Mental Illnesses

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Mental Illnesses, Who has one and how does it affect you physically and mentally?

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  • GetHotIn2014
    GetHotIn2014 Posts: 201 Member
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    I don't know if I can honestly say I'm mentally ill, but I've definitely dealt with a lot of depression and anxiety. Before I started adopting healthier eating and exercise habits, I was constantly having trouble sleeping, ate lots of food to comfort myself, but never felt like I had anything under control and it was really miserable. Now I'm doing better, but stress still gets to me a lot.
  • pudadough
    pudadough Posts: 1,271 Member
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    I have diagnosed OCD. Moderate level. I have both obsessions and compulsions (what can I say, I've always been an over achiever!)

    They both affect me but I am very reluctant to tell people about my diagnosis in real life because I think very few people understand real OCD. People joke about "being OCD" all the time. If they really had it, they wouldn't joke about it. Heck, it took me 10 years to even "come out" to my parents (who thankfully have been incredibly supportive.) My obsessions are strange and make me sound like a lunatic when I articulate them out loud. My particular compulsion is one I can easily hide, so I just prefer not to make it a big deal.

    Sometimes it does overwhelm me and makes me depressed, but for the most part I think I handle it well. Might as well learn to do that since there is no cure!
  • Ascolti_la_musica
    Ascolti_la_musica Posts: 676 Member
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    I have schizophrenia.
    I refuse to take drugs for it, so I manage for the most part by staying home and avoiding people. I tend to need a lot more sleep than most people, but am otherwise just as physically capable as anyone my weight can expect to be.
    Why do you ask?
  • ashleym9925
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    Just asking because I suffer from BPD and major depression with psychotic features. I just wanted to know how mental illnesses affects others.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,114 Member
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    There are some groups here for various mental illnesses, did you do a search in "Groups"? I don't know how active they are, but you could do some reading there...
  • Beckiphilpot
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    I am bipolar-mild and i have depression. The mix of the two make each and every day either really enjoyable or very miserable.
  • TheRealAutumnShiranui
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    I have Severe Social Anxiety, and Schizo-affective disorder (Some doctors say it is a form of Schizophrenia, some say it isn't)
    And the recovery has been harder than dealing with the actual illness. I went from 130 lbs to almost 190 lbs in a year and a half from medication, even when working out and dieting. The weight gain made me relapse into an Eating Disorder that I had previously for about 6 years. It has taken me about a year, but I have finally found a medication to manage my symptoms, and very slowly the weight is coming off.
  • Joey2283
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    I have suffered from severe depression for about 10 years or so. I would say was, but it never REALLY goes away, Bulimic for a good 6 years of that time. Towards the end I was self inflicting upwards of 5 times per day and one day just completely broke down. I have also been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia but Cymbalta has really helped with that.
  • rushikareddy
    rushikareddy Posts: 604 Member
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    I think I have a bipolar syndrome! But I don't really go into depression but I have really extreme mood swings sometimes!
  • TheConsciousFoody
    TheConsciousFoody Posts: 607 Member
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    When my grandpa died (my hero) I ended up developing severe social anxiety and general anxiety, which made me annoying. I wouldnt want to leave the house and if I thought I had to go some where by myself I would have a panic attack. I became very withdrawn, I lost motivation, smoked a pack of cigarettes a day and cried over everything. I was afraid of everything and would spend hours thinking of what bad things could happen to me if I did them...fly on a plane, go for a ride on the Harley, of driving my car. It was no fun going from a person who was very outgoing and full of life to a scared weirdo who hid from the world, Once my mother mentioned my grandpa. It wanting this for me I finally went to talk to my Doctor about it. After meeting a few times he put me on effexor and my whole life has changed. I quit smoking, started sleeping better, got my motivation back, and I finally feel like me again.
  • droneofvelvet
    droneofvelvet Posts: 290 Member
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    I have depression and anxiety and from my reaction to anti-depressants it might be Bipolar as well, but I never went through with my dr visits to find out more.

    2011 was a hard year for me, I would barely leave my house and if I did I would sit in my car and have my boyfriend go grocery shopping and even shop at the mall for me. I would stay up all night because of my constant anxiety attacks. Being out everyday now that I have a full time job partially helps me, but some days I call in sick because I am panicking about going to work. I get so depressed some days that I feel like killing myself or constantly wishing I would die. I feel a constant embarrassed feeling after public interactions. When I was taking anti-depressants for a few months I felt amazing. I still have days or a week where I feel this amazing euphoria and I feel like jumping up and down, skipping through stores and setting goals, but this was all mixed in with episodes of yelling at loved ones, breaking mirrors and dangerous objects around the house and trying to hurt myself all while feeling this strong excitement and "happy" feeling. I feel like that makes it worse and I crash down back into feeling miserable.

    Right now I feel like crap because of the medication giving me weight gain. I want to go back on it even with the bad side effects, but I would do anything not to gain weight. Having a hard time with anxiety and work, have hardly any friends and the more the years pass the harder it is to make any new friends. Well I'm here if anyone wants to talk.
  • areumdawn
    areumdawn Posts: 23 Member
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    Depression and social anxiety. I suffer from physical symptoms when I'm in social situations (dry mouth, weak legs) and it makes me overly self conscious and hyper aware of my surroundings. (even a bit paranoid as to whether people are staring at me or talking about me) Depression makes me very irritable and fatigued.
  • Jsnuggles
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    I have ****. Meds put on weight. I do not tend to get into details on forums. I advise others do not either unless it is a forum specifically for mental health. Just my two cents.
  • hadlam83
    hadlam83 Posts: 140
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    I am diagnosed with OCD, Genrelised Anxiety disorder and depression. It affects my every day life, but how I deal with it affects how bad my episodes are.

    Having recently been through regularly therapy with a psychologist and psychiatrist I have learnt to deal with my symptoms and how to prevent myself from falling back into my regular patterns. One of the biggest factors that keep me in a positive phase is regular exercise and healthy eating.

    Although you are diagnosed with BPD, feel free to add me if you want to chat :)
  • dodihere
    dodihere Posts: 490
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    I have panic disorder and the anxiety has cause me to have a bit of OCD but it isn't bad. The OCD isn't, lol.