Painfully insecure to the point of avoiding people and places

[TheRealCallie]

Well, they have medication for acne, as well. All you need is a trip to a dermatologist.

Personally, I never cared for meds. I think a lot of things can be solved without them, if you are willing to do the work involved to get yourself where you want to be.
That said, if you have honestly tried absolutely everything and put 110% effort into it and nothing has worked, you should probably give meds a shot. As has already been said, you can always go off of them if you don't like them or they aren't working.

 

[Restless soul]

So thought I'd share this. This girl in starbucks asks me to plug
In her laptop in a outlet that was outof reach. So of course I do it being the helpful guy I am. And after I do it I said " is it in?"

Oh brother!!

 

[Restless soul]

Just to lighten things up a bit

 

[Tuathaniel]

Here's what I can tell you about depression and meds, speaking as a nurse who works with psychiatric patients and as a person with chronic depression herself:

Chronic depression (not to be confused with "something terrible just happened and I'm having a bad, yet normal reaction to it" depression) isn't just a mental thing. It's not something you can just think yourself out of any more than you can think yourself out of MS or a broken leg. Chronic depression is caused by particles in the brain's neurological system (I won't get into the detailed physiology here) not working properly, and eventually getting broken. As such, chronic depression is something that can easily get worse if its left unattended, and the damage already done cannot be permanently fixed. If the brain damages (for lack of a less intimidating term) have reached a severe enough stage, you will need meds to function, and you will need them permanently. It's not a "get on prozac for a limited amount of time until you start cheering up" kind of situation. Once you start meds and find the dosage that works for you, you'll start to feel better. Often, this inspires people to get off them, because they thing they're cured, only to then spiral down in the depression hole yet again. There is no cure for depression, only coping mechanisms and meds that can help the brain's performance.

Now, I don't know if what you're dealing with is actually chronic depression. I'm not in a position to diagnose you. But if it is, meds would most likely be the best solution if you want to start feeling better.

The common idea is that depression makes you sad, and that that's just about it. But it's so much more than that. Depression does a lot of things. It makes you sad. It makes you careless. It makes you feel guilty about anything and everything you've done or haven't done. It makes you obsess over all your mistakes. It makes you paranoid, makes you feel unwanted, makes you remember every negative thing anyone has ever said or done to you. It makes you feel worthless, ugly, useless. It makes you hate yourself and doubt yourself. It's not just "being sad," it's living through a waking nightmare. If this sounds familiar, and you've been struggling with this for shorter or longer periods of time over a few years or more, than you might just be chronically depressed, and you might want to talk to a psychiatrist about it.

However, if you're only experiencing low self esteem and shyness, without all that other crap I just mentioned, then anti depressant probably won't help you. Cognitive therapy, however, might.

 

[Restless soul]

Ok, and with all that being said are you a proponent for the use of these drugs?

 

[Tuathaniel]

Isn't that what I just said? If you have a medical condition so severe that it becomes a handicap in your life, of course you should use medication where it's available. People with migraines take painkillers. People with diabetes take insulin. People with heart issues take meds for that. Brain issues aren't any less severe or less deserving of attention and aid.

 

[Restless soul]

Isn't that what I just said? If you have a medical condition so severe that it becomes a handicap in your life, of course you should use medication where it's available. People with migraines take painkillers. People with diabetes take insulin. People with heart issues take meds for that. Brain issues aren't any less severe or less deserving of attention and aid.

Yes, you did. Caught it

 

[Restless soul]

Thanks for your input

 

[TheRealCallie]

Here's what I can tell you about depression and meds, speaking as a nurse who works with psychiatric patients and as a person with chronic depression herself:

Chronic depression (not to be confused with "something terrible just happened and I'm having a bad, yet normal reaction to it" depression) isn't just a mental thing. It's not something you can just think yourself out of any more than you can think yourself out of MS or a broken leg. Chronic depression is caused by particles in the brain's neurological system (I won't get into the detailed physiology here) not working properly, and eventually getting broken. As such, chronic depression is something that can easily get worse if its left unattended, and the damage already done cannot be permanently fixed. If the brain damages (for lack of a less intimidating term) have reached a severe enough stage, you will need meds to function, and you will need them permanently. It's not a "get on prozac for a limited amount of time until you start cheering up" kind of situation. Once you start meds and find the dosage that works for you, you'll start to feel better. Often, this inspires people to get off them, because they thing they're cured, only to then spiral down in the depression hole yet again. There is no cure for depression, only coping mechanisms and meds that can help the brain's performance.

Now, I don't know if what you're dealing with is actually chronic depression. I'm not in a position to diagnose you. But if it is, meds would most likely be the best solution if you want to start feeling better.

The common idea is that depression makes you sad, and that that's just about it. But it's so much more than that. Depression does a lot of things. It makes you sad. It makes you careless. It makes you feel guilty about anything and everything you've done or haven't done. It makes you obsess over all your mistakes. It makes you paranoid, makes you feel unwanted, makes you remember every negative thing anyone has ever said or done to you. It makes you feel worthless, ugly, useless. It makes you hate yourself and doubt yourself. It's not just "being sad," it's living through a waking nightmare. If this sounds familiar, and you've been struggling with this for shorter or longer periods of time over a few years or more, than you might just be chronically depressed, and you might want to talk to a psychiatrist about it.

However, if you're only experiencing low self esteem and shyness, without all that other crap I just mentioned, then anti depressant probably won't help you. Cognitive therapy, however, might.

I have to disagree with some of this.  Now, don't get me wrong, what I'm going to say doesn't apply to everyone, but it can apply to some.
Not everyone with chronic depression needs meds to get out of it and you can think yourself out of it, if you are motivated enough to do so.  I did it and I know others that have, so yes, it can be done, depending on the person.  If someone is nervous about taking meds for something and there are natural ways to solve the problem, I feel they should try every single one of them before they try meds.  
Take stomach ulcers or acid reflux or even GERD.  You don't necessarily need meds for those.  I haven't taken meds for those in years because I did the research and found natural remedies that solve the problem a hell of a lot better than taking those meds with nasty long term side effects.

As for your MS scenario, there is no cure for that and there are things that can be done, outside of meds, to help ease the symptoms.  I know this because I've researched it extensively for my mom.  I get migraines and don't take meds for them, because painkillers don't work for me, neither does pretty much any drug out there. 

Now, as I said, this doesn't apply to everyone and everything because there are meds I have to take because there are no natural ways to fix it.   But yeah, I 100% believe that mind over matter can work for many if you are motivated enough and can take the road less traveled.  It may not be easy and you will get knocked down a lot, but it can be done.

 

[Tuathaniel]

Mind over matter can work if there aren't any physical injuries, or if it's something temporary. For a chronic illness where you can't heal the physical damages done (as in chronic depression, which contains physical damages to neurons in the brain), you simply cannot think yourself better. The same way you can't will a cancer away, no matter how motivated you might be. If you've managed to do this, your depression either wasn't chronic, or it's still there but you've found a way to control the symptoms to an acceptable degree. This isn't really about what you and I believe; it's scientific anatomy and physiology.

Symptoms however, to some degree, I can acknowledge might be reduced to an acceptable level with enough cognitive training. This is why a lot of doctors (at least in my part of the world) prefers to try cognitive therapy before starting up on meds. For instance, if your main issue from depression is anger, then there are cognitive techniques that can help you control and deal with those emotions. However, that won't mean the chronic depression is gone, just that you're managing it - for the time being.

As for your MS scenario, there is no cure for that and there are things that can be done, outside of meds, to help ease the symptoms.  I know this because I've researched it extensively for my mom.  I get migraines and don't take meds for them, because painkillers don't work for me, neither does pretty much any drug out there.  

And that was exactly why I used MS as an example. Because chronic depression, like MS, doesn't have a cure either - all you can do is ease symptoms. Depending on how strong the symptoms are (depending on how severe the illness has become), there are things you can do outside of meds that might work to a lesser or larger degree. However, for most people a combination of meds and cognitive training will provide the best results, and for many, meds is an absolute necessity in order to function normally in society. 

Of course, if you've tried meds at various dosages and it simply didn't work for some reason, then of course there's no point in taking them. That any drug doesn't work on you, Callie, says more about you being an anomaly than it does about meds not being efficient in general.

And just to be absolutely clear on this: There's a difference between going on for years with the symptoms I described previously (and more) for no apparent reason, and to e.g. feel sad for a while because of the loss of a loved one, or feeling shy and insecure because you were picked on in school throughout your childhood. The latter is a simple case of cause and effect, the first implies physical damages in the neurological system.

 

[Restless soul]

Here's what I can tell you about depression and meds, speaking as a nurse who works with psychiatric patients and as a person with chronic depression herself:

Chronic depression (not to be confused with "something terrible just happened and I'm having a bad, yet normal reaction to it" depression) isn't just a mental thing. It's not something you can just think yourself out of any more than you can think yourself out of MS or a broken leg. Chronic depression is caused by particles in the brain's neurological system (I won't get into the detailed physiology here) not working properly, and eventually getting broken. As such, chronic depression is something that can easily get worse if its left unattended, and the damage already done cannot be permanently fixed. If the brain damages (for lack of a less intimidating term) have reached a severe enough stage, you will need meds to function, and you will need them permanently. It's not a "get on prozac for a limited amount of time until you start cheering up" kind of situation. Once you start meds and find the dosage that works for you, you'll start to feel better. Often, this inspires people to get off them, because they thing they're cured, only to then spiral down in the depression hole yet again. There is no cure for depression, only coping mechanisms and meds that can help the brain's performance.

Now, I don't know if what you're dealing with is actually chronic depression. I'm not in a position to diagnose you. But if it is, meds would most likely be the best solution if you want to start feeling better.

The common idea is that depression makes you sad, and that that's just about it. But it's so much more than that. Depression does a lot of things. It makes you sad. It makes you careless. It makes you feel guilty about anything and everything you've done or haven't done. It makes you obsess over all your mistakes. It makes you paranoid, makes you feel unwanted, makes you remember every negative thing anyone has ever said or done to you. It makes you feel worthless, ugly, useless. It makes you hate yourself and doubt yourself. It's not just "being sad," it's living through a waking nightmare. If this sounds familiar, and you've been struggling with this for shorter or longer periods of time over a few years or more, than you might just be chronically depressed, and you might want to talk to a psychiatrist about it.

However, if you're only experiencing low self esteem and shyness, without all that other crap I just mentioned, then anti depressant probably won't help you. Cognitive therapy, however, might.

I have to disagree with some of this.  Now, don't get me wrong, what I'm going to say doesn't apply to everyone, but it can apply to some.
Not everyone with chronic depression needs meds to get out of it and you can think yourself out of it, if you are motivated enough to do so.  I did it and I know others that have, so yes, it can be done, depending on the person.  If someone is nervous about taking meds for something and there are natural ways to solve the problem, I feel they should try every single one of them before they try meds.  
Take stomach ulcers or acid reflux or even GERD.  You don't necessarily need meds for those.  I haven't taken meds for those in years because I did the research and found natural remedies that solve the problem a hell of a lot better than taking those meds with nasty long term side effects.

As for your MS scenario, there is no cure for that and there are things that can be done, outside of meds, to help ease the symptoms.  I know this because I've researched it extensively for my mom.  I get migraines and don't take meds for them, because painkillers don't work for me, neither does pretty much any drug out there. 

Now, as I said, this doesn't apply to everyone and everything because there are meds I have to take because there are no natural ways to fix it.   But yeah, I 100% believe that mind over matter can work for many if you are motivated enough and can take the road less traveled.  It may not be easy and you will get knocked down a lot, but it can be done.

How can you tell us all this about the brain being damaged when one has chronic depression when Psychiatrists don't even test or train. And won't show a patient any evidence.
This is why I think they are an outdated profession and far behind in mental health wheb it comes to diagnosing. And its silly to compare physcial ailments which can be seen, tested for and diagnosed more clearly. Now I do realize there are brain imaging tests for things related to depression, new and improved tests. But your basic psychpsychiatrist doesn't do this, maybe its time they get into the. Modern age. Instead of just guessing games when it comes to prescribing meds

 

[Tuathaniel]

How can you tell us all this about the brain being damaged when one has chronic depression when Psychiatrists don't even test or train. And won't show a patient any evidence.
This is why I think they are an outdated profession and far behind in mental health wheb it comes to diagnosing. And its silly to compare physcial ailments which can be seen, tested for and diagnosed more clearly. Now I do realize there are brain imaging tests for things related to depression, new and improved tests. But your basic psychpsychiatrist doesn't do this, maybe its time they get into the. Modern age. Instead of just guessing games when it comes to prescribing meds

How do I know about the physiological situation of someone with a chronic depression? As I said earlier, because I'm a psychiatric nurse, and I've attended lectures from a professor who specializes in precisely this, where he explained this brain's situation in detail. This is part of what I do for a living.

This knowledge about the damages in the brain to those with chronic depression is fairly recent, however. It's not something that a lot of psychiatrists have bothered overly with, and this research and scientific discovery probably isn't even known to all of them. Depression as a medical condition has been overlooked and underestimated for a long time, and only recently have doctors started looking at it more closely. It would depend on where in the world you live and how updated the given psychiatrists likes to keep themselves. (For instance, there are enough of those who shun new research, and prefer to just go old school on everything, because that's how they've always done it.) 

So I partially agree with you; I don't think the profession itself is outdated, but I do think a lot of the medical practitioners could be. 

But remember, just because they don't scan and test the brain, doesn't mean they're "just guessing games." Chronic depression is one of those things that is usually quite straight forward to diagnose without those tests, because the symptoms tend to speak for themselves. 

And finally, it's not at all silly to compare this with "physical" (this is also physical) ailments. Making this comparison is often the only way to make people understand just how serious and damaging the illness can be. People tend to think less of an illness they can't see (and sadly, that includes a lot of those who are suffering from it, and thus refuses to get help, making their lives a lot harder than they need to be).

 

[Restless soul]

What I mean by comparing it to physical, is that they should only start doing that when they get more up to date as I said. Where they are showing patients you are depressed because your brain shows abc on this scan. And if we get that normal you will feel much better.

 

[Restless soul]

I went to the same resturant twice already this week. More fequent in one week than typical. The staff jokes with me that I an the best customer here everyday. Obviously I am not there everyday, although they were very nice and hospitibale.
Something made me feel very bad. Maybe the fact that I get stuck in routines, or maybe I am ocd about where I eat, or just the fact I am always alone here. But they did give me fries on the house

 

[Restless soul]

So is this something to obbsess over?

 

[TheRealCallie]

So is this something to obbsess over?

No.  You are just a "regular." There's nothing wrong with that.  If you like eating there, then continue going there. I used to go to the same restaurant before I went vegan.  People know you, people might start caring about you, it's a good thing. 

You could venture out and try new places, if you really want to, but I wouldn't stop going to the place you like.

 

[Kianda]

[...] If I see them coming down the street I would go in the opposite direction and hope they did not see me [..]

Been there, done that - I'm still battling my demons but life's too short to care about people that don't care back.

I'll say hello with a smile and then quickly move on, because not everything from the past can be resolved.

So like a grin and bare it kind of approach.  Not sure I can..

What other choice have you got?

Haha, I am a she . You'll get my PM in 15 minutes.

?

 

[Restless soul]

So is this something to obbsess over?

No.  You are just a "regular." There's nothing wrong with that.  If you like eating there, then continue going there. I used to go to the same restaurant before I went vegan.  People know you, people might start caring about you, it's a good thing. 

You could venture out and try new places, if you really want to, but I wouldn't stop going to the place you like.

I still blame it on being alone too often is what caused this iinsecuritie to matastasis. That is my definiton of lonleiness 

Being alone, not liking it. Being sexually frustrated,  and not liking it. Not seeing and light at and of tunnel with those things. And not liking it