[Marc Stock]

Well, the back dog visit was the shortest it's ever been. 1 and a half days.

Been trying a new method of forcing a smile when the black dog visits. And allowing a longer time between actions and thought processes which helped reduce his visit by at least 3 days.

So if anyone has been offended by my responses of late please take it with a pinch of salt.

Best..

[Stoots]

Do you find it worse on a morning Marc ?

[chris turner]

Are you sure your not blurring the lines between depression and just feeling a bit down?
We all feel a bit low from time to time. I did yesterday, though self inflicted, through late nights, junk food and laziness over the bank holiday weekend. Added to that it was grey miserable day yesterday, I just had a general feeling of I can't be f##king bothered, felt fatigued and sh!t all day.

[Dave Willis]

Are all window cleaners mentally unstable? Is it a job requirement or does scrubbing windows drive you round the twist? My Mrs drives me mental, maybe it's the windows.

[Don Simon]

I have had depression for 50 years, and the best advice I can give you is to find a listening symoathetic doctor.
You are entitled 6 free cbt sessions on the NHS.
I tried anti depressents and they didn't do owt for me.
Best method for me now is walking 4 or 5 miles in a morning, and avoiding negative oeople who have  no idea of what the bkack dog can do
My friend of 34 years sadly took his life earlier in march cos the system let him down.
If you send me a orivate message I can give yiu a gew pointers, but rest assured there is help.   I wish you well my dear freind.

[Marc Stock]

Are you sure your not blurring the lines between depression and just feeling a bit down?
We all feel a bit low from time to time. I did yesterday, though self inflicted, through late nights, junk food and laziness over the bank holiday weekend. Added to that it was grey miserable day yesterday, I just had a general feeling of I can't be f##king bothered, felt fatigued and sh!t all day.

No because i consider myself to be fairly content and happy. When the black dog visits it's a feeling of utter hopelessness..you feel brokenhearted..and you have no idea why, it makes no sense at all nothing has happened to trigger it it just happens and that in itself makes it worse.

For me i get rapid cycling of mania. Lasting for a few weeks to sometimes going hyper happy to angry and irritable all in one morning, and then I'm on black dog for a day or even a week.  And it settles.

Right now I'm okay not super hyper or low I'm just me. Probably be ok now for the rest of the week.

I try not to let it control my life anymore. Sometimes it does influence my decision making and can come out a bit in my conversation but i have learned to manage it and for the most part of it i am quite good at hiding how i am feeling and stopping it from limiting my life.

My goal is to keep going no matter how i am feeling, if black dog is here, he's just an irritating guest that will pass I try to look at it this way and i find that i don't succumb to him and the visit is shorter as he gets bored with me not giving him the attention he wants which is to pander to the feelings of staying in bed, crying or going out to start a fight.

[Stoots]

You do kind of get used to it and realise it will pass.

I've suffered since I was a teenager and still do to this day.

I find I do not have much in the way of just feeling normal.

I either feel really depressed, questioning everything in my life, ruminating over the past and crying etc. 

Or I can feel really super happy and positive sort of manic, over talkative, jus weird. Then out of no where it's like an energy crash and everything Chanhe's I'm back to being irritable and emotional.

I have noticed a general trend that on a morning I feel worse and it wears away as I get into the afternoon.

[Marc Stock]

Are you on medication?

I'm on Citralopram and i have to say it's far less severe now, and since being on the medication i have loved the feeling normal moments, they are brief and come and go but before that i was either stupid silly, or angry(boarding on violence on occasions) and upset.  The Citralopram has dulled down the super extremes now for me.

I also suffer with OCD and that has also been curbed on the meds

[Don Simon]

Are you on medication?

I'm on Citralopram and i have to say it's far less severe now, and since being on the medication i have loved the feeling normal moments, they are brief and come and go but before that i was either stupid silly, or angry(boarding on violence on occasions) and upset.  The Citralopram has dulled down the super extremes now for me.

I also suffer with OCD and that has also been curbed on the meds

Don't shoot the messenger but there is growing evidence that anti depressents can further exasubate the situation !    A full private  blood test ftom Blue Horizon Medical would tell you a lot about you're thyroid function and any nutriants you may lack such as vitamin D.
I was non existent in vit D and nust having suppliment helped me het out of bed in a mornong.

[8weekly]

Are you on medication?

I'm on Citralopram and i have to say it's far less severe now, and since being on the medication i have loved the feeling normal moments, they are brief and come and go but before that i was either stupid silly, or angry(boarding on violence on occasions) and upset.  The Citralopram has dulled down the super extremes now for me.

I also suffer with OCD and that has also been curbed on the meds

Don't shoot the messenger but there is growing evidence that anti depressents can further exasubate the situation !    A full private  blood test ftom Blue Horizon Medical would tell you a lot about you're thyroid function and any nutriants you may lack such as vitamin D.
I was non existent in vit D and nust having suppliment helped me het out of bed in a mornong.

So you're all better now?

[paul alan]

Are you sure your not blurring the lines between depression and just feeling a bit down?
We all feel a bit low from time to time. I did yesterday, though self inflicted, through late nights, junk food and laziness over the bank holiday weekend. Added to that it was grey miserable day yesterday, I just had a general feeling of I can't be f##king bothered, felt fatigued and sh!t all day.

No because i consider myself to be fairly content and happy. When the black dog visits it's a feeling of utter hopelessness..you feel brokenhearted..and you have no idea why, it makes no sense at all nothing has happened to trigger it it just happens and that in itself makes it worse.

For me i get rapid cycling of mania. Lasting for a few weeks to sometimes going hyper happy to angry and irritable all in one morning, and then I'm on black dog for a day or even a week.  And it settles.

Right now I'm okay not super hyper or low I'm just me. Probably be ok now for the rest of the week.

I try not to let it control my life anymore. Sometimes it does influence my decision making and can come out a bit in my conversation but i have learned to manage it and for the most part of it i am quite good at hiding how i am feeling and stopping it from limiting my life.

My goal is to keep going no matter how i am feeling, if black dog is here, he's just an irritating guest that will pass I try to look at it this way and i find that i don't succumb to him and the visit is shorter as he gets bored with me not giving him the attention he wants which is to pander to the feelings of staying in bed, crying or going out to start a fight.

You sound like a close friend of mine, he has bi-polar. They gave him lithium and it made things worse, so he stopped taking it and made things worse again.  I had a mild depression last year and they tried to put me on meds but honestly the side effects of any meds are scary so I refused. It wasnt any fun and it couldnt of been as bad as what your describing, but it seems to have lifted from me. Have you tried meditation? Might sound a bit odd but try the headspace app, its free for your first 10 sessions. Its only 10 minutes but my god they ease you in every way. You see its your thoughts that control your feeling, have a bad thought and feel like poop. Have a good one feel great!  Our heads are chock full of all different types of thoughts in one minute its sheer madness if you take any notice. With meditation you can settle your mind and let the thoughts drift away, its bliss.
The analogy is this, you know them crystal ball thingys that you shake and its like snow inside. Well thats our minds most of the time and the snow is thoughts, loads of them flying around in our heads. When you meditate its the same as when all the snow falls to the floor and settles. Clear mind, it realy is blissful. Not an all out cure I know but a help.
HEADSPACE APP. free at first then £45 a year after.

[paul alan]

Are you on medication?

I'm on Citralopram and i have to say it's far less severe now, and since being on the medication i have loved the feeling normal moments, they are brief and come and go but before that i was either stupid silly, or angry(boarding on violence on occasions) and upset.  The Citralopram has dulled down the super extremes now for me.

I also suffer with OCD and that has also been curbed on the meds

Don't shoot the messenger but there is growing evidence that anti depressents can further exasubate the situation !    A full private  blood test ftom Blue Horizon Medical would tell you a lot about you're thyroid function and any nutriants you may lack such as vitamin D.
I was non existent in vit D and nust having suppliment helped me het out of bed in a mornong.

yes they cost around £170 for the full one but wilk show up any thing amiss going on inside.
I use vit d but not somjuch in the summer as we get plenty from the sun, vitd is toxic in excess.

[Stoots]

Are you on medication?

I'm on Citralopram and i have to say it's far less severe now, and since being on the medication i have loved the feeling normal moments, they are brief and come and go but before that i was either stupid silly, or angry(boarding on violence on occasions) and upset.  The Citralopram has dulled down the super extremes now for me.

I also suffer with OCD and that has also been curbed on the meds

I've tried plenty of different medication over the years but can't say I've been overly impressed by them. Not sure if they work or not.

Last time I was on prozac a pretty high dose it made me feel very dull and emotionless.  I didn't feel sad or happy but I wouldnt say I felt normal either, more kind of detatched and without feeling


Tried plenty of CBT over the years also to no avail.

I have quite a lot of mental health issues. I have OCD traits and have anxiety disorders. Had a few panic attacks that ended up in A&E

In fact if I look at all my symptoms online it could be one of a thousand diagnosis.

These days, perhaps the last 5 years I have kind of given up searching for an answer and now just kind of accept that some days I will feel better than others and I suppose developed coping mechanisms like avoiding anxiety inducing situations or just accepting when I feel depressed that it will pass.

Exercise seems to help in the short term as does a good diet.

[Clever Forum Name]

Mark

Have you got an email address i can errrr email you on lol 

[Marc Stock]

info@stockclean.co.uk 

[Dave Anderson]

The Black Dog/Depression/PTSD ..... Tend to swing through these on a regular basis... Now I am not telling anyone to break the law but perhaps some might want to investigate 'cannabis'...

I am lucky in that I live in The Netherlands and whilst cannabis is not legal here there is a 'tolerance' by the authorities to those who grow a few plants.... Personally I buy a 5 pack of seeds each year grow them in my garden knowing even if the police do come around... they can take them if they wish but for the most part the average person can grow a few plants and feel pretty safe.

I do not smoke so use a vaporiser which means I get the effects without the ill effects of burning material... Its worth checking out, alternatively sports and exercise definitely works...

So much so that this year I will be running a 200km Ultramarathon.... why such a stupid distance? well after going through many bouts of blackdog, ptsd episodes.... I started running again and when from 1km and puking to around 50-80kms per weeks.... try a sport, any sport...just something that gets your heart racing and see if it helps :-)

Plus I do think this window cleaning lark can get to you from time to time and perhaps not because you are suffering from any ailment more...you just get bored with the same old drudgery week in week out. 

[paul alan]

The Black Dog/Depression/PTSD ..... Tend to swing through these on a regular basis... Now I am not telling anyone to break the law but perhaps some might want to investigate 'cannabis'...

I am lucky in that I live in The Netherlands and whilst cannabis is not legal here there is a 'tolerance' by the authorities to those who grow a few plants.... Personally I buy a 5 pack of seeds each year grow them in my garden knowing even if the police do come around... they can take them if they wish but for the most part the average person can grow a few plants and feel pretty safe.

I do not smoke so use a vaporiser which means I get the effects without the ill effects of burning material... Its worth checking out, alternatively sports and exercise definitely works...

So much so that this year I will be running a 200km Ultramarathon.... why such a stupid distance? well after going through many bouts of blackdog, ptsd episodes.... I started running again and when from 1km and puking to around 50-80kms per weeks.... try a sport, any sport...just something that gets your heart racing and see if it helps :-)

Plus I do think this window cleaning lark can get to you from time to time and perhaps not because you are suffering from any ailment more...you just get bored with the same old drudgery week in week out.

I was "chonging strong" for 20 years and i found it made a mess of my mind. Been quit for 2 years now and feel much better, had massive depression / anxiety / withdrawal coming off though. Be careful with the weed if your the "wrong type" it'll screw you up bad. Especialy the stronger strains.
Its ok if your growing your own as you have some control over what your inhaling but you cant get away with that over here, oh no.
Was loving me vapouriser though.

[dazmond]

a good diet,no smoking or drinking alcohol ever.exercise(for me its weight training at the gym with a bit of cardio thrown in),AA MEETINGS,playing drums in a band,taking the dog for a walk all help to keep depression at bay.

working reasonable hours instead of 10 hour days (and most weekends off)prevents me from getting too stressed out.i just dont handle stress very well so i keep my life as simple as possible.

i guess im not as bad as some of you but ive had some very dark days in the past due to alcoholism and drug addiction.thankfully i live a very clean lifestyle these days and have a support network of sober alcoholics to turn to(and help)which over the years has been a golden nugget for keeping in good shape mentally/spiritually.

[8weekly]

Cannabis as a cure for depression? I reckon it would only work with a few cans of Special Brew a night.

Exercise on the other hand.. it most;y works for me.

[Dave Willis]

If I had to play the drums, weight train and eat yogurts with blueberrys  i'd be depressed.