The "What Are You Doing This Moment" Thread

[EspaDa]

Maybe try making a change in your day to day activity flow. At the very least, try to spend some time doing something you enjoy everyday. I keep a guitar in my office nowadays. If you're in a bit of a transitory phase and that's the source of your anxiety, then just keep the end goal in mind. Why do I keep a guitar in my office? Because I had a full-time job in undergrad and basically stopped playing guitar for a few of years. Undergrad was miserable for me. The schooling was simple and unfulfilling and too much of my extra time was spent working to make a living. In some ways, keeping a guitar around me functions to remind myself that I've made a positive change, even if I'm not able to keep up on it as much as I'd like, i.e., by starting a band. tl;dr, keep the big picture in mind and try to keep yourself content while you're doing it in some way or another. Xanax ain't gonna fix it (I worked in pharmacy during my undergrad). It's effective for treating sporadic panic attacks, but I'm skeptical of its efficacy regarding chronic issues.

Thanks for your response, really appreciate it. I'm currently on the second semester of my philology studies and it may be some kind of transitory, as you call it, phase. I wish my case was that simple. Listening to music always makes me happy and keeps me busy since I love venturing deep into bands I've got playing atm. However, when I've got these attacks of compulsive thinking even music can't resolve the problem. Everything is so fucking futile that I'm sick of living despite the fact that I know this world is beautiful and I've got lots of things to do on this planet. I was wondering whether it was for all these phobias that bothered me in the past (since the very young age I was afraid of vomiting), and now when I feel my stomach aches or when feeling nauseous, I'm always convinced that I'll end up barfing. It may also be connected with a hypochondriac nature of mine, my close family often states that I take my body condition too seriously. Every state of dizziness worries me, I'm stuck in a vicious circle. I can get on with everything but the feeling of futility and pointlessness of living. Xanax and sertraline helped to milden these obnoxious ailments, what's more, after first application of these meds I was euphoric. Godspeed me.

 

[Dak]

@EspaDa Cognitive Behavioral Therapy would be more effective with your benzodiazepene than just taking the medication alone. If you dont want/cant afford the time/money for therapy, theres plenty of free guided mindfulness videos on youtube. Those may be of some help.

 

[dwellerINTHEdark]

The best thing besides CBT as Dak said would be to start an SSRI like Prozac or Lexapro. Those are the best meds to handle generalized anxiety disorder as well as depression. Benzos are only good for a quick fix, ie panic attack, but the dependency and withdrawal risk is way too high to warrant regular use. Good luck.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

so a black guy one a bike just passed by and my dogs absolutely flipped out(like a stranger was walking up to the gate or something). For some reason they're not too fond of bikes or black people.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

It's no one's place here to recommend meds. That's the job of a professional, and for damn good reason.

I hope you're getting professional treatment @EspaDa

 

[Dak]

It's no one's place here to recommend meds. That's the job of a professional, and for damn good reason.

I hope you're getting professional treatment @EspaDa

TBF, a professional won't just hand out meds he asks for. I'm also generally anti-med but there are particular cases where they are applicable and I won't argue with his psychiatrist on a MB, even if I think psychiatrists are unethical as a group.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

It's pretty clear you're anti-med when you call psychiatrists "unethical as a group".

Psychiatry is a legitimate and necessary branch of health care that just happens to draw from an extremely challenging science. Interactions between drugs and the brain are insanely complex, and currently impossible to fully understand. I think many anti-med people unfairly blame psychiatry for the effects of this problem without acknowledging the cause. A fairer criticism is that psychiatrists too often make diagnoses that cannot accurately be made without the skills of a psychotherapist and a lot of counseling time. Therapy involves a very different skill set that can't be expected of someone who has to go through the years of education required to practice psychiatry.

Ideally everyone would be required to go through enough counseling to be diagnosed accurately, but obviously that tends to be expensive (which also makes it difficult to prosecute overprescription as a form of medical malpractice). Sometimes a cheaper, less-reliable treatment is the only treatment available, but ANY professional treatment is more likely to be reliable than average people playing Internet Drug Doctor.

 

[Funerary_Doom]

I agree you definitely should see a doctor. My dads a pharmacist but I remember as a kid instead of seeing a doctor when I was sick he'd try and just give me drugs he thought would help. His field is completely different even though he does know a thing or two and needless to say he did not always diagnose me right. It seems like you have experienced this before and they treated you with something that worked. Definitely see a doctor and see what they have to say. Though there is some power in looking up things and have an idea as to what it is, still really important to get the proper help. I also agree with Black Orifice about leaving some time in the day for something you enjoy doing. On YouTube there's these awesome bedtime yoga videos I try to do before bed to keep positive and I feel they do help. Just taking a moment to acknowledge yourself, how you're feeling, and reflect is something pretty useful. Wishing you the best @EspaDa. But yes see a doctor too.

 

[EspaDa]

Thanks, yesterday I visited the psychiatrist for the second time. Now I'm supposed to take xanax only in emergency situations and the medicine I was prescribed is pregabalin, a substance that is not addictive unlike benzo. Today I'm feeling well, no compulsive thoughts cramming my head. Fortunately my doctor said I'm not mentally ill lol.

 

[CF87]

Buy some anal beads and wrap them up all nice. Leave them at her door.

Met her BF outside, he's one of those wealthy dudes, if she cheated on him it would not be with me, not that I care.

 

[tagradh]

If it makes you feel any better I met someone nice last weekend.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Suffering from some kind of anxiety that bothers me greatly. I mean, I have some kind of phobias but they do not alter my lifestyle in such way that I'd be unable to live my life as I've been doing it thus far. The thing that's the worst is that feel of futility of life, dunno how I got it, I always loved living and enjoyed many aspects of everyday life but now I'm apathetic and in low spirits. It's so fucking fearsome - I'm performing a given activity and I'm pondering why I'm even doing it as I'LL DIE ANYWAY. It's fucking stupid but that's how I've been feeling for like 2 weeks now. I contacted a psychiatrist some time ago and he prescribed me xanax, it used to help but I feel my misery coming back again. We'll see how I'll do in following days, the worst part of the day is obviously morning, it's a fucking catastrophe, have no lifeblood to continue the day although I know I have people I can rely on and they are extremely dear to me, however, compulsive thoughts are in charge of my mind. Sad story, bro. Any advice from you, sick fucks?

i feel you man. I've been in and out of that hole for a while now. I know one thing thought, the xanax would have definitely made things worse if you kept taking them. Sorry man, dont have much advice other than just stay strong, it will get better.

 

[Dak]

It's pretty clear you're anti-med when you call psychiatrists "unethical as a group".

Psychiatry is a legitimate and necessary branch of health care that just happens to draw from an extremely challenging science. Interactions between drugs and the brain are insanely complex, and currently impossible to fully understand. I think many anti-med people unfairly blame psychiatry for the effects of this problem without acknowledging the cause. A fairer criticism is that psychiatrists too often make diagnoses that cannot accurately be made without the skills of a psychotherapist and a lot of counseling time. Therapy involves a very different skill set that can't be expected of someone who has to go through the years of education required to practice psychiatry.

Ideally everyone would be required to go through enough counseling to be diagnosed accurately, but obviously that tends to be expensive (which also makes it difficult to prosecute overprescription as a form of medical malpractice). Sometimes a cheaper, less-reliable treatment is the only treatment available, but ANY professional treatment is more likely to be reliable than average people playing Internet Drug Doctor.

This is true, but it is also true that as a group they place little value on therapy.

 

[EspaDa]

i feel you man. I've been in and out of that hole for a while now. I know one thing thought, the xanax would have definitely made things worse if you kept taking them. Sorry man, dont have much advice other than just stay strong, it will get better.

Yeah, fuck xanax. It's fucking siren's charm. Have you also suffered from anxiety and that kind of shit?

 

[rms]

Psychiatry is a legitimate and necessary branch of health care that just happens to draw from an extremely challenging science. Interactions between drugs and the brain are insanely complex, and currently impossible to fully understand. I think many anti-med people unfairly blame psychiatry for the effects of this problem without acknowledging the cause. A fairer criticism is that psychiatrists too often make diagnoses that cannot accurately be made without the skills of a psychotherapist and a lot of counseling time. Therapy involves a very different skill set that can't be expected of someone who has to go through the years of education required to practice psychiatry.

feels strange to call something essential and then in the next sentence say that no one understands it and the drug ethics within said "science" are also a problem as well as the laziness/ineptitude of those in said health care

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Yeah, fuck xanax. It's fucking siren's charm. Have you also suffered from anxiety and that kind of shit?

yes, and i still do. I think it's just a part of me/who i am.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

feels strange to call something essential and then in the next sentence say that no one understands it and the drug ethics within said "science" are also a problem as well as the laziness/ineptitude of those in said health care

It's strange that there are people with severe mental illnesses who need drugs, and professional help choosing the right drugs? This ain't exactly astrology we're talking about.

 

[PrincessHades]

Eating a pimento cheese sandwich and listening to Mötley Crüe. I'm still hungry...

 

[rms]

It's strange that there are people with severe mental illnesses who need drugs, and professional help choosing the right drugs? This ain't exactly astrology we're talking about.

you just demonstrated the problems within said profession

quite honestly, astrology seems to have more of a logical basis than just pure sedation via psychiatric drugging

 

[Dak]

you just demonstrated the problems within said profession

quite honestly, astrology seems to have more of a logical basis than just pure sedation via psychiatric drugging

As someone who isn't very pro-medication, there are at least a couple of mental issues which need some sedation, if you will. One is schizophrenia, and the other is bipolar disorder(s). I do think that for anxiety and mood disorders, which constitute the majority of mental health problems, being treated with meds is generally a bandaid at best.