Discussion
Hi
Just been reading a thread about it and need to ask this question.
My sister in law has been diagnosed with depression.
Now, I might be a little narrow minded as I believe it's all in the mind and my attitude was "Pull yourself together".
My wife went to the doctors with her and wasn't impressed with my comments. The doctors have told her that it is hereditary and she must take Prozac.
Is this tosh and should she really pop these pills. Surely there must be another way to cure this ie hypnotherepy or something.
I know material things doesn't make you happy, but she really does have everything going for her. ie nice house, not short of money and drives a Noble 3R. It surely cant get better than that.
I've had really upsetting things happen to me, but give me a couple of weeks and I just bounce back. I know every one is different, but I'm having trouble getting my mind around this (maybe I need pills).
Just been reading a thread about it and need to ask this question.
My sister in law has been diagnosed with depression.
Now, I might be a little narrow minded as I believe it's all in the mind and my attitude was "Pull yourself together".
My wife went to the doctors with her and wasn't impressed with my comments. The doctors have told her that it is hereditary and she must take Prozac.
Is this tosh and should she really pop these pills. Surely there must be another way to cure this ie hypnotherepy or something.
I know material things doesn't make you happy, but she really does have everything going for her. ie nice house, not short of money and drives a Noble 3R. It surely cant get better than that.
I've had really upsetting things happen to me, but give me a couple of weeks and I just bounce back. I know every one is different, but I'm having trouble getting my mind around this (maybe I need pills).
As someone said in the other thread, sometimes it's brain chemistry ie low seretonin(sp)and the pills like seroxat and prozac boost these levels(so does St Johns Wort but without the side effects unless you are on the pill and then you could be really depressed if you end up preggers!)Low light levels reduce seretonin as do large doses of long term stress and certain recreational drugs. People with low levels can also be anxious or suffer from OCD as additional syptoms - is she like any of this? It can be an attitude problem where therepy helps but the Docs tend to go for the short term, easier options first rather than councelling as it's cheaper and there are hardly any councellers in the first place and you could wait months.
I assume prozac is a SRI(seretonin reuptake inhibiter or something)drug not a tranq?
>> Edited by tonyvid on Thursday 1st December 16:21
I assume prozac is a SRI(seretonin reuptake inhibiter or something)drug not a tranq?
>> Edited by tonyvid on Thursday 1st December 16:21
My parents told me to 'pull myself together' when I suffered from depression. It was possibly to most unhelpful, uncaring, inconsiderate piece of 'advice' they could have offered. It was a bit like they were ashamed of it!
Don't do this to her - if you don't understand it either read up on it, try and appear a bit more caring or just stay silent. Being depressed is very lonely, and to feel like your family think it's a non-issue is horrible.
I had everything too - lots of mates, nice girlfriend, cash etc etc and have no idea what started it off.
Pills can help (apparently it can be caused by a chemical imbalance rather than something really bad happening), but obviously other avenues should be looked into first.
Sorry if my post comes over as a bit harsh - I have been on the receiving end so think I'm perhaps qualified to offer an opinion.
FYI.. all better now and have been for a few years.
Don't do this to her - if you don't understand it either read up on it, try and appear a bit more caring or just stay silent. Being depressed is very lonely, and to feel like your family think it's a non-issue is horrible.
I had everything too - lots of mates, nice girlfriend, cash etc etc and have no idea what started it off.
Pills can help (apparently it can be caused by a chemical imbalance rather than something really bad happening), but obviously other avenues should be looked into first.
Sorry if my post comes over as a bit harsh - I have been on the receiving end so think I'm perhaps qualified to offer an opinion.
FYI.. all better now and have been for a few years.
tonyvid said:
I assume prozac is a SRI(seretonin reuptake inhibiter or something)drug not a tranq?
An "upper" yes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prozac
>> Edited by scorp on Thursday 1st December 16:26
I was of the PYT camp until I became depressed. The pills aren't the answer but sometimes you need the lift the pills give you to get back to a place were you can pull yourself together. Unless you've been there then it is very easy to say bollox have a word with yourself. This doesn't work if you have no confidence in the person giving you the talking to. If you see what I mean.
Pills on there own won't help but they are a useful tool to help councilling work.
Oh even if you still think this is a crock the last thing a depressed person needs to hear is that they are weak and ned to get a life. Even if you think keep it to yourself for there sake.
Pills on there own won't help but they are a useful tool to help councilling work.
Oh even if you still think this is a crock the last thing a depressed person needs to hear is that they are weak and ned to get a life. Even if you think keep it to yourself for there sake.
I've been on Prozac before and it helped me but it isn't necessarily the place to start. Some ideas that I've gotten from my doctor and what I've read are no alcohol, a good diet, a good sleep regiment,counseling and exercise.
My Doctor gave me a test before he gave me the Prozac, he read off around 75 questions to me and used my answers as a gauge of how bad my depression was (I was thinking of doing harm to myself). Result was 6 Months of Prozac.
The stuff defiantly has some side effects, you feel hot, you sweat even in mild temperatures and your libido goes in the bin. For myself I think the drug gave me the time I needed to think some things through and and make some changes in my life. I felt the need to go back on an anti-depressant about one year later for 4 months or so but I haven't been on them since (4 years ago).
I don't see why she couldn't ask for alternatives from her Doctor other than drugs but depending on their prior conversations, tests, Etc. her Doctor may feel they are necessary.
I wish her the best of luck, depression is some nasty stuff.
>> Edited by Trooper2 on Thursday 1st December 16:33
My Doctor gave me a test before he gave me the Prozac, he read off around 75 questions to me and used my answers as a gauge of how bad my depression was (I was thinking of doing harm to myself). Result was 6 Months of Prozac.
The stuff defiantly has some side effects, you feel hot, you sweat even in mild temperatures and your libido goes in the bin. For myself I think the drug gave me the time I needed to think some things through and and make some changes in my life. I felt the need to go back on an anti-depressant about one year later for 4 months or so but I haven't been on them since (4 years ago).
I don't see why she couldn't ask for alternatives from her Doctor other than drugs but depending on their prior conversations, tests, Etc. her Doctor may feel they are necessary.
I wish her the best of luck, depression is some nasty stuff.
>> Edited by Trooper2 on Thursday 1st December 16:33
I've suffered from depression quite badly in the past, it cost me what was my life at the time and three years later, I'm about to finish fixing the damage done to my finances (lost my job etc).
What set me off was a series of events that I just couldnt cope with. In quick succession going from being in a kind of paradise (not perfect, but got up every day deleriously happy to be me) to total hell. Lost a job I loved and enjoyed, broke up with my dream woman, lost my driving licence (2 month ban) and was unable to afford insurance after the ban (unemployed...), a close friend died, and utterly lost my ability to cope.
Not fun basically.
I'd think there are two fundamental kinds, one is psychological, the other physiological (ie screwed brain chemistry).
The effects of both are very similar, but when your brain is essentially on natural downers its very difficult to fix it yourself, hence the medication. I'm very very wary of that approach however and would really consider that a last resort.
Everyone deals with it differently and has slightly different symptoms. In my case, utter insomnia (wouldnt sleep for days), withdrawing from family and friends, panic attacks, the list goes on. I wasnt in very good shape.
The support of family and friends was in my case enough to set me back on the path to living a life, I can recognise when I'm starting to slip, or when my thoughts are heading that way again and do something about it.
Touch wood, I'm ok. When you've been as down as you can be, every day after that is pretty good - after all, you know how bad it can get.
It can be fixed, but not in a day, and it takes a lot of slow steps to be back to normal, one day at a time.
Depression is a very wide word covering a very wide degree of issues, feelings and medical conditions. Medication (IMHO) is a short term fix for some of them and doesnt address the underlying cause of anything other than some rare cases where its clinically needed. In some cases "happy pills" are known to have increased suicide rates and otherwise had a long list opf very bad side effects.
A close friend of mine suffered from depression which was very similar in symptoms to mine. She is, several years later, taking a wide range of prescription medication and always appears to be up and down like a yoyo. Either the life of the party, or a doom and gloom monger bordering on suicidal.
What set me off was a series of events that I just couldnt cope with. In quick succession going from being in a kind of paradise (not perfect, but got up every day deleriously happy to be me) to total hell. Lost a job I loved and enjoyed, broke up with my dream woman, lost my driving licence (2 month ban) and was unable to afford insurance after the ban (unemployed...), a close friend died, and utterly lost my ability to cope.
Not fun basically.
I'd think there are two fundamental kinds, one is psychological, the other physiological (ie screwed brain chemistry).
The effects of both are very similar, but when your brain is essentially on natural downers its very difficult to fix it yourself, hence the medication. I'm very very wary of that approach however and would really consider that a last resort.
Everyone deals with it differently and has slightly different symptoms. In my case, utter insomnia (wouldnt sleep for days), withdrawing from family and friends, panic attacks, the list goes on. I wasnt in very good shape.
The support of family and friends was in my case enough to set me back on the path to living a life, I can recognise when I'm starting to slip, or when my thoughts are heading that way again and do something about it.
Touch wood, I'm ok. When you've been as down as you can be, every day after that is pretty good - after all, you know how bad it can get.
It can be fixed, but not in a day, and it takes a lot of slow steps to be back to normal, one day at a time.
Depression is a very wide word covering a very wide degree of issues, feelings and medical conditions. Medication (IMHO) is a short term fix for some of them and doesnt address the underlying cause of anything other than some rare cases where its clinically needed. In some cases "happy pills" are known to have increased suicide rates and otherwise had a long list opf very bad side effects.
A close friend of mine suffered from depression which was very similar in symptoms to mine. She is, several years later, taking a wide range of prescription medication and always appears to be up and down like a yoyo. Either the life of the party, or a doom and gloom monger bordering on suicidal.
I too have suffered from depression in the past, my husband at the time was one the pull yourself together band, and he made things 1000 times worse for me, so much so that I ended up on Prozac, personally I don't regard them as 'happy pills' just 'slightly less p1ssed off than before pills'.
But saying that, they did help me face the day and so made things seem not quite as bad as I was seeing them, and that was a help, to me, a successful day day was one where I was dressed, the kids were dressed and I had managed to put at least one load of washing in the washing machine.
Lover, support and understanding are what are needed, people that are depressed feel like the lowest forms of life, what they need is people to try and bolster them and make each small positive acheivment seem like a major one.
But saying that, they did help me face the day and so made things seem not quite as bad as I was seeing them, and that was a help, to me, a successful day day was one where I was dressed, the kids were dressed and I had managed to put at least one load of washing in the washing machine.
Lover, support and understanding are what are needed, people that are depressed feel like the lowest forms of life, what they need is people to try and bolster them and make each small positive acheivment seem like a major one.
"Pull yourself together" is the worst possible advice. Someone with depression has massively low self-esteem, and highlighting the fact that everyone else could just snap out of it (whilst they know they can't) will make them feel even worse about themselves.
Depression has nothing to do with how good your life is, how well-off you are, how good-looking you are...
Pills are a palliative - they treat the symptom, not the cause. This is not to say that they are a bad thing, just that pills will probably not cure you. GPs have recently (this year, I believe) been advised that they should only be prescribed for cases of severe depression, as side effects and addiction/withdrawal effects can be crippling. Pills should be used to get a person to a state where they can function normally again, so that they are able to undergo therapy.
Don't gamble on a GP, get your sister-in-law to a specialist. NHS if possible, not a private one - it's in a private doctor's interest for you to keep coming to see them, whereas the NHS just want to see you well - and get proper help. The NHS can refer your sister-in-law to a therapist and a drugs specialist (I forget what they're called), so the therapist deals with the cause and treatment, and the drugs person monitors the anti-depressants to make sure that they are working and bearable etc. It is useful to know that A&E have a duty psychiatrist that your friend can talk to at any time, 24hrs a day, if she is feeling particularly bad.
There are support groups around the country as well, composed of current and ex-depression sufferers. It is a massive help to someone who is depressed a) to be able to discuss the problem with someone who understands perfectly what they're talking about, and b) to know that they are not a weirdo, that there are plenty of others going through (and beating) the same thing.
Hope some of this helps - it's first-hand experience. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions that you think I might be able to answer.
>> Edited by Ecks Ridgehead on Thursday 1st December 16:41
Depression has nothing to do with how good your life is, how well-off you are, how good-looking you are...
Pills are a palliative - they treat the symptom, not the cause. This is not to say that they are a bad thing, just that pills will probably not cure you. GPs have recently (this year, I believe) been advised that they should only be prescribed for cases of severe depression, as side effects and addiction/withdrawal effects can be crippling. Pills should be used to get a person to a state where they can function normally again, so that they are able to undergo therapy.
Don't gamble on a GP, get your sister-in-law to a specialist. NHS if possible, not a private one - it's in a private doctor's interest for you to keep coming to see them, whereas the NHS just want to see you well - and get proper help. The NHS can refer your sister-in-law to a therapist and a drugs specialist (I forget what they're called), so the therapist deals with the cause and treatment, and the drugs person monitors the anti-depressants to make sure that they are working and bearable etc. It is useful to know that A&E have a duty psychiatrist that your friend can talk to at any time, 24hrs a day, if she is feeling particularly bad.
There are support groups around the country as well, composed of current and ex-depression sufferers. It is a massive help to someone who is depressed a) to be able to discuss the problem with someone who understands perfectly what they're talking about, and b) to know that they are not a weirdo, that there are plenty of others going through (and beating) the same thing.
Hope some of this helps - it's first-hand experience. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions that you think I might be able to answer.
>> Edited by Ecks Ridgehead on Thursday 1st December 16:41
My dad had a very bad time with depression, back when I was very young, and had to be hospitalised.
He had to make a complete change to his lifestyle, stop drinking or going out and he went to bed by 8.30 every night.
But a couple of years back he started drinking socially again and suddenly, following an illness, it is now back as bad as ever. He can't drive anywhere and he has continual panic attacks over his health.
>> Edited by Jaglover on Thursday 1st December 16:49
He had to make a complete change to his lifestyle, stop drinking or going out and he went to bed by 8.30 every night.
But a couple of years back he started drinking socially again and suddenly, following an illness, it is now back as bad as ever. He can't drive anywhere and he has continual panic attacks over his health.
>> Edited by Jaglover on Thursday 1st December 16:49
Jaglover said:
But a couple of years back he started drinking socially again and suddenly, following an illness, it is now back as bad as ever. He can't drive anywhere and he has continual panic attacks over his health.
Panic attacks are the worst thing in the world, i really empathise with anyone who has to experience them. They are often made worse when you adopt a behaviour to avoid future ones i have found.
Try walking. It actually releases serotonin (sp?) so can help reducing depression. Also, some people get depressed in winter due to lack of sunlight so a walk outside really helps.
And try zinc tablets. Zinc deficiency can cause depression.
The reason cereals contain added zinc is that wheat reduces the uptake of vitamins and minerals. In the USA in the 80's loads of woman were becoming depressed and were prescribed vallium. The cause of the depression in a lot of women was due to the (at the time) push towards eating bran which reduced the zinc absorption and hence induced depression.
Zinc deffiency is also a major contributor to post-natal depression. The baby just before birth sucks up a lot of zinc to help protein growth, leading to a defficnecy in the mother, and hence depression.
And try zinc tablets. Zinc deficiency can cause depression. The reason cereals contain added zinc is that wheat reduces the uptake of vitamins and minerals. In the USA in the 80's loads of woman were becoming depressed and were prescribed vallium. The cause of the depression in a lot of women was due to the (at the time) push towards eating bran which reduced the zinc absorption and hence induced depression.
Zinc deffiency is also a major contributor to post-natal depression. The baby just before birth sucks up a lot of zinc to help protein growth, leading to a defficnecy in the mother, and hence depression.
scorp said:
But a couple of years back he started drinking socially again and suddenly, following an illness, it is now back as bad as ever. He can't drive anywhere and he has continual panic attacks over his health.
Panic attacks are the worst thing in the world, i really empathise with anyone who has to experience them. They are often made worse when you adopt a behaviour to avoid future ones i have found.
enter the world of OCD - which increases the stess levels through the roof, lowers the brain chemistry again etc...and around you go again
It's amazing what the anonimity of the net does - I bet 90% of the people posting on todays threads have never discussed this with their mates down the pub or at work with people they have known for maybe years.
updated for spoolin mistookes.
>> Edited by tonyvid on Thursday 1st December 17:04
westy04 said:
Hi
Just been reading a thread about it and need to ask this question.
My sister in law has been diagnosed with depression.
Now, I might be a little narrow minded as I believe it's all in the mind and my attitude was "Pull yourself together".
My wife went to the doctors with her and wasn't impressed with my comments. The doctors have told her that it is hereditary and she must take Prozac.
Is this tosh and should she really pop these pills. Surely there must be another way to cure this ie hypnotherepy or something.
I know material things doesn't make you happy, but she really does have everything going for her. ie nice house, not short of money and drives a Noble 3R. It surely cant get better than that.
I've had really upsetting things happen to me, but give me a couple of weeks and I just bounce back. I know every one is different, but I'm having trouble getting my mind around this (maybe I need pills).
I think the various responses below have highlighted that depression is indeed a real problem, that manifests itself with actual symptoms, like any other disease. It doesn't work to become frustrated and tell someone to pull themselves together. In fact, that can make it worse, as it heaps guilt and selfloathing onto a person who already has a bleak outlook of the future.
GPs do indeed prescribe SSRIs like prozac, but I think it's unfair to say that they give them out like candy. I don't think that's true. They do, however, see a hell of a lot of depression in the community, and cannot reasonably be expected to provide in depth counselling sessions, as they don't have time. SSRIs are not the whole answer, and will help a person to adjust, but that person still needs counselling, and understanding from their friends and loved ones.
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff