[Closed] Mental health issue help please ....

No professional or experience of your situation, but you are correct that meds are only a short term solution intended to give you breathing space to get on with "real" solutions like therapy.

Plenty self help books around but 1-1 is the best IMO.

good luck.

Thanks cynical

You have probably been told that CBT can be of immense help, and from what I have heard this is indeed the case.

Regardless of what advice you get, please remember that there should be no shame in suffering from mental illness, and that there is a way through.

You may have to push and ask in a number of places, but all will be well.

Good luck.

I believe NHS now offers counselling sessions in some cases - http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Counselling/Pages/Policyguidelines.aspx

Ask your GP. If not you'll need to go private.

I've arranged to see a therapist

Sounds to me like talking therapies of some sort might help - maybe CBT? sometimes there is no obvious reason for it - and GPs really do not have the time or motivation to get into these issues in depth. Ask for a referral to a community psychiatric nurse? they tend to be pretty goo at helping you find your way thru the maze of treatments and options

I can sympathise, I was on citalopram a while back (for my crazy OCD tendancies!) but thankfully its kind of worked.

If I was to give anyone in my position similar advice it would be tell your mates about your issues, rather than keeping it to yourself. Made me feel alot better about things and my mates were all totally understanding.

Therapy I've heard is really good (Cognative Behavioural therapy) but also don't hestitate to ask to see another doc if you feel you are not getting taken seriosuly.

Good luck..

Your docs just prescribed you meds instead of first trying therapy?

****ing hell, it seems like some of them think they are sweets.

See a therapist or shrink, actually figuring out what your problems are is a much better way of doing things. Drugs can often just be short term fixes.

Thanks guys, Saxon I've heard of cbt and will be trying to arrange some sessions when I see the therapist.
Thanks for your kind words

Dunno if it was his way of working that worked for me, or that he was so skilled he knew what approach was required either way, it worked...

the relationship between the therapist and yo is absolutely crucial. Don#'t be afraid to try a few- and we can't all get on with everyone. different approaches work for different symptoms and different people

Your general not-feeling-wellness shouldn't be directed at your GP. He/she is doing the right thing; although SSRIs should work in the same way, the best advice is to try one and if it doesn't work, or the effects are not sustained, then you should be switched to another, so try not to get annoyed at someone who is doing what they should be.

The medication is only part of the process of recovery; use the 'breathing space' that you get to take sensible steps to change your attitude and approach; change the way you think about the things that affect you, or at least attempt to.

The number one most important thing is to begin to understand that you can play a very large part in helping yourself to get better; blaming the GP because you don't seem to be improving is not helpful.

Loads of folk have been through this sort of thing, me included. It doesn't last forever, and you are not alone in feeling this way.

Nice post Crikey. Huge +1 ❗

Wow guys fantastic response, really appreciated and Chris and tp glad it's worked out for you

thats all totally normal stuff thats been misdiagnosed you need to channel your energy more effeciently i know its all hippy mumbo jumbo but meditation will cure you totally start reseaching and practising and before you know you will be in control again just be patient

Crikey, I'm not upset with my gp he as you say is doing his job.
I don't like changing from pill to pill without first understanding a bit about what is the matter with me.
As I said in my first post I have booked in with a therapist who hopefully has a deeper understanding of these issues.

I have just started on Cilatopram, and like you I am booked in to see my local NHS Wellness adviser who will hopefully suggest CBT. I can't go on like I am.

[u]Good Luck with it all. There is lots of help if you need it.[/u]

Unfortunately I don't really have any friends i can turn to, so hoping this CBT will allow me to get out more and make new friends.

Life is tough at the moment.

Mental health nurse here. I work with children and adolescents now but used to work with many anxious or phobic grownups a few years back.

A couple of questions:

-who diagnosed you? I am guessing gp as opposed to psychiatrist. It would be worth asking if you could be referred to a psychiatrist or if your gp practice has an in-house mental health worker.

-do you drink or use drugs? If so you need to consider the effect those have on anxiety disorders. Also consider how much caffeine you have over the day.

and a few thoughts:

-if you are motivated, then self-help, or even cognitive behavioural or cognitive analytical therapy is the way forward IMHO -there will be reasons why you are anxious and medication will not mend or take those away.

-Big life changes [i]might[/i] be required! If it is anything to do with your job, think hard about the balance of your career/salary and the quality of life you and your family have.

-google with caution! A lot of potentially biased stuff out there both from drug companies and from scientology/antipsychiatry types. Plenty of folks with axes to grind, or who are just so delighted to have recovered they make the mistake of thinking what helped tem will help everyone. However, the [url= http://www.mind.org.uk/ ]Mind website [/url] is utterly excellent in my professional opinion, and despite the 'psychiatrist' bit, the [url= http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/systempages/gsearch.aspx?cx=001100616363437152483%3aidnunf1yavs&cof=FORID%3a9&q=social+anxiety+disorder ]Royal College of Psychiatrists[/url] website is actually pretty even handed about what's wrong and what helps. FWIW the diagnosis you mentioned at the beginning is interchangeable with "Social Phobia", which may get you a lot more search results.

-if you are seeing a therapist or counsellor off your own back rather than by GP referral, ask if they are registered with the [url= http://www.bacp.co.uk/ ]British Association for Cousellors and Psychotherapists.[/url] (also a good read if you want to find out what you would be letting yourself in for! 😀 )

All the best!

[edit, blimey, all those posts whilst i was typing up mine! This is a great place sometimes. 😀 )

Theres some good evidence to back up CBT being helpful.
This might also be worth a look [url= http://www.moodjuice.scot.nhs.uk/anxiety.asp ]Here[/url]
Its important to realise you are not alone + that there are ways of helping to improve things. It can just take a while to find what works for you. Steady away.

Hi hills, hope things perk up for you. I found citalopram to be excellent in the first few weeks so hopefully will keep you up untill your therapy- and if you ever want to chat I'm only an email away.

Julian excellent post thanks very much, some real good chunks of info there.
It was my gp who diagnosed me one of the many reasons for me to vist a therapist is to see if I can get a clearer diagnosis. Up to now I have only told the doc how I'm feeling and filled in the generic multiple choice sheet.
I can't see how the form can give an accurate diagnosis just a rough guide I assume although I could be way off.

CBT seems to be generally accepted as the best solution to such things.
Bringing it out on here is also a good step - accepting you've an issue you want to deal with is key.

I know 2 friends suffering from depression and I think their lack of real effort in resolving it is the reason they're still ill...

Can't get the links to work but I'm reading these at the moment - they're both interesting, thought-provoking and useful and helping me keep going through a rather rough period. Both are on Amazon

Counselling for Toads
Feeling Good - the new mood therapy, David D Burns

Also look at Moodscope - very useful diary/tracking tool, with great daily emails. Using this I can see that a good run/bike ride has a positive effect every time 🙂

Good luck, you'll probably find out who your friends really are, know yourself better and be stronger once you're through it 🙂

Thanks Brooes, I'm determined to get this sorted, I'll check out moodscope now.

brooess - Member

CBT seems to be generally accepted as the best solution to such things.

with caution - its one solution, it has good results and its very cost effective. However it will not deal with deep rooted issues and is an approach that does not work for everyone.

Well worth a try in this sort of instance IMO however

What Crikey said.

I've had second-hand experience of this having helped support someone I knew.

A combination of CBT and drugs (SSRIs generally) was regarded as the best approach; one on its own is less effective.

Different drugs have varying efficacy in different people, so finding the right drug for you is a case of "try this... now try that..." until you hit on the best one. There is no 'better explanation' I'm afraid, your doctor is doing the right thing apart from the lack of CBT.

Hope you feel better soon. You aren't alone, and mental illness is a particular blind spot with the NHS. It's also widely misunderstood and / or considered a 'dirty word' by the general populace. "You're not bleeding so MTFU, there's nothing wrong with you." Right.

no shame in suffering from mental illness

This. You are [u]not[/u] weird or a bad person; psychological problems are incredibly common but often well hidden. Good luck!

know 2 friends suffering from depression and I think their lack of real effort in resolving it is the reason they're still ill

That is what depression is, and does to you.

anxious: firstly lets be clear, you have nothing to be ashamed of. One thing I have learnt over the years is that crippling crises of confidence or motivation can hit any of us. some of the "strongest" people i know have been hit by depressiion.
Though i have never had it myself, like most poeple I have had a glimpse of what it might be like, but I suspect its more "maungy lite" compared with full on depression and anxiety.
No easy answers, one thing that might help is that this is not a binary situation, I actually think all humans are complex creatures and we carry round more insecurities and fears and hangups than we ever show in public, i have yet to meet anyone who has emotions and humanity without a degree of fragility.
The things that make you weak are the the other side of the same coin that make you human. If. you dont try to be perfect and just commit to being ok and active then this might help. Therapy works too.

Take care, have fun ( pop a few pills in the meentime).

Lots of everyday people run into this problem. I have come to the conclusion that a bit like flu - you dont get it for years, think you are immune and then it gets you and you feel 'It should not happen to someone like me' 🙂 Its a tough phase of life, but it is just a phase and not the rest of your existence.

I choose to refuse drugs and went straight into NHS councelling. By chance I ended up with a couple of councellors as one sadly became long term sick and was replaced. This taught me that you need to find a councellor that fits with you - if something is not improving it does not mean CBT is not working, just that you and the councellor are not well enough matched.

When you get to councelling, dont hold back - tell them everything as the more you hide or feel uncomfortable, the more time you both waste on a wrong track or diagnosis. They have heard everything before and will not judge you.

I chose not to take medication because I think it is in [i]some[/i] cases very very unproductive.

I know of 3 people who had long term unhappy situations in their lives. Their docs handed out anti depressants like sweets - of them are still are on medication after 5 years or more - but the relevant bit is their lives have [b]not changed[/b]. Even when they have complained, the line is pretty mcuh 'take this and go away'. One even found when they wanted to come off the doctor tried to force them to increase thier dose. These are people with unhappy life situations that needed to change, not with long term mental illness as such, which is a different thing and does need longer term meds.

I firmly believe that for some people (not everyone, depends on cause of your not feeling well) long term medication just makes it possible for a rubbish life to be just about tolerable - so they make no attempt to change personal circumstances that cause unhappiness and go on living exactly the same life, with it muffled out a bit by drugs. Its understandable as change is scary, other people may get angry as you are not 'who they want you to be' any more and don't fit in with what suits them if you try to change. I am glad I decided not to take drugs myself as I believed it was easier to stay in touch with my changing feelings when in counseling.

Counseling can be hard. Often I would feel very depressed for 48 hours after a session. Keep going, its worth it. It does not stay like that. It is a place to be brave. When I started CBT the counselors were both very pleased I had refused drugs as they personally both thought that it was more progressive to sort things out without them if I was able to handle that.

Be aware that in a few cases (minority) there have been links to increased risk of depression and indeed suicide by people on anti depressants as it swings the wrong way for some people. If you feel worse you must tell the medics and make them take it seriously.

I would add, in case I sound too anti drugs that many people do find them short term helpful. I only mean to say make sure it is the choice you are comfortable with, don't get railroaded into taking things because its the 'accepted path'.

Over a year later I am unemployed now - but I can say with total honesty my life and how I feel about myself is better than it has been for years and years and I would not go back to the past even though money is tight and the future uncertain.

You have probably been told that CBT can be of immense help...

Echo that. Finished CBT for recently diagnosed but lifelong suffered Bipolar Disorder last year aged 45...literally turned my thoughts and life around.

My NHS therapist recommended this page for helpful info and worksheets.
http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/

However it will not deal with deep rooted issues...

That's not my personal experience of CBT, and my issues had been with me since and through childhood.

I was then prescribed Prozac which I've been taking for 3 months, once again started off well and effects are dispersing again now.

I'm surprised to hear that, I generally understood that anti-depressants take several weeks to kick in. If you felt an immediate improvement then it sounds like a placebo effect. Nothing wrong with that of course - part of the problem with depression is the feeling of hopelessness and isolation which just makes the problem worse. Sometimes just the knowledge that help is available goes a tremendous way in helping the person lift out of depression - even before any help or treatment has been given !

As already mentioned, concentrate on the fact that you won't always feel the way you do right now. Eventually depression always lifts, no matter how hopeless you might feel right now. The challenge comes later in avoiding its re-occurrence. But right now focus on thinking positively. And no, there isn't always an obvious reason for depression. Good luck.

CBT [i]is[/i] about deep rooted issues - they go back looking for repeated behavior patterns and beliefs about yourself and life and examine how you respond to pressure/manipulation from the people around you. They give distance and perspective it can be hard to obtain by yourself.

It's threads like this that are immeasurably positive and helpful - apart from the obvious jokey/banter threads this is when the forums is at its best.

Some really good advice, particularly from julianwilson, CHB and Midnighthour.

All the best anxious11.

Oversimplifying on the CBT from me - sorry. Much good advice on here tho.

1:3 of us will have some mental health difficulties at some point in their lives

Deluded your spot on, Im overwhelmed with the responses thanks do much everyone it's helping allready

I think their lack of real effort in resolving it is the reason they're still ill...

you might be right about your friends but maybe their lack if effort is a symptom of the depression.

Depression robs you of the insight, and motivation to do the very things that would make you better, a vicious circle.

To quote the OP

" ....I originally started on the meds [b]as I had been feeling very lethargic irritable and sensitive for a while[/b] - now I've actually used the meds I'm starting to feel depressed on top of everything else ..."

" .... [b]just generally feel angry and tired,with 0 motivation to do anything including ride.[/b] ...."

Classic symptoms of depression IMO, irritability and anger is very common in men whereas tearfulness is more common in women.

I would ask to speak to another GP at the practice. Three drug interventions all from the same class of SSRI doesn't add up IMO, so you could ask to try a drug from a different class. Although I can see why if the GP thinks it is an anxiety disorder he/she keeps plugging the same drugs. A fresh pair of eyes can not do any harm.

Also NICE guidelines were pretty clear the last time I read them three interventions and after that you should be offered a referral. If it wasn't for the stigma around mental health issues then I bet you would be jumping up and down for a referral for any other ailment.

IME Community Psychiatry services have been very good. Clearly there are good and bad shrinks like all walks of life, but you will at least be offered a proper lengthy consultation rather than 10 mins in a busy schedule.

I am still of the opinion once you get past the GPs our NHS is excellent. Its the first step that can be so variable from one practice or GP to next.

It's threads like this that are immeasurably positive and helpful - apart from the obvious jokey/banter threads this is when the forums is at its best.

It might just be me, but I think that jokey banter positively helps threads like this, so long as it's meant with warmth rather than unpleasantness. Otherwise it's all Really Serious.

For me, it's a coping mechanism. If I lost an arm in an accident and my friends' opening gambit wasn't "you gormless, stumpy ****t" I'd be very disappointed.

Just 'ticking'

I'll come back tomorrow and type a reply about my experiences. Won't now as have a splitting headache (not through my anxiety meds)

Cougar - you misunderstand me - I'm saying that unrelated jokey threads are good and all that but the forum can also pull together and offer good constructive personal help when it's required.

Perhaps from 'apart' I should have said 'in addition to'!

Can't believe we have not seen a single MTFU yet.

JulianWilsons post is spot on as well.

Brilliant post mate.

I hope the OP gets better! This response is so much better than one I saw about a month ago which was along the lines of "MTFU". Hopefully my indignant rage made a few people think twice before posting such things.

Some really good advice here...

Lots of the comments are about how the UK system would deal with this. There are at least two words in the OPs post which suggest he is not in, or not from the UK. It might be worth bearing this in mind in our replies.

Other than that I think everything I would have said has been said already.

Cougar - you misunderstand me - I'm saying that unrelated jokey threads are good and all that but the forum can also pull together and offer good constructive personal help when it's required.

Perhaps from 'apart' I should have said 'in addition to'!

Ah, yes, I do. As you were. (-:

Hey stoatsbrother, I am indeed in the uk, would my two words have been Prozac and therapist ?
Prozac Is easier to remember and type than fluxotine lol which is I Beleive the same med.

Zoloft and meds

It is lustral over here, not Zoloft

Good luck by the way. Hope things go well

Ah ok my bad, thanks for your support.

Good luck in getting to see a therapist. My local community health team would refuse your referral and bounce you back to your gp. In my experience i have no option but to prescribe because accessto psychological therapies in the nhs in south wales is absolutely shocking/ non existent.

Hi anxious11.

I was very much in the 'man up and don't be soft' camp until I was completely humbled with with two extended bouts of anxiety disorder and depression, neccesitating quite some time from work!

I did talk to a lot of people and this was a big help, i was very fortunate with all the help and support I got!

I found a combination of CBT and citalopram worked for me - I feel better than ever now, and the CBT has helped me understand why things happen the way they do for for me, and how to cope with it. I would definately recommend CBT. IF you can afford to go private then IMHO it would be money well spent if you can find a good one?

One other thing - you mentioned you don't feel like cycling? PLEASE GO CYCLING even if you have to force yourself. When have you ever come back from cycling wishing you hadn't gone? Quite a lot of people find excercise very useful for both anxiety an depression. The thng with depression is you feel like doing nothing, but this is the worst you can do - you've got to get out and do stuff even if you really have to force yourself.

Good luck, and hope you're feeling your old self soon.

Col.

how you feeling today anxious?

Day 3 for me on Citalopram and it is still a living knightmare 😥

Hope your feeling a bit better.

There's a lot of shouts for CBT...it's not the only option. Person centred counselling is also an option.

other therapies as well McHamish. the critical thing is what suits you and how you get on with your counsellor

Yes. GP's will usually recommend CBT as it's the treatment of choice for the NHS, however PCC often works for some people due to the difference in approach.

One key point, across both approaches, if you go privately (ie choose your own therapist) try to find someone who's BACP registered. If you go to the BACP website there's advice on choosing a therapist. They also will provide details of possible therapists in your local area.

hello anxious 11...
I`m going to my first counselling session May 10th. I honestly think I know exactly what you are going through and want to make my point by saying, involve all those around you and let everyone help and support you which is what I have done myself. I'm part of a great group of riders who I have brought my frame of mind up with recently and they totally understand to the best of their ability what I'm going through. I hope you find what works best for you to get you back to how you know you can be, why not think about a counselling assessment from your GP as another solution?
regards j

Thing is... There is evidence of effectiveness for CBT and CAT,

3 days on citalopram is very early. Even 2 weeks is...I

Been through something similar to this mate (depression or whatever), it's in no way easy, ended up gradually going up to 40mg citalopram a day which did little for me. Doc wasn't really interested (or I didn't explain it properly). Did what I could to seek out help for myself with the help of mates (I sort of begrudged their help at the time). It takes huge balls to admit you're losing it a bit and accept you need a bit of help, loads of respect for that. I decided to make a massive change in my life - move away form London, stupid pressures I was putting on myself, back to my roots, cut down on booze (which was a big factor), chill out and get a sense of perspective. Happier now, but I know I have that negative side to me that I have to keep in check. I think you've got to accept yourself how you are to a certain extent and understand your trigger points. I think CBT is what's needed if you can get it. and exercise even if just a spin to the shops. all the best with this.

Stoatsbrother - Member

Thing is... There is evidence of effectiveness for CBT and CAT,

As there is for other counselling methods. Don't get me wrong CBT is useful and has its place but its only one of a range of options.

I personally really like the person centred approach. But It will not be right for everyone. CBT is not right for me.

Day 3 for me on Citalopram and it is still a living knightmare

Well like all nightmares it won't last. However bad you feel right now, just focus on the fact that you won't always feel like that.

That's a cast iron guarantee btw - believe me.

Going on and coming off Citalopram was difficult, it passes and the bit in between is much easier.
I have really bad anxiety and know how your feeling. Always speak out and look after yourself.

Understanding the triggers sounds like very good advice and then learning how to cope and deal with them. Is that what CBT is all about ??? I am also of the understanding that citalopram is use extensively to treat anxiety more than depression, its a lot more complex when you start peeling back the layers to understand why you slip into depression, been there myself, starting to think I'm not out of the woods yet.

Excellent thread!

I went mental a few years ago, CBT was great. Take a look at the Paul Mckenna (yes i know) stuff, it's really good. Also stop smoking if you do, a cloud will literally lift....

Thanks again everyone, I was suprises to see anymore posts today.
Just wanted to say I really appreciate all the advice offered, and I genuinly feel like just getting it out there has been a positive.
Hills keep your chin up I feel like a different person today amazing what difference a day can make.

I've just spent some time (3 days a week for a month) at the Priory (thanks BUPA!)and am now in the wind down stage of 121 CBT. The fellow patients there were all normal folks and a pretty much average cross section of white ie middle class SW London! Everyone from early 20's students to partners in city firms to self employed to retired to housewives - you name it, pretty much every group was represented

You say:
"I originally started on the meds as I had been feeling very lethargic irritable and sensitive for a while - now I've actually used the meds I'm starting to feel depressed on top of everything else."

That reads as depression to me. GP's are not experts - the clue is in the name! - and the diagnosis of the range of emotional (better term than mental) illnesses is a specialist job as the meds are different.

The key thing to realise is that the meds do not cure depression/anxiety, they simply ease the thinking processes by rebalancing the chemical imbalance in the brain that characterises depression. It is the thinking that provides the cure. Think of it like painkillers for a pulled back muscle - without them, every movement is agony; with them movement is possible and it is the movement that leads to healing. Without the movement (thinking) you get stuck in a position unable to move

When stuck in a depression it feels like you are helpless and are driven by emotional turmoil. The key message from CBT is that emotions do not control thought but that thought controls emotion and that our emotional response to events is not to events themselves but to our interpretation of events. CBT works to access and help re-frame the "rules" we all unconsciously use to view the world and events. ie it is the combination of meds and therapy that heals - one without the other is often not enough.

Two recommendations:
1. Go to the Priory website and rummage around there are some excellent free links to self help resources
2 Get hold of a book "Depressive illness - the curse of the strong" by DR Tim Cantopher. No solutions or cures but it helps to understand the nature of the condition.

Good luck and remember at any one tome around 10% of folks will be suffering some degree of clinical depression and that around 25% of people will need some form of intervention at some stage in their life.

A final point - current recommendation is to stay on the meds for 6 months after the point you feel well again as this minimises to risk of the chemical imbalance re-establishing

Trite tho it is - a problem shared is a problem halved has some truth to it.

there is good advice on here - good luck with it.

It had severe anxiety a few years ago, resulted in a few ER trips, thought I was having a heart attack and I practically lived at my GP surgery. Guess I felt 'safe' there.

What I learned is that you have to consciously feed the anxiety for it to remain. Face it, accept the strange questioning thoughts and physical symptoms and over time it calmed down and went away. For around 2 years I got really into the anxiety, researched everything. It was when I stopped this that things got better and the anxiety went away. It is your self defense mechanism and will always protect you from your anxieties/fears; it is amaizing what constant excess adrenaline can do to you on a pshycological (sp?) and physically. When the fight or flight response is activated, you feel very nervous, have questioning thoughts and physical symptoms ( racing heart, sweating, etc). You are primed to fight or flee. But this is happening inappropriately because of your previous worrying/analysis.

It isn't easy, but it will get better. When you get better you will also realise the damaging effect that worrying nedlessly can have on you, whether it be work, relationships, etc.

A further comment, Anxiety and Depression are two sides of the same coin. In simple terms: Depressives look back and ruminate about things that have happened. Those with anxiety worry about things that might happen.
Most depressives will also show symptoms of anxiety but some with an anxiety disorder will not show full blown depressed symptoms.

Also been through the depression mill and like so many have said you will get to a better place. CBT and meds were the answer for me. Like PK99 I went to the Priory, in Glasgow though, and found them really good (other therapists are available). I found that I struggled to talk about my depression. Since the CBT I find it easier which helps me. I used to be ashamed about it but not any more. It will be obvious from the number of people who post on these threads with first hand experience of depression that it is pretty common. If you are able to talk to the people close to you you will probably find that some of them have had at least similar experiences to you. Its not actually that having a mountain bike makes you prone to depression although you could be forgiven for thinking that with so many people posting on th etopic. Good luck and I am sure that given time and effort you will find a way to be rid of your black dog.

This reminds me I still need to see someone myself.

Lethargy almost like ME, panic attacks and psychotic episodes are not depression in my book. Dunno in my case why they kept asking over and over even when I kept saying I wasn't depressed. Takes a long time for someone who didn't go to medical school to figure out caffeine caused psychosis exacerbated by PTSD and then an mTBI were my problem. Still, at least I know after 15 years to tell them to stick their drugs, that even then say weren't having the effects they expected.

I have nothing more to add in the advice stakes, it's all been said above. I too have been in the position of supporting someone who's having difficulties. The right drugs + CBT is the way forward I'd suggest. However, if your GP is just supplying the drugs, you should start insisting that you're referred for councilling or preferably CBT. If your GP doesn't seem interested, then change GP!

Just to throw my 2p in. I was diagnosed as bi-polar a couple of years ago. I think it probably started when I was around 20 and got worse throughout the next decade. After an incident that happened when I was in a particularly irritable/aggressive phase I went to my GP. At the time I was 21.

My GP straight away diagnosed me as having a drinking problem and told me that all my problems were caused by drink and that I brought them on myself. I tried to explain to her that the aggressive period had actually started while I was teetotal (I was in training for a big competition at the time) and I thought the alcohol just helped the inevitable explosion. When I wasn't feeling angry I was severely depressed. I left the surgery feeling at my lowest ebb ever and this continued for several more weeks. When I came out of the depressive period I vowed that I was never going to a doctor with anything like that again.

Fast forward about eight years and I was on the point of suicide but still I absolutely refused to go to the doctor. Eventually my friends almost had to drag me but finally I went again. I got incredibly lucky with this doctor and he was very understanding and really took the time to listen and understand what I was saying (worth mentioning that this was a Norwegian doctor) and I was prescribed Lamotrigine.

It took a couple of months but it slowly started to work and two years later I'm still not in perfect mental health but I'm much much better and able to function normally. I still have the occaisional suicidal thoughts but more in the 'God I wish it would all just go away' rather than the 'What's the best way to do it' thoughts I used to have.

I haven't had any therapy and TBH I don't think I really need it. I think that my problems are mainly caused by a chemical imbalance rather than my past. I am still considering it though.

Anyway, the point of all that is that you should not settle for a doctor that you don't think is listening to you. Also, a lot of people seem to be saying that drugs are only a short term fix. My experience is different since I've been lucky enough to find a drug that works and has no side effects as far as I can tell.

Good replies guys thanks very much, my gp is now referring me for cbt - so fingers x it will help

interesting that the SSRI worked well for you at the beginning but you felt it wore off.

Can I ask how long you persevered with the return of you anxious feelings before switching to another medication?

The reason I ask is that, in my experience, I can overdo things which can trigger off 'setbacks' in my anxiety. i.e. it's not necessarily that the medication doesn't work as well anymore, rather i've not been looking after myself properly.

Alcohol in too large a quantity combined with, say, a hard weekend on the bike and perhaps a couple of nights poor sleep can exacerbate things for me.

Each one of those things on their own probably wouldn't have any effect on me but the combination of all two or three can cause me to have a bad 5-7 days.

Anxious - my Mum suffered depression for quite a long time before treatment. Whilst I can't say there was a permanent cure, I can say that she now understands herself and has the confidence to own and run a very successful international business.
Depression can strike any of us but (sorry for the cliche) what is key is that there is light at the end of the tunnel, even when it seems very dark.