The Serious Mental Health Thread

[Cortess]

Finally decided to make use of those free consulting sessions offered by my university.
But in three weeks from now ... which is kinda ... a long time. Which almost puts me off taking it at all.

Life sucks!

Edit:
TMA getting help in germany. Going to regular doc first? Then getting a assignment to a shrink? Letting 5 weeks pass until first meeting is avaiable? And then pay a small fortune for the session or is it covered by health insurance?

Seriously ... i don't know if i really have issues or not. I'm at a point where I see that i could say "i'm just lazy", but i simply cannot concentrate on anything. Then i get depressed and do even less because i have the feeling "there is no use to do anything at all" ... then at night i get anxious about not doing/accomplishing anything and can't sleep (i'm down to roughly 6h-5h sleep per night). Next day i'm so tired i can't concentrate on anything and the loop starts again.

Edit2:
Then i read other ppls problems and think to myself that i shouldn't be such a crybaby and just man up. I shouldn't pester those psychatrists with my insignificant problems. (but are they really insignificant?)

Actually this sounds a lot like what I went through. I think what kept me going until I actually got to see the Counselor/Shrink/whatever was just thinking of it in terms of a checkup or tuneup for my mind. You go to the doctor to get your body checked out and you go to the mechanic to get your car checked out. I was seeking the help of a professional third party to spot the things that I had trouble spotting myself.

Actually ... i'm the kind of person who is only going to see a doctor when i'm really ill or in pain. Haven't seen a doctor for about 5 years i think. I almost cancelled this appointment by not bringing in the registration documents in time.

It's kinda funny/sad: For the car we have to go to a mechanic and let him do a checkup or else we loose the warranty and/or insurance. For yourselve though ...

[Al Simmons]

Trying is hard. I don't like trying, it makes me sad.

[Daneel Trevize]

Also, it's not nice when the appointment with the doc gives the impression you're in a worse situation than expected. Hmmf

[Sacul]

Also, it's not nice when the appointment with the doc gives the impression you're in a worse situation than expected. Hmmf

Normal. Most docs of any kind make it look worse. How else can they claim the reason it took them so long to graduate

Comorbidity (assuming he mentioned that) is a serious thing and setting the right diagnosis is pretty hard when all you have is textbook knowledge. Currently promoting several peer advocacy programs in my town. For those in the field; howy the harp, pep methodology and fish in the box. All suited mental cases like us and junkies, yes you neckbeard gaming 19 hours a day have serious problem.

[Sacul]

Also, it's not nice when the appointment with the doc gives the impression you're in a worse situation than expected. Hmmf

Normal. Most docs of any kind make it look worse. How else can they claim the reason it took them so long to graduate

Comorbidity (assuming he mentioned that) is a serious thing and setting the right diagnosis is pretty hard when all you have is textbook knowledge. Currently promoting several peer advocacy programs in my town. For those in the field; howy the harp, pep methodology and fish in the box. All suited mental cases like us and junkies, yes you neckbeard gaming 19 hours a day have serious problem.

[XenosisReaper]

Also, it's not nice when the appointment with the doc gives the impression you're in a worse situation than expected. Hmmf

Normal. Most docs of any kind make it look worse. How else can they claim the reason it took them so long to graduate

Comorbidity (assuming he mentioned that) is a serious thing and setting the right diagnosis is pretty hard when all you have is textbook knowledge. Currently promoting several peer advocacy programs in my town. For those in the field; howy the harp, pep methodology and fish in the box. All suited mental cases like us and junkies, yes you neckbeard gaming 19 hours a day have serious problem.

I read that 3 times and I still don't understand the last 2 sentences.

Describe it to me like i'm 5 (I'm serious, this interests me)

[Daneel Trevize]

Sacul m8 I think you went off on one there and tried to make this about you.

[Viper Shizzle]

Just to throw in some extra on psychologists:Some have access to applied neuroscience in the form of biofeedback (somewhat popular in addiction therapy) and other things that do treat physical aspects of mental disease that I found way more helpful than anything psychiatrists did for me. In the end, if the problem requires a prescription you want a psychiatrist. Some GPs will offer to prescribe anti-depressants ect... but I wouldn't recommend it based on my own experience.

Biofeedback is fucking amazing and it's a shame that the pharma industry is making it irrelevant to mainstream society. I've had the "privilege" to work in a department containing some of the renound and most prolific cognitive neuroscience research in America; biofeedback works wonders for many people (not all) and it's vastly under-utilized.

Also, just as a sidenote (and I know you didn't say it was) but alcoholism most certainly isn't a disease.

[Cortess]

So ... what helps against severe exam nerves/stress + depressiva? So severe that i am afraid of touching a book and learn ...
Drugs? I could get access to some lighter drugs with ease ... i never did drugs though.
Or just go to a doc and ask straight out for something that helps me focusing and cheers me up?

Damn ... i'm fucked. I see me already failing at the exams, making the last 3 years of studying useless.

I'm also in the progress of doing my thesis and it doesn't go well ...

[Aurora148]

So ... what helps against severe exam nerves/stress + depressiva? So severe that i am afraid of touching a book and learn ...
Drugs? I could get access to some lighter drugs with ease ... i never did drugs though.
Or just go to a doc and ask straight out for something that helps me focusing and cheers me up?

Damn ... i'm fucked. I see me already failing at the exams, making the last 3 years of studying useless.

I'm also in the progress of doing my thesis and it doesn't go well ...

Go to a doctor and get an official diagnosis, then inform your course adviser/tutor/ect. If you tell them about it then you have the ability to request extenuating circumstances for resits or to re-take the year. If you don't tell them about it and then you fail, the Uni might not give you any leniency.

[Sponk]

Go to a doctor and get an official diagnosis, then inform your course adviser/tutor/ect. If you tell them about it then you have the ability to request extenuating circumstances for resits or to re-take the year. If you don't tell them about it and then you fail, the Uni might not give you any leniency.

This. I didn't do this, which made things quite awkward.

Taking 5.5 years to do a 4-year degree makes you feel bad enough, without having your GPA trashed as well.

[Cortess]

Will do ... although i always think it's just my own fault and i deserve this and doing this feels like cheating. And even then there'll be the question at some point: Do you want to write this exam or not? Then i'll say "i don't want to, but i have to". Well better be safe than to be sorry i guess? Just a normal doctor? Or directly to a psychologist?

[Aurora148]

Will do ... although i always think it's just my own fault and i deserve this and doing this feels like cheating. And even then there'll be the question at some point: Do you want to write this exam or not? Then i'll say "i don't want to, but i have to". Well better be safe than to be sorry i guess? Just a normal doctor? Or directly to a psychologist?

Depends on where you live. In the UK you would have to go to your GP (family doctor) who would give you a referral to a psychologist.

The important thing is that you get it in the system, then you can go to the Uni and tell them what is happening.

[indi]

Netherlands: I fully expect you'd have to go by the GP as well. You might want to give your tutor (or whoever) a heads up as well. Don't think you are the first student to experience this, accept it and then go work on it. Accepting it is the first step towards doing something about it, so it's not cheating, etc. Your tutor (or whoever) should be able to refer you as well.

/hug.

[Sacul]

Currently promoting several peer advocacy programs in my town. For those in the field; howy the harp, pep methodology and fish in the box. All suited mental cases like us and junkies, yes you neckbeard gaming 19 hours a day have serious problem.

I read that 3 times and I still don't understand the last 2 sentences.

Describe it to me like i'm 5 (I'm serious, this interests me)

ok

Most GP's and Psych's are just pill pushers. Before you know you get a pill against depression that makes you sleep bad so you get a pill for sleeping that makes you anxious so a pill against anxiety etc etc.
Its hard to differentiate between the true problem and the co-morbidity symptoms coming from the source so they just follow a flow chart and before you know it you suddenly have 3 DSM-IV conditions.
Its been proven time and time again that a pill without therapy has a very low succes rate. Pills and therapy combined works pretty well, what works even better is the addition of peer advocacy programs whom are ment to improve and sustain the way back to being a full member of society on a low threshold basis by people who have gone through what you are going through.
To this end there are a lot of peer to peer programs like Howy the Harp- ment for (ex-)homeless with a psych program, PEP or HEE methodolgy- ment for (ex-) psych patients on a peer coaching basis for recovery, stability and empowerment, Fish in the box- empowerment and social recovery program for (ex-) junkies again on a peer basis.
Its pretty amazing to see how peers can easily cut through all the fuzzy symptoms and come to the root source something doctors usually cant (because they lack 'experience').

Agreed my first txt was written very badly, i should stop posting from my phone and doing other things aswell.

I hope this makes it clear, if not ask away.

p.s.
When i say peer advocacy i mean people who have been properly schooled in supporting and empowering other peers. Its a 12 week course (50 hours total spread over 12 weeks) and goes pretty deep so its not just a 'i once stuck a needle in my arm and slept under a bridge so now im le expert ill tell you what to do' kind of thing.

[Cortess]

So i was at the GP and talked about it ... how i feel, what i think. He sent me to a psychologist right away.
Psychologist asked why i didn't came much earlier -.-

Now i'll take one pill every morning, which should make me more "active". And another for before going to bed, so i can sleep better. And ofc the suggestion to have a walk in the morning and seeing a psych for therapy (which i'll ask the one i'm seeing already from my university).

Current problem now: How do i get my new used soundcard to work?

[Mrenda]

So i was at the GP and talked about it ... how i feel, what i think. He sent me to a psychologist right away.
Psychologist asked why i didn't came much earlier -.-

Now i'll take one pill every morning, which should make me more "active". And another for before going to bed, so i can sleep better. And ofc the suggestion to have a walk in the morning and seeing a psych for therapy (which i'll ask the one i'm seeing already from my university).

Current problem now: How do i get my new used soundcard to work?

Don't lay all your hopes on the pills. They take time to work and you may have to mix and match different medication to get some that suits you. There's huge relief in getting help though.

[Dirk Magnum]

But don't expect the worst from the pills either. If clinical depression and/or anxiety are your problems, medication should work... eventually. In my case it's taken 8-9 months of adjusting prescriptions to get to where there's a noticeable positive difference in my mood nearly every day. I've known I've needed help for my anxiety and depression for several years, but had personal reasons (that in hindsight may have been logically misguided) for not getting it. When those personal reasons were no longer a factor I got in touch with a psychiatrist ASAP. To give you an idea of how the course of treatment went (if you're expecting immediate results you're in a for a shock) it was something like this:

October 2011: sleep aid with anxiolytic properties prescribed, with instructions to take it at my own discretion if I needed help with sleep
November: mild anxiolytic prescribed with instructions to take it twice a day
December: No change
January 2012: anxiolytic prescription doubled
February: anti-depressant prescribed to take once a day
March: no change
April: anti-depressant doubled
May: have consistently been feeling positive effects that I can only attribute to the medication

I suspect more adjustment will be needed because alcohol is verboten with this anti-depressant. I've been a heavy drinker since about age 23 with obvious symptoms of alcoholism showing up around age 26, so as I come off the stuff my mood is going to fluctuate. That's what it did in 2010 when I was fully sober for two non-consecutive 5-month periods. Anyway the point here is that if you do regularly consume any kind of intoxicant, it will throw a wild-card factor into your treatment, so you may want to limit or abstain from consumption prior to going on the medication, if possible.

[Lana Torrin]

Lana's History with depression pills - part 1 (possibly out of 1 because im slack)

Ok first off as I said im my own little thread I was never depressed enough to need pills for it. I did however have a friend who was. He got depression much later on than me and it hit him much harder. It was quite obvious to the rest of us he ws getting really bad and so we talked him in to seeing someone, and they prescribed some pills. I dont know what they were.

He was on them for about a week and they effected him quite a lot. He pretty much stopped giving a fuck about anything. And i mean compleatly not giving a fuck. Piss him off? He would just punch you (he hit me once), if he felt like not talking to you he would just walk off mid sentence, if he didnt like something he would just say it was shit and walk off, and if he didnt want to hear what you were telling him he would tell you he didnt care and to save your breath. This was a compleatly diferent person to the person I had known for over 10 years.

He also stopped calling or emailing any of us and generally gave up trying to stay in contact with anyone. He did however stop showing signs of depression, right up until he tried to take him own life. Fortunatly he failed.

Doctors changed his pills after that and pretty much the new ones fixed him enough so therapy could fix him. He eventually got off the pils and is now 'normal' (and has a g/f whos very nice)

So I have mixed feeling about pills for depression. I almost lost a friend to them, but then they also saved him.. So my advice if you are taking these is just fucking listen to your friends. They may have no idea what you are going through and may not be able to help you at all, but they love you and dont want you hurt. They can see things you cant, and want the best for you.

[Mrenda]

The first.set of pills I was on turned.me into.a.zombie. I ad taken.medical.leave.from school and basically woke up everyday at 12pm.spent the next few hours staring at a computer screen and was asleep again by 7pm. This went on for months and I didn't notice or care one bit about it. My mother eventually went into the doctor and demanded she change my pills. When she refused and said I was doing fine my.mother took me out of there and got me an emergency appointment with another doctor who said I was basically being tortured. My pills were changed and my life got.much better. They were changed a third time and there was another improvement so much so that Im actually getting around to sorting stuff out.

Long story short: listen to your friends and family and if your doctor.isn't willing to work with you to find the correct medication then get a good doctor.