Does anyone feel very apathetic and find it very hard to find joy in things you like to do? Is it hard for you to even have motivation to make the bed? I feel I am just existing. Have an appointment with my uncompassionate psychiatrist today. Know he will put me back on antidepressants. I am so scared of the hugher anxiety state you are in whan you first start them. Can only take Zoloft and Effexor. The others interfere with my cardiac med. Any advice on which one to pick? Thank you guys!
I say pick a new therapist! lol. Why are they "uncompassionate"?
I tried 2 different therapists b4 finding one I liked. Now I really like mine, and I find them very helpful. They also don't try to put me on meds, we're leaving that as a very last resort.
I am sorry you have to go through this. I felt exactly the same when I first struggled with depression. Losing interesting in doing anything is just awful. If you couldn’t handle it without meds , you might want to consider it . I am on antidepressants and other meds for years . For me, taking meds is like a part of my life now . I see myself taking supplements for my brain that makes me feel better . Are the meds you are taking helping you ?
May I ask what supplements you take to help you? I too feel I will be on meds the rest of my life but am terrified ofcstartingva new antidepressant because of the horrible increased anxiety it has when first on them. May I ask what antidepressant you are on that helps you. I just want to feel joy again. . TY
He says mean things to me and hasxan attitude. How do you get by without meds? Counseling. Tough for me because I have a chemical imbalance in my brain. Hereditary. My mom and grandmother had anxiety issues. Bless
I use xanax occasionally on very bad days, but that's rare like once every 6 months or so. Without my therapist I prob would be on meds by now, the therapy has helped me a lot. She takes a cognitive behavioral approach, and teaches me to rationalize my fears and also gives me ways to calm down when I'm panicking like deep breathing techniques and meditation. In the end it really is up to you to feel better. It does require a LOT of effort to feel better without meds, BUT everything I've heard from doctors and read in anxiety books, etc says that meds are only a temporary solution. They can def be necessary for certain people, but they are always only temporary. The only real long term solution is fixing your mindset and how you cope/deal with your anxiety feelings. This is why I have tried to not go on meds unless I absolutely need to. In the end, I'm going to have to learn how to live happily without them anyway, so I'm trying to just do that now.
Also, I believe my anxiety is hereditary, too. My mother, father, grandmother, and aunt all had either anxiety disorders or depression. I tell people all the time that real anxiety disorder is not when you get panicky/anxious from work or stress - that's normal anxiety. Real anxiety issues come from nowhere, you wake up from sleep nervous or you're watching TV and feel nervous. My first panic attack came from nowhere when I was driving to work on a reg day. That's why I def believe my anxiety is hereditary as well.
I DO believe that there probably is a chemical imbalance. However, I don't really believe that meds are the cure. As I said above, everything I have been told by therapists, Drs, and everything I've read in my own researching is that real healing/cure comes from simply changing the way you react to your anxiety feelings. It is definitely a lot of work, there's no denying that. But I think it's worth it to be able to not need medication to feel okay and normal again!
Mine is heredity as well . My father’s siblings , my cousins, my grandma from my mom’s side , my mom and sister ... all suffer from depression and anxiety. At some point, I believe I have to be on mes for life .
I am currently taking the CBT too and it does take a lot of effort to retract our brain. How did you cope with your anxiety ?
You have been so helpful! God bless you. I have heard magnesium helps but you must take the right kind and dose as it could mess up your electrolytes. You have true courage. TY again!
Hi magmag1116! Well seeing a therapist was def my main way of coping and feeling better. But specifically the rationalization she taught me was one way I've learned to cope a lot...
For ex: I used to be afraid of carpooling with friends, so I would always take my own car everywhere I went. This was bc I was afraid if I had an anxiety attack that I wouldn't be able to leave wherever I was bc I didn't have my own car. I got over this fear bc my therapist said to me well let's break down this fear... Say you do carpool and you start to feel anxious, would you be able to call someone to come get you? Maybe your parent or sibling? N I said I guess yeah, but it would just be annoying for them tho to have to come pick me up somewhere. And she said but they are your fam and love you, they wouldn't be annoyed if you were upset would they? And then I said well no probably not, theyd feel bad. N then she said okay so say someonecouldn't come get u, what's another option? I said, well maybe a friend there could just drive me home, but that would inconvenience them and I wouldn't want to do that. So again she said, but they are ur friend! If the roles were reversed would you feel inconvenienced driving them home bc they didn't feel good? And I said no I wouldn't mind. So then she said so what are u afraid of? You just said 2 different options for getting home in case you don't feel good... so you're not stuck if you carpool, you CAN leave. It's not ideal, but it IS possible. You are never actually stuck in that kind of situation. So then after we discussed all that I thought you know that's true, it would be annoying to have to call my mom to come get me etc, but I could do it and she would obv come. And since then I have felt a lot better about carpooling with people. As silly as it may sound haha.
Another way I've coped is by deep breathing techniques. Whenever my heart randomly starts to race I do this deep breathing exercise my therapist taught me, and it works very quickly to slow my heart rate. And then in return I realize nothing is wrong with me, I'm just anxious again and it will pass. Being able to calm myself when I'm feeling that panic feeling has helped a lot.
Oh also! I started reading this book "The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook (6th edition)". I HIGHLY recommend, it's a really easy read and it is soooo helpful and really interesting. That book has helped me a lot as well, it gave me mediation exercises and more breathing techniques. And the book also rationalizes common anxiety fears with scientific evidence as to why your fear is silly basically lol.
Hey Celia, it's interesting that you say your psychiatrist has no compansion. I'd have thought that "compassion", is one of the most important quality they should possess! It's bizarre! See, I would have suggested trying a different anti-depressant but unfortunately, you're are pretty limited. I've never had the tablets you stated. So, can't comment. Honey, ultimately, it's down to you. Can you cope with how you're feeling? If not, go back on the tablets. Get through the initial horrible side effects bit and hopefully you will feel better. Message me anytime hun, Donna xxx
Thank you for the sharing ! I guess different therapists are using different approaches although they are all CBT. For me, I am learning how to accept my emotions as been good or bad, I did exposure exercise and I have the fear of symtoms and the fear of “fear”, I always anticipate for the next attack and it really bothers me.
Thank you for spending your time typing up such a long and meaningful post to me. I deeply appreciate it. I believe both of us can beat this horrible monster , the anxiety . And indeed , everyone has anxiety but it delmpends on how severe you are .
I struggle with the fear of "fear" too. It's hard to not be fearful of those symptoms and emotions that come when your in anxiety/panic mode bc they are just so terrible. I think learning the breathing techniques, and knowing I have xanax that I can take also if needed, helps me not be as afraid of having those panic attacks. Even though I don't take xanax often at all, it DEF helps a lot just knowing that I have it and can take it if needed.
Saw my psychiatrist. Had a panic attack while there. He was really nice this time. Going on Zoloft. Very terrified about this but have no choice. Have any of you felt extreme exhaustion and no energuy from anxiety and depression? TY
I get very fatigued when feeling extra anxious, this is a common symptom for anxiety sufferers. Good luck with the Zoloft! My friend took that for her anxiety and said it worked really well for her =)