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Post by rikita on Mar 30, 2010 23:20:28 GMT
hm well since i also live in a different country, it might be a bit difficult. thanks for the offer though! i might ask my brother though if he knows something similar, as he is a nurse... though on the other hand i don't think i am depressed... but it is good to know that such tests exist anyway.
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Post by spindrift on Mar 31, 2010 11:33:06 GMT
Doctors and nurses generally don't know about these tests; I'm told that biochemistry is only taught for 9 hours in medical school. This seems debatable even to me. The tests at my disposal are all biochemical.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 16, 2013 15:03:20 GMT
I read the following essay this morning and immediately thought of this thread. It may interest several of you, as it deals with the OP's question and many subsequent comments from the inside out. Click the headline to access the article: My Dark Materials: The Music of Depression
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2013 19:05:46 GMT
Fascinating piece,thank you. I will get back to this after I hear the author/composers music. I'm having some computer connection issues atm and time, frustration with it is not making me sad, but, pissed off!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2014 7:12:59 GMT
I am fighting a losing battle trying to make my friend who lives in Brazil feel better. When I picked him up from the airport before Christmas, the first thing that I had to tell him was that his mother was in intensive care at the hospital and to call his sister immediately. This was in replacement of the original plan to drop him off at his mother's apartment where his daughter would be waiting for him. The mother's health problem was no big surprise because she has been receiving constant medical care at home for at least two years, including an oxygen bottle due to extreme respiratory difficulty. So anyway, his holiday turned into daily hospital visits while at the same time having holiday custody of his daughter in a rented apartment and having to take her to school, to dance class, to the psychologist, etc. Then, last week the doctors announced that his mother also has pancreatic cancer on top of all of the rest. Everybody knows what that means. Yesterday, the doctor had a meeting with the 3 children to give a timeline on future events, the principal one being that she will be gone within six months and probably a lot sooner. My friend has to return to work in Brazil this week, so when he says goodbye to his mother, it will almost certainly be the last time that he sees her alive.
Sometimes there is absolutely nothing that you can do to help.
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Post by questa on Jan 14, 2014 9:17:52 GMT
K2, what a worry for you. You can only keep reassuring your friend that any time he wants to offload his anger, helplessness and grief to you , you will be there for him. Not to fix his problems, but just be there to listen to him (or read his emails)without trying to cheer him up. You are sensitive enough to pick up and reflect back his feelings and remind him of his strengths to deal with this period of his life.
On the other side of this thread, whenever I got my depression symptoms I found the best 'get out of it' trick was to play The Doors track "Break on through to the other side" grabbing a duster and move to the music dusting everything.
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Post by htmb on Jan 14, 2014 10:59:09 GMT
A very sad and helpless situation indeed, Kerouac, when all you can do is be a friend.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2014 22:33:20 GMT
He is leaving on Thursday and I offered to take him to the airport (I have a car rental deal that is half as much as taxi fare.). His baggage will be in his mother's apartment (a place that she will never see again even though she doesn't know it), so I will be going there. Since the hospital is only a few blocks away, perhaps I will be seeing her as well for the last time.
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Post by htmb on Jan 14, 2014 22:44:02 GMT
I have absolutely treasured the support I received from close friends at times such as this. I am sure your friend is grateful for your help, support and understanding. He is lucky to have you there for him.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2014 14:48:12 GMT
I think it's admirable that you have done so much for your friend and still are, Kerouac.
Like you, htmb, friends in the past have seen me through some really bad patches in my life. Especially when I was new to this country and didn't know anyone, and was just trying to find my way. Friends were like an extension of family to me. Truth is I have been closer to Friends than my extended family as they were then. It's bliss when you find true friends that see you through thick and thin.
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Post by mich64 on Jan 15, 2014 19:03:05 GMT
Thank goodness this man has a friend like you Kerouac. It is horrible to think of the many people who go through things like this every day without the kindness of a friend near them for help and support.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2014 20:11:37 GMT
I just had a devastatingly sad telephone conversation with him because today the doctors told his mother exactly what her condition was and why she was being moved to a special clinic which provides care for the dying. Tonight he is still with his daughter, but he still has to clean the holiday apartment, pack his suitcase, comfort his daughter (age 12). My mission today was to buy a DVD player for his daughter, because her mother has been having a nervous breakdown for the past two months and is apparently incapable of doing anything useful. (The DVD player at their home is broken.) So I did that and I will bring it tomorrow when I go to pick him up. His sister will take care of delivery. Then he started detailing tomorrow's schedule and said that he would be at the hospital to say goodbye to his mother and then he would go to her apartment, where I will be waiting in front. And then he broke down and started crying so he said good bye and hung up.
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Post by htmb on Jan 15, 2014 22:10:26 GMT
So painfully sad, both for your friend and for you.
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Post by bjd on Jan 16, 2014 7:11:06 GMT
Sad and difficult for you both but at least he has someone he can talk to and rely on.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 16, 2014 13:15:48 GMT
What an awful story, including his ex being unable to take on responsibilities - who is taking care of his daughter? So sorry. I hope the other adult children can be with their mum.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 19:31:26 GMT
Well, my friend is in the plane back to Brazil now. Today I could feel that there was some anger in him although it was low key. Anger is good sometimes.
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Post by htmb on Jan 16, 2014 20:20:54 GMT
Yes, most definitely true.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2014 20:10:25 GMT
Well, here we go, I'm reviving this thread because I am going through one of my major clinical depressions, and this is one of my therapies, writing. I won't go into the long form explanation, but I have been "anhedonic" and "dysthymic" since early childhood. I've been on medication for many, many years. My normal state of functioning would probably be most people's nightmare, but I've learned to live with it and sussed my limits and triggers. The depression disregards time of year or state of health, although being unemployed at the moment and dealing with a thyroid condition is not helping. I've found that getting married was not a "cure", neither is "keeping busy". Papering over the cracks and trying to ignore the warning signals is a sure indication of a collapse to follow.
It sound like some people who have written in this thread have skated around the edges of depression, and maybe some of you have actually taken the plunge and decided once was enough, but I've gone through this daily for decades and I can tell you, it is an integral part of my personality and one that has shaped every aspect of my life. Not proud or ashamed of it, it just is. Depression is not sadness or melancholia, it is a loss of sensitivity and colour and emotion. It is an absence, not a weight or a cloud. It is an erasure of humanity. It is dispassion.
So I am launching into a day of recovery. I've never been addicted to anything, but I understand the need to take recovery one day at a time, because the thought of having to expend the unthinkable amount of energy just to get out of the house is not something I can contemplate beyond today.
I'm about to walk to the beach and back, which is a huge accomplishment. I was going to take pictures for a photo essay, but I left my camera in Seattle, so it'll have to wait until next time. I'll listen to music. I'll pick up some groceries on the way home. I will feel a micrometre better when I return, but it will subside and I will have to do it all again tomorrow, and maybe after a few weeks of constant vigilance, I will be better.
Wish me luck. Maybe I'll see a whale or a seal. I'm sure to see some geese, so that'll help.
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 2:13:17 GMT
Cheering you on, Lizzy!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2014 3:08:51 GMT
Thanks, htmb. Tomorrow I am heading into a recording studio for a workshop on voiceover and animation voices, in an effort to expand my working opportunities and I'm expecting that'll help. Tonight I'm watching the 1997 concert of Charles Aznavour at the Palais de Congrès on youtube. I attended that concert and just a little nostalgia is good for the soul.
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Post by bjd on Jul 27, 2014 18:16:48 GMT
Good luck, lizzy. One day at a time must be the only way to deal with it.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2014 18:34:52 GMT
I suffered a period of depression at one time in my life and almost completely stopped going to the movies for six months, if anybody can believe that. Being very stubborn, I refused any and all assistance and finally got back to normal. I am one of those people who believe that sometimes -- depending on what is happening in your life -- it is normal to be depressed, which is why I never believed that any "gimmick" (anti-depressant, therapy, etc.) should be used to escape the situation.
My opinion has evolved just a little bit over the years, at least in terms of therapy. I still am extremely wary of any chemical assistance, just because I have known so many people who can't stop the pills in later years, even when it is just sleeping pills.
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Post by mich64 on Jul 27, 2014 19:08:17 GMT
Hoping your walk was enjoyable and full of sights, smells and sounds of interest. and that you had fun at your workshop! The first year after my brain injury I was medicated for depression. I cried a lot during that time, not from depression but from fear and it was impossible at that time to express differently.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2014 22:34:26 GMT
Thanks, everyone. Kerouac, even when it is "just" sleeping pills? I would consider that a huge red flag and avoid any kind of downer or mood altering drugs except for a glass of wine now and again, and even at that I don't drink as much as I think I would like to. My problem is too much sleep: when I was a baby my mother was worried because she would have to wake me up for feeding, I would sleep for 10 hours at a time. I slept through my christening. I slept through most of junior high and high school. Before medication, if I was depressed, I could not wake up even if I wanted to, it was like I was drugged. I think I have a dopamine problem in my brain and the medication works on that. Well, that's my story. mich, I understand the fear issue. When I slide into depression, I have to try to find a lot of courage because just everything frightens me. Safeway. The bus. Talking on the phone. I'm glad you're not crying so much anymore.
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Post by mich64 on Jul 28, 2014 1:06:12 GMT
I completed five years of speech therapy. Once I could speak, my doctors were able to determine what areas of my brain were damaged and that I was not in a depression. There are still tears now and then but I am learning to accept what I can not repair.
Lizzy does maintaining a (reasonably) consistent daily routine help you?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 1:36:51 GMT
If it was at all possible to maintain a consistent routine, it might. Trouble is, I have 3 homes, an all over the place schedule and an unreliable income. I suppose I should get one steady bit of routine going besides showering and cooking. I'm starting writing on a new project; perhaps that will help.
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Post by htmb on Jul 28, 2014 3:35:48 GMT
I suffered a period of depression at one time in my life and almost completely stopped going to the movies for six months, if anybody can believe that. Being very stubborn, I refused any and all assistance and finally got back to normal. . I feel most fortunate that any depression I have experienced has been situational; related to an event, a change, a loss, rather than something clinical that I can't eventually move through with time. At a major turning point it was very helpful to have a sounding board and a place to express some of the difficult decisions I've had to make, and I like to think it was beneficial for me. I am certain that, in many cases, some individuals need medically supervised drugs to cope with specific illness, just like many diabetics need insulin. It caught my attention when you mentioned a lack of interest in attending the movie theatre at one point, Kerouac. I have always been a big reader, and used to love reading fiction much more than non-fiction books. However, several years ago I was at a point where I could not concentrate on any reading for an extended period of time. I eventually got back to where I was reading tons of non-fiction, but I hardly read any fiction books to this day. Often I'll pick one out to read, but just cannot get involved with the story. Perhaps this will eventually change, or maybe it's more a shift in my personality and preferences that will not revert to what it was before.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2014 14:52:51 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2014 17:42:10 GMT
That is really excellent but I was disturbed that she wore the same fuchsia dress not only through her depression but apparently through her entire life.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2014 17:54:22 GMT
Yes, and the dirty hoody with it is a nice little depressive touch.
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