Anxiety and depression thread (Please read OP)

RabbleRouser2k

Shpud2 wrote: »

Much worse than that. I do those two everyday.

What happened then?

Shpud2

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

What happened then?

I feel like I'll get in trouble for posting in on the thread.

RabbleRouser2k

Shpud2 wrote: »

I feel like I'll get in trouble for posting in on the thread.

Okay, that's no problem.

Checkmate19

Amazing how quick depression can creep up on you. After quite a decent period well enough have it back. Last few weeks and it easy gets worse. Trying to fight it but it's hard. Find myself want to stay in bed more and avoid people. Little confidence. Almost feel at times of just giving in to it. Hard to see myself come out the other side of it. I've got well before so need to focus on that.

LonelyBoy84

Had posted in PI before, but this is probably a suitable place to see if there is anyone with any advice etc.

I'm currently going through a crisis. This comes after a period of huge change (mainly positive!) & some considerable work stress in my life. Summary of last 12 months as follows;

-2 job changes in last 18 months
-Bought new house & moved in
-Friend tried to commit suicide
-Lot of political infighting in work
-Mother not too well
-Leading a very large project in work with very high profile & lot of pressure

Despite being very stressed with work & all that had gone on, I was looking forward to getting engaged (l had long planned this & have been with my partner for 6 years, living together for 4). We have a great relationship & I consider myself very lucky. It's not perfect, and I certainly amn't, but we have a great life together and I love her very much. I never thought I'd find someone so great.

The week after the engagement we were due to head on holidays for a nice break & to celebrate our engagement. While I was stressed in the run up, I had long seen this as the line in the sand when I would unwind from all the stress of the last 12 months.

However, in the middle of a long-haul flight & I couldn’t stop my mind racing. I still didn’t feel right. I thought the engagement & holiday would relax me. It didn’t. I then started to think all kinds of irrational thoughts. What if I felt like this because this isn’t what I wanted in life? Why if I don’t love my partner enough? Surely if I loved her enough I wouldn’t feel so anxious?! God this must mean I don’t love her. The feelings of stress & anxiety intensified & I had an anxiety attack on the plane – where I got hysterically upset & couldn’t control my emotions. I woke my partner up, told her what was happening & that I couldn’t explain where this extreme fear came from. I told her that I knew I loved her & wanted to be with her so couldn’t understand these thoughts or the anxiety.

The rest of the holiday was a whirlwind of relationship related anxiety, thinking of all the bad things I've ever done in my life, using these as proof that I'm not a good person, or that I'm not capable of loving someone properly....this interspersed with some moments of clarity when I knew it was just stress/anxiety/depression catching up with me. However, I was never able to fully shake the anxiety/depression.

I had hoped getting home would stabilise things but unfortunately that’s not been the case (not helped by a big role change in work immediately when I got back). This has been ongoing for 4 months now & is causing me significant distress.
While I have had moments when it feels manageable & even sometimes like I’ve come through the other side – but it always creeps back and often focuses in on the best thing in my my life. Questioning, doubting, thinking about all different horrible scenarios where we break up - all of which devastate me. Even when I’m not around my partner, I constantly feel either depressed or anxious. I don’t enjoy any of the things I used to enjoy, tv, music, friends etc.

This all usually eventually resulted in a huge anxiety attack when I think I can’t cope with the constant anxiety anymore, followed by a couple of days of depression, before the anxiety starts to build back up again. This is probably not helped by my constant searching and researching online.

I attended talk therapy (12 sessions) but wasn't finding any real relief, so recently changed to Gerard Butcher for CBT, have had one session with second due tomorrow. My GP has prescribed me with anti depressants/anxiety meds (lexapro) and I’m on them 12 weeks - but only on theraputic dosage 8 weeks. This has stopped the bad panic attacks, but I still feel down and worried most of the time & am not enjoying things like I ever did before. I'm constantly in my head questioning how I'm feeling - am I in good form, am I as happy as I should be, what is that feeling in my chest, what is that pressure in my head, or feeling guilty about some bad things I’ve done in my life or to my partner from pretty much the second I wake up. As a result, I feel totally numb or worried & pretty down all the time.

Anyone any advice? Should I be expecting more from the lexapro at this stage? Anyone any tips or experience with similar stuff?

Mandown

I have no advice for you, but I hope you start to feel better LonelyBoy

mg1982

Lonelyboy with all that going on in the background its quite normal that you feel overwhelmed. We are human beings not machines after all. Hopefully the meds will help you. it sounds like you could do with a break maybe your reaching burnout levels with how busy you are.

Gremlinertia

I really hate the outpatient waiting room..

LonelyBoy84

Has anyone here ever tried hypnotherapy?

RabbleRouser2k

LonelyBoy84 wrote: »

Has anyone here ever tried hypnotherapy?

I know someone who tried it, but didn't get any real results, unfortunately. It's a band aid, not a genuine 'attack the issues' kinda deal.

Gremlinertia

LonelyBoy84 wrote: »

Has anyone here ever tried hypnotherapy?

Difficult, it has no accreditation as far as i'm aware and i think it would be more a complementary help as opposed to priority help.. It could be therapeutic but not a main type of treatment, that is in my opinion of course..

Mandown

Felt pretty good today, laughed my hole off for the first time in a while at a stupid film feels good, have a lot of work to do for next week its hard to sit down and focus 100% on something so many distractions

jaxxx

LonelyBoy84 wrote: »

Has anyone here ever tried hypnotherapy?

I've considered it, even went so far as to contact someone but I wasn't too impressed with the reply I got. I sent an email enquiring as to could hypnosis potentially help me and gave a few details of what was going on. The reply was very vague. That was maybe 3 years ago. Haven't thought about it since, despite seeing adverts in the local newspaper every week for it.



Actually went ahead and made an appointment with a counselling service recommended by my GP. Two visits now and I'm thinking of stopping it. Whatever is wrong with my brain, whether it's the way it's hardwired or whether the chemicals are mixed up, I'm just not prepared to do what I have to do to help myself, if that makes any sense. So the money and time just seems wasteful. For whatever reason, I'm just dead set on living a miserable, lone wolf life.


C'est la vie

RabbleRouser2k

jaxxx wrote: »

I've considered it, even went so far as to contact someone but I wasn't too impressed with the reply I got. I sent an email enquiring as to could hypnosis potentially help me and gave a few details of what was going on. The reply was very vague. That was maybe 3 years ago. Haven't thought about it since, despite seeing adverts in the local newspaper every week for it.



Actually went ahead and made an appointment with a counselling service recommended by my GP. Two visits now and I'm thinking of stopping it. Whatever is wrong with my brain, whether it's the way it's hardwired or whether the chemicals are mixed up, I'm just not prepared to do what I have to do to help myself, if that makes any sense. So the money and time just seems wasteful. For whatever reason, I'm just dead set on living a miserable, lone wolf life.


C'est la vie

Back when my OCD reared its ugly head, as well as anxiety, (depression was always my best friend-in that it never left) I sort of felt the same way to you jaxxx. I didn't know what was going on, with intrusive thoughts, rituals and all the other things that go with it. I did seek treatment, after a few months, and got counselling and other stuff too.

But for me, I'm the guy who wants to know stuff, pretty much all the time-I've always been curious about stuff. So when I was diagnosed with OCD, I immediately sought out books on the subject. Everything I could find, I read.
I did find counselling helpful, but sort of like being diagnosed with allergies, for example, I wanted to know the 'why' and what else I needed to do to help me.
You may need similar-as in 'knowing' why your brain is sending you mixed signals is important to knowing how you can help alleviate it.

adm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bgv82g

Tv show tonight on BBC 2 at 9

Stopping Male Suicide
Horizon, 2018

Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 in the UK - causing more deaths in this group than car accidents, and even more than cancer. This means that the most likely thing to kill Dr Xand Van Tulleken is himself. And he wants to know why.

In this sensitive film, Xand finds out what we know about why people develop suicidal thoughts, and whether there is anything that we can do about it.

spotifiedman

I'm not sure where to turn to tbh...I've been having suicidal and agressive thoughts. I went to my G.P. who said he would refer me to a psychiatrist but I got a letter back from SJOG saying the MDT "doesn't think I need care".

I've reached breaking point and I obviously don't have enough money to go on the private system. What other services can I avail of?

Gremlinertia

spotifiedman wrote: »

I'm not sure where to turn to tbh...I've been having suicidal and agressive thoughts. I went to my G.P. who said he would refer me to a psychiatrist but I got a letter back from SJOG saying the MDT "doesn't think I need care".

I've reached breaking point and I obviously don't have enough money to go on the private system. What other services can I avail of?

Contact Aware and push the doc some more?. Also depending where you are in the country certain counselling services on a sliding financial rates if you tell them your circumstances. Samaritans can be useful in the short term, have text or email service if you find it hard to speak on the phone.

Mam of 4

spotifiedman wrote: »

I'm not sure where to turn to tbh...I've been having suicidal and agressive thoughts. I went to my G.P. who said he would refer me to a psychiatrist but I got a letter back from SJOG saying the MDT "doesn't think I need care".

I've reached breaking point and I obviously don't have enough money to go on the private system. What other services can I avail of?

Our local hospital has a Department Of Psychiatry attached to it ,and if someone is feeling very low they can go in without a referral letter from their GP and speak to a Doctor/Psych who will help .

I don't know if that's an option where you are ?
But I just thought it might be worth mentioning .

Hope you can find help somewhere .

carzony

Hi Folks,

I have a massive job interview coming up in the next few days and my anxiety is seriously getting to me. The last interview I completely panicked and my throat constantly dried up despite drinking liters of water..

is there any medication out there that helps with these nerves? I'm not on anything at present but was hoping I could take something on the day to help me focus..

Thanks all.

DrWu

carzony wrote: »

Hi Folks,

I have a massive job interview coming up in the next few days and my anxiety is seriously getting to me. The last interview I completely panicked and my throat constantly dried up despite drinking liters of water..

is there any medication out there that helps with these nerves? I'm not on anything at present but was hoping I could take something on the day to help me focus..

Thanks all.

Talk to your GP. If you can't get an apt before the interview give him/her a call and see if they can help you out. My trick is: line up something you really enjoy or look forward to for after the interview. Buy a new video game, eat at your fave place etc. And put the whole thing in perspective: it's just an interview. People get jobs for all sorts of daft reasons (they are related to the boss etc) and people don't get jobs for all sorts of daft reasons. Go in, be yourself and forget about it afterwards.

Kitty6277

Stress building, and with it comes anxiety. The most annoying thing is, there's the thing I'm stressed about, and that's fine, I can deal with that. But my body can't seem to differentiate between the two, and now I'm feeling anxious, thinking about things that happened ages ago, and haven't been brought up in as long, worrying "what if they still hold that against me?" "What if that still matters?" when I know full well they don't. And it's so stupid because I know it's just stress, but my body can't seem to see that. Palpitations isn't helping either, only makes me more aware of how I'm feeling.

Just feeling kinda miserable tonight.

Shpud2

Hope you feel better soon Kitty. Hugs.

Kitty6277

Shpud2 wrote: »

Hope you feel better soon Kitty. Hugs.

Thanks Shpud. It'd be fine if I just felt the stress without the anxiety on top of it, but the two together are something else

Shpud2

Kitty6277 wrote: »

Thanks Shpud. It'd be fine if I just felt the stress without the anxiety on top of it, but the two together are something else

I get you. Anything that you can do to calm your anxiety some bit?

Kitty6277

Just try to do things to keep my mind off it really, which is easier said than done

Shpud2

Keeping busy usually helps. I find listening to music is good too. Granted I am a terrible person to give advice when it comes to this sort of stuff though.

RabbleRouser2k

Shpud2 wrote: »

Keeping busy usually helps. I find listening to music is good too. Granted I am a terrible person to give advice when it comes to this sort of stuff though.

I'm terrible for my own lack of advice too. Sometimes music helps, some times it's just writing stuff down. My friend told me that a 'thought' journal helps.
I think it's the frenetic energy you expend when writing stuff down helps.

delboy246

spotifiedman wrote: »

I'm not sure where to turn to tbh...I've been having suicidal and agressive thoughts. I went to my G.P. who said he would refer me to a psychiatrist but I got a letter back from SJOG saying the MDT "doesn't think I need care".

I've reached breaking point and I obviously don't have enough money to go on the private system. What other services can I avail of?

I needed to use the mental health service here in Ireland 2 years ago when I returned from living in both Scotland and New Zealand for a number of years. I had a psychotic episode in early 2014 and received inpatient and outpatient treatment at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary through the NHS. I made a full recovery and at the end of 2014 I moved to New Zealand with my wife (NZ citizen) and I used their psychiatric service as a public patient until 2016. When I returned to Ireland I was also in a similar situation to yourself whereby I could not afford to use the mental health service as a private patient. I contacted my local public psychiatric hospital by phone and asked could I make an appointment with the consultant psychiatrist.

I was not asked why I needed to make an appointment and the only question the secretary asked me was if I was an existing patient with the hospital. I also did not need a GP referral. An appointment was made for me and I saw the consultant psychiatrist approximately 2 weeks later. Since the consultation I now see the consultant psychiatrist at his weekly clinic every 2 weeks at the local health care centre. Even though I made a full recovery from the psychosis I am still attending because I have been having chronic panic attacks since the initial hospitalization back in 2014 and I need treatment for this.

I would just like to mention that I have previously used the mental health service in Ireland from 1999-2000 privately at SJOG and from 2001-2005 publicly for treatment of depression, bi-polar disorder, panic attacks, a number of suicide attempts and a psychotic episode. I have found that the treatment and care provided here has always been top notch, be it as a public or private patient and that the service here compares favourably with that which I received through the NHS and the New Zealand psychiatric service, which New Zealand in particular has a high reputation for its health care service.

I really hope that you get better soon and that you get whatever treatment that you need. I found services like Aware and The Samaritans to be very beneficial whenever I was very depressed or suicidal and needed someone to talk to. There is help out there for what you’re going through and things do get better with time. I had depression and was suicidal on and off for 8 years and it was really tough at times and things seemed really bleak as well. But with professional help I have not had depression or have felt suicidal for 12 years now and fortunately that period of my life seems like a distant memory to me.

Best of luck and take care.

fussyonion

How do you stop yourself getting so irritated over silly things or getting annoyed very quickly?
I'm on anxiety and depression medication for the past 8 months and it was recently upped by the doctor.
I feel fine most days but I still can't get on top of my irritability and lack of patience sometimes.

RabbleRouser2k

fussyonion wrote: »

How do you stop yourself getting so irritated over silly things or getting annoyed very quickly?
I'm on anxiety and depression medication for the past 8 months and it was recently upped by the doctor.
I feel fine most days but I still can't get on top of my irritability and lack of patience sometimes.

Go somewhere quiet, and scream and shout. It even helps if you bring a radio, put on loud music for 30 minutes and shout along with it.

Punching a pillow and beating the s**t out of it helps. As does writing stuff down in a notebook, or journal. Sometimes bottling stuff up makes it worse.