Health Depression

[Run n Spread]

I've been through bouts of depression, usually lasting a couple of months at a time and triggered by a sense of dread and disaster - a sense that things were going seriously wrong and that things were not going to be 'all right'.

I had that same thing. And you know what things are not going to be all right. But in a way disaster was averted so things are on the up.

Things can and do go haywire at times. But try and surround yourself with good people and try and take time out to think and come to a solution.

I hate feeling depressed. I hate having no motivation, confidence, it or whatever else. But at least now a days I know I am myself.

 

[RSDV]

Anyone else get location or situational depression?

I have lived in country nsw for the last 4 years and for the whole time have been depressed and abused prescription meds/alcohol and illicit substances to help numb myself from isolation and missing my family/friends from WA.

6 weeks ago I was sent by my employer to a private rehab in Sydney and was also diagnosed with ADHD/Aspergers/Depression and prescribed prozac in week 1 and vyvnase/dexamphetamine in week 4. After 2 weeks of rehab I was back to my happy self and going to the gym, running on the beach, socialising, and having a ball with all the motivation in the world.

This week I was discharged from hospital and had to go back to country nsw and my depression has resurfaced and my motivation is going downhill quickly. The only change is that I am back in my original location and back at work. Is this common?

 

[Mootsy]

Yes, I do believe situational depression/anxiety is a thing, but it’s not talked about much, nor is it elaborated on much at all anywhere, but I believe it’s a real thing. It can be your environment bringing you down, workplace..

Just say you changed your environment and you felt good again, then that proves that situational or circumstantial depression exists and that it’s not always a fixed illness, it could often be depression which is a reaction to being in the wrong place and feeling stuck in the wrong place. As long as that continues then depression continues to lock onto you until something changes and so on. Getting help and doing what you can to find the right path is key to making small steps to change.

A good example is if everyone you know is arrogant and you feel small. Where as, there are times where being around friends or even a workplace where you might feel important and heard and like you are valued raises your happiness and self esteem levels.

 

[Coolangatta]

There's a cruel conundrum where you know changing your environment can help you but you don't want to be around people and drag them down to your level with your angry/depressed demeanor and attitude. Fortunately, it's almost impossible for me to be hostile to strangers, but bubbly and energetic is the opposite of how you'd describe me. Finally decided to axe Twitter for good, hope that helps.

 

[james Dean]

Yes, I do believe situational depression/anxiety is a thing, but it’s not talked about much, nor is it elaborated on much at all anywhere, but I believe it’s a real thing. It can be your environment bringing you down, workplace..

Just say you changed your environment and you felt good again, then that proves that situational or circumstantial depression exists and that it’s not always a fixed illness, it could often be depression which is a reaction to being in the wrong place and feeling stuck in the wrong place. As long as that continues then depression continues to lock onto you until something changes and so on. Getting help and doing what you can to find the right path is key to making small steps to change.

A good example is if everyone you know is arrogant and you feel small. Where as, there are times where being around friends or even a workplace where you might feel important and heard and like you are valued raises your happiness and self esteem levels.

Just out curiosity is this something that you have been through yourself?

If so (even if not and you are aware of cases) did you find that making radical changes to your life did improve the depression or overall mental health?

 

[JW Frogen]

Have read through the entire thread, very interesting perspectives here, some brave and honest.

The black dog has bite me right in the heart and soul all year really, my behavior became more and more irrational to the point I went all Incredible Hulk on my supervisor who I had previously worked very well with for over three years.

Almost lost my job.

Getting help now, the anti depressant drug seems while not turn me into a musical of happiness at least tame the the emotions to the point where the dark narratives in the mind do not run riot.

So it is helping, and exercise too, which I have to force myself to do, but over the weeks it has seemed to lighten my mood.

And I lucked into a great clinical psychologist, I actually look forward to seeing him.

But make not mistake about it, I have been in two wars and work with a lot of violence in my current work, but nothing, I mean nothing, has scared the * out of me like this depression.

I wish everyone on this thread health and happiness, and thank you for sharing what I know is not easy to talk about.

 

[Perth gal]

Anyone else get location or situational depression?

I have lived in country nsw for the last 4 years and for the whole time have been depressed and abused prescription meds/alcohol and illicit substances to help numb myself from isolation and missing my family/friends from WA.

6 weeks ago I was sent by my employer to a private rehab in Sydney and was also diagnosed with ADHD/Aspergers/Depression and prescribed prozac in week 1 and vyvnase/dexamphetamine in week 4. After 2 weeks of rehab I was back to my happy self and going to the gym, running on the beach, socialising, and having a ball with all the motivation in the world.

This week I was discharged from hospital and had to go back to country nsw and my depression has resurfaced and my motivation is going downhill quickly. The only change is that I am back in my original location and back at work. Is this common?

I think the universe and your soul is telling you to move away.

 

[ash_1050]

Anyone else get location or situational depression?

I have lived in country nsw for the last 4 years and for the whole time have been depressed and abused prescription meds/alcohol and illicit substances to help numb myself from isolation and missing my family/friends from WA.

6 weeks ago I was sent by my employer to a private rehab in Sydney and was also diagnosed with ADHD/Aspergers/Depression and prescribed prozac in week 1 and vyvnase/dexamphetamine in week 4. After 2 weeks of rehab I was back to my happy self and going to the gym, running on the beach, socialising, and having a ball with all the motivation in the world.

This week I was discharged from hospital and had to go back to country nsw and my depression has resurfaced and my motivation is going downhill quickly. The only change is that I am back in my original location and back at work. Is this common?

It's very much a case of being depressed about your quality of life at the location. If you're doing things, keeping busy and staying somewhat healthy you're a lot happier than if you go through the motions and don't have anything to look forward to. Maybe book a flight to head back and see them for the long weekend or book something else to look forward to? Also look at doing a bit more exercise when you're back in the country to keep you fit and active.

 

[Angus Young]

Anyone else get location or situational depression?

?

yes when I went from living in South America to Adelaide..... heaven to hell as a single man.

U got to take action and get out of the rut.

 

[james Dean]

Never accept something s**t in your life. Remove anything negative, whether it is your job, girlfriend/boyfriend, friends, housemate, city you live in, whatever.

Things are not going to turn around naturally, you have to make things change.

 

[raskolnikov]

I would be depressed too if I had to live in country NSW. Central Queensland is bad enough. At least we have the sun and surf here.

 

[Mootsy]

Just out curiosity is this something that you have been through yourself?

If so (even if not and you are aware of cases) did you find that making radical changes to your life did improve the depression or overall mental health?

Yes, but the problem is always the procrastination and that it's always just easier to not make the difficult changes. But usually, the most difficult aspects of making those changes is a decision made that can take 5 minutes or less, whereas depression tends to stay in something that hasn't changed for years and years unless you interfere with the cause/cycle. For instance. It's easy to live in a depressive state and to feel like nothing will get better. The stupidity of that is that simply changing can save you years of wasted time. That's the awful part of depression, it usually grows from something like indecision or procrastination and it spirals into idleness and non-decision, this then leads to the past and present directing your life. The now is the only thing that can change things and decisions are made in the now, not from thinking about a time that is old or hasn't occurred yet.

The dumb thing about environmental depression is that simply taking 5 minutes to change something can improve your life drastically.

Say for instance a job that isn't for you, for someone with high self-esteem, the decision is simple, you just leave, and that can be done in no time. You write a resignation letter, you give your notice, etc, it's done. The person with self-esteem knows this and spends no time wasting over it, the person with low self-esteem thinks "it might be a year before I get something else, I better stay". The person with high self-esteem or a competitive personality knows better and has the positivity to think "I might get something else in a couple of weeks and I'll put in the work to do that, and I'll be relaxed about it and have a good system".

Same can be said for other similar scenarios.

It is a choice and it is entirely based on what you think and how much you value yourself in a certain environment that is leading to no progress.

I always try to think "what my sports/music heroes do", they have high self-esteem, they wouldn't put up with this or that etc..

Depression is usually caused by other factors before it, a circle of things looping and never resolving itself, for example..

indecision --> procrastination --> idleness --> low self-esteem --> environments feeding on that --> depression --> and back to the start.

breaking that cycle is what WILL help, but sometimes we feel like it can't get better, and so on it goes. So really it's that simple decision and it takes no time that gives people the chance to get better because the behaviour/decision loop is changed and so it either leads to a different success or different non-success.

For me it's been a slow progress, but usually it's the quick decision that changed things for the better.

 

[Feraligatr]

I've suffered from Suicidal depression since I was six years old. It stems from an extremely traumatic event that went on for a lot of my childhood.
My first attempt was at 8 years old. Although when you are that young you don't know depression or suicide. I just remember sitting on the train tracks waiting to get run over by the train. I don't remember much about the why when and what though. And now at almost 28 I've had about 9 suicide attempts.

I have times where I feel almost normal where my life isn't tainted by this darkness and at other times I never want to get out of bed again.

I hold down a full time job and my boss and who I work for (a government department) are very supportive and have helped me a lot. Also having a job I love has also helped.

I see a psychologist and mental health nurse as well as a eating disorder specialist. I also have started anti-depressants again. These ones seem really good and haven't caused me to feel washed out and numb. I've also got a really caring GP.

The group of friends I have now are also very supportive and even though it's hard on them they stay by my side and I owe them a lot. I find it really hard to talk to people about what's going on because I don't want to be a burden to people and I find it really hard to ask for help but slowly I am finding ways to ask for help and talk to people.

Deleting all social media has helped my mental health too along with giving up all sugar (except fruits) and only eating fresh vegetables and meats.
I have also found exercise and weightlifting has helped too and I dedicate a lot of my free time to weightlifting and cardio based exercises.

Though depression has cost me a lot too. A lot of people have treated me badly because of it, I guess because they can't understand depression and what it does to a person. I've struggled in the too. I am a workaholic and work hard but the jobs I was in before the one I am in now were all customer service based and I struggled in those environments. I am much more a hands on outdoor kind of person. Not someone that does well with being cooped up in an office . I also have never had a boyfriend because of depression. One day I hope I will be well enough to meet someone. Because I would hate to be a burden to anyone.

I really want to beat this disease because my dream is to be a Highway Patrol Copper and I don't want this to stop me. I want to achieve my dream for once and not give up because depression tells me I am not good enough and I'll never get there.

I would never wish this on anyone one.

 

[james Dean]

I've suffered from Suicidal depression since I was six years old. It stems from an extremely traumatic event that went on for a lot of my childhood.
My first attempt was at 8 years old. Although when you are that young you don't know depression or suicide. I just remember sitting on the train tracks waiting to get run over by the train. I don't remember much about the why when and what though. And now at almost 28 I've had about 9 suicide attempts.

I have times where I feel almost normal where my life isn't tainted by this darkness and at other times I never want to get out of bed again.

I hold down a full time job and my boss and who I work for (a government department) are very supportive and have helped me a lot. Also having a job I love has also helped.

I see a psychologist and mental health nurse as well as a eating disorder specialist. I also have started anti-depressants again. These ones seem really good and haven't caused me to feel washed out and numb. I've also got a really caring GP.

The group of friends I have now are also very supportive and even though it's hard on them they stay by my side and I owe them a lot. I find it really hard to talk to people about what's going on because I don't want to be a burden to people and I find it really hard to ask for help but slowly I am finding ways to ask for help and talk to people.

Deleting all social media has helped my mental health too along with giving up all sugar (except fruits) and only eating fresh vegetables and meats.
I have also found exercise and weightlifting has helped too and I dedicate a lot of my free time to weightlifting and cardio based exercises.

Though depression has cost me a lot too. A lot of people have treated me badly because of it, I guess because they can't understand depression and what it does to a person. I've struggled in the too. I am a workaholic and work hard but the jobs I was in before the one I am in now were all customer service based and I struggled in those environments. I am much more a hands on outdoor kind of person. Not someone that does well with being cooped up in an office . I also have never had a boyfriend because of depression. One day I hope I will be well enough to meet someone. Because I would hate to be a burden to anyone.

I really want to beat this disease because my dream is to be a Highway Patrol Copper and I don't want this to stop me. I want to achieve my dream for once and not give up because depression tells me I am not good enough and I'll never get there.

I would never wish this on anyone one.

All the best man, that mustn't be easy to share.

 

[Feraligatr]

All the best man, that mustn't be easy to share.

Thanks, I just hope that someone who is struggling will read it and relate to it and know that they are not alone, because depression makes you feel like you are all alone.
As much as I struggle with it, I want to help people who are struggling as well.

 

[Mojo]

I've suffered from Suicidal depression since I was six years old. It stems from an extremely traumatic event that went on for a lot of my childhood.
My first attempt was at 8 years old. Although when you are that young you don't know depression or suicide. I just remember sitting on the train tracks waiting to get run over by the train. I don't remember much about the why when and what though. And now at almost 28 I've had about 9 suicide attempts.

I have times where I feel almost normal where my life isn't tainted by this darkness and at other times I never want to get out of bed again.

I hold down a full time job and my boss and who I work for (a government department) are very supportive and have helped me a lot. Also having a job I love has also helped.

I see a psychologist and mental health nurse as well as a eating disorder specialist. I also have started anti-depressants again. These ones seem really good and haven't caused me to feel washed out and numb. I've also got a really caring GP.

The group of friends I have now are also very supportive and even though it's hard on them they stay by my side and I owe them a lot. I find it really hard to talk to people about what's going on because I don't want to be a burden to people and I find it really hard to ask for help but slowly I am finding ways to ask for help and talk to people.

Deleting all social media has helped my mental health too along with giving up all sugar (except fruits) and only eating fresh vegetables and meats.
I have also found exercise and weightlifting has helped too and I dedicate a lot of my free time to weightlifting and cardio based exercises.

Though depression has cost me a lot too. A lot of people have treated me badly because of it, I guess because they can't understand depression and what it does to a person. I've struggled in the too. I am a workaholic and work hard but the jobs I was in before the one I am in now were all customer service based and I struggled in those environments. I am much more a hands on outdoor kind of person. Not someone that does well with being cooped up in an office . I also have never had a boyfriend because of depression. One day I hope I will be well enough to meet someone. Because I would hate to be a burden to anyone.

I really want to beat this disease because my dream is to be a Highway Patrol Copper and I don't want this to stop me. I want to achieve my dream for once and not give up because depression tells me I am not good enough and I'll never get there.

I would never wish this on anyone one.

Do you mind me asking what anti-depressants you're on, Cager? (feel free to PM me)

 

[Feraligatr]

Do you mind me asking what anti-depressants you're on, Cager? (feel free to PM me)

Pristiq.
I have been on Zoloft and lexapro

Zoloft gave me bad side effects that never decreased and lexapro completely numbed me out. I put on a heap of weight on lexapro because it took away all my motivation. It was like I was a shell on that. Someone could have been brutally murdered in front of me and I couldn't have cared. After that I refused to go on anti depressants until I got to the stage where I knew I couldn't do it alone.

The first few weeks were hell on Pristiq but once I got used to it the side effects disappeared and I am glad I stuck with them because they help and I still feel like a normal person and not a zombie.

 

[Mojo]

Pristiq.
I have been on Zoloft and lexapro

Zoloft gave me bad side effects that never decreased and lexapro completely numbed me out. I put on a heap of weight on lexapro because it took away all my motivation. It was like I was a shell on that. Someone could have been brutally murdered in front of me and I couldn't have cared. After that I refused to go on anti depressants until I got to the stage where I knew I couldn't do it alone.

The first few weeks were hell on Pristiq but once I got used to it the side effects disappeared and I am glad I stuck with them because they help and I still feel like a normal person and not a zombie.

Interesting, I've tried all 3 in the past 12 months.

Prestiq actually hospitalised me - it just exacerbated my anxiety & gave me brain zaps.
Zoloft completely numbed me.
Lexapro is the only one that hasn't given me side effects. I'm still unsure how much on an effect it has on me though; if anything, it's a pretty minor improvement - perhaps just taking something mentally helps?

I'd like to take something else but I'm pretty pessimistic about what another drug will do with the luck I've had so far.

 

[Feraligatr]

Interesting, I've tried all 3 in the past 12 months.

Prestiq actually hospitalised me - it just exacerbated my anxiety & gave me brain zaps.
Zoloft completely numbed me.
Lexapro is the only one that hasn't given me side effects. I'm still unsure how much on an effect it has on me though; if anything, it's a pretty minor improvement - perhaps just taking something mentally helps?

I'd like to take something else but I'm pretty pessimistic about what another drug will do with the luck I've had so far.

Well I guess there are medicines that work for some that don't work for others. A real trial and error thing.
I had the same thoughts as you, it's a placebo effect and all that but I have found this one to help level my mood.

I still have days where I struggle with thoughts if suicide but it's not everyday all the time now.

I really hope you find something that works for you . Maybe you can link in with some other doctors who could help with something to at least that the edge off because I know exactly what you are going through and I really hope you can find something to help you out.

If you ever need to talk though just shoot me a PM. I check Big footy most days

 

[nicky]

Prestiq actually hospitalised me - it just exacerbated my anxiety & gave me brain zaps.
.

A very close friend of mine was on this and took her own life.

The casualness in how these are prescribed without acknowledging the dangerous side effects is tragic.

 

[phantom13]

Most people couldn’t name the drugs to treat most medical conditions, even simple stuff like anti biotic or types of penicillin, yet anti depressants, sleeping pills, add, anxiety treatments are part of our vernacular.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

A very close friend of mine was on this and took her own life.

The casualness in how these are prescribed without acknowledging the dangerous side effects is tragic.

Very sorry to hear that.

I think generally the trend in how a lot of GPs treat or advise with regard to mental health is worrying, and this is part of it. I know when I went through my own battles with mental illness, antidepressants were almost thrust upon me immediately. If it weren't for my background in psych and a better understanding of what I needed I probably would have taken them. In the end I made what I believed to be, and what I still believe was, the right call and addressed my difficulties in other ways - ways that were barely even presented as an option to me by the GP.

Not that these medications are bad choices all the time - sometimes they're a good option. Sometimes they're not. Unfortunately, mental illness doesn't fit adequately within a biomedical model and that's lost on a lot of GPs. As a result these drugs are administered haphazardly with insufficient follow-up and support.

For a field that's getting better and better, this remains a real issue.

 

[_RT_]

Time for an update, its been about 3 months since my last post in here.

First off we moved into our house back in December and things worked out pretty good for us. We ended up with a fair bit of cash left over which allowed us to whack a fair bit of coin on the home loan and were also able to upgrade a few items around the house. Kids have started school and seem to have settled in very quickly, which is a minor miracle. So on the home front things are pretty good.

At work things are going ok job wise, but things could change quite quickly. My work is retrenching 350 workers shortly and no-one has any idea who is going to get tapped on the shoulder and what we're going to get if we do get tapped. I'm pretty sure that I won't be getting tapped but with a pretty severe back injury and around 50% hearing loss, anything is possible.

As for me personally, we as I just mentioned I have a pretty severe back injury, with 3 discs giving me grief in my lower back. Pain wise its ok but I have to keep reminding myself that I can't do the sort of things that I used to do, especially when it comes to playing with the kids. On top of that I also have major hearing loss in one ear @70% and overall it leaves me with about 50% of my hearing. The doctors have told me that there is nothing they can do for it and that I'll have to be pretty careful that I don't expose myself to any further risk.

Apart from that everything else is going well and by the end of the year I hope to be in a much better place emotionally and hopefully physically. I guess it backs up what I said in my initial post in this thread and that is if you keep on fighting and aren't afraid to go out and seek some professional help things can work out for you in the long run.

To put it another way, remember what Dory says in Finding Nemo: Just keep swimming.

So it's been just over 6 years since this post and after having things go really well for a few years, Thursday saw me have a complete mental breakdown. Standing in the kitchen at work and out of nowhere I started sobbing, from there thoughts turned to grabbing the carving knife out of the drawer and slicing the wrists, then came thoughts of shoving my hands in the flat bed toaster to injure myself. Thankfully before any of that could happen I grabbed my lunch and headed back to my desk thinking I could snap out of it by doing some work, but the sobbing only got worse and the thoughts just kept on coming, like jump in the car and plough into the river nearby and drown myself. Plough the car into a tree and explode in flames. The only thing that stopped me was the picture of my wife and I that sits right beside my screen, looking at that I didn't want to put her through anymore pain and leave her with the 2 boys, so I walk away from my desk to get away from my keys and sent a message saying I can't stop thinking of hurting myself and I'm really sorry.

Out the back the thoughts of self harm kept on coming and I'm looking at photos of my father(who killed himself) and my wife sobbing even more. Thankfully before I could do anything else the ladies that I work with came out and found me and kept me from doing anything. My wife arrived at work shortly after and took me home. Went to the doctors the next morning and doctor was extremely concerned for the state of mind I was in and he had the local mental health unit call me to screen me over the phone to see if anything more was needed. At the moment they haven't locked me away,and I am now on a much stronger medication which has slowed the thoughts of self harm, but they are still there from time to time.

Now some might ask what the * are you doing on Big Footy after an episode like that, well talking about footy is about the only thing that does help stop the thoughts, when I am on here and engaged in a debate about footy it gives me something else to focus on. Unfortunately it sometimes hinders as some posters think that it is great to make things personal and attack me personally. Thankfully the ignore feature means I don't have to put up with them when I don't want to. But those guys are nothing compared to the other issues that are dogging me.

I'm trying to keep swimming, but at the moment I feel like I'm drowning and there is nobody around to throw me a lifeline, however I am now seeing a psych something that I probably needed to do a few years ago so hopefully that will pull me back around.

 

[nicky]

So it's been just over 6 years since this post and after having things go really well for a few years, Thursday saw me have a complete mental breakdown. Standing in the kitchen at work and out of nowhere I started sobbing, from there thoughts turned to grabbing the carving knife out of the drawer and slicing the wrists, then came thoughts of shoving my hands in the flat bed toaster to injure myself. Thankfully before any of that could happen I grabbed my lunch and headed back to my desk thinking I could snap out of it by doing some work, but the sobbing only got worse and the thoughts just kept on coming, like jump in the car and plough into the river nearby and drown myself. Plough the car into a tree and explode in flames. The only thing that stopped me was the picture of my wife and I that sits right beside my screen, looking at that I didn't want to put her through anymore pain and leave her with the 2 boys, so I walk away from my desk to get away from my keys and sent a message saying I can't stop thinking of hurting myself and I'm really sorry.

Out the back the thoughts of self harm kept on coming and I'm looking at photos of my father(who killed himself) and my wife sobbing even more. Thankfully before I could do anything else the ladies that I work with came out and found me and kept me from doing anything. My wife arrived at work shortly after and took me home. Went to the doctors the next morning and doctor was extremely concerned for the state of mind I was in and he had the local mental health unit call me to screen me over the phone to see if anything more was needed. At the moment they haven't locked me away,and I am now on a much stronger medication which has slowed the thoughts of self harm, but they are still there from time to time.

Now some might ask what the **** are you doing on Big Footy after an episode like that, well talking about footy is about the only thing that does help stop the thoughts, when I am on here and engaged in a debate about footy it gives me something else to focus on. Unfortunately it sometimes hinders as some posters think that it is great to make things personal and attack me personally. Thankfully the ignore feature means I don't have to put up with them when I don't want to. But those guys are nothing compared to the other issues that are dogging me.

I'm trying to keep swimming, but at the moment I feel like I'm drowning and there is nobody around to throw me a lifeline, however I am now seeing a psych something that I probably needed to do a few years ago so hopefully that will pull me back around.

That sounds extremely horrible. I'm so glad you are getting support.

 

[Run n Spread]

Never accept something s**t in your life. Remove anything negative, whether it is your job, girlfriend/boyfriend, friends, housemate, city you live in, whatever.

Things are not going to turn around naturally, you have to make things change.

Not always that easy but take your point.