Depression and anxiety

[GORDONSMITH7]

Funnily enough a few lads were talking about this just the other day on the Bounce. I will put a link to this excellent thread across there if you don't mind. I think that it would be appreciated.

BIG G

[euansdad]

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Funnily enough a few lads were talking about this just the other day on the Bounce. I will put a link to this excellent thread across there if you don't mind. I think that it would be appreciated.

BIG G

Definitely. Thanks mate

[green leaves]

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Funnily enough a few lads were talking about this just the other day on the Bounce. I will put a link to this excellent thread across there if you don't mind. I think that it would be appreciated.

BIG G

Thanks Gordon,a very interesting read,it was me who started a the Bounce thread and i no another poster on this thread was also employed by a Japanese firm in Livi,is there a link?or is it down to watching hibs?

ive been struggling for a wee while now,but finally gave in an sought medical advice,firstly prescribed beta blockers,to calm me during panic attacks,they made me worse!Now on Citalopram,only on day 2 of the tablets,so not noticed much difference so far.I suffer from panic attacks and just generally getting my self worked up over nothing,stupid trivial things.

Signed off from work for 4 weeks,to give me a break and to give the pills time to work.

Thanks for this very imformative thread.

[EuanH78]

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Thanks Gordon,a very interesting read,it was me who started a the Bounce thread and i no another poster on this thread was also employed by a Japanese firm in Livi,is there a link?or is it down to watching hibs?

ive been struggling for a wee while now,but finally gave in an sought medical advice,firstly prescribed beta blockers,to calm me during panic attacks,they made me worse!Now on Citalopram,only on day 2 of the tablets,so not noticed much difference so far.I suffer from panic attacks and just generally getting my self worked up over nothing,stupid trivial things.

Signed off from work for 4 weeks,to give me a break and to give the pills time to work.

Thanks for this very imformative thread.

I found that once you understand the physiology of panic attacks they are much easier to deal with.

Hopefully without being patronising - panic attacks are a throwback to older times, basically when the body or mind perceives a threat it creates a fight or flight response (the panic attack) hyperventilating, heightened awareness etc. even down to the bowels evacuating to make running away or fighting easier.

This is fine when you are likely to be getting chased around by a bear or something but not if its a mild social phobia or something like that. Trouble is, the part of the brain that creates them cant distinguish the difference between the threats so one response fits all which in modern times can be inappropriate.

I found them easier to deal with by knowing that I could rationalise what was happening. Hopefully it can help someone else too.

[CropleyWasGod]

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I found that once you understand the physiology of panic attacks they are much easier to deal with.

Hopefully without being patronising - panic attacks are a throwback to older times, basically when the body or mind perceives a threat it creates a fight or flight response (the panic attack) hyperventilating, heightened awareness etc. even down to the bowels evacuating to make running away or fighting easier.

This is fine when you are likely to be getting chased around by a bear or something but not if its a mild social phobia or something like that. Trouble is, the part of the brain that creates them cant distinguish the difference between the threats so one response fits all which in modern times can be inappropriate.

I found them easier to deal with by knowing that I could rationalise what was happening. Hopefully it can help someone else too.

Rationalising things also helped me to deal with my depression.

Once I stopped trying to run away from my condition (which was always pointless, futile and left me feeling more of a failure), I started to understand the physiology of it all. As things stand, there is no "cure" for depression; in that respect, it is like HIV and cancer.

I did a lot of work some years ago for an HIV self-help group, and I learned a lot about how people with that condition accept and manage things. It is central to their lives, in some cases defines their lives, and they change and manage their lives accordingly.

I imitated a lot of what they did. I "embraced" my condition, understood that (as far as I know, because as a society we don't KNOW a lot yet) it was partly physiological.... and made the appropriate changes to my lifestyle. Those changes didn't cure things, of course, but to a certain extent they took the sting out of them.

Of course, it's easy to sit here in a lucid period and say "yeah, try and rationalise". The last thing we are when we are depressed is rational. However, maybe some of you can file this away in your sub-conscious and, when things feel a bit easier, look at it again.

[stu in nottingham]

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Now on Citalopram,only on day 2 of the tablets,so not noticed much difference so far.[...]Signed off from work for 4 weeks,to give me a break and to give the pills time to work.

Think the advice on Citalopram is that it can take 4-6 weeks to be effective so hang in there and be patient, Cowie.

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Rationalising things also helped me to deal with my depression.

Once I stopped trying to run away from my condition (which was always pointless, futile and left me feeling more of a failure), I started to understand the physiology of it all. As things stand, there is no "cure" for depression; in that respect, it is like HIV and cancer.

I did a lot of work some years ago for an HIV self-help group, and I learned a lot about how people with that condition accept and manage things. It is central to their lives, in some cases defines their lives, and they change and manage their lives accordingly.

I imitated a lot of what they did. I "embraced" my condition, understood that (as far as I know, because as a society we don't KNOW a lot yet) it was partly physiological.... and made the appropriate changes to my lifestyle. Those changes didn't cure things, of course, but to a certain extent they took the sting out of them.

Exactly the right approach in my humble opinion, to think in terms of managing the condition rather than chasing a 'cure'. In this way we can find acceptance of who we are, understand and learn to love ourselves. It takes the feeling of 'failure' away and allows us to operate in a way that is comfortable and caring of ourselves.

To help people feel better at what might perhaps at first seem a disappointing outlook, consider the reported responses about quality of life from people with a wide range of chronic illnesses. They, in spite of their chronic conditions, often report a better quality of life. Although this may seem unlikely it has been seen time over. It's due to a heightened concentration on the other good things in their lives, for example appreciating their friends and family more. It is important to understand that chronic conditions can offer other openings to feelings of well-being.

[stu in nottingham]

There's a lot of useful information about depression and anxiety within this site:
http://www.uncommonforum.com/

Conversation about Citalopram:
http://www.uncommonforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=19267

[EuanH78]

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There's a lot of useful information about depression and anxiety within this site:
http://www.uncommonforum.com/

Conversation about Citalopram:
http://www.uncommonforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=19267

Got to say Citalopram has worked for me, I had previously been on Paroxetine but stopped that because it was making me feel like a different person altogether.

First few weeks of citalopram I had dry mouth and skin, disturbed sleep, nausea, lethargy and the brain zaps (you'll know them if you get them, a bit scary at first tbh but nothing to worry about ) though most of these side effects have passed now all but occasionally.

[Phil D. Rolls]

If people viewed depression like the view physical illness, they would not tell sufferers to pull themself together. It's like asking a man with a broken leg why he didn't run for a bus. The very thing that you would pull yourself together with is broken.