Depression and Mental illness

[HBK-aholic]

After being diagnosed with depression recently, I told my family. However a response I got from my grandad opened my mind to a whole new view of mental illness I've never come across with before. He doesn't believe in it, at all. Depression, multi-personality, bipolar disorder, Enuresis and Somatization disorder are all alien to him. He doesn't believe people can have an illness to which there are no physical symptoms.

I can't comprehend this. To me, these disorders, as well as others, are just as bad, if not worse, than some other 'physical' diseases.

What also came up is the way to treat it. After discussion, all he said was "Get some pills down your throat". This is something I don't think would work, for depression at least. It's something which usually stems from something emotional, something which won't be forgotten with medication. I think things such as counselling, and talking it through are the only ways to get over something properly. A tablet would simply make you think you'd forgotten which in the long run does no good.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Mighty NorCal]

You know something. I used to have a very simular opinion of your grandfather. FUck that I would say. You make up your own mind of your actions, and attitude of every day, and what you will do with them. Stop buying into the overdramatic soceity we live in these days, buck the fuck up and handle your damn buisness. No one wants to hear that shit.

But I later came to the realization, and one I dont come to often.

I just dont understand it, and I never can, or will. Who am I to say if its real or not, that people really actually have this kind of stuff, that they have no control over. I cant comprehend it, becuase I dont deal with it from day to day. So I have no idea. No idea. I couldnt ever say it wasnt real of the people need to just get over it or whatever, becuase unless its happening to you, you dont really have much of a place to speak on it, and its reality.

 

[Tastycles]

I've been in exactly the same situation as you a few months ago, when I was diagnosed and some of my family members were cynical of the whole thing. There's a few reasons for this I think. The most cynical is that unfortunately there are a lot of people who feign this sort of thing to get off work, and that makes a lot of people sceptical.

Also, it's so hard to explain how you feel, and especially if you are young people take it as being teenage angst. I understand that people can't really comprehend the way you feel when you are depressed or something similar, but I don't get why that means they aren't sympathetic. I can't comprehend the pain of a root canal, carpal tunnel or child birth, but it doesn't mean I assume that they don't exist, it's a strange attitude but a common one. I suppose its because mental illnesses were only seen as real illness in the last few decades, and in time maybe it'll be taken seriously by everyone.

As for the pills comment, that really isn't the answer. If it's offered to you, take counselling. Pills will only make you dependant on them, and they'll never make you better properly, it's like painting over dry rot, you can't see it anymore, but it's still there.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Bipolar Disorder: A friend of mine felt I should check it out, because she thought I may of had the average symptoms. Sure enough, the average symptoms are..

The symptoms of a depressive episode often include an overwhelming feeling of emptiness or sadness, a lack of energy, a loss of interest in things, trouble concentrating, changes in normal sleep or appetite, and/or thoughts of dying or suicide.

While I've only had one issue that lead me to almost committing suicide, that was a mistake and error I completely and fully accepted as my own stupid decision. The fact is though, I often have a lack of energy which I always felt was because my sleeping schedule changed all the time. I only normally eat once a day, and sometimes even then its hard for me to just because I often find taking the time to stop and eat a waste.

Outside of that, I don't randomly feel empty, but I have had sudden changes of heart on issues that just come out of nowhere. And I do get sudden bursts of saddness that just strike randomly. I can pin point all my "down" moments to selective issues, or rather people, but the fact is.. in the end I was told by several individuals they felt I had this disorder.

When I looked more into it, I found out the "cure" (if it can be called such) was in pill form. So I asked, what exactly is this "pill" going to do for me? Is it going to make me better, or just make me think I'm better? So instead of an actual reply, I got the "beat around the bush" version in which I was told..

"There is no sure way to ever make you better, unfortunately this is a disorder that will stay with you for life. This pill will help your mind balance out the chemicals it needs to, to at least allow you to live a better life."

So in other words, the pill IS NOT a cure. Its just a block. Its a form of something, to help block whats still and always will be, there. Now.. this is my own personal belief and noone should take it for themselves.

In 2002, at the end of the year thats when I had my bout with almost committing suicide. I fought my way through that, I pulled myself up and "I" without any pill of any kind brought myself to a better place. So I believe strongly that anyone can do anything, including pulling themselves out of a bad place in time.

People get effected by depression all the time. EVERYONE. But not everyone allows it to effect them the way people who get labeled with these disorders and issues, do. The fact is.. a pill will help you, chemically help you, but it won't change who you are. The problems won't go away until you're ready to face them yourself and work through them. Thats my belief.

I went from being miserable and depending on others in 2002, from feeling as if my life was over and no longer worth living because someone else who didn't wish to be in my life, left it.. I went from that point in time, to becoming a better person, and finding my own happiness. Finding my own belief, and discovering that I don't need anyone, to live MY life.

I still suffer from moments in which I'm depressed. Moments when I get hit with wondering if I'm ever going to be a good Father to my Daughter. Wondering if I'm the right man for my Wife. Wondering if I've been a good Son to my Parents, or friend to my friends. I always feel down and depressed about questioning if I've done the right thing in sticking up for myself.. when in the end, it could hurt my way of living, and by-result hurt my Family's way of living as well.

But in the end, I always go back to 2002.. it serves as my reminder. It helps motivate and push me through any point in time thus far, and hopefully throughout. Because that was a moment in time when I was at my lowest, and almost gone.. to the point of the blade being on my throat. I worked through it though, and I learned from it.

No pill gave that to me. So while that pill has and will continue to help thousands, if not millions. Sometimes it won't help everyone. And sometimes, you just need to focus a little bit more on believing in yourself, to pull through your toughest moments.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

I've actually been fighting depression all of my life. I come from the type of family where you "suck it up" and keep going because that's just what you do. You know that Jesse Ventura quote from Predator, "I Aint Got Time To Bleed"? Well I come from the "I aint Got Time To Cry" type of family. I once told my sister that I was depressed and her response was "Well everybody gets down from time to time" and then she changed the subject. The biggest problem with my depression is that, even at it's deepest, I go in to get talk to a counselor and they always diagnose me with depression that is not major enough to need meds. So essentially they are telling me the same thing that my family says, and that is to suck it up and keep going.

Depression is very tricky sometimes. I can feel like your whole world is coming to an end, but to someone else it might seem small. Not sure how to make a scale that can accurately read it, but I refuse to be held back by it one bit. My coworker is depressed, but she has the whole "bright outlook" type of thinking that she uses. I always tell her that she lives in Disney World and I live in the Real World. That she gets out of bed because the sun is shining and it's wonderful day outside but that I believe that you need to get out of bed regardless of whether the day is sunny outside or not. Because it's what you do. Yeah, I know, I'm in denial. But hey, it's what I do and what I always will do til the day I die.

The funny thing is this. I work as a rehab worker helping people with bipolar, depression, and other varying degrees of mental illness.

 

[Father:_Polley]

Becca, you have the right attitude to this. I work in a chemist and sometimes I think antidepressants keep them in business, so many people take the damn things.

Pretty much, they work by stopping chemicals in your brain breaking down and making you feel a bit more elevated in mood. Problem is that doesn't take away the problem of what caused the depression in the first place.

I honestly think for most people, actually talking to someone to identify the root of the problem is the best cure for this. I mean what good are tablets if you're still going to have the problems? Otherwise, your stuck firing pills into you until you die which sucks.

That being said, there are some people who suffer from depression because they sit at home all day and do nothing, those people irritate me as they aren't depressed in my view, they're just lazy and need something to hide that fact. While for others, they genuinely need it as they are severely depressed, but it shouldn't be all they rely on. There are ways of getting through as Will and Spawn have mentioned that don't rely on drugs

 

[Matt Phoenix]

In regards to pills, I thought the whole purpose to them was just to give you some breathing space, so to speak, to allow you to work out the problems or the underlying cause of why the depression started.

In regards to depression and other mental illnesses, there is still a great deal of 'shame' and stigma attached to them and until society comes to accept that, yes they are real, yes they affect others and no the people who have a mental illness or disorder are not dirty or stupid people.
I think that there would be many more people out there who have some form of mental illness and not be diagnosed for fear of having society view them as a mental illness.

One of my pet hates is when I hear someone talking about another person I know who, for example has depression or bi-polar, and their solution is "Well hit them over the head and tell them to wake up to themselves." It is usually at this point I interject myself into the conversation to explain to them how disgusting the comment they made is.

Having said that I do believe that there is a giant difference to being depressed and having depression, but I also believe that the human brain is the most complex and misunderstood machine on Earth today and it is capable of alot of things we are even unaware of, and all it takes is one tiny little thing to go awry before problems occur. What I am trying to say is that like any machine parts can go wrong and there is nothing to be ashamed about and we as a society need to help others with a mental illness just like we do for cancer sufferers or sick babies.

 

[Bernkastel]

What also came up is the way to treat it. After discussion, all he said was "Get some pills down your throat". This is something I don't think would work, for depression at least. It's something which usually stems from something emotional, something which won't be forgotten with medication. I think things such as counselling, and talking it through are the only ways to get over something properly. A tablet would simply make you think you'd forgotten which in the long run does no good.

Depression, mood disorders, schizo- affective/ schizophrenia are all caused by a chemical imbalance found in the brain. The medication prescribed is used to treat this imbalance. The medication doesn't cure the disorder, but instead it balances it out. The medication works like glasses, glasses won't fix your eyes, but they allow you to see as if your eyesight was perfect. People that suffer from major clinical depression or a mood disorder or schizophrenia can't just up and stop taking their medication, I have schizoaffective disorder, and as many times as I'd like to stop taking medication, I know if I do, the imbalance causing the disorder will just get worse. So the medication is just something you learn to live with

Those that don't suffer from a mental disorder have no idea what the disorder are really about (however if you want to get a mild understanding of what a disorder like schizophrenia or bi polar disorder is all about, go take some LSD) People that think that mental disorders are make believe or just a figment of the imagination are just ignorant in my opinion. It be like me going to a family of a parent or grandparent that as Alzheimer's and saying that their parent/ grandparent isn't losing their memory because their mind is deteriorating, no, its because their lazy and choosing to be forgetful... I doubt that would make that family very happy to hear that.

As far as mental disorders in the workplace, most employers obtain a medical record of potential employees, which include mental illness, before they hire new employees. the company that I work with knew that I had Schizoaffective disorder before they hired me. I'm also lucky because the company that I work for has a policy that states that If I relapse and have to take a leave of absence due to my mental disorder, they cannot terminate me. I can understand why some employers would check a claim by an AWOL employee that claims mental illness was the cause of their absence. Serious mental illnesses aren't something that just pop up out of nowhere, as most companies have medical histories on their employees, so I can see why a company could take such a false claim seriously

 

[chasingamy]

As it’s been said previously, a chemical imbalance in the brain is one-half of the depression equation. I think the other half is usually some underlying life stressor or series of events that build over time. I’ve been diagnosed with clinical depression in the past. In fact, I would say I’ve had three major depressive episodes in my life, all the result of some major life event.

The first instance was after the worst heartbreak of my life 11 years ago, the second time was postpartum depression after I had my daughter 8 years ago, and most recently a year ago I was down with pneumonia for three months and had to take prednisone for an extended time which only made my mood worse. The first two times I gave antidepressants a chance but never felt any different. The problem with meds is they take awhile to get in your system. Ultimately, counseling and having supportive friends are what helped me.

Becca, your grandad’s attitude is pretty common among older adults. I’ve ran into that with members of my own family, particularly my grandmother who’s 86. Regarding not buying an illness you can’t see the symptoms of, there are a lot of things that can’t be “seen” but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. A brain aneurysm is a legit medical condition yet it doesn’t usually have any outward symptoms but can be painful and deadly.

I’ll close by saying it’s a big step admitting you have a problem and seeking out help. In a world increasingly concerned with maintaining appearances, it’s easy to put on a front and pretend you’re fine when you’re falling apart inside. Try to be patient with yourself and surround yourself with supportive friends/family.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

Your grandfather is definetley not alone in his opinions. There have been thousands of people(including some doctors) that just believe mental ilness's are all in your head(which reality there are) and that people just want attention. I think people like your grandfather just has a fear of the unknown and since you cant nessasarily "see" mental ilness like you can a physical injury people dont think its there. I myself have never suffered from depression but my best friend has. She was very smart, pretty, popular and seemed to have a "good life". But for some reason she was never fully happy. At first I couldnt understand why she was always down and depressed. Eventually she explained that for some reason something was making her un-happy. She was later diagnosed with depression & bi-polar and got medcation. She seems happier, but now she always seems "not fully there" becuase of the meds. Anyway its so hard to understand a problem that you dont know or dont know much about like me. People just have to realize this isnt for attention and these people need your support the most to recover.

 

[Rusty]

I think everyone suffers from some type of depression. But I believe only people who let it affect them get severely depressed. Some weeks I don't feel happy and can be a little bit depressed, but I do certain things to distract me. My problem is, I think way too much. Becca if your feeling down, do some things that make you happy so you can distract yourself because I believe depression is only in the mind and the more you think about it, the worse it will be.

Sometimes I need to do something to escape from reality. Some times all the homework and stress and arguments with friends, all get too much for me to handle. Thats where going out with my honest and true friends and family come in handy. Sport and Wrestling is a huge part of my life, that keeps me going everyday. Without friends, family, wrestling and sports, I think I would get depressed. Also, try to always be around someone as sometimes being lonely can make you depressed.

My friend last year got dumped by his girlfriend that he loved so much and he was really, really bad. His Dad passed away the year earlier, at such a young age at 48 years old. So the guy was an absolute mess. It got to the stage where he wouldn't even eat for a few days. So one day I went to his house to take those things of his mind. We hang out, played basketball, played playstation and watched a few movies and he was fine. I really made him happier and I felt I actually made a difference. He eventually got over it and now hes as happier as ever.

He also thinks way too much so I knew it would get to him eventually. So Becca, try not to stay home by yourself if your feeling down, because it certainly makes things worse.

 

[Richard]

He doesn't believe in it, at all.

I can't comprehend this. To me, these disorders, as well as others, are just as bad, if not worse, than some other 'physical' diseases.

What are your thoughts on this?

Coming from a family that has been ripped apart because of a mental illness issue, I would like to meet this doctor and give him some sweet chin music.

I bet you they only said that either because 1. They have never known someone who has experienced it or 2. Were just lazy that day and wanted you out of his office so he could finish up for the day.

Mental illness and depression are very real.