Post by ghost on Dec 27, 2006 14:34:16 GMT -5
carried over from the old board:
thoughts on depression..
« Thread Started on Nov 16, 2006, 11:05am »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
am i the only one who notices that when it comes to mental illness oprah never really gets it at all?
i don't watch her show often.. but i did when brooke shields was on talking about her post partum depression.. and again the other day on the subject of a man who became so depressed he killed his twin daughters in a psychotic state of depersonalization.. oprah was really tough.. she does not understand mental illness or depression..
maybe this sounds odd, maybe most people don't.. it's just hard for me because my entire life has been dealing with my family's mental illness and depression.. everything from alcoholism, ocd, and agoraphobia to my sister's chronic paranoid schiophrenia.. so yes.. it is my world.. it is just all so familiar i'm afraid..
anyway, my real point is.. everyone knows how i will break into a rant over drs and psychs and the drug companies over selling antidepressants and such.. i mean every commercial break on tv nowadays is for a drug ad of some sort.. and they practically throw them at me when i go to the drs and try to 'just say no'..
so although this man described honestly in full detail exactly the circumstances of his illness and what occurred.. an otherwise perfectly good father of 5, a banker, happily married.. no one could understand how his wife forgave him and visited him prison.. and the moment she mentioned he had just started a new antidepressant that week.. the subject was changed.. closed.. commercial break.. over.
so i was sorta pissed off observing that..
but then who comes along and surprises me entirely but a young neuro psychiatrist to explain some things about depression.. he not only did not push drugs! ! ! but said we should Not simply rely on them because they are not enough.. and focused instead on 3 major symptoms to keep in mind as a loved one of someone with depression: they are Hopelessness, Isolation and Alienation..
(my middle names!!!)
he said faith is so important because it is a direct line to Hope.. and hopelessness is the worst (don't we know it..) and can lead the person to look for a 'resolution' which can mean suicide, etc..
isolation breaks the lines of support that bolster the hope and comfort from the person.. when you sense a person withdrawing from you at least see that they are getting a connection with someone else.. isolation kills.
alienation always occurs before someone severely depressed commits an act of harm.. because they have to be disconnected/detached from feelings of deep caring to do what they do..
alienation is my biggest fear of all.. i feel it always towards the humans in general.. but i have a small inner circle of my 2 guys and 7 kitties... i have at one point in my life had the 'bad' kind of depression with ongoing 'intrusive thoughts' of suicide along with this awful detachment of caring.. it was caused by a seriously adverse reaction to a simple stomach medication that slowed my metabolism terribly.. that year was a black hole in my life.. i lost my son's 8th bday, christmas.. i remember my husband dragging me along to get the tree.. all i remember is i got a stupid rock in my moccassins from the gravel.. and they propped me up to watch them decorate the tree.. that horrible detachment.. when you lose caring.. of course you lose all hope because nothing matters then.
anyway.. what he said was so important.. i will always remember these things as the 'big 3' .. thank goodness when someone remembers that this is a human problem and to deal with it in a human way..
ghost
p.s. the new Wyeth commercials state NIMH's latest research statistics on their most recent ad for the latest greatest..
"over 70% of people taking antidepressant medication are still depressed.." ! ! !
placebos fared so much better!! hell, i'll take the sugar pills!!!
i rest my case!!!!
ghost
thoughts on depression..
« Thread Started on Nov 16, 2006, 11:05am »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
am i the only one who notices that when it comes to mental illness oprah never really gets it at all?
i don't watch her show often.. but i did when brooke shields was on talking about her post partum depression.. and again the other day on the subject of a man who became so depressed he killed his twin daughters in a psychotic state of depersonalization.. oprah was really tough.. she does not understand mental illness or depression..
maybe this sounds odd, maybe most people don't.. it's just hard for me because my entire life has been dealing with my family's mental illness and depression.. everything from alcoholism, ocd, and agoraphobia to my sister's chronic paranoid schiophrenia.. so yes.. it is my world.. it is just all so familiar i'm afraid..
anyway, my real point is.. everyone knows how i will break into a rant over drs and psychs and the drug companies over selling antidepressants and such.. i mean every commercial break on tv nowadays is for a drug ad of some sort.. and they practically throw them at me when i go to the drs and try to 'just say no'..
so although this man described honestly in full detail exactly the circumstances of his illness and what occurred.. an otherwise perfectly good father of 5, a banker, happily married.. no one could understand how his wife forgave him and visited him prison.. and the moment she mentioned he had just started a new antidepressant that week.. the subject was changed.. closed.. commercial break.. over.
so i was sorta pissed off observing that..
but then who comes along and surprises me entirely but a young neuro psychiatrist to explain some things about depression.. he not only did not push drugs! ! ! but said we should Not simply rely on them because they are not enough.. and focused instead on 3 major symptoms to keep in mind as a loved one of someone with depression: they are Hopelessness, Isolation and Alienation..
(my middle names!!!)
he said faith is so important because it is a direct line to Hope.. and hopelessness is the worst (don't we know it..) and can lead the person to look for a 'resolution' which can mean suicide, etc..
isolation breaks the lines of support that bolster the hope and comfort from the person.. when you sense a person withdrawing from you at least see that they are getting a connection with someone else.. isolation kills.
alienation always occurs before someone severely depressed commits an act of harm.. because they have to be disconnected/detached from feelings of deep caring to do what they do..
alienation is my biggest fear of all.. i feel it always towards the humans in general.. but i have a small inner circle of my 2 guys and 7 kitties... i have at one point in my life had the 'bad' kind of depression with ongoing 'intrusive thoughts' of suicide along with this awful detachment of caring.. it was caused by a seriously adverse reaction to a simple stomach medication that slowed my metabolism terribly.. that year was a black hole in my life.. i lost my son's 8th bday, christmas.. i remember my husband dragging me along to get the tree.. all i remember is i got a stupid rock in my moccassins from the gravel.. and they propped me up to watch them decorate the tree.. that horrible detachment.. when you lose caring.. of course you lose all hope because nothing matters then.
anyway.. what he said was so important.. i will always remember these things as the 'big 3' .. thank goodness when someone remembers that this is a human problem and to deal with it in a human way..
ghost
p.s. the new Wyeth commercials state NIMH's latest research statistics on their most recent ad for the latest greatest..
"over 70% of people taking antidepressant medication are still depressed.." ! ! !
placebos fared so much better!! hell, i'll take the sugar pills!!!
i rest my case!!!!
ghost