Depression And Mental Illness.......

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Originally Posted By: beanoil
I lost a friend a few years back to depression. Co-worker that took his own life one Saturday night. Gregarious kind of guy, funny, friendly. An outpouring of people showed up at the funeral. I still take a RockStar energy drink to his grave and leave it for him, it was his favorite.


Saw that with my father, and often wonder if he'd have made the same choice IF he knew in advance how many people, and from how far away would come to his sendoff.

Originally Posted By: beanoil
I mention this for 2 reasons. People around all of us can look OK, and really be struggling inside. And, his funeral made me look at myself. I don't have friends.. literally, if I passed, there wouldn't be enough to carry a box. Easy, I'm going in the nuke machine anyway. Nothing here when I started, nothing here when I leave. So I won't ever go as far as he did, because I saw the pain and questions in the folks that came to see him off. I may be sad, but I'm not going to cause sadness for anyone else.


See point one...
I don't think my father considered that he had a single friend either...but there were plenty to help carry the coffin.
 
Personally, I'm mentally fine. As an educator, I interact with over 1000 students that all are unique. Some are literally violent and disturbed. Others suffer from extreme depression and anxiety.

There is no norm. Eat well, exercise, and treat yourself well.
 
I advise to get physically active(to the point you exert yourself to near exhaustion. This will raise your endorphin levels with improving your health and you will feel a lot better), talk and actually communicate your feelings with a support group or counselor,(or even clergy), eat a diet with a lot of bright vegetables and fruits.

If you want you can PM I can help you find exercises that will slowly improve your fitness with out stressing your joints and muscles to help minimize injury.
 
Originally Posted By: qwerty1234
I was wondering if anyone else suffers from mental illness. I've struggled with a alcohol problem for 20 years. I sobered up a few months ago and find myself extremely depressed. I'm on medication and see a Dr. but it only helps somewhat.


I found the first paragraph of AA's "How It Works" to be on the mark. http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/p-10_howitworks.pdf

The 1960's, 70's & 80's were a series of psych wards, drunks, crashes and suicide attempts.
Since joining AA I am alcohol/drug free and "doing quite well" as promised. http://www.district9.ca/promises.htm

Free for anyone that wants it.

PM me if I can help you.

Bob
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Originally Posted By: Stewie
Originally Posted By: Blaze
Seriously Stewie how long have you been working graveyard? Did that on/off for 15 yrs and that alone can cause mental issues.


About 3 years straight, I just recently quit because of my therapist.


No way I could work a graveyard shift. It's good that you quit.


I agree. I have seen the health hazards from fellow employees. It can really screw you up.
 
Originally Posted By: Blaze
Seriously Stewie how long have you been working graveyard? Did that on/off for 15 yrs and that alone can cause mental issues.


Yes, although there are some who can handle it, or even prefer it, for most, our circadian rhythms just cannot stand it long term.
 
With respect to a person's rhythms, it's nice if someone can determine their rhythm and stick with it. I simply cannot handle days. You don't want to work with me if I'm stuck on day shifts. My normal, natural bed time is around 5:00 a.m. and has been for years and years. Fortunately, I'm able to work with that schedule.
 
papa bear, thank you for the comment. I guess I have a love/hate relationship with AA. Alcohol makes me feel better and then worse. It's the nature of the beast. People who do not suffer have no idea how much of a monster it is.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Alcohol is poison, stay away from it.
Don't [censored] away your money on booze.


It is part of the culture in Germany. There are many people who consume moderate amounts of alcohol socially or with a meal because they enjoy it. There are others who are incapable of doing so without indulging in excess and self-destructing.

Drugs and alcohol are common crutches for mental illness and depression, however they are neither the cause nor the solution and their dependance is simply a symptom of an underlying problem like addiction, depression....etc. Telling people to "stay away" from alcohol may sound like a simple solicitation of what you feel is logical advice but it is an "easy solution" to a complex problem and one that people suffering from dependance can't just "shut off". Telling somebody to do it and them actually being able to comply are two very, VERY different things.

It is like telling a schizophrenic to "snap out of it".

Addiction is a disease and one you have to work at overcoming for the rest of your life. It requires great willpower and the desire to change along with the willingness to discard the crutches and embrace treatment. Somebody suffering from addiction will be an addict until the day they die, no matter how long they are sober. The ease at which one can slip back into old habits and self destruct again is startling. Addiction hand-in-hand with depression is even more difficult because you are not just feeding the disease but "treating a symptom". That is, the addiction is not the only demon that then needs to be subdued.

I have a friend who has struggled with addiction and succumbed to the folly of thinking that he had overcome it and could again drink socially. Disaster was the result. And it wasn't just the alcohol, that was simply the gateway back into his previous lifestyle, it could have been anything. Alcohol was simply the one that got him.
 
It is like telling a schizophrenic to "snap out of it".

Overkill, that is a great statement and illustrates the issue very well. I was told when depressed to "pull myself up by the bootstraps" and I was like, huh?!
 
Originally Posted By: qwerty1234
People who do not suffer have no idea how much of a monster it is.


Absolutely, but, the same can be said for other (I know alcoholism is one) mental illnesses as well, as you have implied with your post directly above.
wink.gif
 
qwerty,
pls watch this pbs show,

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/...-300250251.html

Ride the Tiger

1. Meds - be careful of side effects research first.
2. Talk therapy - join a meetup, volunteer, go on a lunch date with a friend.
3. Diet - big, big changes are needed, venture into the unknown, I mean, go to a thai place for lunch and then a vietanese pha place for dinner, cook your meals and be creative, eat different color veges and fruits
4. Work out, play a pickup game of any sport you like
5. go out and do something to relax, I go fishing and it relaxes me.
 
I like that. I always tell people that depression is one of those diseases that can be tackled multiple ways, and some ways just don't work for some people. Medication should be a last resort, but that applies to a lot of diseases. However, when you need it and it works, that's the way it is.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
I like that. I always tell people that depression is one of those diseases that can be tackled multiple ways, and some ways just don't work for some people. Medication should be a last resort, but that applies to a lot of diseases. However, when you need it and it works, that's the way it is.


Yes Sir, just as we are here in our quest for the lowest wear number and longest OCI's we should challenge ourselves to feel the best mentally/physically.

Depression can happen to anyone, it takes 3 or 4 adverse events to have a domino effect on a person to lead to depression.

Monday - dog dies
Tuesday - speeding ticket on the way back from family farm after burying dog.
Wednesday - you burn the chili gumbo you were cooking
Friday - nothing happens and you are upset, and trepid that something will happen. then you get letter from the IRS...

Laugh it away, take your fishing rod and tackle box and head to your nearest fishing hole :)

The PBS show was very informative,
Meditation can help with depression.

I joined a meetup to hiking around the local parks.
 
Originally Posted By: qwerty1234
It is like telling a schizophrenic to "snap out of it".

Overkill, that is a great statement and illustrates the issue very well. I was told when depressed to "pull myself up by the bootstraps" and I was like, huh?!


How about quit talking and thinking about it and actually do something to get yourself out of the alcoholic/drug addicted rut you are in? There are a whole bus load of professionals who will try to help you...but at the end of the day if you don't help yourself and change your routines and ultimately your life...you are simply a lab rat for some PhD.

My best advice...stop all booze, get your meds balanced, then start hitting the gym and get yourself physically fit. Change your habits...break the bad ones that lead you back to your addictions and make some new ones. It will hurt a lot at first but in time...you'll start to feel better. Since you probably are a compulsive personality...get addicted to good things...like physical fitness and spending time at the library reading and researching your illness.

brother..heal thyself.
 
A few years back I posted something on here about a good friend of mine that was fighting some depression pretty bad (and almost lost the struggle a few times).

One day I was at work and I got a call from his boss that he was suicidal and headed to his home. Apparently (I am not sure how ...? ) the boss got my number. Well when I went to his home he had a knife drawn on himself and pulled it on me. Talked him down, safely stored the knife and brought him to the local ER.

It is something that he has struggled with since then. Meds don't help. Though, I guess volunteering and working in HHS does help.
 
Imagine if he stabbed you during an episode of madness... ?

Many cities want to buy homeless people with mental illness a one way bus ticket out of their city limits. Fort Lauderdale, FL has lots of homeless from up North.
 
Originally Posted By: qwerty1234
It is like telling a schizophrenic to "snap out of it".

Overkill, that is a great statement and illustrates the issue very well. I was told when depressed to "pull myself up by the bootstraps" and I was like, huh?!


Yes, I call that the 'Patton Syndrome', yes after the great general who thought that the totally shell shocked private was 'faking it' to get out of fighting and risking his life, and was an abject coward.
mad.gif


Hopefully, this macho attitude bee ess towards mental illness is changing in this country (and elsewhere as well).
smile.gif
 
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