Good morning !
I found this tag off Jenny @ Jenny in Neverland, and thought this would be a great intro for what I wanted to post next! So here it is 🙂
What is your mental health issue?
I have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.
Do you have medication and/or therapy?
I am currently medicated; At one point of my life, I was unemployed and did therapy for 8months (1 therapy per week/sometime two). Sadly I needed to stop the therapy as I couldn’t afford it. The psy I had was first paid by my dad’s former employer, so they picked that office specifically. They were offering 8 seances for their employees & their family – and I needed to go beyond that. She had asked them for more, which they granted it, but the employer itself went into bankrupcy so after that moment I needed to pay $160 per session by myself. I took a few more but it’s just not needed for me anymore at this point in time.
What therapy/medication have you tried and have any worked for you?
The therapy mixed with anti-depressant worked great for me, but I needed to stop the therapy for money issues as I said above.
For the medication in itself, I tried a few.. First I had the “citalopram”, which I had upgraded to the maximum per my dr – after that point it could start being dangerous for my weight or something alike. It wasn’t working as it should had, so I then changed for “Venlafaxine” (aka Effexor), which I had upgraded last year and is still on that posology. However, I needed to change my contraceptive pill aswell as my hormones also play a bad effect on my mental health.
How long have you had problems for?
I have been properly diagnosed for them in 2015, So going on 4years. I however suspect I had some anxiety before that when I was younger, as I remember what could have been “panic attacks” growing up .. I would be playing and suddently I couldn’t breathe properly; i’d reffer to breathing as going on a circle, and it was like I couldn’t “close that circle” back up if it make sense..
Do your family/friends know?
I am very open with it; so yeah, they all know. If someone do ask me a question about it, i’ll answer them aswell. I have no shame at all, though i’d agree it doesn’t make me who I am, it’s also a part of me, you know ?
Does this affect your work and daily living?
In a way, it does. I am obviously an anxious person, and when I started my job as a barista I was panicking in rushes and such … and I kept thinking how this may eventually lead me to an anxiety attack, which let’s say it wouldn’t be good in a rush where some workers are less patient to start with.
As for my daily life, it have less of an impact than it was years ago when I wouldn’t even wanna meet with friends and people because of anxiety, but I still have attacks out of nowhere; which can be paralysing. It also changed me alot since this developped as bad as it is now, as I used to be more “snappy” and pick up fights with my dad all the time. Now, I can’t even tolerate someone yelling at me or else I just burst crying.. I just cannot hold tears since, which you’ll agree with me is kinda “eh” when working in retail..
What makes you feel calm?
Some people: like my mom, boyfriend and weeins do help me remain somewhat calm (depend on the situation and if something stressful is going on..) But also doing Sudokus really relaxes me, probably as I avoid using the little numbers xD so I keep counting in my head over and over.. also playing videogames, like sims or stardew valley, where you can really lose track of whats going on and jump in that world.
What do you do in crisis?
In times of panic, my go-to is rocking my body back and forth aswell as put some music on. Going outside and deep breathing also helps, but some crisis are worst than others and just do not wanna go away. so you just gotta occupy the mind and wait..
What advice would you give to others suffering?
Be patient. Medication is a good thing, but it can be a while before you can pinpoint identify which one work best. In some cases, like mine with feminine hormones, something else may be needed for it to work properly.
Don’t hesitate to look for help if you need it; talk to somebody. it can be anyone.
What makes you smile?
Same people as “what make you feel calm”, dachshunds, videogames, books..
Describe your mental health issue in 5 words –
Frustrating, paralysing, illogic, isolating, confusing.
Feel free to talk to me with anything relating to mental health (questions, just wanting to talk, etc.) – i’ll always answer the best that I can.
if you wanna do this tag aswell on your own blog – just feel free to do so !
I am sorry to hear about your mental health journey. I stopped seeing my therapist for money issues too, but I also had some free group therapy for my social anxiety. I am not sure if it’s easy to find where you live, but you could try and see if there are any studies that offer free therapy (that’s how I got my free therapy, by participating in a study of two psychology grad-students).
Wishing all the best and calmness in the world upon you!
Oh thats interresting ! it’s the first time I hear about it so.. idk if we have anything like that here 🤔
Though I stopped because of money, I don’t feel the need to go see one again. I did once and ended up just sitting there like “…well, idk what to say”
Thank you so much xx
Well Kristina my husband has suffered from depression during five years so I recognize some of the medication you are giving here above! I haven’t had depression so far but anxiety and panic attack at one time in my life yes. I suffered from a burn out while at university but it was not known yet (yes I am old I know I know). I hed these panic attcks where I thought I was dying from heart attack! I didn’t take medication but I had to work on myself and learn that it’s all right not to be all right. Nothing to lie about or pretend that you are just fine. Nothing to be ashamed either. I worked on breathing thanks to sophrology and it took me seven months to be back to “normal”. It taught me that I have to be kind with myself. It also allowed me to be more compassionate and understanding of others. Good luck and keep healing 😉
Thank you Sophie !
Lots of good things learned there, and I know it’s often for people to think panic attacks are heart attack !! nope, it’s “safe” … you apparently cannot die from thoses, it just gives you a hard time, “for fun” xD
It kinda make me feel better to know that I wasn’t the only one to take as much time to recover back xx
Thank you so much for sharing about your mental health with us <3 I think the being patient is something very important, and I am glad books are there to help you be happy with video games as well.