Me thinks I have chronic depression.

[MrFun]

rickety, thank you for your thoughts.

Werna - did you ever find out what really caused your depression in the first place? I'm fairly sure that dealing with living in a heterosexist and hompohobic society has not caused mine. Then I asked my mother if there is any depression in our family history/background; she said none that she was aware of. As Blackcat said earlier - I guess if I don't get to the cause of my depression, I won't get much out of my treatment.

[Elok]

Mr. Fun, I can really feel with you. You seem to have a psyche quite similar to mine. Maybe it's not a gay thing but a Historian thing?

Well, it is a depressing subject...just one long chain of betrayal and abuse.

MrFun, speaking from my own experience, fluoxetine (Prozac) is absolutely awesome. It's been around so long we know pretty much everything it does. I took it for years and it really turned me around. I'm off it now (went without and discovered I no longer needed it), but prozac is good stuff. I do not repeat NOT recommend Wellbutrin. That crap gave me a seizure.

[Asher]

Well, it is a depressing subject...just one long chain of betrayal and abuse.

How is that any different from anyone who lives in the corporate world?

[MrFun]

Well, it is a depressing subject...just one long chain of betrayal and abuse.

MrFun, speaking from my own experience, fluoxetine (Prozac) is absolutely awesome. It's been around so long we know pretty much everything it does. I took it for years and it really turned me around. I'm off it now (went without and discovered I no longer needed it), but prozac is good stuff. I do not repeat NOT recommend Wellbutrin. That crap gave me a seizure.

Uh . . . Wellbutrin gave you a seizure!?

[MrFun]

How is that any different from anyone who lives in the corporate world?

Well one difference is that the mid-level and top people in corporate world make TONS more money than we historians.

[Arrian]

How about a history major who now works in a cubicle at a major corporation? An Insurance company, no less! Like, say, me. Fortunately, I'm a pretty upbeat guy (and sarcastic humor helps).

Anyway, best of luck working through this, MrFun. I have no expertise in this area, but I'd be wary of teh drugs. My reason is totally personal: my half-brother was on Prozac. His doseage was doubled, and a week or two later he killed himself. Was it the drug? Was it the doseage? Was it neither? I have no idea.

If you can manage to throw yourself into something - work, excercise, whatever (says the lazy, out of shape guy, yeah, but bear with me), it may help. I always feel better when I break out of a period of stagnation and get some **** done.

-Arrian

[Wernazuma III]

rickety, thank you for your thoughts.
Werna - did you ever find out what really caused your depression in the first place? I'm fairly sure that dealing with living in a heterosexist and hompohobic society has not caused mine. Then I asked my mother if there is any depression in our family history/background; she said none that she was aware of. As Blackcat said earlier - I guess if I don't get to the cause of my depression, I won't get much out of my treatment.

Well, the problem is threefold, I guess. I come from a family with depressive tendencies on my father's side. My mother suffers from an extraordinary low self-esteem - talk about a mix of these two...
Some people loathe me for my extreme understatement accusing me of bad style (like moaning about how bad my paper was, eventually getting A+), yet I can't help honestly being unsatisfied with myself all the time, thinking I don't deserve what I have.
And third, I surely was hit by my parents break-up when I was 15, causing anxieties of loss.

Still, I don't think that knowing where it comes from does really help in times of crisis - it's just there, no matter what. Maybe it helps me in "better times" though, such as now, so I don't perpetuate my depressive state.
Solving the problem from the root would mean to alter myself, and I'm not really ready for it. If psychotherapy, it's behavorial for me, so I don't make my surrounding mad, isolating myself, which in turn helps my condition too...

[Ecofarm]

You're depressed because you don't have a pink and yellow kitten avatar in real life ("noone expects me to be gay") and you don't cry like a little girl when you hurt your wittle ankle. Express yourself. Just don't pierce the toast.


Note, I'm calling t-shirt rights on "Don't pierce the toast". I called t-shirt rights on "Don't tase me, bro" the night it happened and never got a dime.

[Kidlicious]

\The initial psychiatric treatment for assessment or diagnosis is the last week of April.

You need to get a faster appointment. Find another doctor that isn't busy. The reason is that it takes 4 weeks for the medication to work. Also, have emergency phone numbers handy in case you need to talk to someone because you have panic attacks or something severe.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." If things get you down remember that it pleases Jesus that you have concerns.

Read your Bible.

[Elok]

Uh . . . Wellbutrin gave you a seizure!?

Well, it's an inference, to be fair, but that is one of its known side effects, and I had one with no prior history of seizures. Grand mal. The shrink had put me on Depakote as well, to counteract it, but in a painfully inadequate dosage. That was when I went off of Wellbutrin and onto Prozac.

But I'd forgotten about the recent suicide stories. Hmm. All I can say is, Prozac worked great for me. It's dirt cheap, too, now that it's gone generic. But I guess it can't hurt to try exercise and the like first. I was a little beyond that kind of thing at the time I went on Prozac; I'd periodically retreat into my darkened room, curl up into a ball in the corner and cry for no reason.

[Elok]

How is that any different from anyone who lives in the corporate world?

Much lower body count.

[OzzyKP]

I had to struggle to find things to look forward to, that was the only way I was coping. Even if it was something inane and stupid ("Civ III is coming out soon"), it sort of provided a carrot for me to keep going in the short-term.

Wow, that must have been quite a let down.

[MrFun]

Anyway, best of luck working through this, MrFun. I have no expertise in this area, but I'd be wary of teh drugs. My reason is totally personal: my half-brother was on Prozac. His doseage was doubled, and a week or two later he killed himself. Was it the drug? Was it the doseage? Was it neither? I have no idea.

[MrFun]

Well, it's an inference, to be fair, but that is one of its known side effects, and I had one with no prior history of seizures. Grand mal. The shrink had put me on Depakote as well, to counteract it, but in a painfully inadequate dosage. That was when I went off of Wellbutrin and onto Prozac.

But I'd forgotten about the recent suicide stories. Hmm. All I can say is, Prozac worked great for me. It's dirt cheap, too, now that it's gone generic. But I guess it can't hurt to try exercise and the like first. I was a little beyond that kind of thing at the time I went on Prozac; I'd periodically retreat into my darkened room, curl up into a ball in the corner and cry for no reason.

That's good that you found something to really help you.

[Asher]

Wow, that must have been quite a let down.

I didn't mind Civ 3.