Anxiety/Depression/Mental Illness Support

[Creed of Heresy]

I don't know what it is exactly but just about every pharmaceutical sleep aid exacerbates my insomnia. Can't eat apples and almonds specifically because melatonin seems to also have an adverse affect. Truth be told smoking weed doesn't actually help me go to sleep but it puts my entire mind into a blanked state so that I seem to naturally relax without chemical input which results in me being able to sleep. I think. I dunno, every doc I've been to has been utterly baffled by my condition. The closest I ever got to an explanation was by a neurologist and most of what he said went right over my head, no pun intended.

It doesn't help I have hyper-realistic nightmare sequences more than half the time when I do manage to sleep, which often disturbs my ability to sleep restfully. Does not help that they're not imaginative nightmares all the time; most of the time they're extremely vivid memories I'd rather not ever have to relive. Which in turn makes me fearful of sleeping a lot of the time because sleeping brings those memories back up.

You know the more I think about this, the more I consider checking myself into a psychiatric ward.

[Autumnlicious]

I do so much pot that I rarely recall or wake out of my dreams. I do not recall the last time I had a dream.

It is a necessary sacrifice for getting to bed every night without fail.

Before I would stay up for days at a time.

[Faith No More]

You know the more I think about this, the more I consider checking myself into a psychiatric ward.

You can go ahead and look at some of the wards to see if you need to, but just know that most of them are not meant to help you with long term treatment. They are really meant to stabalize you mentally if you are in a really bad place, and most of the patients are only there for 3-14 days or so. So, unless you really feel you are a danger to yourself or others, there isn't much help that you could get in a psychiatric ward that you couldn't get outside of it. If you aren't happy with your current method of treatment or doctor, the wards will help you get into what they consider a reliable long term treatmet, but that's not something you couldn't eventually do on your own.

[zentor]

I experienced insomnia worst when I was dieting
I find it helps if i have a nice meal before bed to sleep.
Warm shower too...but if all that doesn't worse it really does suck
Hate just lying there as minutes go by
Check clock 2:13am
An hour later , 2:09 am...WTF???

---

How much faith do u guys have in psych meds? I been on almost every one for 6 months each. At one point I was on risperdal, Prozac, depalote, claunadine, and seroquel all at once.
Very sad time for me/
I hear dogs say out of the office that they don't know how brain works and meds are just a shot in the dark in hopes something clicks and 90% of the time it's just a place o affect.
Seems to me side affects are just as bad as my illness too!
Been on lithium now, dont notice any diffidence and doc says I'm on the perfect dose for me.

[Shell B]

Creed, I sometimes have freakouts where I think I should be institutionalized. If you're thinking that, you probably don't need it. Unless you are planning to hurt yourself or someone else. I find it comforting to have a list of help numbers. I have never used it, but I like having it there. If I feel nutty, perhaps someone can keep me on the phone until I feel better. That's my thinking on it.

Don't worry. So many people go through this and have great days in-between. If you're coherent, there's hope.

[Jackalope]

Creed, I sometimes have freakouts where I think I should be institutionalized. If you're thinking that, you probably don't need it. Unless you are planning to hurt yourself or someone else. I find it comforting to have a list of help numbers. I have never used it, but I like having it there. If I feel nutty, perhaps someone can keep me on the phone until I feel better. That's my thinking on it.

Don't worry. So many people go through this and have great days in-between. If you're coherent, there's hope.

I think this is good advice, Shell. I also carry a card with a list of hotlines in the event I need it. In a pinch, 911 works as well, though based on some past experiences, I prefer to not get the authorities involved unless absolutely necessary for safety. While I understand that things have improved, 25 or so years ago, I found that calling 911 resulted in somewhat ham-handed treatment, and walking into treatment voluntarily beats getting there via a jail cell.

If you don't feel safe, then don't hesitate to seek inpatient treatment. Otherwise, use whatever resources you have available to you. You might have access to an intensive outpatient program in your area. If you have a regular therapist or psychiatrist, they can help you. If not, contacting your local government mental health office might help.

My inbox is always open to anyone who needs assistance finding help, or just if you need someone to talk to. Whatever you decide is best for you, remember you don't have to suffer alone.

[Annik]

I usually use Hovik. >.>;

I normally just need help with my panic attacks and he knows how best to calm me down (and remind me I'm not dying).

[Shell B]

I'm afraid I'm not very good at letting people know when I am using them for help. Typically, if I'm having a bit of a meltdown, I bring up something that needlessly worries me and talk about that, sometimes to the frustration of the other person who can't figure out why I am analyzing something to death. I'm practicing telling people, but I'm afraid that becomes a reassurance seeking thing, which it supposed to be part of the cycle I'm breaking. I'm also being very bad about seeing a therapist regularly. Durf.

I think I might have been doing an almost fear-related relationship sabotage thing earlier. Picking things apart is no good.

[Annik]

He can usually tell because I stop talking completely.

[Shell B]

Haha, well, hiding anxiety attacks is difficult. However, I'm not usually with anyone in person, so it manifests oddly. When it was really bad, I went offline for a few days. That was weird. Not working wasn't cool and I regretted abandoning my laptop because I missed Adrian.