Have you ever had depression?

Lawliet

amacachi wrote: »

Got a link to any of that research?

http://www.jabfm.org/cgi/content/full/23/2/240
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/58751

I think you need an account to view the psychiatric times, but basically it says that more women admit to self harming in surveys, but there's a higher percentage of men that get admitted to hospital for self harming -males (14.7%) females (12.3%).

KnifeWRENCH

jumpguy wrote: »

Please excuse any unintended ignorance, but KnifeWRENCH (or anyone else with depression), have you tried any lifestyle changes? Like more exercise/more sleep/better eating/etc?

It's not ignorant, it's a fair question.
I've tried the sleeping better and eating better thing. I've never had a good diet, so eating better just amounts to eating less crap. Have lost a small bit of weight recently; if I keep that up, it'll definitely help with stuff. Self image has always been a touchy subject for me; the thought of ever being thin (healthily thin, I mean) one day always makes me smile.

As for sleep, I've tried but sleep patterns are not that easy to control. I've gone from being completely unable to sleep at night last year to sleeping for up to 16 hours in a go this year. I've never been a good sleeper; it always takes at least one hour after going to bed before I start to drift off. I'm really envious of people who can just lie down and fall asleep within minutes.

Exercise - not something I get nearly enough of. Part of that is laziness, part of it is just not having the time. Especially recently, with horrendous 4th year work and stuff. Again, the thought of being somewhat fit some day is a nice thought.

jumpguy

Mmm, was just wondering, I always find my psyche being affected if I have a badly messed up sleeping pattern. Something about waking up at 3PM and realising most of the day is gone, and then staying up until 5AM with nothing to do but think (and listen to music), isn't always the healthiest. Whereas I find the opposite (I'm happier) if I sleep well and am busy for the entire day and then sleep at night. Also, it was kinda a vicious cycle, since feeling worse meant sleeping worse. There's also the whole issue of being absolutely wrecked if you have to wake up for the morning, which ain't good either.

As for exercise, while I haven't gone in ages now, I always felt great after a run (it's usually a walk I take these days though!)

Oh, and ridiculously depressing music. Feck that.

flyswatter

As regards the diet, Knifey:



Breakfast is very important. So I'd recommend something like a couple of eggs or sausages with some toast (preferably brown/oatmeal) Fruit, a good orange juice low in sugars, natural stuff. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.

I'd completely ditch coke and stuff like that. Very high in sugar content.

After a while, you won't miss it. Drink juice and lucozade sport if you want something sweeter, there is a new one even lower in calories. It tastes pretty nice.

Lunch again, chicken, keep drinking as much water as possible. Lots of protein and some carbs.

For dinner, something like pasta, fish and that.

Do you like any sports? Take up some form of exercise, or just walk.

Men burn calories a lot easier so as long as you change your diet.

If you are on medication you will find it harder to lose it but it's mainly a diet thing.

I've lost 2.5 stone about in 3/4 months by being very disciplined. Slipped a bit over easter but that will happen!

I'm pissed that my parents have hidden my creatine I bought the other day. They think it's keeping me awake when it's proven to not do. I've eaten a lot today and I'm having withdrawal symptoms Also, yeah, I can recommend a good affordable whey protein. It really helps as long as you change your diet and exercise.

Do you mind me asking you your weight? Also, height? It might help.

degausserxo

flyswatter wrote: »

Did you take drugs to escape from your problems? Was it the drugs that triggered the psychosis?

No, the psychosis preceded the drug abuse. It probably didn't help prevent it, but both the first few and most recent episodes of psychosis that I experienced, I hadn't taken anything.

flyswatter wrote: »

I can't believe what I read on boards a while back. Someone said St. Patricks was a dungeon or something. Biggest load of crap I've ever read.

That was me. Two members of my family suffer from really debilitating schizophrenia (to the point where one of them has a form of leukaemia and prostate cancer and can't be told of it incase it triggers something in him) and have been treated there. Glad it worked for you, but from my experience, wasn't the best place.

flyswatter wrote: »

I've never been in pieta house, is there more women than men there who self harm, very interested to know this.

I don't know about the people who attend for one to one psychotherapy because there were never many people in the waiting area at one time, but when I attended their group sessions towards the end, it was an even split of men and women. Surprisingly I was the youngest there, by about ten years.

amacachi

Lawliet wrote: »

http://www.jabfm.org/cgi/content/full/23/2/240
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/58751

I think you need an account to view the psychiatric times, but basically it says that more women admit to self harming in surveys, but there's a higher percentage of men that get admitted to hospital for self harming -males (14.7%) females (12.3%).

The fact that more get admitted to hospital doesn't mean a huge amount, any of the girls I know who've self-harmed never went to hospital. Also it may be along the lines of the suicide difference between the genders. I know of two men who ended up in hospital from self-harm, both times it was due to massive bleeding and wounds, not something that a quick wipe would sort out.

Aoibheann

I just want to say one thing, because I fear I'll get too incensed otherwise.

The longer that people believe - nay, insist - that self-harming is a thing only done by women, the more difficult it will be for people to bring these things out in the open. Saying "Ah, it's just for women, guys go punch things" - yeah, I'm sure that'll help a guy who's currently self-harming to feel more adequate about himself.

It happens. I personally know more guys who have self-harmed than girls, so I would absolutely disagree that it's "just for women" and I'm frankly shocked that people believe otherwise. Funnily enough, going punching things did help me a lot (but wait, I'm a girl, what is this?! :pac:), but I was dangerously close to self-harm on a number of occasions. Like KW said, I couldn't even get that right. :rolleyes:

amacachi

Aoibheann wrote: »

The longer that people believe - nay, insist - that self-harming is a thing only done by women, the more difficult it will be for people to bring these things out in the open. Saying "Ah, it's just for women, guys go punch things" - yeah, I'm sure that'll help a guy who's currently self-harming to feel more adequate about himself.

Who said that?

Aoibheann

flyswatter wrote: »

Also, men generally don't self harm by cutting themselves and I suppose with more testosterone they feel like punching stuff, hopefully not other people but a punching bag, or something like a wall.

Not a direct quote, but it's with that in mind that I said what I did.

Lawliet

amacachi wrote: »

The fact that more get admitted to hospital doesn't mean a huge amount, any of the girls I know who've self-harmed never went to hospital. Also it may be along the lines of the suicide difference between the genders. I know of two men who ended up in hospital from self-harm, both times it was due to massive bleeding and wounds, not something that a quick wipe would sort out.

I know it doesn't, speaking as former self harmer -who's done enough damage to require medical attention on several occasions but has never once looked for treatment- I know better than most that hospital admittance for self harm only represents a tiny fraction of cases. But it's still something I'd put more stock in than surveys which are open to biased methodology and sampling errors.

Pigwidgeon

Just thought I'd throw a link up to this site.

Think Big is a programme designed by O2 and Headstrong which enables young people to deliver projects in their communities that will make a difference to young people's mental health.

For every happy thought that is shared, o2 are donating €1 to Headstrong. Headstrong is devoted to changing how Ireland thinks about young people's mental health. So for something as simple as sharing a happy thought, money is being raised for a good cause

CK2010

This is a bit of a stupid and defragmented question but il try my best to string it together! i was diagnosed as clinically depressed after blood tests about 5 years go and was prescribed medication and went to a counsellor and i eventually got better.

but then recently i started feeling down again and when i went to my new GP i was prescribed another medication for depression, but i was never properly diagnosed, like through blood tests or anything. just told her how i was feeling and stuff and she prescribed meds, gave me a leaflet for a therapy service and that was it.

i just feel a bit weird that i was never told 'yes, its depression' or anything of the sort. i know that obviously she knew medication was warranted but i just feel really up in the air without a clear cut diagnosis, its like im being treated without a clear problem or goal. is it standard practice not to be 'diagnosed' with a condition as such? or is it just a given that its depression? sorry for the wishy-washy-ness! kinda reflects my head right now! :pac:

great thread btw

jumpguy

CK2010 wrote: »

This is a bit of a stupid and defragmented question but il try my best to string it together! i was diagnosed as clinically depressed after blood tests about 5 years go and was prescribed medication and went to a counsellor and i eventually got better.

There's some charecteristic of the blood indicating depression?

Robby91

jumpguy wrote: »

There's some charecteristic of the blood indicating depression?

It could be to rule out other diagnoses? My GP took a blood sample to test for thyroxine deficiency (I think) to explain my symptoms at the time, although he doubted that it was the cause

CK2010

no, like blood test were used to rule out anything else or any physical causes of symptoms. like that it wasnt thyroid/hormonal issues. sorry, shouldve stated that!

Robby beat me to it! that deficiency rings a bell with me too, so perhaps that was something being tested

Konata

jumpguy wrote: »

There's some charecteristic of the blood indicating depression?

Surprisingly enough, yes. Not in all cases and many doctors seem to think it's a load of poo but I got blood tests done last Summer (months after being diagnosed with clinical depression) and they could show many important indicators of my depression. For example, the doctor said I had the lowest B vitamin level he'd ever seen. B vitamins are needed to help the body retain serotonin which we all know as the happy chemical. So yea, that happy chemical was being made but not retained in my brain, obviously assisting in causing depression. He's the only psychiatrist who practices this type of medicine in Ireland, although it does have a worldwide practice.

Anyway, I just wanted to note something on self harm too. I myself am a former self harmer - I started when I was 17, I'm 21 now and haven't done it in 8 months which is my longest 'clean' period woooot I've met many other people who self harm or have self harmed and it's been just as prevalent in guys as it is in girls in my experience. And yes, those guys were cutters too while others used cigarettes to burn themselves. I really don't think it's any "easier" for girls to admit to self harming either. Out of all the symptoms of mental illness, it remains one of the most unaccepted and misunderstood amongst society.

Self harm is not fun. It's rarely done for attention (unfortunately there are a few who DO do it for attention). It hurts and it leaves scars that last for years. My upper arms are ruined with deep pink scars, some there for 4 years. I always feel massively self conscious about wearing short sleeves cause people see. They stare and they whisper and many of them don't get it. It doesn't bother me so much anymore but you don't think about these things when you cut - you don't realise the scars will be there years later, even when you're better.

I mentioned that self harm hurts, and it does. So why do it? Well, for me, it hurt less than the pain on the inside. Cutting was a distraction from the mental pain, it consumed it for those brief moments. It was also a personal punishment for me. I believed I was a terrible person, the scum of the earth and deserved to be miserable and to suffer. But it doesn't work, and that's the key thing. In fact, it makes things harder. Guilt, shame, secrecy, it made everything more difficult.

It's an addiction though, just like drugs or alcohol and it's not easy to stop. I write this all as my own experience - others may feel entirely different things. But I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I've lost so many things over my illnesses and I just hope other people might be able to think twice about things like self harm, to realise the long term consequences of their actions

flyswatter

I still don't believe men cut themselves as much as women.

Not being stubborn, I just never noticed it really.

It's like women and anorexia, men usually deal with things differently.

Insect Overlord

flyswatter wrote: »

I still don't believe men cut themselves as much as women.

Not being stubborn, I just never noticed it really.

It's like women and anorexia, men usually deal with things differently.

Men suffer from body image and eating disorders too...

jumpguy

flyswatter wrote: »

I still don't believe men cut themselves as much as women.

I'd agree that the incidence rates are probably somewhat lower. In my own experience, I'd be inclined to agree that males would be less likely to self-harm in such a manner. However, that is not based on any scientific fact or research whatsoever. Also, it's neither here nor there as far as depression is concerned, and it doesn't make depression in males any less serious. I'd be inclined to believe males and females are equally susceptible to depression, which is the bottom line really.

I agree that self-harming having a higher incidence in females than males is unlikely to help any males who self-harm. But that's not saying it's a "feminine" way of dealing with depression, by no means. Regardless of what it's gender spread is, it doesn't really affect the bottom line - depression is serious.

I don't agree with self-harming being described as "easy" or whatever, that's rather insensitive.

IHeartChemistry

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/14716/

Click that. Has some stats there.

flyswatter

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Men suffer from body image and eating disorders too...

Sure yeah, but I don't think they try to make themselves sick and stop eating as much as women do.

That is actually something I never understood at all.

Can one of the women here explain please?

jumpguy

flyswatter wrote: »

Can one of the women here explain please?

Oh, man! >.<

Political correctness is not your forté. :P

Include obesity as one of your eating disorders, and the numbers match up fairly quickly (even if you took 1% of the obese male population as having serious self-image problems, you'd have a very large amount).

Insect Overlord

flyswatter wrote: »

That is actually something I never understood at all.

Can one of the women here explain please?

Unless Irish girls have suddenly entered the matrix or gained a collective consciousness, I don't think any "one of the women" will be able to explain the phenomenon to your satisfaction...

Aoibheann

flyswatter wrote: »

It's like women and anorexia, men usually deal with things differently.

I'm sorry, but that is COMPLETELY wrong.

Sure, percentage-wise it seems that more women suffer from anorexia, bulimia, etc than men do, but that doesn't mean that no men do. I don't know where you're getting these ideas from, but just because you don't hear of something happening, doesn't mean it's not going on.

IHeartChemistry

flyswatter wrote: »

Sure yeah, but I don't think they try to make themselves sick and stop eating as much as women do.

That is actually something I never understood at all.

Can one of the women here explain please?

Look, you cant understand these things unless you suffer from them. People get eating disorders for many different reasons. I tried to make myself sick before because I was bullied and called fat when I was a kid and my self esteem was shattered. All women want to be seen as pretty and gorgeous. They want guys to think wow she looks awesome when we make an effort. Some people pick on our weight. Hence why some of us develop eating disorders.

Its difficult to understand

Pigwidgeon

Tbh just because there's less reported cases of self harm/eating disorders in men or whatever doesn't mean there aren't just as much. It just means they don't report or get help which I assume would be the reason why suicide is higher in men as opposed to women.

Fad

Flyswatter, fair play for the whole openness thing.

However, there are no words to describe how baffled I am by some of what you're coming out with: male eating disorders, male self harm, etc.....

flyswatter

Aoibheann wrote: »

I'm sorry, but that is COMPLETELY wrong.

Sure, percentage-wise it seems that more women suffer from anorexia, bulimia, etc than men do, but that doesn't mean that no men do. I don't know where you're getting these ideas from, but just because you don't hear of something happening, doesn't mean it's not going on.

I never said no men do, I'm referring to a girl who is clearly not overweight but looks in the mirror and believes she is.

IHeartChemistry wrote: »

Look, you cant understand these things unless you suffer from them. People get eating disorders for many different reasons. I tried to make myself sick before because I was bullied and called fat when I was a kid and my self esteem was shattered. All women want to be seen as pretty and gorgeous. They want guys to think wow she looks awesome when we make an effort. Some people pick on our weight. Hence why some of us develop eating disorders.

Its difficult to understand

Cheers, the answer I was looking for. As I've made clear in many different forums, I've had symptoms of Psychosis, Depression, Obsessive thinking, Anxiety, Panic etc.

I was bullied too, cos my first school was a sh*thole basically.

I was looking for a womans perspective on this cos it's a mental illness I've never suffered from and I've noticed this in plenty of the women around hospital but never asked why.

flyswatter

Fad wrote: »

Flyswatter, fair play for the whole openness thing.

However, there are no words to describe how baffled I am by some of what you're coming out with: male eating disorders, male self harm, etc.....

Fad, I'm not trying to offend anyone here.

But with 10 years of this and after experiencing a good deal of this I still have some questions to ask about the stuff I don't know about.

Just interested, that's all.

I don't know everything about mental illness but I do know a good deal.

They are just questions at the end of the day.

Aoibheann

flyswatter wrote: »

I never said no men do, I'm referring to a girl who is clearly not overweight but looks in the mirror and believes she is.

And that's not something that's restricted to girls either. Seriously - I know some guys who haven't a pick on them but have themselves convinced that they're massively overweight. Too many people have such a distorted view of themselves, it's awful. But believe me, plenty of men meet the exact description you've mentioned, much as I'd wish to believe otherwise.

I don't think you can narrow down exact specifics on why someone has an eating disorder - it surely differs from person to person depending on their own life circumstances. Control seems to be part of it for sure (as in, if everything else is going wrong, it's something that *you* have power over), but I can't say definitively why people have eating disorders, negative eating patterns etc.