Depression...

[diversion]

Somewhere to let out a bit of the bottled thoughts/repression.
Somewhere to reach out I guess.

when ya dont know where else to go

[Kittyhawk]

Since I have started this thread Im surprised it is still going, a number of you have contacted me and had a chat about things. It's good to meet others and make friends etc.

Im no professional

currently an antisocial tart

and a non biker for a little bit longer - sighs...

I have made some good friends thanks to this thread hopefully life long ones at that even though I have been inconsistant in regards to keeping contact, however Im still around....

Im going to start a regular e mail thing call it spam if you want

If you would like to be on the mailing list please pm me.

[Cheshire Cat]

The best thing to do, I find( although I'm far from deppressed ) is accept everything as it is.You won't be sad or lonely or depressed all your life.Have a cry have a scream! do whatever you need to unless its hurting yourself or anyone else.

Go crazy!!

[Mystic13]

I've just found this thread and the memory loss is pretty common and looking back people comment of having long periods of not knowing what they were doing.

I'm an NLP Master Practitoner based here in Auckland and work with what is termed "talking therapies" or "advanced cognitive behavioral therapies". I was at the recent Mental Health Forum and will be running talks around Auckland on Mental Health Awareness Week starting October 5th specifically around the effectiveness of Neuro Linguistics in creating change.

With client referrals I generally discourage them hopping off medication quickly although many do. The structure of my work is such that I don't tend to work with clients for many sessions. While I have done a small amount of work through WINZ and the DHB most of my work is private.

We're spending more and more time talking with the Health Professionals because of the rate of success we have.

If any of you are in the medical field feel free to PM. Actually if any of you want to talk, PM me, and i'll send my details through. The challenge with Mental Health issues is that often people look okay. Someone commented that it would be easier for others to understand if you wandered around with a bandage wrapped around your head.

I know how overwhelmingly bleak and foggy it can be. It's also challenging for others around often to comprehend. There is a wealth of info around now. Family support is wonderful.

I'm planning to produce a DVD from past clients because often people struggle to comprehend how I can make rapid changes when for years they've had a reliable experience of depression. The truth is even my clients struggle to understand what has happened even though it's happened to them. This DVD would be available for free.

These challenges also effect children and I see children week in and out.

I wish you all well with your journey down the path to Wellness. If you have any questions feel free to PM or ask in here.

Cheers

[Winston001]

The best thing to do, I find (although I'm far from depressed ) is accept everything as it is.You won't be sad or lonely or depressed all your life. Have a cry have a scream! do whatever you need to unless its hurting yourself or anyone else.

For situational or seasonal depression, this is true. You will get better and yes, screaming about it, hitting a punchbag, letting your frustration out is good therapy.

However for chronic or deep depression there is no concept of getting better. There is no sense of happiness, self-worth, no future, just the blackness.

That's the awful thing about depression which people do not understand. Its totally overwhelming. If you read this thread you'll find various posts which urge HTFU (harden up) and call depressed people selfish or cowards.

That advice completely misses the point that in severe depression a person has no sense of self left. Emotionally they are a shell. You can't be selfish if you don't care about yourself.

Depression is an illness which requires outside help. Pills to bring neurotransmitters back into balance. Counselling to regain the human connection. Don't try and do it alone.

[Mystic13]

The best thing to do, I find( although I'm far from deppressed ) is accept everything as it is.You won't be sad or lonely or depressed all your life.Have a cry have a scream! do whatever you need to unless its hurting yourself or anyone else.

Go crazy!!

That's true and for chronic depression it's a little different. If you see brain scans you'll see much of the neurology isn't firing. The reality is in this situation it's kind of like they see the world through depression coloured glasses (as opposed to rose coloured). This means everything they see seems darker.

Not only that but this filter also runs on all of their memories. So when you ask them to remember a happy time in the past they will not be able to find one. All recalled memories will be seen through these depression coloured glasses.

So this means you could have been having a laugh with them several hours earlier and when they recall the memory they will not know of being happy.

Winston I use NLP and Linguistics to access the neurology and change the chemical response. As such they work off meds with GP supervision pretty quickly. If they haven't started my preference is not to start because of the side effects and the effects it has on the neurology.

Depression is challenging to work with and it's challenging for those that experience it or insomnia, stress, anxiety, panic attacks etc.

They'll often talk of memory loss, or use words such as overwhelm, dark, fog, bleak, out of control, lost confidence, numbness, lethargic, no ambition, no future, hide, shut doors, hibernate, powerlessness, resignation, negative thoughts, isolated, struggle etc As you collect those words together you start to get a sense of where they're at.

To tell them to;
- accept things as they are (when they are struggling to cope)
- think positively (when this doesn't exist in their accessible neurology at this time)
etc doesn't allow them to deal with the overwhelming nature of the dark space they are in.

(Yes Winston I'll PM you and pop you a DVD)

[Winston001]

They'll often talk of memory loss, or use words such as overwhelm, dark, fog, bleak, out of control, lost confidence, numbness, lethargic, no ambition, no future, hide, shut doors, hibernate, powerlessness, resignation, negative thoughts, isolated, struggle etc.....

A+ post. You'll find all of those words in this thread.

To tell them to;
- accept things as they are (when they are struggling to cope)
- think positively (when this doesn't exist in their accessible neurology at this time) etc
doesn't allow them to deal with the overwhelming nature of the dark space they are in.

Exactly. Your input is invaluable Mystic. Thankyou.

[Mystic13]

Thanks. I didn't read the thread just jumped to the last page. I'd expect that language to be consistent though.

[Indiana_Jones]

hmmmmmmmmm........

"Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best..."

-Indy

[Conquiztador]

Had a new read of this one as I went in to BMW's profile and realised that her final post was in here.

Would like to know if things have gotten a fraction better for the posters in here?

What has worked, what has not?

And has anyone done the JK test and started his on line programme: http://www.depression.org.nz/content/home?startSelfTest

[Kittyhawk]

Yes no maybe? I think that things take time. Feel far better thesedays than what I did when I first started this thread but its taken a bloody long time. Had a couple of life changing events which I suppose really put the mind to the test.

[duckonin]

Yes no maybe? I think that things take time. Feel far better thesedays than what I did when I first started this thread but its taken a bloody long time. Had a couple of life changing events which I suppose really put the mind to the test.

Stay with it Kitty, you will come good, life can be a real bitch at times, head up and smile, will make u feel good an others around you ..

[Teflon]

[Kittyhawk]

Stay with it Kitty, you will come good, life can be a real bitch at times, head up and smile, will make u feel good an others around you ..

Just when ya think everything is going well in life, something else gets thrown at ya and it's like wtf just happened. Haven't rode a bike in 2 years 3 months! Not that I'm counting or anything lol....So who else is on here who is here?

[Winston001]

.... Had a couple of life changing events which I suppose really put the mind to the test.

Depression is a weird illness. It is our brains trying to tell us that something is wrong. That wrongness may be a daily thing such as your job but figuring it out can be baffling. I'm certain many many people never find the cause of their depression.

Without going into clinical detail depression is often divided into Situational and Chemical. Situational means the events in life which bring you down emotionally. A relationship breakup or family death are the classics.

Chemical is more insidious and arises because of insufficent neuro-transmitters in the brain. Seretonin and dopamine are the important ones. So pills which keep these in balance help a lot.