Depression

[Champ]

I'll be back...

I'm a woman of my word, CS. Give it to the middle of the week you said...

 

 

...how are you doing?

[Red Phoenix]

For those that have anxiety or anger issues along with depression, and also for those that just have anger or anxiety problems, this might be of use (it's in 2 parts) : What You Need to Know About Your HPA Axis in Order to Manage Irritability More Effectively

[Stu Monty]

Have you considered listening to Troy McClure's self help tape: "Hey stupid, get confident!"

 

Sound's just the ticket.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

So I've been sick pretty much since Halloween, on and off. Went to the docs and as I had bloods done in August and they were normal, he starts suggesting that my symptoms were anxiety related.

 

I got quite irate and reminded him the best help I found for anxiety was mindfulness and meditation, and I have become quite in tune with my anxiety, and that this wasn't it. Fever, sweats, swollen glands (fnar), sneezing, shivering, cough, headaches, were all symptoms of cold/flu.

 

Like banging my head in a brick wall. "If you're still sick in a few months come back for more bloods." Cheers doc. Great fucking help.

[s(k)aturation]

The current doctor you describe is of no further use to you.

 

Go to another doctor, explain it's not anxiety in your experience and opinion, and see what his opinion/analysis/advice brings.

[General Dryness]

The current doctor you describe is of no further use to you.

 

Go to another doctor, explain it's not anxiety in your experience and opinion, and see what his opinion/analysis/advice brings.

This. Second opinions can be life savers. Hope you're feeling better soon Roto.

[Section_31]

The current doctor you describe is of no further use to you.

 

Go to another doctor, explain it's not anxiety in your experience and opinion, and see what his opinion/analysis/advice brings.

 

Yep deffo. GPs can be tainted once they've treated you for anxiety as they tend to put all of your symptoms down to that. 

 

Anxiety can cause flu-like symptoms but usually in short bursts, not for ages at a time in my experience and the symptoms usually subside once you're out of a particular environment. 

 

My anxiety seems to all but disappear when I'm not in work even though my job is pretty easy, it's not remotely stressful but is completely unfulfilling. I honestly don't feel stressed in it, but it seems to be causing some deep subconscious unhappiness. I think office work in general makes me feel this way. The happiest I ever was was career wise was working with three lads above a Bargain Booze. 

[s(k)aturation]

A total lack of excitement, adrenalin and fulfilment... psychological torpor and inertia... can, ironically, be very stressful.

Because the smallest incident, exertion or task then becomes mountainous.

 

Offices, by the way, are by and large fucked places.

[Section_31]

A total lack of excitement, adrenalin and fulfilment... psychological torpor and inertia... can, ironically, be very stressful.

Because the smallest incident, exertion or task then becomes mountainous.

 

Offices, by the way, are by and large fucked places.

 

Yep. I think it's the idea of being undervalued or going nowhere that gets me down too, it was always a fear of mine even before I left uni, the idea of just ending up doing something mundane that didn't have a purpose. I got into something I liked but then the industry turned to shit and I found myself back at square one.

 

My last job was unbelievable stressful, from the commute to the workload, this is the polar opposite - but strangely it was only when I got here that I developed the anxiety. Maybe in the last one the adrenalin was getting me by. 

[s(k)aturation]

The commoditisation of creativity is a fact alas.

Only cyclical hopefully, but cycles, like dead men walking, can march on seemingly interminably.

 

Breaking out of the commune, and going it alone, while scary and a slow burn, is working for me.

Has done for coming on 5 years now.

 

Depression is part and parcel of it.  But it was so prior too, so what odds, eh?

[diamondjoe]

I've had the black dog at my door. I battled through what was obviously now clinical depression but at the time I didn't know what was wrong with me. I had crushing anxiety and dark thoughts for nearly 3 years. An episode at work triggered a full on collapse of my mental health. I was advised to check in to a mental hospital but declined. I took myself off to the seaside for a month to live back in my mums house and I spent the next year working through it. CBT and medication helped me enormously.

I'm still battling the black dog and he'll always be there outside the door but there is help there. It DOES get better, it really does but you just dont see at the time.Harming yourself is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

[s(k)aturation]

Indeed, the black dog might not be able to be a man's (and woman's) best friend, but hopefully we can learn to live with them.  Peacefully at least.

[Ginny]

Yep deffo. GPs can be tainted once they've treated you for anxiety as they tend to put all of your symptoms down to that. 

 

Anxiety can cause flu-like symptoms but usually in short bursts, not for ages at a time in my experience and the symptoms usually subside once you're out of a particular environment. 

 

My anxiety seems to all but disappear when I'm not in work even though my job is pretty easy, it's not remotely stressful but is completely unfulfilling. I honestly don't feel stressed in it, but it seems to be causing some deep subconscious unhappiness. I think office work in general makes me feel this way. The happiest I ever was was career wise was working with three lads above a Bargain Booze.

 

Man that's like a mirror image of my situation. I get anxiety in work, in fact the last couple of days have been particularly bad. It's not like I'm being micromanaged or someone's on my back all the time. I could pretty much go and sit in my car for two hours and no one would notice. I just have a subconscious reaction everytime am in there. I was talking to a couple of people in the office today and they were saying the same thing.

 

It's seems like the office is just a big room full of anxious people spreading anxiety everywhere.

 

It's fuckin madness how we live our lives these days man. Almost everyone I speak to has anxiety.

[Hades]

How are you guys with anxiety not doing at least half an hour of mindfulness meditation every day? It's scientifically proven and has helped me massively.

[Tony Moanero]

I've been suffering from depression for the last 15 or so years, and more recently, anxiety. I used to self medicate with alcohol ( I drank daily) , but packed that up in Spring 2014. I know it's daft but for the most part I feel I deserve it and that its my destiny to be unhappy. I feel worthless to the extent that I often avoid looking in the mirror. I love my wife, she's boss, but it's not enough and I often feel lonely. So very lonely.

[Hades]

Stop being a quim, nobody deserves unhappiness. That's depression altering your thought patterns. Get yourself to a GP and then psychologist ASAP.

[Champ]

I've been suffering from depression for the last 15 or so years, and more recently, anxiety. I used to self medicate with alcohol ( I drank daily) , but packed that up in Spring 2014. I know it's daft but for the most part I feel I deserve it and that its my destiny to be unhappy. I feel worthless to the extent that I often avoid looking in the mirror. I love my wife, she's boss, but it's not enough and I often feel lonely. So very lonely.

Hades knows, Tony. If you're not able to do it for yourself yet, do it for those who live it with you

[Red House]

How are you guys with anxiety not doing at least half an hour of mindfulness meditation every day? It's scientifically proven and has helped me massively.

 

This. There's been an upsurge of published scientific papers in recent years documenting near CBT-like effectiveness for mindfulness meditation (but oh so much cheaper). There's even a bit of a scientific race on at the moment to understand how mindfulness conveys its benefits, which is quite remarkable given that scientists tend to stay away from anything with religious or spiritual connotations, but such has been the strength of the evidence. In fact, I'm myself hoping to obtain a PhD scholarship this year to study the underlying neural and psychological mechanisms of how mindfulness works.

 

It might take one or two weeks of daily practice to start noticing the benefits, but it's definitely worth it. It can easily be learnt, requires only about half an hour and can be practiced at home for those wary of potential social stigma attached to other counselling alternatives.

[s(k)aturation]

I've been suffering from depression for the last 15 or so years, and more recently, anxiety. I used to self medicate with alcohol ( I drank daily) , but packed that up in Spring 2014. I know it's daft but for the most part I feel I deserve it and that its my destiny to be unhappy. I feel worthless to the extent that I often avoid looking in the mirror. I love my wife, she's boss, but it's not enough and I often feel lonely. So very lonely.

 

Mate, you've got all of us.

I love it on here, generally.

It's helped my state of mind enormously at times, increased my confidence and given me a sense of esprit du corps, camaraderie and small "c" catholicism.

You are more than worthwhile, good fun and a fantastic pain in the arse, Tone.

Don't go changing.

You're a good bloke, believe me.

 

PS.  Look at my avatar.  That's me at John Lennon's old haunt, Ye Crack, in 1990.  How could you not trust the opinion of a mullet-headed old cunt like me?

[Kant]

On the subject of mindfulness meditation, I've just started reading this book, which was recommended to me. It comes with a cd to guide you, and it recommends as little as ten minutes a day for eight weeks. Should be more than enough to get started for anyone interested. Much of it is specifically geared towards depression.

 

I'm off to do my ten minutes now.

[Section_31]

Haven't really bothered with mindfulness as my anxiety seems to be subconscious. It was a slow build up of stress and worries which seem to be lurking underneath. A good example is, I had a cancer scare a few years back and had some invasive tests, one after the other, in the space of about two weeks. I was, and am fine, but now and again I dream about pissing blood (which is what caused the scare in the first place). When my anxiety started last year I'd shat blood (turned out to be piles) but started to get worried about seeing blood again. Not long after I got a staph infection on my groin, three big boils. They weren't treated properly and I got painful cellulitus around it. I noticed my mood getting darker, started to google stuff about health and felt like I was going to die. Some of the antibiotics made me react badly to the sun and I got blisters on my face when I was in Northern Ireland visiting her family, I think this was when I had my first panic attack (my stomach muscles would tense and I'd feel like I was going to shit myself whenever I was in an enclosed place like a car). 

 

I had a holiday coming up (first one abroad with the Mrs) and I became obesssed with the idea of not being well enough to go. Even though things died down with my health, the day I woke up to go on holiday I couldn't breathe properly. I had this ball in my chest. As the holiday went on the breathing didn't  improve and I started to get panic attacks in busy places like the restaurant, I could supress them but just wanted to go back to my room all the time.

 

We ended up flying home early, and after going back into work my symptoms got worse. My neck muscles would tense so I could barely breathe and I started to feel like I was going to piss mysefl all the time. Even when I went out of the house I'd feel my facial muscles contort, like somoen was trying to drag me back indoors by the scalp.

 

Slowly, and with help from my now wife, friends and family and GP, I managed to get slowly better. Once I was on the meds the improvement was rapid, 10 days or so, then after a couple of months I was back at work and doing ordinary stuff again. The final few yards of improvement have been much smaller though, miniscule in the last year I'd say - but was warned that this is the case, recovering from anxiety is a very much 'up and down' process.

 

What really helped me though, and what I would say to anyone, is that no matter what you're going through - others have been through it and got better, and you will too. In fact, one of the mad things I found was that whenever I mentioned my symptoms, friends would say they'd had the same. I think its' a by product of how we live now. No security in anything, constant worry, lack of physical activity, it all plays a part. 

[VladimirIlyich]

Mate, you've got all of us.

I love it on here, generally.

It's helped my state of mind enormously at times, increased my confidence and given me a sense of esprit du corps, camaraderie and small "c" catholicism.

You are more than worthwhile, good fun and a fantastic pain in the arse, Tone.

Don't go changing.

You're a good bloke, believe me.

 

PS. Look at my avatar. That's me at John Lennon's old haunt, Ye Crack, in 1990. How could you not trust the opinion of a mullet-headed old cunt like me?

Skaro is a Chuckle Brother.

[Champ]

Haven't really bothered with mindfulness as my anxiety seems to be subconscious. It was a slow build up of stress and worries which seem to be lurking underneath. A good example is, I had a cancer scare a few years back and had some invasive tests, one after the other, in the space of about two weeks. I was, and am fine, but now and again I dream about pissing blood (which is what caused the scare in the first place). When my anxiety started last year I'd shat blood (turned out to be piles) but started to get worried about seeing blood again. Not long after I got a staph infection on my groin, three big boils. They weren't treated properly and I got painful cellulitus around it. I noticed my mood getting darker, started to google stuff about health and felt like I was going to die. Some of the antibiotics made me react badly to the sun and I got blisters on my face when I was in Northern Ireland visiting her family, I think this was when I had my first panic attack (my stomach muscles would tense and I'd feel like I was going to shit myself whenever I was in an enclosed place like a car).

 

I had a holiday coming up (first one abroad with the Mrs) and I became obesssed with the idea of not being well enough to go. Even though things died down with my health, the day I woke up to go on holiday I couldn't breathe properly. I had this ball in my chest. As the holiday went on the breathing didn't improve and I started to get panic attacks in busy places like the restaurant, I could supress them but just wanted to go back to my room all the time.

 

We ended up flying home early, and after going back into work my symptoms got worse. My neck muscles would tense so I could barely breathe and I started to feel like I was going to piss mysefl all the time. Even when I went out of the house I'd feel my facial muscles contort, like somoen was trying to drag me back indoors by the scalp.

 

Slowly, and with help from my now wife, friends and family and GP, I managed to get slowly better. Once I was on the meds the improvement was rapid, 10 days or so, then after a couple of months I was back at work and doing ordinary stuff again. The final few yards of improvement have been much smaller though, miniscule in the last year I'd say - but was warned that this is the case, recovering from anxiety is a very much 'up and down' process.

 

What really helped me though, and what I would say to anyone, is that no matter what you're going through - others have been through it and got better, and you will too. In fact, one of the mad things I found was that whenever I mentioned my symptoms, friends would say they'd had the same. I think its' a by product of how we live now. No security in anything, constant worry, lack of physical activity, it all plays a part.

You sound like a perfect candidate for Mindfulness to me. I suspect everyone might be

[s(k)aturation]

Skaro is a Chuckle Brother.

Was.

[Lario]

Are any of those mindfulness apps in the Play store any good?