Social Anxiety/Depression (whine, but need advice)
- Thread starter RD
- Start date
Grace
For years and as you still know i suffer from a variety of mental illnesses from extreme bipolar, to mild social disorders and anxiety disorders. But when i was younger (7-8) around the time my grandmother got diagnosed with cancer my doctor actually (i geuss youd call it prescribed) told me to take J.D. EVERYWHERE with me. By the time I was 11 he was never more then a few inches from me. After my grandmother died and a few months after i moved it go tot the point that the doctor finally prescribed meds. I took them for a few months and finally 4 months later refused to take them anymore and started again with J.D. everywhere with me. Finally after a lot of work and his help with calming me down, and actually helping me talk to people. Im at the point i am today. Yes im still painfully shy until i get to know you and then my weirdness shows LMAO. And as you adn everyone on here knows i still battle my depression on a daily basis. At my neutral (neither high nor low) points its still alot to get out of bed in teh morning. BUt i am better i can now be a waitress at a bar (DEFINATLY not for the painfully shy) or run a dog adoption booth and i still say most of my progress and growth is attributed to having J.D. if i didnt have him i doubt i ever would have came out of my shell.
Whatever you do, you will come out of this a stronger person. I love you girl you are my sister (the crazy one
) and will help in anyway i can. Even if it means dragging you around with me down here with all the hot southern guys . LOL
For years and as you still know i suffer from a variety of mental illnesses from extreme bipolar, to mild social disorders and anxiety disorders. But when i was younger (7-8) around the time my grandmother got diagnosed with cancer my doctor actually (i geuss youd call it prescribed) told me to take J.D. EVERYWHERE with me. By the time I was 11 he was never more then a few inches from me. After my grandmother died and a few months after i moved it go tot the point that the doctor finally prescribed meds. I took them for a few months and finally 4 months later refused to take them anymore and started again with J.D. everywhere with me. Finally after a lot of work and his help with calming me down, and actually helping me talk to people. Im at the point i am today. Yes im still painfully shy until i get to know you and then my weirdness shows LMAO. And as you adn everyone on here knows i still battle my depression on a daily basis. At my neutral (neither high nor low) points its still alot to get out of bed in teh morning. BUt i am better i can now be a waitress at a bar (DEFINATLY not for the painfully shy) or run a dog adoption booth and i still say most of my progress and growth is attributed to having J.D. if i didnt have him i doubt i ever would have came out of my shell.
Whatever you do, you will come out of this a stronger person. I love you girl you are my sister (the crazy one
) and will help in anyway i can. Even if it means dragging you around with me down here with all the hot southern guys . LOL
I have anxiety issues as well and went through a really tough depression stage when I was a teen. When I was in highschool I attempted suicide multiple times. I hung myself and the banister that the other end of the rope was tied to broke. I OD'd on medicine to try it that way, got caught and sent to the hospital. Each time, something happened to prevent me whether it be a phsical interruption or my mind screaming at me to stop now.
I ended up getting myself booted from school for a while because of it when I was in the 10th grade. I was sitting in my math class and like 5 or 6 police officers came into my classroom and pulled my teacher aside to talk to her. The next thing I know they were escorting me out of there and into the school's meeting room where my mom was sitting with my principal, school nurse, and school counselor. They told me that they couldn't risk me talking about suicide and them not doing anything about it so they were going to release me from school and I wasn't allowed back on campus until I was evaluated by a therapist.
I refused to go on any medication because I felt like in my case it would be sweeping everything under the mat and not sorting through and actually fixing the problem. I met with the therapist and went through the whole evaluation process. I didn't know the lady so I didn't feel comfortable talking to her about my problems. Some people do well with a therapist and because it's confidental they feel comfortable to talk to that person. I didn't. My therapist recommended that since one of my passions was writing, that I start a journal.
I took her advice and started writing like crazy. I had kept a journal a little while prior to her suggesting that I write everything. The difference was that I hadn't thought to use that journal as my therapy.
I've been writing in this journal now for approx 8 years. It has been so amazing for me. It's my outlet to help me sort out my problems and has surprisingly has helped me a lot with my social anxiety as well as depression. Its completely changed my life and I will never be without a journal in my hand. I go through journals like crazy and have kept every single one of them. I'm hoping to pass them down through my family as well when I die so that my grandkids and great grandkids and their grandkids will still be able to know who I was.
I ended up getting myself booted from school for a while because of it when I was in the 10th grade. I was sitting in my math class and like 5 or 6 police officers came into my classroom and pulled my teacher aside to talk to her. The next thing I know they were escorting me out of there and into the school's meeting room where my mom was sitting with my principal, school nurse, and school counselor. They told me that they couldn't risk me talking about suicide and them not doing anything about it so they were going to release me from school and I wasn't allowed back on campus until I was evaluated by a therapist.
I refused to go on any medication because I felt like in my case it would be sweeping everything under the mat and not sorting through and actually fixing the problem. I met with the therapist and went through the whole evaluation process. I didn't know the lady so I didn't feel comfortable talking to her about my problems. Some people do well with a therapist and because it's confidental they feel comfortable to talk to that person. I didn't. My therapist recommended that since one of my passions was writing, that I start a journal.
I took her advice and started writing like crazy. I had kept a journal a little while prior to her suggesting that I write everything. The difference was that I hadn't thought to use that journal as my therapy.
I've been writing in this journal now for approx 8 years. It has been so amazing for me. It's my outlet to help me sort out my problems and has surprisingly has helped me a lot with my social anxiety as well as depression. Its completely changed my life and I will never be without a journal in my hand. I go through journals like crazy and have kept every single one of them. I'm hoping to pass them down through my family as well when I die so that my grandkids and great grandkids and their grandkids will still be able to know who I was.
This thread is old - but a timeless discussion. how to deal with anxiety/depression in a world where all they want to do is give you medication??? i have struggled with these things myself and I feel like the best I can do is try to improve my life in certain ways - eat healthy, go to the gym, surround myself with positive people and pets. But if that's not enough - then i would suggest taking the doctor's advice and go on meds.
Interesting to read this thread now that almost a year has passed!
I still do have social issues, most stemming from a rape that I was unwilling to speak of for years. I think I was still in that "denial" phase when I posted this thread. I've only been open about what happened to me for maybe six months, and even then it's a huge stretch for me to talk to people about it. But I think addressing the rape issue itself helped me a lot, and certainly helped my therapist help me come to terms with that, and also work on my self-esteem which is dreadfully low. I'll probably never be an outgoing, super confident person but I don't want to live my life feeling inferior to everyone.
Depression is still a big deal for me. I've considered medication and the possibility that this might be a chemical imbalance and not just me being gloomy, but I'm afraid to go on mind-altering medicine. I still have a lot of mental sunshine, but I have a lot of cloudy days as well. But I think that's just LIFE, not necessarily depression. I do worry that depression is just worsening my performance in school, though. There's something wrong there because I just don't CARE... and I need to seek help for that.
I did wind up training my dog to be my service dog. She's able to tell when a panic attack (which is something I hid for years too, even from my therapist) is coming and alerts me to them, and knowing that I wouldn't be stranded and panicked in public has made me a lot more confident about leaving the house and doing things on my own.
I still do have social issues, most stemming from a rape that I was unwilling to speak of for years. I think I was still in that "denial" phase when I posted this thread. I've only been open about what happened to me for maybe six months, and even then it's a huge stretch for me to talk to people about it. But I think addressing the rape issue itself helped me a lot, and certainly helped my therapist help me come to terms with that, and also work on my self-esteem which is dreadfully low. I'll probably never be an outgoing, super confident person but I don't want to live my life feeling inferior to everyone.
Depression is still a big deal for me. I've considered medication and the possibility that this might be a chemical imbalance and not just me being gloomy, but I'm afraid to go on mind-altering medicine. I still have a lot of mental sunshine, but I have a lot of cloudy days as well. But I think that's just LIFE, not necessarily depression. I do worry that depression is just worsening my performance in school, though. There's something wrong there because I just don't CARE... and I need to seek help for that.
I did wind up training my dog to be my service dog. She's able to tell when a panic attack (which is something I hid for years too, even from my therapist) is coming and alerts me to them, and knowing that I wouldn't be stranded and panicked in public has made me a lot more confident about leaving the house and doing things on my own.
