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Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

A forum for general discussion on Health and Fitness issues and topics such as well-being

Have you?

Yes
16
20%
No
42
53%
Relative has
21
27%
 
Total votes: 79

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fancy dan
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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by fancy dan »

I'm with murf and the dude there, the key to happiness is definitely appreciating what you've got rather than always aspiring to something new/bigger/better etc. Not always easy - we live in an aspirational society where businesses set the agenda, and businesses don't want you to be happy, because happy people don't buy as much stuff.

Anyway, off the soapbox: of course, if what you have isn't making you happy, think about ways in which you could improve your life - but small, practicable ways. Like getting involved in the local community - volunteering? Or you're an intelligent and politically aware bloke - get involved with the local Labour group?

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by murf »

fancy dan wrote:I'm with murf and the dude there, the key to happiness is definitely appreciating what you've got rather than always aspiring to something new/bigger/better etc.
Probably best to point out that I meant it as a "life maxim" for all of us and not as any form of 'cure' for depression - which would be as helpful as screaming "shake yourself out of it" :wink: :D

If the whole world took time to smell the flowers and the coffee, the profits of the drugs companies would plummet.

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by Mark1886 »

A relative of mine is a completely different person after councelling to find the root of their problems. They have been (and still are) on anti depressants for years. Now they have got a place at University as a mature student, and have taken up voluntary work with the RSPCA. The change in their personality in just a year is remarkable. I used to find that some anti depressants made my relative like a zombie, they used to look right through you. My relative says the first step was wanting to get better in the first place, councelling in this case, was that first step. But you have to help yourself before anyone else can help you. (sorry if that sounds corny)

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

murf wrote: A similar world view has helped me through life and I've resented being in the office this week when I have a wife and sunny garden back at home - but I know what pays for it and I'll be out of here at 5:30 and the clocks change this weekend so I can have an hour's pottering when I get home....

Don't forget to enjoy the good things when you can - even if that is only posting on FISO!
This is the sort of Reward System that I was talking about. I just need to think of rewards :lol:

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

fancy dan wrote:I'm with murf and the dude there, the key to happiness is definitely appreciating what you've got rather than always aspiring to something new/bigger/better etc. Not always easy - we live in an aspirational society where businesses set the agenda, and businesses don't want you to be happy, because happy people don't buy as much stuff.
Mmmm, I may have to disagree with that. I accept your point at the suicidal level, but I am past that and need to stop underachieving. I just need to find a drive to achieve etc......
fancy dan wrote: Anyway, off the soapbox: of course, if what you have isn't making you happy, think about ways in which you could improve your life - but small, practicable ways. Like getting involved in the local community - volunteering? Or you're an intelligent and politically aware bloke - get involved with the local Labour group?
Funnily enough, I had thought of something similar, but thought the sex would be better with the Tories :lol:

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blahblah
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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

murf wrote:
fancy dan wrote:I'm with murf and the dude there, the key to happiness is definitely appreciating what you've got rather than always aspiring to something new/bigger/better etc.
Probably best to point out that I meant it as a "life maxim" for all of us and not as any form of 'cure' for depression - which would be as helpful as screaming "shake yourself out of it" :wink: :D

If the whole world took time to smell the flowers and the coffee, the profits of the drugs companies would plummet.
The appreciation point is very relevant, but when you go off coffee and roses the shite hits the proverbial fan.

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

Many thanks for the comments, and suggestions, and I apologise for the shortness of the replies, as they probably deserved a bit more. However, I have actually been busy today, into town - well around it to the nearest point etc, and Sainsbury's.

I have developed a baking obsession, and made an awesome Wholemeal Loaf the other day and I am off to make some more. The kids are here this weekend, so I won't be about much, but the darkest days are behind me, I hope; I just have to reinvent myself, again. (I am sure that I have had depression before, and all were longish periods from which I came out different to when I went in, but I think the Shrink might keep the next one further away etc.........)

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by Surprised »

At least things are starting to look a bit brighter for you now and the worst is behind you.
Depression is a hard thing to understand for those that don't suffer from it and it's surprising how many have come on here and declare they suffer or have suffered or know someone who does. To admit to having it is a brave move as I think it is still seen by many as something that is not a real illness.

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fancy dan
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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by fancy dan »

blahblah wrote:
fancy dan wrote: Anyway, off the soapbox: of course, if what you have isn't making you happy, think about ways in which you could improve your life - but small, practicable ways. Like getting involved in the local community - volunteering? Or you're an intelligent and politically aware bloke - get involved with the local Labour group?
Funnily enough, I had thought of something similar, but thought the sex would be better with the Tories :lol:
Bit of a Thatcher fetish, eh? :shock: :wink:
Last edited by fancy dan on 25 Mar 2011, 16:56, edited 1 time in total.

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blahblah
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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

fancy dan wrote:
fancy dan wrote: Anyway, off the soapbox: of course, if what you have isn't making you happy, think about ways in which you could improve your life - but small, practicable ways. Like getting involved in the local community - volunteering? Or you're an intelligent and politically aware bloke - get involved with the local Labour group?
Funnily enough, I had thought of something similar, but thought the sex would be better with the Tories :lol:
Bit of a Thatcher fetish, eh? :shock: :wink:[/quote]

I wasn't thinking of necrophilia, tbh; but they had more interesting scandals than Labour, who just seem to bonk\shag.....

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Billy Whiz
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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by Billy Whiz »

As someone who's lucky enough never to have suffered from depression, reading through this thread, and the honesty of the replies, has been a humbling experience. I can't offer any advice from personal experience, but I do have a couple of suggestions. They may or may not be of any use, but it's what I would do.

First, the unopened envelopes. Gather them all up in a bag and just before the dustman arrives, throw them in the dustbin and then watch them being taken away. Wave them goodbye. Even better, make a bonfire in the garden and burn them all, then bury the ashes. This may seem irresponsible, but you're not going to open the envelopes anyway so what's the difference? Then, when the next envelope arrives tomorrow, force yourself to open it. And if it needs any action taken, force yourself to take that action, that day. To do that, you're probably going to need a phone - you say you're disconnected, but can you buy yourself a cheap pay-as-you-go mobile? After that, open every envelope as and when they arrive and deal with them straight away.

Second, at the end of each day, before you go to bed, write down a list of the good things that have happened that day. It may just be that the sun shone, or that someone made you laugh on fiso, or you saw a pretty girl walk past or you got on the bus without feeling panicky. As you go through your day, make a mental note of these things so that when you compile your list you won't forget them. As for the crap things that happen, flush them down the toilet. Literally flush the toilet last thing and imagine them all swishing away. Maybe you should do this before you settle down to your list, so that you first clear away all the shit and then concentrate on the good stuff. In time, you may even find yourself looking forward to this ritual.

I think you will beat this, because as others have said the first step is to acknowledge the problem, and the second is the determination to tackle it. You seem to have both. Good luck.

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WilBert
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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by WilBert »

Billy Whiz wrote:As someone who's lucky enough never to have suffered from depression, reading through this thread, and the honesty of the replies, has been a humbling experience. I can't offer any advice from personal experience, but I do have a couple of suggestions. They may or may not be of any use, but it's what I would do.

First, the unopened envelopes. Gather them all up in a bag and just before the dustman arrives, throw them in the dustbin and then watch them being taken away. Wave them goodbye. Even better, make a bonfire in the garden and burn them all, then bury the ashes. This may seem irresponsible, but you're not going to open the envelopes anyway so what's the difference? Then, when the next envelope arrives tomorrow, force yourself to open it. And if it needs any action taken, force yourself to take that action, that day. To do that, you're probably going to need a phone - you say you're disconnected, but can you buy yourself a cheap pay-as-you-go mobile?

Second, at the end of each day, before you go to bed, write down a list of the good things that have happened that day. It may just be that the sun shone, or that someone made you laugh on fiso, or you saw a pretty girl walk past or you got on the bus without feeling panicky. As you go through your day, make a mental note of these things so that when you compile your list you won't forget them. As for the crap things that happen, flush them down the toilet. Literally flush the toilet last thing and imagine them all swishing away. Maybe you should do this before you settle down to your list, so that you first clear away all the shit and then concentrate on the good stuff. In time, you may even find yourself looking forward to this ritual.

I think you will beat this, because as others have said the first step is to acknowledge the problem, and the second is the determination to tackle it. You seem to have both. Good luck.
Both excellent pieces of advice IMO. I was going to suggest the destroying of the letters but didn’t want to be too forward. From a mentally cathartic point of view it's an excellent plan but from an economic, practical and workload perspective it also makes perfect sense.

I once worked with a team that was so far behind on letters from customers the only solution I found was to scrap everything (stick them in post bags in the basement for 2 years admittedly) and only deal with letters that came in on a daily basis. The theory being – if it’s important enough people will write/phone/email progress chasing. Result was that they only needed to root through the bags once; they found ways around it after that.

CBT helped me a lot with my health problems and IMO everyone will pick up something that will help them. The two things that still ring true for me years later that may apply to you or may not….

1. If a job’s worth doing it’s worth doing badly. (at least it gets done and your badly might be someone else’s good/well)
2. How do you eat an elephant – a piece at a time.

Continued luck in your journey :)

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by kingcurtley »

blahblah wrote:Many thanks for the comments, and suggestions, and I apologise for the shortness of the replies, as they probably deserved a bit more. However, I have actually been busy today, into town - well around it to the nearest point etc, and Sainsbury's.

I have developed a baking obsession, and made an awesome Wholemeal Loaf the other day and I am off to make some more. The kids are here this weekend, so I won't be about much, but the darkest days are behind me, I hope; I just have to reinvent myself, again. (I am sure that I have had depression before, and all were longish periods from which I came out different to when I went in, but I think the Shrink might keep the next one further away etc.........)
Great stuff. Sounds like a week with progress to me! Enjoy the weekend

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

Isn't destroying letters illegal?

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by WilBert »

Not that I know of. If it is, you have strong mitigating circumstances and justification IMO

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by dead parrot »

better than destroying the envelopes is to get a friend to open them for you, either in your presence or not. They can then destroy all the rubbish or duplicates but bring to your attention any ones that really do need dealing with or any positive letters that will be good for you to see.

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by Surprised »

blahblah wrote:Isn't destroying letters illegal?
Only for postmen I think.

Wish I had advice or helpful words.

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

I am sure they are the Queens Mail, until opened or delivered to the correct address\person; when they become the actual persons.....

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by murf »

blahblah wrote:Isn't destroying letters illegal?
Surely they are now your personal property to do with what you will

(I'm assuming these actually are your letters and you aren't just a lazy postie who got the sack......)

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

murf wrote:
blahblah wrote:Isn't destroying letters illegal?
Surely they are now your personal property to do with what you will

(I'm assuming these actually are your letters add you aren't just a lazy postie who got the sack......)
Funnily enough...................nope.

However, I was an Xmas postie, while a stude; another one got fed up with it, and dumped a sackful (under some sort of bridge, I think) and the shit hit the fan with knobs on. He was going to get prosecuted, and everything.

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by murf »

I did 3 christmasses and one summer as a postie. Top job back in those days.....

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by grob »

dead parrot wrote:better than destroying the envelopes is to get a friend to open them for you, either in your presence or not. They can then destroy all the rubbish or duplicates but bring to your attention any ones this really do need dealing with or any positive letters this will be good for you to see.
I agree - the volume of paper will likely shrink substantially as a result - all duplicates can be recorded by date prior to being destroyed.What remains can then be prioritised.

I also agree it would probably be beneficial if a trusted relative or friend could assist in this task,which could otherwise be potentially destructively depressing if attempted alone.

Such person should be familiar with your situation before being asked if they'd mind helping you.

If you can't think of anyone suitable,maybe you could ask the Samaritans if they could assist in any way - or visit your local CAB, be honest about your situation - if they can't help directly,they may be able to suggest someone who can.

Once this has been done,you may need further assistance from them in contacting the senders of some of these letters,if they contain demands you are unable to meet, who could explain that they've stepped in to help as you've been too ill for a long time, and remain unwell, albeit now starting on the long road to recovery.

Some of the organisations from whom you may be expecting to have received threats may ease off when they see that you're not simply ignoring them and adopting a "catch me if you can" attitude,but are intent on doing your best to meet your obligations to the best of your ability.

In any subsequent legal action that might be taken against you,this would be taken into account,whereas the opposite might apply if you just burnt or buried the unopened mail,appearing to adopt a "couldn't care less" attitude.

Once you've tackled this challenge and know where you stand,what you can and can't do, the enormous relief you are likely to feel will help you to recover your health and strength and get your life back as you,not others, will be in control of it.

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grob
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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by grob »

Can anyone explain why in my above post,every time I typed "and" it appears as "add", "they" as "that","that" as "this".
I've tried editing them, but my draft appears correct,yet the submitted post isn't ? :?

As exactly the same thing has happened when I typed my above question,it makes a complete nonsense of what I've just asked !

I'll try using caps :

when I type AND,it appears as ADD
" " " THEY it appears as THAT
" " " THAT it appears as THIS
Last edited by grob on 01 Apr 2011, 13:31, edited 1 time in total.

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Ave a banana
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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by Ave a banana »

grob wrote:Can anyone explain why in my above post,every time I typed "add" it appears as "add", "they" as "this","this" as "this".
I've tried editing them, but my draft appears correct,yet the submitted post isn't ? :?
add-this-t84456.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by grob »

Thanks Ave a banana - even my edited question using caps made no sense either. Just hope my main post can be understood.

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

It is triggered when we get so anxious that we seize conscious control over a task that should be executed automatically.

By automatically I assume they mean by the subconcious mind.....

Quite an interesting article, to help explain panic attacks to those fortune enough not to have experienced them.

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by blahblah »

Well, guess what happened today!!!

I finally got diagnosed with Autism. I have suspected it for quite a while, but never been referred for Assessment, until my current Clinical Psychologist did a few months back. This is despite it having been brought even with CMHT bods, and while it makes a lot of sense, and has kinda lifted a weight from my shoulders I am starting to get annoyed* at the years that I have lost...

*annoyed is a rare sensation for me for the last however many years, as so little has mattered etc.

Obviously I'm not Autistic enough to be any good at this Fantasy sport lark 8-) :lol:

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by unc.si. »

Well, i'm no doctor but I think the most important step in dealing with any issue in life is understanding what you're dealing with, so getting the diagnosis is really positive.

Don't stress about the years you've 'lost'. They're in the past. You are where you are. Most important thing is that you can move forward knowing what framework you're working in.

We all have our own challenges. Best of luck dealing with yours. You're not alone.

Si

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Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by bspittles »

I'm glad you've finally got your diagnosis, it must be a huge weight off your mind.

We've known something is a little "different" with my five-year-old for a long time, but getting professional acceptance seems so difficult. After a lot of research, we've self-diagnosed her as having Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), and once we suggest that to the health professionals, they tend to verbally agree (although they won't put anything autism-related in writing until she's seven). But if we waited until she was seven, she would be put on a list and probably at secondary school before she got help.

At least by starting now, she should get help as soon as she can.

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Re: RE: Re: Anti Depressants, or Happy Pills

Post by Moist von Lipwig »

As eloquently put by others above, I hope having a diagnosis puts you in a place where you can move on positively from here.
blahblah wrote: Obviously I'm not Autistic enough to be any good at this Fantasy sport lark 8-) Image
Funnily enough I did read an article somewhere this week about the lack of understanding of the condition and how many people with autism are asked what their 'skill' is!

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