• The Dark Side 💕 Welcome Guest 💕
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads Urgent Hotlines
    Bereavement Mindfulness
    Suicide Support Anger Management
  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | Eligiu | deficiT | paranoid android

Mental Health Does it get better?

G

Gazebbs

Greenlighter
Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Messages
16
Last year my wife who is my best friend betrayed me badly. This year I watched my father become ill and die a slow and painful death in hospital.

I have not coped well. I have had substantial time off work and was referred to a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with depression. I used to be a confident fun loving person but now the best I can hope for is to get through the day with no sense of joy. At worst, I can be incapacitated with acute anxiety, an almost blind state of utter desperation.

I have had psychotic episodes and I'm currently being prescribed risperidone and sertraline which dull the sensations but don't take them away.

I know I'm not the only one to suffer life's uppercuts but I need to know that things will get better. How do other sufferers cope? How do I start seeing the joy in anything again?

Thanks for looking, peace on you.
 
Hmmm. For some people, maybe. For me depression just became the new normal. So it somehow got better, in a way..I guess? I lost awareness of my depression, is what I mean. If that makes sense.
7 years ago I suffered a stroke after overdosing on an unknown substance being sold as LSD. It has had lasting effects on my cognition and the left half of my body constantly bothers me with an uncomfortable sensation.
I have had severe depression ever since.
Personally I found therapy to be useless, but I think you should give it a shot. Medication is helpful, I take paroxetine; but be careful with those antipsychotic meds (risperidone) as they have serious side effects.
 
It's already killed my libido. Want to come off it but being told not to. I would like to be able to
Make love to my wife again
 
Gazebbs said:
It's already killed my libido. Want to come off it but being told not to. I would like to be able to
Make love to my wife again
Click to expand...
Yeah risperidone and sertaline together will have a 0% or higher chance of ANNIHILATING your libido and ability to ejaculate. But there may be a 0% or higher chance that it does not.
Hell sertaline alone could possibly cause sexual problems at a chance of 0% or higher. I have to take amphetamine salts at the dosage prescribed by my general practicioner to get off because of my SSRI.

Antipsychotics are likely to cause irreversible brain shrinkage and might even cause cell death. I wouldn't take them personally, even though I have been prescribed them by my drug pushing big pharma slut of a psychiatrist. :)

Source on my psychiatrist being a big pharma slut: https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/physician/220177
$16,000 in 2015 in payments from pharmaceutical companies
$33,000 in 2014 in payments from pharmaceutical companies
$20,000 in 2013 in payments from pharmaceutical companies


​
Sources on brain shrinkage and cell death caused by antipsychotics:
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/07/news/la-heb-antipsychotic-drugs-020711
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v32/n6/abs/1301233a.html
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v30/n9/abs/1300710a.html
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v32/n6/abs/1301233a.html

Oh and there's tardive dyskensia to worry about too...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138649/
 
Last edited:
Firstly, I think it's great that you're reaching out to other people for help. Commonly, people who find themselves with a mental illness to handle, also shy away from the idea and practice that other people, in various roles, make us content.

I think you'd be able to handle that anxiety well with a few other things, but they don't come as easy as popping a pill. Mindfulness meditation can be great, as can simple (but effective!) breathing exercises, at helping to deal with acute anxiety. You get better at it, and it tends to become more effective, the longer you practice it for. You yourself can be a powerful ally against this thing that's giving you so much grief.

A lot of people think that medication is the only, and sole, means of dealing with their condition. It is certainly important, but by itself won't make you healthy. That's why a constructive, anxiety-reducing practice, weekly therapy, and spending time with others, are so important. They complete the arsenal, so-to-speak.

Since you know that others have lots of issues too, perhaps you'd be good for group therapy. Can't hurt to ask.

I think you should set priorities. Your health first. Steady employment and fulfilling romance/sex seem to me, less important than your inner stability.

Antipsychotics, prescirbed by a qualified doctor, will cause less damage than having your disease go untreated. I've looked through the literature, and asked many professionals about this.

If you're unhappy with your medication, please consult your doctor. It can a while to get used to medications. Hang in there!
 
Ho-Chi-Minh said:
Antipsychotics, prescirbed by a qualified doctor, will cause less damage than having your disease go untreated. I've looked through the literature, and asked many professionals about this.
Click to expand...
This is simply untrue. Read Nancy Andreason's research. Unless you *incendiary name-calling for people who need medication, and unsubstantiated opinions on them* . I am diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and get on fine without them.

If this forum is all about "harm reduction" how about we steer people away from shrinkage of the frontal lobes of their brain and permanent dyskinetic disorders unless its absolutely necessary?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
And I thought the meds would help. I'm now considering coming off the risperidone, I've heard nothing good about it anywhere on here and other than a couple of episodes last year I consider myself generally a batshit free zone
 
Please coordinate your care with your doctor.

The user in question is being disciplined for trying to give medical advice and using language to incite arguments, based on the source of one person...

The system isn't perfect, but it's all science has at the moment. When the first antipsychotic was approved in the 1950's, tens upon tens of thousands of people left hospitals and were able to live in the community.

Good luck.
 
Its been established with schizophrenia in particular that early treatment can lead to better outcomes. But just because you have some periods of psychosis does not necessarily mean that you are in the schizo spectrum - sleep deprivation with anxiety/panic attacks in particular can appear to be something that it is not. Bipolar mania can also appear to resemble the schizo-spectrum.

2 months is quite a long time, I would hope you could increase that frequency OP...

If you don't feel your medications are giving you an acceptable quality of life or if the side effects are too much, please try to tell your doctor so that they can try to make a change. There are for example other classes of medications like lamotrigine that see success in treating bipolar depression. Anecdotally, some people report that Risperidone can cause feelings of depression. It can also decrease libido. If you and your doc feel that you would not suffer psychosis from withdrawing Risperidone, maybe there is a better adjunct that you two can find to replace Risperidone.

Alas, mindfulness meditation and aerobic exercise can really help as well. I recommend an app called Headspace to learn the foundations of mindfulness with.

Hang in there. It gets better. You've been through a lot lately..
 
Cotcha, that is the most inspiring thing I've heard in two years. Thank you so much. X
 
I would strongly suggest you try to find a good psychotherapist, ideally one who specialises in trauma and CBT. Antipsychotics (much like antidepressants) should be seen as a crutch and nothing more; they'll help you get to sleep at times when you'd otherwise be overcome by ruminations, and they'll attenuate the emotions you have down to a more manageable level that will make it easier for you to work on them during your therapy. What they will not do (as you've seen for yourself) is truly eliminate the unpleasant emotions or the source of them; there is no drug on earth that can do that.
 
Gazebbs, it can be very daunting to navigate the unique world of your own depression (and madness) as well as the more universal world of it as experienced by many other people. The most important thing is to have a professional that you trust and with that person you can more safely make decisions.If you do not feel that your psychiatrist listens to you with respect for your own insights concerning your own treatment, I would bring that up with him/her. It sounds to me like you have a very good grasp on both the situational roots of your mental health crisis as well as your own particular vulnerability to a complete destabilization.

Building up your trust in yourself while rebuilding the relationship with your wife is important. Nothing we ever do that results in more knowledge about our own minds is in vain. I guess what I am trying to say is that often mental health crises make us feel weak and out of control. Really listening to what a crisis unearthed in us can be not only enlightening but empowering. <3
 
It is so horrendous because like u said all your life u were a happy fun loving person..since u have lived pretty happily until now these two heart crunching events right on top of one another is a serious blow to your psyche..it would be hard for anyone to deal with..

your subconscious mind has a lot to sort out and get over, it has to go thru pain so u can work everything out..your perspective might never be the same due to these events but u will still be u..will it get better? It could always get worse
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top