Help for someone with depressive/anxiety disorders?
March 1st, 2010
I am a 23 yr old guy. I am fairly high functioning school and work wise. I have been diagnosed with this for about 6-7 years now, but have had it since I was about 13. I am good about taking my meds regularly.
My question is, do you ever feel like at times that you are losing it or are feeling “flaky,” like you want to just start all over in life or not stick stuff out–just out of the blue. It really scares me when this happens. I feel this way sometimes, as far as the thoughts coming into my mind and I just ignore them and try to go on. I know it is irrational thinking and if I let it get to me, I will end up doing wishy washy stuff and pissing off and hurting people that I don’t mean to or would ever want to. An example would be trying to cancel and then get a date back on and then on/off with a girl that I like a lot and I know wants to go out with me.
I was just wondering if anyone else ever goes through this?
It isn’t hearing voices like a schizophrenic would- it is more like compulsive thoughts that just kind of pop up and keep on popping up in my mind, almost like getting a very similar text message pop up mentally a whole bunch of times in a row. I also find myself wanting to do irrational stuff that doesn’t fit in my schedule or to just change jobs just for the heck of it, for the sake of change. It doesn’t make sense because maybe four to five hours later, I am like “what the hell was that?” Like I said earlier, I ignore it because I konw it will not only end up hurting me and others- in a lot of cases even more-as well.
What can I do about this? Is there anything that you do as far as coping skills or something along those lines to help with those thoughts? Thanks for all of your help and time.
JOHN
Categories: Psychology | Tags: Irrational Thinking, Message Pop, Out Of The Blue
Truette
Oh my God. I would love to know a person like you considering I am the same exact way and nobody seems to understand. You have to know you’re not alone. Sure I have happy days, but typically I always wake up to negative thoughts that really upset me. When everyone laughs at a joke, I analyze the joke and I’m depressed that the guy that told it gets the appreciation of laughter while I don’t. Negative thinking.
First ask yourself this. Do you want to be happy? Are you WILLING to do anything to be happy? Are you willing to gather so much willpower and courage in you that you take chances in moving out of your comfort zone? From reading this, you sound willing enough and I am 100% supportive of you because I know what you are going through.
You are 23 years old – there is still more than enough time to start over and you don’t have to be a newborn baby to let this happen. If you replied yes to all of these above questions, that’s the first bold step. The second is mind discipline. Tomorrow when you wake up, instead of approaching the day with pessimism and acceptance towards the negative thoughts, fight them away. Everytime you feel negativity, replace the thought with something you’d rather think about. Have a little faith in yourself – you are in control, not your negative thoughts. They are just a barrier blocking off you from your happiness. And why would you let one barrier hold you back from your life joy and aspirations?
Ignoring these ‘mental text message’ thoughts will not do anything but make you upset and frustrated. You have to use mind discipline and relax all the muscles in your body. Remember – no matter what pyschological disorder you have, you have the control to fix it. It’s all you.
If you tell yourself that you are losing it and everyday remind yourself that you are depressed, that will only discourage you. You have to be with yourself, not against yourself. Don’t ever let anyone dictate your emotions. If you don’t feel comfortable with a girl, break out of your comfort zone and go out with her anyway. See how it goes. Be optimist and lively. You can be whoever you want regardless of how people see you. We live in a free generation.
You cannot let negativity take over. Wear bright colors, be whoever you want and listen to things that you can laugh genuinely at. It’s a great feeling. Forget therapists, stress balls, all of that. if you need to talk, talk to someone you know very well and who you know will listen to you. Everytime you feel like you should get upset about something, realize that you can’t change the past and the present is coming at you so fast, that you are just wasting time worrying. Relax for a second and then get back on track. You have the potential in you – it just takes confidence in yourself and self respect. As I mentioned earlier, if you want to be happy, you need to be with yourself – not against yourself. Pulling the depression towards you instead of pushing it out is being against yourself. Never give up – happiness is all from the mind. You just have to pick it up. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself – sometimes you just have to live and let life come at you on its own.
Oh, and if you have come to a breaking point and believe you have nobody to trust, I will always be available to help.
I really wish you the best of luck.
PATSY
Negative emotions (like sadness, stress, anger, etc.) causes your Serotonin production to be low; when your Serotonin level is low, you are more prone to getting Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Depression, etc.
Medication like Antidepressants (SSRI – Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) helps to boost Serotonin level.
But there are natural ways to do it without medication. There’s this strange herb called “St John’s Wort” – it is said to be more effective than Prozac. No, it is not for mild depression only and ignore those sayings. In fact, it does help anxiety and panic-attacks as St John’s Wort works like prozac. Other natural ways will be exercise, diet, more exposure to light, etc.
The problem is that, even if your Serotonin is balanced… you have that “learned behavior” in your mind. You need to break that initial cycle to destroy that learned behavior – Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) does this. A technique that you can use without CBT will be Distraction… There are several other techniques to help cope them!
Ok, to use Distraction: Firstly, try to….
Extracted from Source.