Oh the joys of depression

[dimps8]

I value the comments, discussions, political views and banter on this board, more than any try hard counselor with his/her own agenda could ever hope for. This depression crap is really testing my limits. I'm pretty certain i've been suffering for a decade now on and off,( now 30) and now i'm declaring war on this dark ghost. Medication is numbingly helpfull, yet getting a balance I think is the key? any thoughts?

[RoninLB]

For low key routine depression maybe start by knowing what the reasons are. From there maybe approach it mechanically by thinking of your brain as a computer that has to be managed. For instance create a list of to-do things and act on the list no matter how depressing it seems. Take the beating and keep on ticking.

Another facet is stimulating social interaction. Maybe volunteer at the local hospital and collect nurses phone numbers.

Group therapy is a can't lose situation.

[Joeaksa]

What has changed in your life to make you depressed? Anything happen? Everything going well in life or is everything the pits?

The fact that you realize that you may be depressed helps, now do something about it. Ron has some good ideas. Never been depressed after spending the night with a nurse either!

Joe A

[billwagnon]

My uncle chose strenuous exercise, when the only option (after meds failed) was electroshock.

[Wrecked944]

I am the poster child for curing depression. Ten-odd years ago I was so sick I was out of work for over a year and heading straight for homelessness. I tried exercise, St John's Wort, talk therapy etc etc ad nauseum. Finally I asked a friend (who is a shrink) to find me the best doctor in New England. He did, it cost me a small fortune, and the super duper expensive doctor SOLVED the probem with exactly the right meds. It took about four months or so but it was worth it. I had already seen a bunch of other doctors who were helpless to do anything. So my advice: Get the best doctor you can - even if he/she is expensive. My expensive doctor ran me through tests and questions and tried a few different meds and such and carefully recorded the results of each phase and eventually kicked the depression in the ass. I can't say enough good things about him.

GOOD LUCK!

[GDSOB]

Two words:

Track Day

[bigchillcar]

damon..like janus..i'm likewise a 'poster boy' for depression, but with a twist. i've had depression for about 15 years, but the last 6 i've had bad anxiety, i.e. panic attacks associated with the ptsd that forced me out of aviation (actually, i chose to 'ground' myself'). i'm still in active recovery..have been seeing doctors for the past two years and still on the 'meds merry go round'. send me a pm..i'm glad to be there for support or to help with perspective..issues of how it affects your life. feel free to write. unlike janus, i don't have all of my issues totally resolved..i still have many really bad days. loss of my career and 'starting over' again at 40 isn't easy.
ryan

[mudman]

Ryan, what is ptsd? post trau stress dis?
Janus, if you weren't refered to the doc, how would you have expected to find him/her? I'm looking (well at least that is what I tell the wife, haven't actually called anybody yet) for some help. It has been really bad lately.
Damon, Ryan, I've found certain music to be helpful, sometimes just to distract...
-Jeremy

[bigchillcar]

Ryan, what is ptsd? post trau stress dis?

yep..post traumatic stress disorder. doctor feels some have a predisposition to handling stress either more 'internally' or 'externally'..unfortunately, i'm inthe former group. i worked for several airlines flying lears in an on-demand format, wearing the pager for years..when it sounds you've got 15 minutes ot get to the airport, 45 minutes to get everything and your co-pilot squared away and 'wheels up'. most of the time, after moving into int'l air ambo missions, i was out of the country. last company i flew for, i was one of 6 captains when first hired..and was the last captain around before i quit. poor maintenance led to one too many 'close calls'..one in particular that left me kind of messed up, so i had to call it quits. you could say i just did a few 'bad flights' too many. so in my case it was a combo of chronic stress for years combined with a couple near-death episodes with myself in charge. long story, that's the 'thumbnail sketch'. i still have periodic panic-related episodes now that have nothing to do with flying..the response was just so reinforced over the years, that many different situations can bring them on. they 'shrink' your life. i went from being very outgoing, always on the go, to being at home 95% of the time. it sucks ass..
ryan

[mudman]

Originally posted by bigchillcar
they 'shrink' your life. i went from being very outgoing, always on the go, to being at home 95% of the time. it sucks ass..
ryan

same here, except I'm 99% home right now...

[bigchillcar]

mudman..i could have under-estimated at 95%, probably more..lol. is it depression? feel free to pm if you'd rather be more discrete discussing this. i think i've 'aired' my struggles with the ptsd on the board enough that they're already fairly well known to many here.
ryan

[Wrecked944]

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear about what some of my Pelican brothers are going through. I have genuine empathy since I've totally been there. Indeed, I also had panic attacks and anxiety on top of my depression. I mainly discuss the depression because it was, in my case, the worst of my various problems. And for the year+ that I was unemployed, I only left the house to go to the gym and buy food...rarely...

As for finding a good doctor, I found that asking a shrink for a reference worked well. And I made it clear to him that I wanted the absolute best doctor around. Would other shrinks put their egos aside and give an honest reference? Well, all can say is I hope so.

Feel free to PM or email me any time about this. I'm always willing to talk about it.

[Howard Agency]

Getting old helps.
Curvy roads are good.
Track days are better.
Grandchildren are best.
Meds don't hurt. Take 2 and call me in the morning.

[Moneyguy1]

First wife was manic depressive. Three Psychologists couldn't cure her. She finally passed away, victim of an aneurism, possibly the result of the long term use of certain meds.. This left me with very mixed feelings about meds and shrinks. I even have "bad days" with an occasional "meltdown" that results in just finding a quiet place for up to a day and working it out. Generally the solution is off to the workshop and get involved with a project. Even the simplest thing like cutting wood and making something usually gets my mind off whatever it was that triggered the "event".

[bigchillcar]

And for the year+ that I was unemployed, I only left the house to go to the gym and buy food...rarely...

ditto, janus...to a 't'. the gym kept me alive.
ryan

[mudman]

Ryan and Janus, thanks for the offers on help. I know it is hijacking, but oh well, it may help the original poster anyway:
I haven't felt well in a long time. Lately I've felt really crumby. The drive to do ANYTHING is pretty much gone. Sometimes I don't even want to lurk on Pelican. I am smart, and used to have a good sense of 'myself', my emotions, and was able to think very deeply about things in a very unbiased way. People sought me out just to talk. Lately I haven't accomplished anything worthwhile.

I know what needs to be done, I know what needs to change, I know what I want to be. I think I know how to do it too. I just can't.

I procrastinate with everything. I've been meaning to write something like this for a long time asking for some pointers, just haven't done it, thanks to the original poster here I am.

I suck, and I'm tired of sucking. I don't really need to un pimp my auto, so any advice is good.
-Jeremy

[mudman]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
Generally the solution is off to the workshop and get involved with a project. Even the simplest thing like cutting wood and making something usually gets my mind off whatever it was that triggered the "event".

I think my shop vac has about 200 hours on it this year, all in my garage, all just because I needed to do something.

[nostatic]

if I didn't have music, I'd have blown my brains out many years ago...

[dimps8]

As allways guys thankyou! This sems to be a common problem among males. Maybe the fact we find it so hard to talk to anyone. The sucky part is i'm smart, young and as fit as i've ever been, but I find it easier to take off pack-packing around the world for months than to stay and have social relationships. I know what I need to do, when the I have good days everything is so clear, confidence is back and nothing is hard. Man just want to string a year of these together. Thanks again pals.

[dimps8]

ryan, it's interesting you mentioned ptsd. I think I have had a few key incidences in my past that i've never delt with properly, and these are rattling around up stairs causing havoc. I wonder if not grieving properly after a parents death when I was young would have anything to do with it? Though mine seems to have more of an anxiety element to it. And Jeremy feel free to highjack, the more the merrier.

Glad I live down the road from a nurses training hospital!