Depression

[Blindman873]

So sorry to hear, this is one of the hardest subjects to openly talk about. I have a few connections with this, both my brother and a lad I worked with in the past who then actually went on to work in Arb, struggled with this and did the silly thing. It's horrendous.

You don't know the power of just one daft little joke or a chance meeting with an old mate to help change things even if it's just for a few minutes.

There's actually a clip of a Jimmy Carr show where there's someone in the audience tells him that she's only there because of him, she'd stayed up one night after the family had gone to bed and she was going to do the silliest thing but found herself drinking and watching clips on YouTube, she found Jimmy's stuff and it made her laugh in a way like never before. She never went through with it and managed to get help the next day.

We've never met but more than happy to be an ear on the phone if you need it, genuinely.

 

[maybelateron]

Sorry to hear you are feeling so low Les. As others have said, you have made the first step by realising what is going on, opening up about it, and seeking help. I had a fairly severe depression 25yrs ago when I was still a full time GP. I certainly had suicidal thoughts, and I remember one day imagining our three young children and my wife at my funeral. The thought of this stopped me doing anything. I found that medication and seeing a good counsellor helped no end. Over the years I have tried to come off the medication but have concluded that I need to stay on it permanently. If you find that you just can't concentrate/think straight don't think you are dementing etc - with significant depression your whole mental functioning slows down, sleep disturbance, irritability etc until you are beginning to pick up.

I hope that with the right help you are soon feeling better. Best wishes, Charles

[Mark J]

Well done for talking about about it. 

The black dog is a bastard.

Believe it or not, these things seems to help a bit: 

Treatment - Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) - NHS

WWW.NHS.UK

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Read about the main treatments for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), light therapy and antidepressants.

10 best SAD lamps to banish the winter blues, tried and tested

WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

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Mood-boosting light therapy can help to brighten the dreariest time of year

I'm not suggesting that SAD is the only cause for your malaise, but it's often a combination of things that kick things off. 

Stick with what your GP reckons. It can take a few weeks before anti-depressants kick in. 

Keep talking, and keep ahad!

[sime42]

This lot are good I believe. Normal blokes talking to normal blokes. 

 

ANDYSMANCLUB - It's Okay To Talk

ANDYSMANCLUB.CO.UK

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ANDYSMANCLUB are a men’s suicide prevention charity offering free to attend peer-to-peer support groups across the...

 

 

 

[Ty Korrigan]

8 hours ago, topchippyles said:

Merry christmas to you all guys i think i can say that now we are 3 weeks away.

 

I wanted to share this as been getting so down lately and chin wagging on here is always fun,

 

I know eggs suffers a lot with depression and i have looked for the thread but nothing comes up on my search.

 

The last couple of months i have been getting horrendous days even thinking about doing silly stuff. No matter how hard i try it will not shift and consumes my thoughts. 

 

I went to see my Gp a month ago and she put me on some happy pills but they do not seem to kick in as yet.

 

I just felt the need to share it as we suffer in silence and try to be strong. 

I've suffered depression on and off since I left school in 1986 though never diagnosed until I was in my thirties.

I do find a few days in the sun ☀️ transforms my mood.

A short break, cheap package holiday is an effective alternative medicine 💊 

I'll not take antidepressants again, not since 2004 at least.

It's been particularly grim here in the North of France recently and it manifests itself physically like a crushing pressure or negative radiation surrounding my very being.

Also sharing dark humour with strangers online helps.

[Steven P]

It is something that men 'don't talk about'... when in reality we should!

 

Once you talk to others about depression you realise it is not something that you are alone in suffering from - a great first post to bite the bullet. There are many many resources out there that can help, I think AndysManClub was mentioned on here a while ago also. Somewhere there is a solution that works for everyone.

 

Second thing I was going to mention is that there is no single cause, and it is often the little causes that no one notices - a relationship break up for example, all your friends will call to ask how you are doing. A heavy work load for a month? No one is going to phone "I heard you were too busy, how are you feeling" (as an example). Perhaps we shouldn't wait till a friend has broken before we ask how they are? Perhaps we should take away the filters in our mind when we do ask and listen better to the reply we get given?

 

Hoping that having taken the first steps, things get better for you soon.

[Fellstoflats]

9 hours ago, topchippyles said:

Merry christmas to you all guys i think i can say that now we are 3 weeks away.

 

I wanted to share this as been getting so down lately and chin wagging on here is always fun,

 

I know eggs suffers a lot with depression and i have looked for the thread but nothing comes up on my search.

 

The last couple of months i have been getting horrendous days even thinking about doing silly stuff. No matter how hard i try it will not shift and consumes my thoughts. 

 

I went to see my Gp a month ago and she put me on some happy pills but they do not seem to kick in as yet.

 

I just felt the need to share it as we suffer in silence and try to be strong. 

 

Sorry to hear that mate- been there, and it's rough.

 

Firstly, if the pills aren't helping after a month, definitely get the dose tweaked. I started at 50mg, that did **************** all, then went up to 100mg, which was a game changer. Be prepared that the first few weeks can be tough on the new dose.

 

I also found therapy useful, did it via the betterhelp app. Once I'd settled with a therapist, I took the sessions privately, and binned off the app.

 

Some people find CBT helpful. I didn't. 

 

If it weren't for the therapy and tablets, I doubt I'd be here, let alone having started a new career in this industry, and be absolutely loving it.

 

Take your time, get the help you need, and drop me a message if you ever need to.

 

All the best

[Stephen Blair]

Keep busy!  Eat well and don’t drink alcohol.  
 

structure and routine is boring and hard but soon becomes routine, keeps your brain busy although some crazy thoughts can still come in just let them pass on through.

 

if you know what’s caused you to get down, get yourself to some therapy.  

Minimise screen time too.

 

Think of something you used to love doing as a kid.  Go walk down the road and get a truck to honk its horn, seek out some dopamine.

 

just things that have always helped me through some tough times.  

 

 

[Tree monkey 1682]

9 hours ago, sime42 said:

This lot are good I believe. Normal blokes talking to normal blokes. 

 

ANDYSMANCLUB - It's Okay To Talk

ANDYSMANCLUB.CO.UK

---

ANDYSMANCLUB are a men’s suicide prevention charity offering free to attend peer-to-peer support groups across the...

 

 

 

Ha, I was going to put this up, you beat me to it, from my experience a lot better than steps to well being through the nhs

[Mark Bolam]

Well done for sharing Les, that’s a huge step.

 

I’ve never had depression as such, but feel ‘down’ now and again, usually when work/money isn’t great.

 

I normally just click on the last scene from Blackadder Goes Forth and everything comes into perspective.

We’ve really got it pretty easy compared to those poor lads over 100 years ago.

 

As others have said, we’re all here for you in here whenever you want to talk/rant/vent.

 

Avoid the political threads, though.

They are depressing!