Mental health

[Kate]

I have schizophrenia and have had clinical depression.

At the moment I think I'm quite well, in fact my mood is better than it's been for years and I rarely have psychotic thoughts. That can all change quickly so I try to be careful about things like the amount of stress and negative influences I'm exposed to.

It's been a few years since I was locked up for being a loony and I hope to never experience that again.

Anyone else here with mental health issues?

[Kate]

[bigeyes]

I have hypothyroidism, and interestingly, hypo patients are often misdiagnosed as bipolar before they are properly diagnosed with hypo.

Once properly treated, the mood swings go away and docs find that we were never really bipolar at all. The drugs that treat bipolar disorder actually make hypo worse, and smoking tends to stave off hypo symptoms, so when I quit smoking the first time I was a real joy to be around, let me tell you.

I also have fibromyalgia, which can lead to depression.

I think any chronic disease can lead to some mental issues simply from the isolation it brings, though, since most of my contact with the outside world comes from the internet. I was a very gregarious person in my former life and living like a hermit is a big change.

[Christena]

I had what was termed a 'Breakdown' which really was Anxiety and Panic Attacks, resulting in my spending 2 years in my bedroom. To this day I am still agoraphobic through this, and often feel anxious even sitting in my own living room.

I do go out, but only if I am in control, and by that I mean, in my own car, with me driving, that to me means I can leave when I want and return to my 'safe haven'.

I still feel anxiety when things are out of my control, but in general I have learnt how to cope.

On top of this I have M.E. which brought about a repeat of the bedroom thing, Gawd, how things go in circles eh?

And you are right, stress can cause loss of control and chaos to reign again.

Oh I almost forgot the OCD....lol

Its not too bad, but never the less, still there....lol

[pipe6078]

i have chronic depresion that no med will touch. to stop smoking i always need to be hospitalized. Not this time 11 days and i'm doing great. will see dr. this week for retaining water. I'm so excited that something works....

[ShimmyPrincess]

Severve panic attacks here, have had them for 18 years, but the doctors back then called it "bored housewife syndrome"
I also suffer from MVI, COPD, rhumatoid arthritis, chornic fatigue and am agoraphobic.
I have my good days & my bad

[Chorizo]

SURE DO!!!

I have "Anxiety Disorder NOS" which I don't get, but I've only seen a p-doc once so yeah.

Oh, and the AWESOME thing about this is that I am on THREE meds for this anxiety and nothing is helping me.

I'm pretty sure I have some weird mood thing too. But we are working on a diagnosis.

[gep]

Here's a good site as well!!

No Kidding, Me Too! Removing the Stigma from Mental Illness.

And yes, I've fought my way out of the "abyss" of depression a few times and have suffered with Generalized Anxiety Disorder since my late teens and both were exacerbated by my pregnancy. So now my diagnosis is chronic depression with GAD. Such is the roller-coaster of life. (My dad used to say I was wound up tighter than a ten-day clock. If you're old enough to remember having to wind up your alarm clock or if you sill have one.....well you understand the expression.)

Found a great doc, who kept listening to me when things worked and when things didn't and we finally found the combo of drugs and therapy that work for me. Although the last 10 years have been the best of my life, it still doesn't take much to upset the balance, but I'm learning how NOT to fall so hard and so deep and bounce back quicker. Like many, too much exposure to negative things and not allowing myself to recharge emotionally will cause set backs. But I'm learning the triggers and learning that it's ok to put myself first. Is that because of my age and experience or the meds and therapy? I don't know or care. It's working.

Let me add too, that if my sleep patterns are disturbed it throws me off so I'm going for a sleep study in a couple of weeks to see what's up. We've pretty much ruled out thyroid issues and menopausal stuff so this is the next step. (My parents used to snore loud enough to shake the windows and I'm guessing as I've gotten older I starting to suffer the same fate. We'll see.)

So, yeah....me too!

[Cherrysky3]

I'm relatively new to this forum, but not new to anxiety disorders... I don't know if you guys have heard of a program called "attacking anxiety & depression" but it truly has changed my life... In college I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder & no treatment was helping... Until years later a friend got me the aforementioned program... I'm almost all the way through it (I've done 13 out of 15 weeks) & I can actually function again... I'm sure if you googled it you could find it... Hope this helps

[Kate]

Have any of you thought about how vaping affects your mental health?

Usually during the winter I get low moods and a bit off balance with perspective, paranoia and such but this last winter I was great. I haven't felt this good and level headed for years and I seriously think that quitting smoking and getting 'clean' nicotine by vaping might be doing me some good.

Without nicotine I tend to not be so good so I don't think it's just the ritual. Maybe I imagine I'm getting something out of it and it's a placebo effect, I'm not sure.

Have any of you noticed a mood change with vaping?