Mental Health

[bbro]

Sent an email to a new doctor about 5 minutes ago. Wish me luck. Told her my diagnosis from the other doctor and asked if she had room for me. We will see if I get an answer

[xoxoxoBruce]

[classicman]

hoping...

[bbro]

No room for me. Figures. She sent me info for some other people, but they are over a half hour away,

*SIGH*

[DanaC]

That sucks bb.

[xoxoxoBruce]

It would be nice to have your personal shrink living next door, so you could chat when ever you get the urge. We know you can't afford that, only the 0.01% can afford to have one on staff. Besides, I'm not sure, but I don't think they work that way anyhow.

I'm under the impression they are not tour guides through life, holding the flashlight and reminding you to watch your step. More like map makers, who you can check with periodically to see if you're on the right path, and/or heading in the right direction. Unlike regular doctors they can't cure you, only help you figure out how to cure yourself, and write prescriptions to help cope while you do.

Don't get discouraged, you can do this, and you've got cheerleaders.

[orthodoc]

Bruce, everything you just said applies to pretty well everyone, whether here in the NE US or in the parts of Canada I'm familiar with. The best anyone can do is to map out a path that should lead in a positive direction. No one can 'cure' anyone. But we can help each other along. And we can, and should, cheer each other on.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Here's one man's experience.

My mental health file whirs to life in 1969 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I’d recently left Opus Dei, the Catholic religious order to which I’d committed my young soul, and a major depression had followed. The records printed below are out of the mouths of my many caretakers; they chronicle my treatment at various medical offices and psychiatric clinics in the Boston area, from then until 2012.

How did I come by them? As I headed into a depression two years ago, a friend who was helping out thought it would be useful to see my records, so I asked for them. Why publish them now? Certainly not because I think these extracts from my treatment notes display any special literary facility or reveal an exceptionally interesting psyche, nor because I intend the slightest scandal to be visited on my therapists, employers, or insurance company. All proper names have been altered.

Our distractible human intelligence needs as many ways of talking about depression as can be provided—that’s all. Plus, given the longevity of this particular demon, it seems important to try to squeeze some insight from the mass of words and array of prescription drugs applied against its havoc. Even the most comprehensively bureaucratized medical knowledge can be made to speak, if only we are willing to listen closely to the blank spaces, the paraphrases. Even acronyms have feelings.

[footfootfoot]

Hey bbro,

Not sure if this is too late but I want to share my experience of the first time I went on meds, sertraline (zoloft). I had many of the same side effects that you mentioned. Sleeplessness, in a jaw clenched, zombie like state was top of the list. The alternating feelings of hunger and nausea were another. The sleeplessness took about 4 weeks to taper off, same with the hunger/nausea feelings. For the meds to actually take effect took a few weeks longer. Gradually increasing dosage is pretty much the standard protocol with these kinds of meds along with close supervision if there is indication of suicidal thinking. Same goes for going off the meds.

For me it was worth sticking with them because the alternative was more unpleasant by far.

If you went on them on the 7th then you should just now be beginning to take off, as it were.

An aside about the side effects: They were identical to the side effects of psilocybin, the jaw clenching, the hunger/nausea, dilated pupils, sleeplessness, and even tracers and blue sparks out of the corners of my eyes. Sadly, the tracers have not come back.

[bbro]

foot - it's never too late. I successfully went off them about 5 days after I started. I was already feeling better mentally, but no dreaming or any imagination at all freaked me out royally. Unfortunately, there was no supervision. If I had a weekly appointment instead of a monthly, I probably would have stayed on them until I had the chance to talk to the doctor. Since I didn't and I couldn't get a hold of her in what I thought was a reasonable amount of time, I stopped. The best idea? Maybe not. It still took me about 2 weeks before I started dreaming again.

I am still in search of a suitable office with room for me and location. I am taking a break from it because it is really hard for me to contact people about it then find out there's no room for me.

I saw a website on tv that I wanted to give a look to, but I need to find it again.

[footfootfoot]

The dream thing is interesting to me. When I first went on them and I eventually fell asleep I would have these intensely colorful relentless dreams. It was like BladeRunner every night. I would sometimes wake up exhausted from them as if I had actually been doing all the shit that happened in my dreams.

I've not remembered a dream in years. My sleep is totally fucked anyway, but that's another matter.

It sounds like you remember your dreams a lot and they are important to you.

[bbro]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

The dream thing is interesting to me. When I first went on them and I eventually fell asleep I would have these intensely colorful relentless dreams. It was like BladeRunner every night. I would sometimes wake up exhausted from them as if I had actually been doing all the shit that happened in my dreams.

......

It sounds like you remember your dreams a lot and they are important to you.

I don't remember my dreams for long after I wake up, but they are important to me. I never realized how much.

I would go to sleep (when I would be able to actually fall asleep) and feel like I immediately woke up, but hours had past. It was very surreal not being able to tell the passage of time. I have had nights where I don't dream and I still can, subconsciously I suppose, tell that time has passed.

I don't necessarily have normal dreams. Some of them give me a complete WHAT THE FUCK feeling when I wake up

[bbro]

Well, it's round about 5 now. I finally found a woman that has room for me that is the perfect time. She is about 10 minutes away.

I saw her for the first time today. I think it might work out. It was in her house and she was very easy to talk to. The only problem? She's the type that doesn't prescribe drugs. Still, it's worth a try for a bit. We'll see how long my insurance holds out.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Great, and if she can help without the drugs that all the more gooder.

[Griff]

Good luck.