talkmagic.co.uk

spooneythegoon wrote:And naked mentalism 1 and 2 cure everything...(just doing Tomo's shameless self promotion for him, before he has the chance!)

Ooof! In this case, I fear that not even the mighty power of m'lovely books is enough.

Eshly wrote:

kolm wrote:Stephen Fry famously suffers from manic depression. I don't know if he's ever suffered while on stage, but you've probably heard about the time he went AWOL when a stage show got bad reviews. You're in good company anyway

I don't know what the best thing to do to help would be. I guess trying to do something to make yourself feel up/manic before you step onto the stage might work, but not suffering from BPD myself I don't know if that's possible

Sorry if I can't help much, your GP might be able to though. Good luck anyway, I suffer from bad lows after doing tricks from time to time so I know how hard it can be

Indeed, who doesn't love Stephen Fry

I am already taking 21 pills of a morning and 12 of a night, so I doubt prescription is the answer.

Depending on the pills you are taking, you are probably over medicating. see a different doctor.

Also going through a manic or depressive state for a short burst of time is not very common and often not associated with bi-polar/manic depression Don't get me wrong I'm not questioning, judging or assuming anything. You may have been or still are suffering from that depression. From the post however it sounded to me like that particular episode lasted a very short amount of time.

A possibility that you may (or may not) want to broach with your physician or simply keep in the back of your head is that a little bit of stage frieght or nerves may be the underlying source of the problem that triggered a depressive phase.

Yeah I know none of that helps. Sorry.

i would say the first step is to tackle your drink problem...that will help immensely...

then see what can be done by diet and seeing some form of therapist too...

you also have to admit to yourself that some things that you think could well be wrong...from there - you can choose to make a more positive choice and action for yourself...

and change your signiture - self perception is everything. If you self-diagnose as "odd", then you always will be. Every time you read something on this website which you have contributed to you shall be reminded that you believe yourself to be a "manic depressive, alcoholic, odd, 7 friends" etc etc

Get away from the self-fulfilling prophecy before everything else

And see if you aren't taking too much medication...I think there are other ways to solve depression, but maybe that's just me...

coping strategies, methods of spotting times where depression may happen...all kinds of things...explore, rather than drink...

Sorry to hear that. I've never suffered from depression, but had family that did in the past.

There was a piece on the radio only last week about cognitive behavioural therapy and depression. After some research, it's now thought to be the most effective form of non drug therapy for helping to deal it.

Try asking your doctor if they know more.

Can we please be aware that "depression" is an informal name for a family of disorders that all have their own causes and treatments. It's like calling someone a "scientist", rather than a physicist, chemist, geologist, etc.

If you are really taking 33 pills a day that sounds dangerous to me. It sounds like the cure is worse than the disease. I suppose I should be quiet but I plain don't trust doctors. Half the time I don't think they know what they are talking about. And as for psychiatrists they are even worse. Every single psychiatrist I have ever met seems to me madder than their patients. And I trust drug companies even less.

Methinks it is time to explore other alternatives but make sure they have some validity to them.

bmat wrote:Also going through a manic or depressive state for a short burst of time is not very common and often not associated with bi-polar/manic depression Don't get me wrong I'm not questioning, judging or assuming anything. You may have been or still are suffering from that depression. From the post however it sounded to me like that particular episode lasted a very short amount of time.

I know someone who goes through similar short bursts, so it is certainly how some people with BPD suffer from it

I will echo those who say to visit your GP - he may be able to help much more than us, but I won't echo those who say you don't need drugs/are taking too many. We're not doctors and we don't know anything about Eshly's (multiple) conditions

33 drugs a day? Sorry. I may not know very much about medicine but I am not sure doctors do either. They make so many mistakes it makes me lose confidence with the c*** (not the best) they come out with.

I am merely saying that Eshly needs to widen his options a trifle and seek other professional opinions. 33 pills a day sounds highly iffy to me. Drugs have side effects. 33 of them sounds like 33 times the risk. Unless he is spinning a story of course. I have never heard of anyone taking that amount of medication.

Oh, and if you are taking the medicine with alcohol I strongly suspect you shouldn't be.

Eshly/Tom: I would be wary about asking advice on how to combat a recognised (if not particularly well understood) illness on a general forum. The general problem with treating bipolar is that the pharmaceutical options generally rob people of the "manic" periods too, which they are not as keen to get rid of. I'm quite sure your GP and/or psychiatrist has discussed the options with you.

Whilst Tomo is right in saying that the term "depression" covers a range of disorders, it's only really psychiatrists that are interested in the precise ICD10 or DSM criteria for each one. I find that sort of thing very dull because it assumes people's disorders fit neatly into boxes, and when it comes to psychiatry they very often don't. However, most medics would recognise depression by a fairly standard set of characteristics, whatever the precise definition of that particular disorder ends up being.

On a tangent, I personally find the term "clinical depression" annoying - either someone is depressed (diagnosably, as per the characteristics I mentioned) or they're not. I'm not belittling what they might be feeling if they're not, I'm just saying it's not depression. People use the word as a sort of "take me seriously" modifier - "oh no, he wasn't just depressed, he was clinically depressed!". I think it reinforces the misunderstanding that the term depression just means "a bit sad for a while" or "mopey", and that to take someone's disorder seriously it has to be "clinical depression". Very few health professionals use the term, despite what the NHS choices website and dictionary.com say...

Why not speak to a Psychologist or a Therapist and find out what is making you depressed.

This is where I have always struggled with my degree - individual differences; depression and eating disorders.

Although I understand what I have to know on an academic level for exams, I just cannot get my head around it - every person I know who has been diagnosed as "depressed" I just want to say "shut up" to.

That is why I would never actually be a decent clinical psychologist after my degree! I'd just tell them to shut up and get on with their life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQeae9z6gSk

This is in no direct relation to you Eshley; I am just pointing out my struggles in understanding this particular psychiatric disorder.

Depression and Anorexia are (to my knowledge) the two most common psychiatric disorders with relation to death, but it seems nowadays all people do is throw them onto medication. Even in my degree now all we learn about is the medication to put them on.

But then again, I did miss some of the lectures...

Humans may not be perfect, but surely there are other solutions?

I agree, the sollution should not be medication - it makes me feel sub-human.

Manic Depression

I myself have suffered from this. I will PM you.