah rah... just as I was about to score:arghh:

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[Petals]

A few months ago I would have not even read your post and would never clicked this thread on depression, I was the first to think that people just make an excuse for being depressed because they felt a bit down, suffering myself has made me a more understanding person in a funny kind of way and has made me realise how blinkered I was.

 

My doc told me that "Depression" is the name for a myriad of different conditions. So if you feel funny and you are not feeling particularly sad, angry all the time, irritated, out of the norm, that is we all get down angry and irritated its when these feelings are different, more often and affect the people around us. I got medicare help with my psychologist fees which meant I could get good care and my psychologist taught me to know the triggers so if I ever felt a bit like it again, just to get help straight away. I never wanted to top myself, cry or do any of the things that a lot of people get with depression. I just felt trapped, could not stand supermarket lights, or shopping centres etc. People I worked with never knew, there are as many excuses as an alcoholic not to let people know.

 

However when it affects the family, we no longer want to go to the kids school play, go out with friend's for dinner, do not want to go anywhere we have not been before, then its time to seek help. These were the signs for me but I did not see them and it only took my daughter's illness to compound it. When she recovered I was then hit like a brick wall.

[Mrs Fabricator]

Saw this thought I would add.....I am currently clinically depressed, on Prozac, as well as Anorexic/Bullemic/OCD etc.......depression is horrible and I feel for anyone who is going through it or has ever gone through it. Until you experience it for yourself you will never understand.....I get asked the weirdest of questions all the time, but cannot explain it....I also had to fill out some random 20 question form bottom line I am not a total crazy person just neurotic.....I will end with when you are at the lowest you can possibly go the only way is up if you choose it....it is a long slow process with many bad days, but we have to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel............big hugs to everyone xxxx

[whoiam]

Sorry mate, but I broke an ankle and had to walk out then drive home

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/chewing-fat/119713-camping-incident.html

 

But I do take your point; it's just that I cannot understand it is all.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

 

Imagine a shroud of darkness, something like a big dark blanket covering you.And you don't ever feel like crawling out from under it. You'd rather be in this shroud of darkness than come out of it--bcos in a weird way this feels safe. You cant feel any emotion;cannot reciprocate or experience the love someone else is pouring your way, cannot love--not for want of trying because there just isn't anything within to give out. Imagine having to tell yourself to remember to smile at your lil kids because a smile wont come spontaneously. If you can imagine all or some of these then you are part way to understanding what depression feels like.

[Mrs Fabricator]

Imagine a shroud of darkness, something like a big dark blanket covering you.And you don't ever feel like crawling out from under it. You'd rather be in this shroud of darkness than come out of it--bcos in a weird way this feels safe. You cant feel any emotion;cannot reciprocate or experience the love someone else is pouring your way, cannot love--not for want of trying because there just isn't anything within to give out. Imagine having to tell yourself to remember to smile at your lil kids because a smile wont come spontaneously. If you can imagine all or some of these then you are part way to understanding what depression feels like.

 

Exactly right xxxxx

[ali]

Yes, I knew he was a manic depressant. So was Spike Milligoon. Still cannot understand why, though.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

 

Chemical imbalance in the brain, receptors not working properly

[RockDr]

Define depression, I would add to the poll, 'medically diagnosed depression' As sufferers will know theres a world of difference between low mood and depression

 

I will point out though, that not everyone with clinical depression gets medically diagnosed...

[THE DUNSCOMBE FAMILY]

My wife has suffered for 23 yrs , been on Meds for that time too.Suffered huge Anixity problems also but thankfully thats now under control.We are all happy though living in this beautiful country we now call home (AUSTRALIA) , i guess choose where ever you live in the world there will be people who suffer with Depression regardless .

[Que Sera Sera]

I lost my Dad when I was 12. He was a 6'2'' man and was big built. After his 2 year battle with Lung Cancer, he weighed 6 stone, when he went into hospital for a break. He never came out. My Mum was 38 and had 4 teenagers ranging from 12 to 17. In those days she was given valium to get her through it. Looking back I now know that I became manically depressed, I was a sulky teenager so it wasnt really noticed. My Mum was spaced out on Valium and my older brothers and sisters were just getting on with their lives. My Mum re married a few years later to a not very pleasant man, and we were not allowed to mention my Dad anymore and there were no pictures. By now I thought is was normal to think of ways to end it. To dream of going to sleep and not waking up. At the age of 17 I met a tos*er who I thought would take me away from it all. We married when I was just 21 and we had 2 children and for a period of about 3 years I battled on with his infidelities and insane jeolousy because I think I didnt think I was worth much else anyway. All this time I had no idea I was depressed. I wasnt thinking suicide anymore because I had the children, but I self medicated on wine and basically stopped eating. I lost all my baby weight plus about 3 stone and all I got was complimented on how fantastic I looked, which made my OH even more jeolous which was funny as he was seeing at least 1 or even 2 other women at that time. Eventually we split, I through him out after he told me I dressed like a whore so I might as well go out and sh*g the first bloke I met. Something pinged inside me with that comment and I thought for the first time since I was 12...Im worth more that this.I went to the Doctors who initially recommended councelling which ( this was nearly 20 years ago ) a waste of time, so he begrudingly put me on Prozac. I didnt notice any difference, and then one day about a months later Id put the kids to bed, I was still only 27 and I thought do you know what today I havent cried! then as time went on no more tears, a positive outlook and a strong proud person..........too strong to settle down with anymore idiots. I stayed on my own for 5 years, then met a lovely bloke a lot younger than me who I fell head over heels for. I stopped my medication and I began to have a real buz for life again. We got married had our son, life was perfect. Then came the news that I had feared would one day happen. My Mum was diagnosed with the same thing that had killed my Father and sure enought about 2 years after being diagnosed she was dead. All the hurt and the pain came back, I was off work sick, I was in so much pain, each evening it was dulled with wine. Suddenly I light bulb moment happened and I new exactly what I needed. So off down the Docs who put me straight back on the Meds and within 2 weeks my sanity was restored.That was 10 years ago and about 6 months ago, since living here, I have come off again and fingers crossed all seems good in the world. But if I need them again I will have no problem asking for Prozac or the generic brand that is cheaper at the chemists :biglaugh: Anyway for those still battling, good luck I hope you see that light at the end of the tunnel soon. Me if I feel stressed or down, off I go for a power walk down the beach in the glorious sunshine and within minutes my inner peace is restored :cool:

[cartertucker]

:hug:

[Diane]

This was an interesting article: http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/17/11232468-a-blood-test-for-depression-new-research-points-the-way?lite%E2%80%8F

[Paul1Perth]

"you want putting in a bag and shaking up"!

 

That made me smile. It was one of my Mum's favourite expressions and I've not heard it for years. My Mum had several "nervous breakdowns" when i was growing up and has had lot's of time spent in some horrendous hospitals over the years and gone through the whole gamut of treatments, including electro therapy years ago. She was a test case for some tablets in the 60's/70's which made her like a zombie until she came off them.

 

She used to get religious mania and as a kid I remember being down the garden having to pray at a bonfire of garden rubbish, in the middle of the night, with my Mum ranting on about being the Virgin Mary and she was getting messages from the full moon from her dead Dad. She used to go for days and days without any sleep at all which meant one of us (usually me as my Dad had to keep going to work) had to stay up with her most of the night. We all tried to cover it up every time when she had her problems until it got so bad that she had to be admitted. Ah the old yellow van eh!

 

The last 20 years have been better since doctors have found that she is lacking lithium in her body. It's usually a poison but is found in minute levels in the body, naturally occuring. It's an emotional stabiliser and she now has to take it and have regular blood tests for levels. Since she has been on it much more emotionally stable.

 

Luckily doesn't seem to be inherited by me or my Sister, thank goodness.

[Munchkinella]

QSS thankyou for sharing. You are an inspiration. Jxxxx