| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"bitNOSPAMbucket" |
| Date: |
07 Apr 2004 07:47:05 AM |
| Object: |
i need a place to start... |
i don't even know where to start. i am probably in a dangerous situation: i
have self-diagnosed myself as having depression. i have done a lot of
reading over the past 6 months or so, and i think that i am right on. the
term `depression' has been used wily-nily over the years ... i recall as a
teenager many a friend telling me they were depressed. jeezus christ, they
have no fucking idea.
the short story... i am 36 and a four year cancer survivor. i was never
clinically near death or anything, but at 32 years old, a diagnosis like
that made me face my own mortality much much sooner than i would have liked.
i went through two surgeries and four months of chemotherapy hell. i
survived physically, but emotionally, i dunno.
i spent a year or so trying to figure out what i was going to take away from
this whole thing. fast forward to the past few months, and i resent
everything about my life: my posessions, my job -- you name it. don't
mis-understand me: i have never considered suicide; that's not what i'm
saying. what i am saying is that i am no longer the person i used to be.
now i am about to lose my marriage, and i am both terrified and sad. sad
because my in-attentive-ness to my emotional state has caused it, or at
least i think. terrified, well... i guess for obvious reasons.
i just don't know what to do. i have spoken to several therapists over the
past few years, and to be honest, i didn't click with any of them. i live in
a fairly small town, and there just aren't that many around. i just can't
break through this...
.
|
|
| User: "Nom dePlume nomdeplume1000-at-yahoo.com" |
|
| Title: Re: i need a place to start... |
08 Apr 2004 01:11:09 AM |
|
|
You don't go into a lot of detail about just how you feel, but clearly
you feel bad, and that's enough to show that you should do something
about it. If you are having depression symptoms, there usually come
from some combination of the following (yes, you can have all of them
at once!):
1) Unpleasant life circumstances, such as having cancer, or an unhappy
marriage
2) Destructive patterns of thought and behavior.
3) Endocrine disorders, especially thyroid disorders, and, for men,
low testosterone
4) An organic brain disorders
It is very possible that enough of item #1 can kick you into #3, #4,
or both, from which you won't emerge without medical treatment.
So my first advice, given that you've already tried therapists and not
found them useful, is to see an endocrinologist (not a GP) and have
your thyroid and testosterone checked out.
My second advice, after you've done the first, and if it turns out
that you don't have an endocrine problem, is to see a psychiatrist
(not a GP) for a consultation about depression.
Note that it is very important to have your endocrine system checked
out. Antidepressants won't fix endocrine problems, and hormones won't
fix depression due to problems with your brain chemistry. You need to
cover all the bases.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes for you.
--
Nom dePlume, Ph.D
Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.
Guide to Medications for Mental Illness:
http://www.geocities.com/nomdeplume1000
=====
"bitNOSPAMbucket" <bitNOSPAMbucket@hush.ai> wrote in message
news:slrn4c77u1u.4hr.bitbucket@ukato.freeshell.org...
i don't even know where to start. i am probably in a dangerous
situation: i
have self-diagnosed myself as having depression. i have done a lot
of
reading over the past 6 months or so, and i think that i am right
on. the
term `depression' has been used wily-nily over the years ... i
recall as a
teenager many a friend telling me they were depressed. jeezus
christ, they
have no fucking idea.
the short story... i am 36 and a four year cancer survivor. i was
never
clinically near death or anything, but at 32 years old, a diagnosis
like
that made me face my own mortality much much sooner than i would
have liked.
i went through two surgeries and four months of chemotherapy hell. i
survived physically, but emotionally, i dunno.
i spent a year or so trying to figure out what i was going to take
away from
this whole thing. fast forward to the past few months, and i resent
everything about my life: my posessions, my job -- you name it.
don't
mis-understand me: i have never considered suicide; that's not what
i'm
saying. what i am saying is that i am no longer the person i used to
be.
now i am about to lose my marriage, and i am both terrified and sad.
sad
because my in-attentive-ness to my emotional state has caused it, or
at
least i think. terrified, well... i guess for obvious reasons.
i just don't know what to do. i have spoken to several therapists
over the
past few years, and to be honest, i didn't click with any of them. i
live in
a fairly small town, and there just aren't that many around. i just
can't
break through this...
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Bev Thornton" |
|
| Title: Re: i need a place to start... |
07 Apr 2004 10:24:59 AM |
|
|
bitNOSPAMbucket wrote:
i just don't know what to do. i have spoken to several therapists over the
past few years, and to be honest, i didn't click with any of them. i live
in a fairly small town, and there just aren't that many around. i just
can't break through this...
You need a depression screening done by a physician.
There are a lot of things that can make depression, you have to rule those
out first. That's really important for you because of being a cancer
survivor.
Start with a physician and get a standard depression screening, it includes
a cell count, other things.
--
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.
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