Depression, anxiety, stress ect

It’s a shame that there have been so many immature posts on here, they seem to have been by the same 2 bloggers, thankfully it looks like they have both gone quiet.

Depression and anxiety, they’re crap, if you have it or live with someone that has it, I sympathize with you. To any one that that says it doesn’t exist, I should warn you that the next time you go for a drive you better watch out that you don’t fall of the edge of the earth.

I consider myself lucky that I don’t have it, but I have a few closed family members that do, and have watched, and tried to give support as they go through it.
The brain is an organ, as is the heart, lungs, liver, kidney, and just like any other organ in the human body, it can go wrong. Unfortunately over the years there has been a lot of immature finger pointing if the brains function is disrupted, unfortunately even by some doctors. But that’s s totally different subject.
Like any other illness it effects every one differently and with different severity; some can cope with it, and some can’t.
It has many different face, and every one tries a different strategy to control it. It may surface as pure depression, anger, anxiety, irrational behaviour, you could be very irritable, anti social, withdrawn or avoid everything, constant negativity, confusion, or in denial, or many more symptoms.
What ever the symptom, get some professional help, the first and easiest step is a visit to the GP, perhaps it’s not to severe or you can catch it in time and a simple course of medication for a while will sort you out , ( but I don’t know you circumstances so I can’t comment ).
Another route is to see a psychologist or psychiatrist , ( yes I know “warning words” and all that ) but if you had a heart condition and your doctor said don’t worry about seeing a cardiologist then he would be inept.
They’re just people that specialise in brain function and emotional problems, and if that’s what you have then they’re the best people to see.
Seeing either a psychologist or psychiatrist usually needs a referral from a GP, so discuss the situation with him/her first.
There is a relationship thing with both a psychologist and psychiatrist, so if you don’t think it’s working, then you can try again with someone you feel more comfortable with.

For some people depression is a very dark, confusing, place, and it’s often very difficult to make well informed decisions when you are being consumed by it. A lot of the time depression follows a set route, from the beginning of the spiral, into the bottom of the pit, then eventually out the other side.
If you are in the bottom of the pit then it’s often the darkest place to be and perhaps making any kind of decision should be left until later, or at the discretion of a loved or trusted person. But depression does ware many faces.
An analogy could go like this…
You live in Chicago, depression is the ■■■■■■■■■■■■, there are various ways of getting there, you can drive in a car , go by bus or get a plane.
It would be better if you never visited at all ,but “you can” get help anywhere along the way. May be most of the time you stay in Chicago, but through no fault of your own you find your self on the way, and your getting closer be the second. Perhaps you fell asleep on the bus one night and when you woke up you were almost there Even when you get to the visitor centre, you can still get help, it’s not inevitable that you will fall in, as long as you are even half awake you can get help.
What ever you are feeling, if it doesn’t seem right than it probable isn’t. Please get some help, it doesn’t gave to be like that, it can be better and you deserve it.

If it’s something that’s reoccurring then it can be very helpful to keep a diary, even marking it out on a calendar can be very helpful for a professional to make a more informed diagnosis. Tell your doctor exactly what you think is going on, if you only tell them half the systems them then they can’t make an informed diagnosis. At worst they can even go the wrong direction and may be treating the wrong thing. If you have highs before you have lows tell them that as well, because that’s different again.
If you are prescribed medication, then remember that your body can build up a tolerance to it over a period of time, and the medication could need increasing or change to something else. And again it’s a personal thing, what works for someone might not go so well for someone else.

Jeff…