Mental Health Update

A number of things caused my depression, the biggest one was chronic pain (24/7). I have facial nerve pain (that’s the only dx I’ve been given). Tried treating it with Nortriptyline…really bad idea. Carbamazepine…couldn’t stay awake on it though it did actually start helping a bit. Finally now I have just started Lamictal…fingers crossed this one works. My relationship with my family was and still is a problem, simply put I’m a major oddball.

All My life I have been depressed. So it’s not like it just started one day. But I always though if I just had X I would be happy. Years later I realized the truth. Depression is a disease.

This week began with 2 projects for Jim’s class followed by 2 lesson plans and a quiz in Dr. Andrade’s class.Tomorrow the dreaded graphic organizers are due in Cheryl’s Equity and Diversity class. I really did not know what to expect when I began this Credential program but I am very happy about the fun, witty, caring and talented members of the”team 25″ group. We all click in different ways because of our workload bonding. Tech class has actually been a great experience helping me get caught up with technology and my anxiety issues are gone. I still have some minor tech failures but I am no longer fearful of computers. Yipppeeeee! I dove in and experimented with help from Robert in class and the “hubster” @ home. I’m getting it! I’m getting it!

Reading “The Gift of Depression” demonstrated why doctors give away patients books and why you should never loan a book you haven’t read. I have decided to review both books and send it with the books back to him. I would have never bought either book normally especially “The Gift of Depression”. I subscribe to a newsletter at mcmanweb.com that did a review on “Why I am Still Depressed” and made the suggestion that you give your doctor a copy. It is a good book that describes manic depression from the latest perspective cutting edge thinking. It really pissed me off because my doctors and I had already tried everything in it. My psychologist remarked that she had noticed the distinctions made in the book in some of her patients since reading it. The problem with the book is that everyone in the end gets better - in reality many never get better - many get worse many commit suicide.

Up to 30 percent of people who require mental health services have at least one personality disorder (PD)–characterized by abnormal and maladaptive inner experience and behavior. Personality disorders, also known as Axis II disorders, include obsessive-compulsive PD, avoidant PD, paranoid PD and borderline PD. Axis I disorders, on the other hand, include depression and schizophrenia–mental illnesses thought to be less pervasive but more acute.

I just wonder if somebody has ever thought that if a kid is depressed and anxious maybe there is a deeper reason that should be analyzed with his/her parents rather than just “solve it” with a pill.

Because Strattera is known to cause some liver functioning problems, my doctor has to order periodic blood tests to make sure that it’s not hurting my liver. Luckily, I’m basically healthy to start with, so I’m not exactly in a high-risk category. But these required blood tests mean that other problems can be caught early.

It was the fact of having to talk to three customers with chronic diarrhea in as many days (while dealing with my own) that prompted me to chase down the goods on a growing hunch about the 5-HTP/Big "D" connection. I spent an hour or so wading through the web pages delivered by the following search terms, alone and various combinations "5-HTP, antidepressants, constipation, diarrhea, IBS, motility, serotonin, side-effects, SSRI." What I found out was that medical researchers have a pretty clear understanding of something us folks in the supplement industry have barely grasped.

in 2001 patrick kennedy admitted he has bipolar disorder, while he was in the company of tipper gore who has been very public about her depression. after crashing his mustang convertible into a capitol barricade in the middle of the night last month, mr. kennedy, was thrust into a clash between personal privacy and political beliefs. hours before he told the world he was checking himself back into the mayo clinic, he wrestled with going public. his advisers say he now views these incidents, as well as his addiction and bouts of binge drinking, through the prism of his bipolar disorder, a type of depression marked by extreme highs and lows. you can read the full story here.

I don’t think it is a teething, ear ache, constipation, etc., thing because as soon as I hold David in my arms, he immediately stops crying. I then usually rock him to sleep lying down in my arms, not upright. It is almost the same position that he would be in if he were in his crib. It seems to me (us) that it is most of an issue with seperation anxiety. He wants his mom, and he wants her now! So he gets mad. He isn’t usually crying (no tears), he is just yelling because he is mad that we have left him in his crib.

I’ve been feeling increasingly depressed. Work stress and my general situation have just beaten me down. I have managed to keep the dizzy spells back but often it is just by luck that I’m not swirling away.