I need some advice

nesf

Ok. I need some advice.

My situation is that I'm going to probably take another year out of college due to depression. This would be my second attempt to finish my degree being halted due to medical advice from a psychiatrist. I suffer from pretty severe depression and have been getting medial assistance, therapy, and medication constantly for the past 2 and half years and for various periods over the past 7 years. I'm not going to bother to go into any depth on the issue. I've made alot of progress on my depression and no longer suffer from suicidal urges or extreme lows, but I still suffer from a near constant low in concentration, mood, inspiration and focus. I'm looking at taking another year out on medical and college advice and am trying to figure out what to do with myself for the 9 months or so i'll have to play around with. I can take longer if it's necessary and my department and faculty in college have been great and very supportive to me.

What I'm looking for is some advice on things to do or try during my time out. Leaving the country for any decent lenght of time is not an option. I'm also kinda looking at the possibility of restarting in a new less demanding course, but again that would be casting aside all the work I've so far done on my Physics/Applied Maths degree. I presently live away form home and have done so for near on 5 years. My parents support me financially and are willing to continue doing so while I'm recovering, for which I'm very grateful. I've been single for about 2 years after breaking up out of a 2 year relationship due to my depression (long story). Again I'm not overly bothered by the fact I'm single.

I guess I'm just looking for general life advice I know vague question! Hopefully you guys might have some solid advice for me, and/or some questions.

goin'_to_the_PS

Hey, i sometimes feel a bit down, but i find a herbal drug called arnik sets me straight, e.g i had the worst day of my life today and a stuck a few of them and i feel great now.
Hope this helps
david

Victor

I think you know you need to do something, if nothing else to occupy your time and keep you sociable, whether work (puts a few more euros in your pocket) or study. Take even a part time job or see if you can do some course or even modules of your course.

sickle

i like victor suggestions
you could even do a part time evening/plc course,they are cheap and im sure there would be something out there for ya!

dewsbury

go Hillwalking, take up yoga, do charity work, learn to juggle, run a marathon !

nesf

Victor wrote:

I think you know you need to do something, if nothing else to occupy your time and keep you sociable, whether work (puts a few more euros in your pocket) or study. Take even a part time job or see if you can do some course or even modules of your course.

Yeah thats along the lines I was thinking, a part-time job combined with the open university perhaps? I will definitely need something to do. I have hobbies but I'll need more than them to occupy my time I think. Distance learning is appealing to me since it allows me to study and focus far away from people. I go through periods of upto 2-3 months where I can't face people and do everything in my power to avoid them, thus making college difficult for me. I need more interests that keep me active socially. Social contact is something that is lacking in my life at the moment. I've some great friends who are very good to me, but meeting new people would be nice.

Thanks for the advice mate, I appreciate it.

johnscone

Do u drink, u proberly should i know ppl saw its not good if ur depressed but i disagree, its also a good way to meet ppl and have a laugh, maybe try drugs too

Beruthiel

johnscone wrote:

Do u drink, u proberly should i know ppl saw its not good if ur depressed but i disagree, its also a good way to meet ppl and have a laugh, maybe try drugs too

johnscorne
read the CHARTER with regards to unhelpful comments like this one

alcohol is a depressant - you do not recommend it to someone who is depressed :rolleyes:

Bottle_of_Smoke

I took a year out last year, about halfway through i read about a part time 1 year psychology diploma and regretted not hearing about it beforehand.

If you're not into psychology I'm sure there's lotsa one year courses ya could do, then work a full time job and save up some cash.

g'luck

McGinty

I'm not sure if your depression is chemical or psychological, and I'm not asking, like you I have suffered depression, but in the last year or so, it's been pretty good. What has worked for me is improving my diet and exercising, along with increasing my social circle, and a certain amount of awareness into myself and what causes the triggers.

Re: diet, I have moved towards whole foods, such as more fruit, vegetables, nuts (sounds very boring, but over time I crave these foods and when I eat junk I can feel my mood come down), these foods give me energy and vitality.

Re: exercise, a good walk, workout or something like that, I personally believe that part of the problem with depression is not using our bodies enough and sedentary lifestyles is not condusive to our physicoligical make-up. Get moving, it really helps, I know its difficult when your in the dark cloud, but it can help.

I've learned that when the depression comes not to fight it with drink or cigarettes or whatever (okay I don't always succeed) however when I do look at, I ask what caused the trigger, this does involve a certain amount of self observation, I'm not talking analysis, but awareness, more of a shining the light on what's going on.

Lastly I increased my social circle and added hobbies, and interests to my life, rather than shutting myself away, which is hard in a sense but also really worth it.

One question? Do you actually like the course you were doing? And the direction of your life?

Chucky the tree

has as been said in the post above me, excerise!

definitly should join a gym or do some form of excercise anyway, healthy body healthy mind!

nesf

Thanks guys, the advice is appreciated. To answer the above question, no I'm not particularily happy in my course, but I am happy with my life's overall direction. I've gone down the exercise and diet routes before and they didn't work for me personally, however I would recommend them to most people as they do help alot of people.

neuro-praxis

Beruthiel wrote:

johnscorne
alcohol is a depressant - you do not recommend it to someone who is depressed :rolleyes:

It's a physical depressant, not an emotional/psychological depressant.

Not that I think you should drown your sorrows in whiskey.

G'luck nesf.

nesf

neuro-praxis wrote:

It's a physical depressant, not an emotional/psychological depressant.

Not that I think you should drown your sorrows in whiskey.

G'luck nesf.

Yeah but a major problem with people with depression is attempts at self-medication using alcohol. Plus anti-depressents and alcohol can be a weird mix and you can freak out if you drink too much while on them. Personally I just fall asleep after drinking too much on my meds, even in the middle of the street! I've gone through and passed my whiskey phase too Whiskey is an expensive habit!

BuffyBot

If you do decide to go for a part time/distance education course, check out http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=433 - lots of useful threads there.

Engo

Hi
i have gone through depressions before and have also thought about suicide.
I tired to imagine ways in which i could do it too.I i know this sounds a little weird).
well when i stayed awake for about an hour to think of ways of doing it. I dont know if i ever took myself seriously because i began to enjoy the different ways i could do this, really. Well i figured tha at the end of all these little day dreams that the reason i was depressed was because i was doing things that made me un happy, duh i know.

The things that i found that were making me unhappy were the ideas or rules i set out for myself, for instance by imagining myself dying and beliving i would go through with it, I was realising myself from the constraints i set for myself in life.

So my advice is that maybe you should let yourself free of the idea that some things are out of the question, i.e that you cant leave the country or that you must stay in the same course.

Just do things that make yourself happy, take up art, yoga, meditation, karate, dancing etc
i hope i have not been overly presumptious

CerebralCortex

johnscone wrote:

Do u drink, u proberly should i know ppl saw its not good if ur depressed but i disagree, its also a good way to meet ppl and have a laugh, maybe try drugs too

I don't care your a ****ing idiot.

CerebralCortex

Engo wrote:

Hi
i have gone through depressions before and have also thought about suicide.
I tired to imagine ways in which i could do it too.I i know this sounds a little weird).

I also experienced something simillar make sure you are always in touch with how amazing both your body and mind are no matter what mistakes you make (in your course for example) its not a problem you have learned something.
Keep occupied by learning how to make both your body and mind stronger. Try not to feel like you owe anything to society.
I hope I was helpfull.

Beruthiel

CerebralCortex wrote:

I don't care your a ****ing idiot.

CerebralCortex
please read this forums CHARTER
do not flame other posters in here
there is a 'report this poster' icon under each persons nick, use it instead!
B

LegacyUser

Don´t forget to get in touch with yourself ... It´s very important ...

CerebralCortex

Beruthiel wrote:

CerebralCortex
please read this forums CHARTER
do not flame other posters in here
there is a 'report this poster' icon under each persons nick, use it instead!
B

Oh don't worry it rarely happens only when ppl think alcohol is good for depression.

nesf

Engo wrote:

Hi

So my advice is that maybe you should let yourself free of the idea that some things are out of the question, i.e that you cant leave the country or that you must stay in the same course.

Just do things that make yourself happy, take up art, yoga, meditation, karate, dancing etc
i hope i have not been overly presumptious

Nah not too over-presumptious at all! I'm restricted to the country cause of medical reasons, plus i'm happy with my doctors here. I'm in the same course because i'm in final year and am trying one last time to finish it off.

As it stands I've not taken the year out yet. Have a few weeks given to myself to decide.

nesf

CerebralCortex wrote:

Oh don't worry it rarely happens only when ppl think alcohol is good for depression.

Yeah see the problem is that some/alot/all (delete applicable) of what you'll read on PI will either a) sound idiotic or b) piss you off. I find it's best to just ignore any posts that get to me, or reply to them rationally. Flaming people won't solve anything, regardless how good a reason you have. Some muppets will keep pestering you to flame them because they get some perverse pleasure out of it. And so on.

CerebralCortex

nesf wrote:

Yeah see the problem is that some/alot/all (delete applicable) of what you'll read on PI will either a) sound idiotic or b) piss you off. I find it's best to just ignore any posts that get to me, or reply to them rationally. Flaming people won't solve anything, regardless how good a reason you have. Some muppets will keep pestering you to flame them because they get some perverse pleasure out of it. And so on.

Cool thanks for your understanding.

Nightwish

I was in the exact situation you are in now. i took a year out under doctors orders cos, i couldnt function, i was so depressed. i hate my course, but im sticking it out, cos i cant afford to start all over again. going back to college this year scared the hell out of me. i was afraid that everything that f*cked me up before, would happen again. what i did was make a list of everything negative in your life and try erase it. mine included where i lived, who i lived with, darkness (long story) among other things. so i eliminated those from my life. its great that your college is being supportive, mine werent. they couldnt give a sh*t. see if you could do it part time, if being there pisses u off so much.

cregser

I think a part time job is great for increasing your social circle. But the problem there is that part time jobs can be boring as hell. I think the reason that people in PT jobs socialise so much, is because they all hate their job and misery likes company. And by socialising, I mean going out on the piss on Friday night. But not everyone does that. You easily meet people in work that have similar intrests and you could join them in whatever hobbie they do (from yoga to going to football matches, concerts whatever). And then meet more people .

I'm sure you understand (as I do) that I've no idea what you've personally been through. But apparently everyone has suffered from some form of depression, so you might get loads of mad ideas of what worked for other people. And some people (myself sometimes) mistake drink=happiness. But since you've already been down the whiskey route and realised it didn't work, I think you're probably safe going out with "the gang" on the Friday night. It's wierd how sharing a piss up brings people together - and you don't even have to drink, only the other people!

As great as that is, I personally don't like getting drunk frequently. I always see people boasting about going out Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I think it's not really impressive at all. Espeicially when you think about their liver. I (personally) only go out with the gang when I need to let my hair down. And at the very least, it gives me something to talk about the next time I'm in work.

Take it or leave it, only want to help