Depression; Does anyone suffer from it or has?

[Ally]

It's a shame really. What started out as a good question has started to turn into a farce by people who don't really know what it's like to suffer from it. It's easy to throw out ways to beat it if you don't suffer from it. Yes, I have & still do suffer from it. No doubt I will for the rest of my days. Try to think hard people before writing drivel about a subject that hardly any people know about.

 

I've never faught in a war. I suppose i shouldn't write "drivel" about it until been on the front line in Iraq... My opinion is as valid as yours, buddy.

 

Aims asked a quetion and I offered an informal opinion. If you want serious help from proffesionals then perhaps an internet forum about "Anything and everything else" is not the best place to find it.

[JVRTENNENTS]

Depression is a funny thing, ( excuse the ironic punn ) to me for the majority it is all about a frame of mind. Some people play on it becuase it an easy way to get time off work, Some think they are depressed when they are just down.. and then there are the genuine ones who are depressed..

 

People say it is an imbalance of chemicals in the brain.. and who am i to argue. but the people i have met and talked to about this subject, the common link is they all have an issue or issues that has haunted them, that has never been resolved. weather it be a fall out with family or something they may of done and regretted to multiple reasons.. but the factor is these haunting issues have never been resolved.

 

Some might never actually be solved.. as these people have spent so long avoiding.. trying to forget... that it gets to a stage that they wont even admit it to themselves let alone talk openly to anyone about it.

 

and to me ( again i am no doctor ) it is these long periods of worrying/stressing about these hidden issues.. that causes this imbalance.. and to me no drug can cure what in effect is a none physical issue. but doctors are so willing to hand out pills because its the "easy" cure.. but I have yet to know of anyone who has been "cured" due to taking drugs. Drugs end up extending the problam because people grow dependant on them due to the placebo effect.. when at the end of the day there is a higher chance of thse drugs making you feel suacidal than cureing you of depression...

 

So in a hippy fashion i belive the cure to depression is to solve the hidden issues in your life.. dont hide away.. dont be scared of the consiquences go to tibet and meditate for 5 years or what ever.. but avoid pills at all costs...

 

Absoulute stoness, I have had depression and believe you me if it wasn`t for the medication I recieved I don`t know what would have happened, ok some doctors hand out pills willy nilly but in my case I desperately needed them and the doctor could see that, once they found the right medication for me my health got better and better. Ok you obviously need to get to the bottom of your problems but if your in a state of mind where you can`t bring yourself to get up in the morning, speak to people etc you just cant do it, its like a black hole where you cant get out of.

I can tell your no doctor and I think you should research depression further before you tell people to "Avoid pills at all costs".

[trout]

[...] perhaps an internet forum about "Anything and everything else" is not the best place to find [...] (help)

 

Though taken out of the context of Allys post - before this thread gets out of hand! .. the above statement I'm going to use to point out that pseudo-pscho-medical babble is certainly not conjusive to anyone actively seeking advice - go and see your general practitioner should you believe you require assistance in any health matter!

 

This thread could be better used to discuss experiences with mental healthcare in Shetland. Lets try and steer it in that direction please.

 

Thanks.

[sludgegulper]

JVRTENNENTS, you summed it up well. Yes, I got to the stage of not wanting to get up, go to work, do anything. I just didn't want to meet anybody. At times when I was in town I went out of my way as much as I could to avoid people. I am not ashamed to say that when it started I broke down. All I wanted was my own space where I could be all on my own. I moved out for a year. Most people just could not understand my problem but my wife stood by me all the time & without that where I would be right now doesn't bear thinking about. There was also one particular work pal who knew what I was going through. He knows who he is & I thank him from the bottom of my heart.

One particular day I was on my way to work thinking about ways I could end it. Yes, it got to that stage. All of a sudden a wave of peace came across me. That DID scare me.

My wife went through hell but she got support from the relevant people. Saying that though, I do think that the mental health section of the health board needs to do more. Also people, if you are showing signs of depression, I urge you to get help. Don't go through what I went through.

[nautim]

One particular day I was on my way to work thinking about ways I could end it. Yes, it got to that stage. All of a sudden a wave of peace came across me. That DID scare me.

 

It's a very funny feeling wondering whether thinking about ways of doing things that would kill you is just that, or is it feeling suicidal. I found myself becoming very logical in my analysis of it - which I suppose was my equivalent to the feeling of peace. Not a feeling you want to have too often.

[nautim]

 

This thread could be better used to discuss experiences with mental healthcare in Shetland. Lets try and steer it in that direction please.

 

Thanks.

 

OK - I've found that the people on the 'front line' like GP's and psychiatric nurses were very good in giving me time and help. On the other hand, the quality of psychiatrists has been quite variable. One previous to Dr Shaw, who was there just filling in till a permanent doctor was found, was awful. I remember one appointment being totally confused because all he spoke about was his new puppies, and the problems he was having training them. He never asked me how I was... And I don't know anything about dogs - so there was never any chance I could be of help to him. Very odd man...

[Ghostrider]

....I just didn't want to meet anybody. At times when I was in town I went out of my way as much as I could to avoid people.

 

....All I wanted was my own space where I could be all on my own....

 

I was going to stay out of this one, as I have no personal experience of depression, and don't pretend to know anything about it. However I think it's important to offer clarification of the above.

 

While I am given to understand that the above are classic characteristics of depression, they are by no means exclusive to depressives. Some people, albeit a small minority, are very solitary, private, secretive individuals by nature, who have no desire to meet or share space with others unless very very rarely.

 

A great deal of education is needed, both without and within health professionals, not only to inform of what depression is but also what it is not. As I understand it, depression is a multiple symptom condition, of which will most likely include the above quoted conditions, the above in and of themselves do not constitute depression.

 

Far too many both amateur and professional inaccurate diagnosis are made, whereby people who are withdrawn and reclusive by nature, or display some other "characteristic" of depression, are pressured in to consulting a medical professional, or all but have pills forced down their throats entirely inappropriately and un-necessarily. The fact that it happens causes resentment and anger among those so affected, and what few, if any, wider contacts they have, which in turn can only bolster general doubt, misunderstanding of, and the stigma of genuine sufferers.

[JustMe]

trout wrote

This thread could be better used to discuss experiences with mental healthcare in Shetland. Lets try and steer it in that direction please.

 

Fair enough so here goes. All the doctor has been able to do is prescribe pills and arrange appointments with other healthcare workers. Maybe if I could sit down with the doctor every day for a month things might get a bit better but NHS doctors do not have that sort of time. The doctor has been able to change which pills I take to find one type that suited me and I would presume that I was also assesed as not being a suicide risk.

 

Other healthcare professionals I have seen were a community psychiatric nurse and a cognitive therapist. Probably it is accurate to say that they both helped me to come to terms with the depression or whatever it is and to get me to believe that one day it will end.

 

Meanwhile the main problem continues........one day I will get it sorted and then I will be able to concentrate in getting better. Meanwhile keep taking the medicine.

[JAStewart]

Depression is interesting. I have never personally suffered from it, I tend to be known as one of the happiest guys you'll ever meet. I've experienced depression first hand (IE known good friends with it) and it really kills me to see someone so sad. I did play a part in ridding someone of depression (because I was their boyfriend, or something) and so that was a pretty good feeling, knowing I could do that.

 

I just get mad on all the people who claim to be depressed but are so obviously faking it. Usually people who will openly admit it, or, 'brag' about it are the fake ones.

 

That makes me mad (though i'm still a happy guy ).

[sludgegulper]

The reason that I am now openly admitting it is to try to help people as much as I can. Mr Stewart states that he is one of the happiest people to get on with. As I do not know him, it is quite possible that he is right. People do not like to admit that they have problems but when they do they have to be applauded for it. I am not a "fake one" & I hope that he doesn't tar me with the same brush. Saying that though, I don't doubt for one minute that there are people out there who are indeed faking it.

[JustMe]

The reason that I am now openly admitting it is to try to help people as much as I can. Mr Stewart states that he is one of the happiest people to get on with. As I do not know him, it is quite possible that he is right. People do not like to admit that they have problems but when they do they have to be applauded for it. I am not a "fake one" & I hope that he doesn't tar me with the same brush. Saying that though, I don't doubt for one minute that there are people out there who are indeed faking it.

 

Yes I think that applies to me.......surprising how many people with a similar experience I meet when I do talk about depression.

[Aims]

if you really think about it. everyone on this earth is depressed in some way, just depends how bad things are or how they react to the things that are happening in life. there is no way that anyone on earth is 100% happy!

 

but if you are out there, please!! i wanna meet ya!

[Yowe]

About six years ago I suffered a bout of depression. It was really horrible and I felt like I was really losing it. The doctor I eventually saw was very unsympathetic and just handed me a prescription for prozac and basically told me to get a grip. I really wanted to get a grip but just couldn't. I took the prozac for a while and found that it gave me a kind of 'periscope' view out of the hole I'd slipped into. I stopped taking the pills after a few months and was o.k. for a while and then it happened again so I went back on the pills for a while. I think pills can really help but that they are not the answer. They just give you the ability to see that things can be better and find strength to get yourself well. Depression is a truly horrible and frightening illness and almost impossible to understand if you've never suffered from it. I was lucky that mine was fairly mild and very treatable but I have never felt so out of control and scared and confused as I did then and I really feel for anyone who has an ongoing problem. I'm very lucky to have the good friends that I do because they helped me too. I know I said pills aren't the answer but I do go through phases of taking St. Johns wort tablets when I feel that the depression might be creeping up on me and they really seem to help. Available at all chemists but quite expensive. Any women who take st. johns wort should be aware that it can prevent contraceptive pills from working properly. Not something to find out the hard way, especially if you feel low anyway!

[Fiona C]

In school, I was taught that even Ameoba get depression. this is a single-celled animal. In inhospitable conditions,they go into a kind of suspended animation, until conditions improve. So could be a normal reaction to difficult situations - indicates the need for change?

[Fifi]

In school, I was taught that even Ameoba get depression. this is a single-celled animal. In inhospitable conditions,they go into a kind of suspended animation, until conditions improve. So could be a normal reaction to difficult situations - indicates the need for change?

Hi Fiona.

 

Can I just say, to avoid any possible confusion, that Fiona C and myself are definitely 2 separate people! It's not me with 2 accounts or owt! It is just a coincidence that we are both Fiona Cs and live in Northmavine!