Off Topic Mental Health Discussion Thread

Agree 100% .

If I had not seen a counsellor and been put on mild anti-depressants etc . I might not be here today . thankfully I have a fantastic wife / soul mate and a very close family .

The close family is a double edged sword when things go tragically wrong for them . If that makes sense ?

 

It suprising how many people have some sort of panic attack Mr Kempton..hope your keeping well. Your not weak at all because of it .
Ever since I got my little dog I have not had any problems when I go out on my Noddy scooter , she TAKES ME OUT.
She was the best thing I ever got and we get out nearly everyday .

x

 

Victoria Derbyshire is excellent today looking into Eating Disorders. Really good conversations and Gemma Oaten, one of our own, giving some good insight.

 

You people suffering from depression, panic attacks and/or anxiety should try Acupuncture as this will reduce your stress levels. If you have a pacemaker you must tell them as they cannot use electrodes but can give you conventional treatment. Hypnotherapy has a staggering 97% success rate yet cannot and will not be recommended by the Medical Profession because it is classed as 'alternative medicine' because they do not use drugs. You may need up to three sessions depending on how long you have been suffering. I had a bad bout of this and acupuncture and hypnotherapy got rid of it a year ago. I have had no symptoms since.

 

its not that simple jim

 

Sorry, but pills will not get rid of depression.

 

For many people, they are a (literal) lifesaver in getting them feeling more normal. I’m glad you found something that works for you Jim, but let’s not diss treatments that help others. We’re all unique, what works for some may not work for others etc.

What’s important is that people take that first step in seeking help and that there is the right kind of support for them.

 

That's not necessarily true, Jim. Prozac type drugs can work wonders for some people and not for others. My Doctor prescribed Citalopram (spelling?) for me and both he and the chemist told me there would be some pretty bad side effects at first, but to stick with it. I had no side effects whatsoever, but also they did nothing for me. I took them for 6 months and it was supposed to be a difficult thing to come off them. Again, no problem at all for me, they might as well have been smarties. But for some people they can have a wonderful effect on their lives and change everything. Guess I was just one of the unlucky ones.

The acupuncture thing is interesting to me because a neighbour of mine, just two doors down, does it for a living. I'm expecting mates rates though

 

You beat me to it, brownbag. You're spot on though, it's different strokes for different folks.

 

Sometimes symptoms can be at such an extreme end of the spectrum that pills are a necessity to achieve quick results. Of course the ideal is that depressive feelings are lessened without the use of pills but the sad reality is that we would lose a lot of lives if they where not prescribed in certain cases.

 

I think I should say, I'm not actually depressed and I deal with things in a philosophical way really. I think my way out of it, or sometimes I try not to think. I hope that makes sense.

 

They mis-diagnosed me originally. I was on pills (Ativan 1mg) and saw 2 therapists, 2 psychiatrists and 1 psychologist within 6 weeks. To say I was suicidal is putting it mildly but I kept saying to myself "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem" and was determined to beat the bastard. They decided that I had an 'adjustment disorder' and weened me off the pills but this left me with no appetite whatsoever for 2 weeks before I slowly started to eat normally again. Meanwhile I was getting very bad depression, anxiety and panic attacks for 6 hour periods each day but they would disappear in late evening and the relief was something beyond ecstatic. My wife meanwhile was going through hell with my mood changes when I read about acupuncture and hypnotherapy being able to help. I had one session of acupuncture (conventional acupuncture not with the electrodes owing to my having a pacemaker) and my stress levels went down dramatically where I needed no pills. I feared they might come back so had a session of hypnotherapy which gave me the feeling that I was being washed from the inside out (this is not waving fingers like stage hypnotism but a gentle 'relax and listen to me' procedure after which I immediately felt so good. He told me that when I felt the depression, anxiety and/or panic attacks coming on they would just dissipate like a balloon being deflated - and they did. That was a year ago and I have had nothing since and feel really great. He also told me that people come back time and again for what he called 'top-ups' even though they had no problems because they enjoyed the treatment so much. Like some have said it may suit some and not others but I can tell you that when I had depression it was frightening and if someone had told me that eating dog-**** helped I would have eaten it. It's not funny and it's not that simple but a 97% success rate simply cannot be ignored. I strongly advise anyone suffering from depression to try this. Good luck.

 

That really is interesting. Thank you for sharing.

 

Would you say you got more benefit from the acupuncture or the hypnotherapy?

I wonder how hard it is to find out who is good and who isn’t especially with them not being regulated. You seem to have found good ones. I probably wouldn’t know where to start to look if I went down that route, or maybe that’s just me putting barriers in the way of not actually doing anything about it..

 

What would you rather do? Not try either at all or try one and it not work/be any good for you?

Even with the latter you can always try other places.

 

I actually did try a hypnotherapist when I first became acutely aware of anxiety, but don’t believe I got anything from it at that time. At the same time I was also going to counselling which again I don’t believe I got too much from apart from a better understanding of what anxiety actually is and can do, but maybe I expect immediate results and when nothing really changes I will dismiss it as not working.

My concern that I have and is mainly for myself, is that I seem to try too many different things and when something doesn’t work I will move onto the next, which I sometimes do think actually adds to the problem as I always seem to be chasing El Dorado a magical cure.

I do seem to get better results when I try various lifestyle changes rather than looking for the magical get out of jail free card. By that I mean finding something that takes over and makes you forget any symptoms. Recently I have managed to have a few weeks off work as my previous contract ended so I have been in the garden building raised beds and such like. The first day of doing it I had muscle aches and pains which the more you feel them the worse the symptoms get and the worse I feel. But the next few days of building and filling them with soil I was forgetting about the pains etc and felt a lot better even though I was probably putting more effort into the tasks than I was on the first day, but the difference was I was totally engrossed in what I was doing. I know Kemp’s actually says about this all the time and I do end up trying quite a lot of what is suggested on here.

I do think an idle mind makes things worse, as it allows the ridiculous thoughts to take over. So for me it’s a case of how to stop myself having an idle mind.

I think I am now wittering on again when I could be in the garden or researching getting a new bike

 

Do you realize that you can take an internet course on Hypnotherapy, receive a degree and be practicing in 3 months?? I found this quite alarming but found out about 'established' Hypnotherapists belonging to an association. I looked around and was lucky to find one in my area who had been practicing for almost 20 years. He discussed my problem with me thoroughly and told me that I had 'done the donkey work' myself by using Acupuncture and that he would just need to polish it up. Like I said, they got me early but I have recommended this treatment to my friends and those who took the advice have ALL benefited from it and are feeling much better free from drugs. There are literally thousands of people suffering and many are committing suicide because they can't handle it so WHY can't the Medical Profession at least 'suggest' this treatment as an alternative even though they can't condone it??? If you are suffering or know someone who is for heaven's sake at least try it. Believe me, the relief from getting rid of it is nothing short of ecstatic being able to return to a normal life. Good luck everyone.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head Jim when saying about doing an internet course online, meaning any old chimp can do it regardless of how good, bad or indifferent they are and probably similar with acupuncture.
I think you are totally correct in saying about the medical profession should be recognising and also regulating some of the alternative medicines like you mention. That way people would have some degree of confidence that what they are seeking is beneficial and not paying for someone’s latest money making scheme. I suppose that also relies on GPs also realising the benefits of some alternative medicines (many do as you often read about GPs who themselves have learnt and use hypnotherapy).

I’m not sure how well things are regulated here, as my wife works in a hospital and her friend who is a nurse went on a course a few weeks ago to be able to give injections. On the course were a few beauty therapists so they could inject Botox.... Now that to me is alarming, that anyone can walk in and do a course and then be qualified to stick needles in people, with no medical experience as to what damage they could be doing.

On a side note, I have often wondered why I always walk down the road doing the chicken impersonation ever since I visited that hypnotherapist and wasnt sure if he was any good or not. I think I got the guy who did the two day online hypnotherapy course

 

Speaking of treatment (is that the correct word?) that is not certified by the medical profession, many people are using ASMR videos on YouTube to help with anxiety, stress, depression, etc.

ASMR is a type of videos using soft noises, tapping, whispers, roleplays, etc. There’s literally thousands of videos on YouTube and I don’t know how scientific it is but many are finding comfort in it. It may be a case of finding a type of ASMR or a particular person that helps you. It may also be the case that it does not work for everybody.

 

This is an important thread and I think it's admirable that we have it on here. As a guy who has had more than his fair share of crippling depression I also think it's important to comment when I see hastily dished advice.

Acupuncture is not a thing. It's not some ancient Chinese mystery cure, we've only been able to manufacture such fine needles relatively recently, it's a modern con. There are no measurable positive benefits from sticking needles in your 'chakras'. None. It's expensive nothing. You might get some temporary relief with the release of endorphins but you have a higher chance of getting an invasive infection for no reason. Brilliant.

Hypnotherapy is unregulated counselling. Anybody who tells you it's '97% effective' is taking your money or you've paid enough money to convince yourself that it's effective. That's how this **** works. Genuine qualified counselling is available through the NHS as are many other services that can actually help you.

I understand that placebos can be very powerful and that looking to 'alternative medicine' can be an attractive draw when you feel there's nowhere else to turn, but the only winner when you go down that path is the dude taking your bank details. We are lucky that we live in a country with free health care, use it. Or talk to somebody you care about, or someone on here, we're a decent bunch. Please, just don't throw your money away on some magical cure.

Unless you want some crystals. I have reasonably priced crystals.