Anxiety/Possible Depression. Any help please?

Hungry_Tuna · January 2012

Oh dear I'm sorry to hear you're going through a rough time. I can relate in some ways, not so much the anxiety part, but in the depression area.

I would let one negative thought stem into another negative thought and feel worse about myself as the thoughts consumed me. I'd focus on the bad things about myself instead of the good and would cry a LOT. Even most recently, on New Year's Eve.

Think of the negative thoughts like ants in a picnic going after your happy fruit pie and goodies. There's always that first ant, leading the pack. When you get that first negative thought, immediately try to focus on a positive thing- squash that ant! When the next one comes along, sometimes soon after the first, squash it.

Changing your thought process takes some work, it's not easy by any means. I know for myself, I fake the positivity until I genuinely feel it. Sometimes, that's true here on MFP. I don't want to post negative thoughts/feelings on Facebook or anywhere online because when I'm feeling better, I may be reminded of it again later with comments from friends and I will relive that negative thought. Fake it till you make it. Trick your brain.

One thing I know is that when I'm exercising and eating right, I feel a sense of worth and happiness. I don't know exactly how to explain what I go through, but I hope this helps.

I do hope you overcome your anxiety and possible depression sometime soon. Love ya girl and we're all here for you if you need us. :flowerforyou:

jennajava · January 2012

Hi. I have GAD. I recommend you see a doctor and not rely on a forum for help. It could be more serious than you think.

I made an appointment to see one. But it's two weeks away.

I am so sorry! Some things that help me destress in the meantime:

1. Coloring in a coloring book (no really, it works.)
2. Cleaning my house (though I'm told I shouldn't do this, because it's my way of fixating)
3. Zumba
4. Running
5. Staying busy

Please feel free to add me or message me if you ever need to talk. I totally understand how you're feeling.

capaxinfiniti · January 2012

Hi. I have GAD. I recommend you see a doctor and not rely on a forum for help. It could be more serious than you think.

I made an appointment to see one. But it's two weeks away.

I am so sorry! Some things that help me destress in the meantime:

1. Coloring in a coloring book (no really, it works.)
2. Cleaning my house (though I'm told I shouldn't do this, because it's my way of fixating)
3. Zumba
4. Running
5. Staying busy

Please feel free to add me or message me if you ever need to talk. I totally understand how you're feeling.

Thanks for those. I may go out and get a coloring book today and try it out. :flowerforyou:

Captain_Tightpants · January 2012

Hi, fellow anxiety sufferer here :-)

Exercise and Yoga practice can certainly help but anxiety disorders are a problem inside your brain, so there's only so much external stuff can do to help.

The thing that's helped me the most is vipassana meditation. There's a good introduction to it here:
http://www.meditationiseasy.com/mCorner/techniques/Vipassana.htm

You don't have to worry about all the Buddhist trappings, it's really a solid meditation technique that works completely seperate from any religious (or non religious) beliefs you might have. If you want a good book on it from a completely non-religious western point of view you could try: "wherever you go, there you are" by John Kabbat Zinn.

Sometimes (may times in fact) the anxiety disorder is an actual biological disorder. It can be a malfunction of a variety of brain chemical balances and is best helped with medication and cognitive behavioral therapy. A good psychiatrist (not a psychologist or therapist... they are different), will be able to help you to determine if your anxiety is external circumstances or an actual biological issue, and they'll be able to help you medicinally if you feel you need it.

Bentley2718 · January 2012

At the risk of sounding terribly mean, it's only two weeks, you've managed this long, it sounds like you can manage a little longer (if you can't, go to a hospital, now). Go talk to the counselor, they can discuss what is going on in your life, as well as the various options you have. If most of this is related to life stressors, then you have a lot of good options in terms of trying to reprioritize, refocus, etc.. In the mean time, keep trying to exercise and eat well, it really does help a lot of people. Also, if your anxiety gets really bad, sometimes talking a walk outside will help, assuming you have a reasonably nice place to do it.

So you know where I'm coming from, I have generalized anxiety disorder, and recurrent major depression (recurrent is probably something of a misnomer, since at my best, I'm lucky to be considered only marginally depressed). I know how much it can suck, but exercise and eating reasonably well help me (sugar is a terrible mood killer for me), and a lot of other people, so I'd encourage you to keep trying with those, and just hang in there for a couple more weeks.

chauser1022 · January 2012

I suffered from depression and anxiety in silence for years. Like many of the above posters I thought medication was a last resort. I tried everything...I mean everything. I finally realized that if I were diabetic I would see nothing wrong using insulin....depression and anxiety aren't a made up problem. They are a real medical problem as described above. Over that past several years I have been through several different medications and seem to have finally found the one that works for me. As I see it the side effects (if any) are minimal to the way that the depression and anxiety were controlling my life. I am not at all saying that the meds are a cure all. I still have my ups ands downs, I still take some good supplements, still do meditation, yoga, and other relaxation techniques. I also have found that I do need a good friend to talk to when I get really down. But I just worry about people thinking that meds are so bad for you. At least talk to your doctor about the options.

hellokathy · January 2012

I've been dealing with these things all my life, though I never saw a doctor about it. For me, it comes and goes, but I haven't been feeling REALLY low for years. For me, what helped was finding the right friends and being honest about how I feel. If people react negatively towards you because of that...well, they weren't worth it in the first place. As someone else said, this is not your fault. Being honest about it and having friends that understand when you say "Listen, this is not a good day for me, so please, give me a break and maybe listen to me for a while!" really helps a great deal.

rosa7981 · January 2012

i feel whats helped me is a good support system. i have a great pal that is doing the weight loss with me and her motiviation has helped. you also have to help yourself, dont put yourself in stressful situations, its ok to back away and come back.

capaxinfiniti · January 2012

At the risk of sounding terribly mean, it's only two weeks, you've managed this long, it sounds like you can manage a little longer (if you can't, go to a hospital, now). Go talk to the counselor, they can discuss what is going on in your life, as well as the various options you have. If most of this is related to life stressors, then you have a lot of good options in terms of trying to reprioritize, refocus, etc.. In the mean time, keep trying to exercise and eat well, it really does help a lot of people. Also, if your anxiety gets really bad, sometimes talking a walk outside will help, assuming you have a reasonably nice place to do it.

So you know where I'm coming from, I have generalized anxiety disorder, and recurrent major depression (recurrent is probably something of a misnomer, since at my best, I'm lucky to be considered only marginally depressed). I know how much it can suck, but exercise and eating reasonably well help me (sugar is a terrible mood killer for me), and a lot of other people, so I'd encourage you to keep trying with those, and just hang in there for a couple more weeks.

You weren't sounding mean at all. If it means I can have someone to talk to and who can offer me their advice and opinion, then it's worth the wait. I'm mostly worried about seeing someone who will just blow me off and just sign off some prescription or something if I was recommended to see a psychiatrist (I've had doctors who never wanted to hear what I had to say about my health and lifestyle factors and just dismissed me with a prescription note in my hand). I would rather not have that happen anymore.

mslack01 · January 2012

HI! Greetings from another North Carolinian...in fact, I'm not too far from you if you are in Greenville. I am in Rocky Mount.

I also like many of these other people can relate as I have always suffered with anxiety and depression. In the past, I have tried anti-depressants but I never found one that didn't have some weird side effect that was hard for me to deal with. This past year though, I started ovarian failure (or what some of us southerners like to call "the change"

) and that just made everything amplified like 10x more. So some of it could be hormonal or thyroid-related. Don't just assume that you have a mental illness. If you go to your doctor, ask them to do a panel and check your thyroid before you agree to go on an anti-depressant.

Secondly, because I was so depressed and I needed help but did not have good results with SSRI's. My doctor suggested that I try St. John's Wort. (I would not try this though without your doctor's advice because it can interact with other medications). St. John's Wort, along with my hormone therapy has been a life-saver for me. I am so much more upbeat and happy. Prior to this, I had to take something to sleep every night (like Xanax). I have not had to take a Xanax since I started. I do take melatonin (natural sleep aid) though, because I have always suffered from insomnia.

Another thing to think about though is could it be OCD? My 12 year old was diagnosed with OCD. OCD is not the clean-freak disease everyone thinks it is. OCD is when you have an overwhelming fear or you get a thought stuck in your head that you can not get rid of even though you know it isn't an irrational thought, and then feeling compelled to do some kind of ritual to try to alleviate the thought (which usually doesnt' work). You have to have both the obsession and the compulsion component for it to be OCD. Compulsions can be anything. Hers were mostly hand-washing and counting. If you need more info about this, feel free to message me and I will be glad to help you as much as I know.

Good luck!!!

Elizabeth_M · January 2012

I was told I suffered from depression and was put on citalopram. Cutting a long story short, I really suffered some nasty side effects as a result of those tablets which I should not have been put on. I was suffering stress as a result of a boss who was a bully, I wasnt depressed.

So depression and stress are not the same thing and if I were you, I would stay well away from medications and I would stay well away from someone who will possibly look to put a "label" on you. I've spoken to a few people who tell me they are ADD and such like because they've been told they are by someone and they just pack in trying to be "normal" and they just own their label. Its funny how there are so many people with ADD nowadays.

Anyways, I would strongly suggest that you look into the causes of your stress and deal with them. Are there things in your life that are getting to you? Do you have aspects of your life that you feel are out of control? Are you letting tasks or correspondence pile up ignored?

Take a look at CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Theory) for a possible underlying cause of your emotions and get yoruself back into yoga. Its all to easy to - especially this time of year - give in to the desire to hibernate until the sun comes back. You might even be suffering from SAD due to lack of sunlight at this time of year and we've just come out of the most stressful time of the year.

So, I would look at your life and figure out what is stressing you and deal with it. Its all too easy to let thigns build up, but you wil feel better for dealing with things. I'd then make a deliberate effort to get out the house and meet people and get some daylight. Exercise is a great stress releiver, as is a massage or going for a walk or listening to some nice music. You can also try hypnotism (my fiancee had amazing results from this).

And for those advocating medication, I was put on AD's 17 years ago. I came off them after 2 years and have since had doctors tell me I'm depressed at various times. I told them I wasnt and that I was suffering from a natural response to the things that life sometimes throws at you. For instance when my best friend (previous fiancee) died of leukaemia I was devastated. I was very, very down and I was prescribed meds and told I was depressed. I told the doctor that I wasn't depressed I was instead very upset by the loss I'd suffered and it was natural and good to feel those emotions. I told them I would not take thier pills. I didnt and I coped. I have never taken AD's since I learnt the side effects they can and do cause (I had memory loss, violent mood swings, lack of interest in sex, inability to orgasm and others). I've coped. Yes, life has been tough at times, but life is tough at times. Sometimes I get really fed up, but I know that feeling will pass and it does. We just do not know enough about ADs nor the interactions they can and do have with the chemicals in the brain. I'd rather be down and me than a chemical zombie.

However, each to their own. Some people with serious mental health problems do benefit from medication and are able to function in society which they otherwise would not be able to do. I dont think you sounds like you are suffering from serious mental health problems, but I cant tell much aside from what I gleaned from your posts.

Try at least to sort yourself out first and take medications as a very last resort, which is what they should be.

I'm not advocating drugs, and certainly if you have SITUATIONAL depression, you can get through that without drugs. But, if all else fails, it might be something more chemical.

Hambone23 · January 2012

Sometimes anxiety and depression pass. Unless you have a real history of it, you may not need drugs or only for a short amount of time. (You -can- insist on weight neutral drugs. I do. Always.) But if this is dragging you or your studies down, it's better to address it. I nearly failed out of my first year of college this way before I got my act together. It ain't worth it.

Exercise is the obvious go-to to help make you feel better. So is more sleep. But my doctor has also recommended a good multivitamin, fish oil, and a simple B vitamin complex. All are pretty easy ways to deal with energy, moderate depression, and stress. The other way to deal with it is to meditate. It helps to get your mind back in order. (And coloring books are the bomb.)

Also, are you getting enough "you" time? Relax a little. Carve out some time just for you where you can do anything you want to do: veg in front of the tv, play a game, read a book, work at something like a hobby.

But to be honest, I think you should see your counselor. I saw mine when I was having trouble my freshman year. She gave me 10 free therapy sessions, and actually, it helped just to talk about things with someone you're not intimately involved with. Plus, if she sees anything "wrong," she'll bring it up in session and you deal with it properly.

Peg27 · January 2012

By my estimation, you should have seen the doctor now, and hopefully you have some answers and a roadmap to your recovery. I myself have suffered from several bouts of depression and anxiety, all attributable to stressful situations in my life. These situation specific episodes responded very well to talk-therapy, relaxation excercises, and making small behavioural changes that had big impacts on my life. I did not need any medication to help me recover and become my normal cheerful self again.
My husband however suffers from major depression, and will probably need to be on medication for the rest of his life. No amount of talk therapy, yoga, meditation, or exercise are going to help if your problem is a biochemical insufficiency of seratonin and epinephrine. Those things will help but only after you start restoring your brain to biochemical good health. And, this is really important: it may take several tries, of varying dosages and varying medications, before you find the right one to help you. The first medication my husband was on made him so sleepy he couldn't drive, and he constantly had an upset stomach. It also did not effectively lift his depression. The second one worked much better (welbutrin) and once he found the right dosage, made an enormous difference in his quality of life, with virtually no side effects.
Major depression and anxiety are crippling, and potentially fatal. It is so important to get the right help from a qualified physician. It's also important to eat well, exercise a little, and maintain all possible contact with family and friends, as long as they aren't part of the problem. It is possible you may need medication for only a short period of time. Or you may not need any at all. Or you may, like my husband and many others, need anti-depressants like a diabetic needs insulin. Only your doctor will be able to tell you for sure. Good luck to you! :flowerforyou:

Ericacea · January 2012

Hi! I empathize with your problems quite a bit. I'm now a grad student (biological sciences), but have struggled with depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems since high school. I also have some body image problems, and have gained weight from prescription meds.

I might be biased because I am a scientist, but I have a lot of faith in medicine when it's administered and used correctly. Whatever your other medication is for, if you have a good doctor, I'm sure he/she perscribed it for good reason. Still, talk to them about how you are unhappy with the weight gain it has caused. You might be able to go on a similar med that your body will react differently too, or they might be able to tweak the dosage.

It's also a good idea to see a doctor about your possible mental health issues. A lot of people talk about the problems with psych meds. While there are some problems, many are public misconceptions. Some people really do need these medications, and should stay on them with the advice of a doctor, rather than looking at it as a temporary fix. Of course, therapy can also help some people, especially in combination with meds. That being said, almost all people will go through periods of anxiety and/or depression in their lives, the variation is largely in the severity. I HIGHLY recommend the book "The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression" by Andrew Solomon. It's a little long, but it's a very personal, yet well-balanced look at the experiences and treatment of people with depression, anxiety, and bipolar today. One more thing about depression meds: some do cause weight gain in some people, but others caused weight loss. In many cases, if you feel fewer symptoms of your depression, you are more likely to feel energized to exercise and more positive about your diet, which always helps!

Finally, I'll give you a few things that have helped me and might help you:
Obviously, you are trying to eat well and exercise, which is great. Trying to have a steady sleep schedule might help your sleeping problems, but if not, meds or relaxation exercises might help.

I do yoga, and it is both a decent workout and a GREAT way to relax and feel positive about your body. It helps to take a class, if you can afford it.

Take a little time each day and do something that makes you happy. You're probably busy like all of us, and I know depression makes me feel like everything sucks. Still, I try to take a little bit of time to spoil myself, and it helps. I'm not saying this will change your life outlook, but if you like reading, doing your nails, throwing darts, taking a walk, petting a dog, etc., do it for a bit and see if it doesn't boost your mood temporarily.

Good luck! I'd be happy to talk more if you want.

Anxiety/Possible Depression. Any help please?

Replies

Categories