Anyone ever dealt with depression/anxiety?

[viralz]

After 5 years of suffering I finally went to the doctor to talk about it. I've been diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder. I know it sounds bad but I'm actually happy to know that I'm not crazy and its a disease that can be treated!
Just the fact of talking about it lifted a huge weight off my shoulders .Now I'm on medication and following a therapy

The point of this thread is not to feel sorry for me but to reach out to other people who might think they are dealing with a mental illness. Just remember that you are not alone and there is help for you!

It took me a lot of courage to share this but I know this forum is safe place.

Thanks!

 

[XxSicRokerxX]

I've been dealing with anxiety/panic attacks for quite some time now. Sometimes I'll be sitting in class minding my own business taking lecture notes when all of a sudden I feel like someone takes my oxygen away and my heart starts racing for no reason. A lot of the time my anxiety is built on me fearing that i'm going to have a panic attack. Trying to sleep was the worse, I'd lay my head down and all of a sudden I'd hear my heart race and pound as if It was going to pop out of my chest. It was really bad in 2008, every day was a struggle back then, I couldn't even go outside because I felt like I was going to have a panic attack, so I literally locked myself in my house/room for months. Every morning I would wake up with my stomach in knot, nervous as hell, as if i was going to give a big speech or something. Doc gave me xannax and prozac. I take/took it whenever I absolutely need it, it helps tons, but can be quite addictive. Today, 2012, isn't so bad. I get odd panic sensations every now and then but I can get on with my life fine now. Sorry, this is all out of sequence, a lot of thoughts raced my mind. It is seriously a condition, its nothing something that you can just think about or meditate and it will go away. I learned that in my case it probably has to do with the neurotransmitters i.e. serotonin in my brain, they probably aren't transmitting too well in my brain's synapses or possibly my amygdala is smaller than average (supposedly smaller amygdalae means you are more prone to anxiety ). For me, the best thing to do is control it, I can never get rid of it, its become a part of me and I accept it. It will get better w time.

 

[viralz]

I've been dealing with anxiety/panic attacks for quite some time now. Sometimes I'll be sitting in class minding my own business taking lecture notes when all of a sudden I feel like someone takes my oxygen away and my heart starts racing for no reason. A lot of the time my anxiety is built on me fearing that i'm going to have a panic attack. Trying to sleep was the worse, I'd lay my head down and all of a sudden I'd hear my heart race and pound as if It was going to pop out of my chest. It was really bad in 2008, every day was a struggle back then, I couldn't even go outside because I felt like I was going to have a panic attack, so I literally locked myself in my house/room for months. Every morning I would wake up with my stomach in knot, nervous as hell, as if i was going to give a big speech or something. Doc gave me xannax and prozac. I take/took it whenever I absolutely need it, it helps tons, but can be quite addictive. Today, 2012, isn't so bad. I get odd panic sensations every now and then but I can get on with my life fine now. Sorry, this is all out of sequence, a lot of thoughts raced my mind. It is seriously a condition, its nothing something that you can just think about or meditate and it will go away. I learned that in my case it probably has to do with the neurotransmitters i.e. serotonin in my brain, they probably aren't transmitting too well in my brain's synapses or possibly my amygdala is smaller than average (supposedly smaller amygdalae means you are more prone to anxiety ). For me, the best thing to do is control it, I can never get rid of it, its become a part of me and I accept it. It will get better w time.

I know all to well what you are going through my friend. Its not something you can completely heal, its a demon you learn to live with.

Right now I'm on Lexapro for my serotonin and Klonopin for my anxiety. Slowly accepting my condition and understanding that millions of people are dealing with the same kind of problem is helping me a lot!

Stay strong buddy!

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Medications are not great. Try EMDR therapy.

 

[updog]

it's not probably anything in comparison, but i had been doing nothing for a year or so, like literally mostly just sitting at home, but still thought i was fine - so i started getting these real and imagined symptoms of everything, and had a constant fear of contracting some deadly disease.

i suffered from some heart palpitations of sort, my hands were shaking, i felt weak and stuff like that. went to the doctor's with a long-ass list of symptoms and absolutely sure that the doctor would sign me my death warrant.

so i had a bit of a hard time believing it, but she suspected i had panic disorder. she said she could give me meds for it, but the meds had side-effects that sounded pretty much like what i was already suffering from, so we decided to wait and see. it helped to know the tests we took had normal results.

now that i've got my shit mostly back on track, most of the health problems are gone. social exclusion (i hate that word because i honestly think i'm pretty social and i have enough friends) is a powerful thing. i've got a few friends that i think are currently suffering from the same shit i did, and i'm planning to help them as much as i can - one person usually can't completely lift another from depression but it's still a lot one person can do to help.

 

[Sloan]

I was a sad kid in high school, I'm tons better now but wouldn't be surprised if a shrink told me I had some issues.

 

[StefTD]

I know lots of people who suffer from depression and/or anxiety, but imho medication shouldn't
be the way to go, there are lots of other ways, like Brett already mentioned, my gf for example
is studying art therapy atm.
She works in a huge psychological hospital (1000 people work there) and medication is only used
on the really strong cases (most of them aren't allowed to leave the hospital).
I know, this probably doesn't sound very helpful, but there are other ways, it's good that you
went to a doctor but medication only fights the symptoms in 90% of the cases but doesn't kill
the root if you get what I mean.

Still, I wish you the best man! Stay strong and get well!

 

[Russtopher]

I dealt with depression for a number of years. Sadly, it got to the point where I was no longer a good husband or father to my daughter. I got dealt a pretty severe wakeup call, which led me to seek out help.

After discussing issues and potential treatments with my therapist, I decided to try treatment without drugs. I'm glad I did, but I'm also not going to disparage anyone who decides that medication is a better way for them. I know of people who went on medication and it really did make their life better. All I'm saying is, for me, I didn't want to go the medication route.

It was a rough year or so, but now 9 years later I'm much, much happier and living a better life. I still am prone to periods where I'm down, for lack of a better word, but I learned to realize when it was happening, and learned coping mechanisms to help get myself back up, and not releasing my negative feelings on others.

Good luck, I wish you well!!!

 

[BrettT]

Speaking from experience...depression and anxiety meds are HIGHLY addictive, and getting off of them is total hell. You can die if you don't follow the proper procedures for stopping them, and the withdrawal symptoms are BRUTAL. Add to this the fact that these meds turn you into a total zombie. I definitely advise educating yourself on these meds before you go too far down that road.

 

[Boerboel666]

Just a note of caution , keep an open mind on the drugs . For some they are the only thing that works .

 

[updog]

Just a note of caution , keep an open mind on the drugs . For some they are the only thing that works .

when spouting out something like this you should clarify exactly what, exactly how much, when and why, or just not say anything at all.

what you said is true to some extent, but depending on the variables of what i said, drugs are much, MUCH quicker to fuck up someone's life.

if you have mental illness or even just problems with your mental health, even weed can kick you into psychosis. you don't want that. if you want to start messing around with that stuff ALWAYS do a thorough background check on everything. i'm only saying this because i firmly believe there are people who would just up and do what you said, because someone said it.

edit. shit, i just realized you were probably talking about legal drugs. well anyway, the illegal stuff 'can' help, too - you just gotta be careful with it. i'm talking about stuff like cancer patients and psychedelics - it's been proven psychedelic drugs will make morbidly ill patients happier and much less afraid of death. who'd take that away from them? not me. i'd legalize drugs for that use.

 

[Clockwork]

I dealt with depression for a number of years. Sadly, it got to the point where I was no longer a good husband or father to my daughter. I got dealt a pretty severe wakeup call, which led me to seek out help.

After discussing issues and potential treatments with my therapist, I decided to try treatment without drugs. I'm glad I did, but I'm also not going to disparage anyone who decides that medication is a better way for them. I know of people who went on medication and it really did make their life better. All I'm saying is, for me, I didn't want to go the medication route.

It was a rough year or so, but now 9 years later I'm much, much happier and living a better life. I still am prone to periods where I'm down, for lack of a better word, but I learned to realize when it was happening, and learned coping mechanisms to help get myself back up, and not releasing my negative feelings on others.

Good luck, I wish you well!!!

Thanks for posting this, I have depression but I really don't want to take drugs for it so it is nice to know that through practice and self awareness you can counteract it! Everyone keeps telling me drugs would be more effective but fuck that.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

I have a strong family history of depression on both sides, and it definitely passed down to me; however, when it first really reared its head in like '04-05 I too was resistant to drugs, and instead started trying to exercise regularly, eat healthy, sleep on a good schedule, be social, guitar blah blah blah - and none of it really helped change the fact that I just felt kind unhappy most of my waking hours, unintentionally dwelling on unpleasant thoughts and just generally tending to be melancholy. Then I found Cymbalta in '06, and it worked completely as it should: imperceptibly raising my baseline mood while not in any way "zonking" me or numbing me to the world, and since then I've occasionally stopped taking it for a few months, and after the pretty mild withdrawl symptoms for a couple of weeks (just weird headaches that lessened in intensity as the days went by), I went back to just generally not feeling so great for no particular reason until I started again.

So, mission accomplished, and I think it's the height of oversimplified ignorance to compare an FDA-approved specifically targeted antidepressant to like blowing a line every morning or something.

 

[amarshism]

Whilst i 100 percent support all appropriately approved chemical and holistic treatments, do you ever get the feeling that maybe this is where art has gone? The people that once were crazy and depressed drew on bizarre creative outlets for their minds. I have psycho anxiety but it drives me to reach far. Not that im saying dont do what you need to to have peace in your mind, just a weird thought that dawned on me.

 

[BrettT]

I have a strong family history of depression on both sides, and it definitely passed down to me; however, when it first really reared its head in like '04-05 I too was resistant to drugs, and instead started trying to exercise regularly, eat healthy, sleep on a good schedule, be social, guitar blah blah blah - and none of it really helped change the fact that I just felt kind unhappy most of my waking hours, dwelling on unpleasant thoughts and just generally tending to be melancholy. Then I found Cymbalta in '06, and it worked completely as it should: imperceptibly raising my baseline mood while not in any way "zonking" me or numbing me to the world, and since then I've occasionally stopped taking it for a few months, and after the pretty mild withdrawl symptoms for a couple of weeks (just weird headaches that lessened in intensity as the days went by), I went back to just generally not feeling so great for no particular reason until I started again.

So, mission accomplished, and I think it's the height of oversimplified ignorance to compare an FDA-approved specifically targeted antidepressant to like blowing a line every morning or something.

It's not so much the antidepressants, but the commonly prescribed anti-anxiety meds that are the problem. They definitely can be as bad and worse than blowing a line every morning if in the hands of the wrong person, and the withdrawal symptoms are far worse than a weird headache that only lasts for a few days.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Word, benzodiazepenes for anxiety are an entirely different game because they're meant to rapidly sooth sudden bouts of anxiety, and thus have a much more perceptible effect

 

[viralz]

Yeah you have to be careful with those benzo pills. You only have to take them if you really need it. Its basically alcohol in a pill.

 

[Jind]

Completely denying that in some cases medication is called for is simply ridiculous. Anytime someone spouts blanket statements it simply shows that they are voicing opinion not fact. While it would be all happy happy joy joy if everyone could solve their depression or anxiety with art, exercise, ... it's just not a realistic expectation that it's the answer for all cases. Yes, antidepressants can have their own issues, but for some the benefit will surely outweigh the possible side effects.

Just like most things in life, what works for one may not work for others. Some people go on medication and can never get off of it while others can. There is a distinct difference between dependence and addiction. While I understand some may lump them together as a reason to fear taking medications when necessary, it's really depends on the individual and their needs.

You know me - I always hate blanketed statements and always like to remind people that individual mileage may vary. One size rarely fits all.

 

[GeertSamuel]

I think almost every teenager / begin 20 year old suffers from sort of the same symptons. The thing is that everybody deals with it on it's own way. For one therapy might help, for the other one medication might help and the other might need an asskicking.

No case is the same, I only find it very awkward that almost everybody I know had this kind of "breakdown" at some point in their young life.

As long as you're not suicidal I would try and stay away from medication. That stuff numbs you out and makes you a zombie, and weird enough the side-effect is having suicidal feelings (on the anti-depressants that is).

For me an asskicking helped, next to the fact that I have been so busy and occupied since my 15th I didn't have time to sit and think to deep about those feelings even though I feld them.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

As long as you're not suicidal I would try and stay away from medication. That stuff numbs you out and makes you a zombie, and weird enough the side-effect is having suicidal feelings (on the anti-depressants that is)

This is complete and utter bullshit, just for the record