Depression

Every year for as long as I can remember I used to get a bit down as the winter came closer. Normally around the time when the clocks go back. The last couple of years however this hasn't been the case. A couple of years ago we got a dog and it may be total coincidence but I think it's helped me massively. Going out and walking him and getting fresh air at times when I may have been stuck indoors. Also the greeting you get when you come in from work is something I actually look forward to and it lifts your mood. Now I'm not suggesting everyone who is struggling should go and purchase a dog and it will be the answer to their problems but it's certainly helped me, they are amazing creatures.

I hope anyone who is struggling on this thread feels better soon and remember these feelings do pass. Talking on here is a great help too as everyone is very supportive and understanding.
 
Boro Devonport said:
For other people suffering with depression latest research is also showing improvements in gut bacteria is essential. I know it’s hard but limit carb intake, sugar/alcohol. Buy unpasteurised sauerkraut from Amazon and have a few fork fulls a day. Buy magnesium glycinate and have 300mg daily. Reducing inflammatory markers also plays a huge role.

I’ve seen massive improvements in people who skip breakfast. Have zero calories in a 16 fasting hour window. Ditch sugar, have two healthy meals a day, zero snacks, sauerkraut unpasteurised, 90% dark chocolate 30g, blueberries, magnesium glycinate, D3 with k2 and a b complex. Inflammation drops, depression can be lessened dramatically.
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as someone currently suffering with ulcerative colitis and all its side effects, I can see that everything you've said there makes a lot of sense. the hard bit, of course, is actually doing the sensible stuff when you are run down & pisssed off!
 
18MFC76 said:
Every year for as long as I can remember I used to get a bit down as the winter came closer. Normally around the time when the clocks go back. The last couple of years however this hasn't been the case. A couple of years ago we got a dog and it may be total coincidence but I think it's helped me massively. Going out and walking him and getting fresh air at times when I may have been stuck indoors. Also the greeting you get when you come in from work is something I actually look forward to and it lifts your mood. Now I'm not suggesting everyone who is struggling should go and purchase a dog and it will be the answer to their problems but it's certainly helped me, they are amazing creatures.

I hope anyone who is struggling on this thread feels better soon and remember these feelings do pass. Talking on here is a great help too as everyone is very supportive and understanding.
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Great post.

My mum got a puppy when my dad died and it helped her enormously with her grief / depression

I’d love a dog but I can’t afford the mortgage and housekeeping as it is - I’d struggle to afford to buy one let alone keep one.
 
afcb_acklam said:
as someone currently suffering with ulcerative colitis and all its side effects, I can see that everything you've said there makes a lot of sense. the hard bit, of course, is actually doing the sensible stuff when you are run down & pisssed off!
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I fully understand that mate. That’s the biggest hurdle.
 
Hope the best for you. It creeps up on me and I become aware of it and find myself hoping it’s just a fleeting set of moods rather than something setting in. When it sets in it can become quite destructive and I worry for the impact it can have on my close interpersonal relationships.
 
Just don't be down on you. And stay off alcohol. I've posted on here a lot about my depression. I've recently started going out on my bike and got back to yoga and swimming, they are helping me hugely. My diet has improved my mood has improved. I listen to fiction audiobooks (just finished Stephen king - holly). I've had my fill of self help books, so I just want normal. It is an awful thing depression, if it is raining, go stand outside with bare feet, feel the cold and wet on them and close your eyes or look up. Or early morning dew on the grass. Great way to start the day. Jesus never thought I would sound like a hippy 🙄😁😁
 
Casualwoolyback said:
Have you considered attending Andy's Mans Club? I attend one locally and getting together with others who are experiencing similar issues and just talking things over helps.
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AMC helped me a lot and I champion them where I can. I always bottled stuff up but in that room I felt I was able to talk
 
The unoffical FMTTM Black Dog club has a lot of members, as you can see.
Keep posting because a lot of us totally understand what you are going through.
2022 was a bad year for me. Under the supervision of a shrink, i cam off the anti-depressants that i had been on for 10 years. It went badly and I went downhill pretty quickly.
We went through different meds and I was losing hope but I held out for much longer than I would normally once I started escitalopram in January 2023. Things started to get better after about 5 weeks - I had been jumping from pill to pill after 3 or 4 weeks, before this. Things just kept improving slowly through the year. I am very grateful to be able to say.
I am back to something approaching normal.
 
I'm not very good at giving advice about mental health even though I have had it for years as what works for me might not work for you, but I can say what works for me.
Apart from medication which I take quite a bit of (Quetiapine anti psychotics, fluoxtine antidepressants and propanol anxiety I was on mood stabilisers but came off them) the best way I have found for minimising my dark times is distraction, I do drawing, read a book, try to learn a new hobby of craft or playing on computer games. Although I don't often talk about my own battles on here this site helps me a lot and having a laugh and joke on here.
I see my mood as a sort of wheel and I try to tell myself that when my mood is at the bottom of the cycle things will soon get better and climb again, when I am happy and stable(at the top of the cycle/wheel) I try not to think too far ahead and just enjoy each good day at a time.
I have seen other people on here give good advice and probably better advice than I can give, the people on here do seem to genuinely care and help when posters are having struggles. If you are ever feeling down talk about it on here like you have this time there is usually somebody on here who can give advice or just a general chat to distract.
 
I think depression is something you never shake off. You just learn to cope with it.

I’ve resisted meds for years. I’ve struggled on off for best part of 25 years. My depression first kicked in when I left a job at Wilton in 1999 and a house in Redcar to return south. I was about to turn 30. Added to that I was grieving for my father and desparatly trying to save my relationship with my then boyfriend. Horrific. I got myself out of it but it returned every so often.

I’m now on duloxetine I can feel myself a lot calmer but there’s side effects (I won’t go into them) and I still use alcohol as a coping mechanism. I stayed off drink since the weekend but fell well and truly off the wagon last night after a really shi66y day at work. I’ve been torturing myself for it all day. I’m on the drink again tonight. Not good.

I made two pathetic attempts to kill myself in the past two years - both are documented on here - and I managed to get help from a local charity which work with the LGBT community. I do realise that doesn’t fit the demographic of this msg board, plus I live in Cambs so that probably isn’t much help and they won’t be much use to anyone on here….😂

Not much advice in this post. But if it helps anyone reading my story then I’ve done one good deed today.
 
Casualwoolyback said:
Have you considered attending Andy's Mans Club? I attend one locally and getting together with others who are experiencing similar issues and just talking things over helps.
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Casualwoolback- what is Andy Mans Club? I have not heard of it. Is it something that I can go to locally.
 
Sorry to hear this. I can relate so much
In a similar place myself .
Sometimes you just can't put your finger on the problem..
It hits me in the pit of my Stomach,. And affects me with Chest Pain and dark thoughts.
But the really good news is, it passes in time.
Some great advice on here, and I'm sure just reaching out on here has helped.
I find sometimes just Praying for some Relief helps. No idea who I'm praying too , but it helps.
Hope it passes real soon mate
 
After a bit of research I think I had adhd burnout, which is a build up of stress, feeling overwhelmed, too much, brain overworking while not getting any serotonin or anything that feels good while working inside for 8 hours in a job I was in one spot while eating **** food and a million coffees to keep me going. I feel a bit better, been to the gym and watching **** TV for 2 days while playing football manager.
 
GibbosEmpire said:
After a bit of research I think I had adhd burnout, which is a build up of stress, feeling overwhelmed, too much, brain overworking while not getting any serotonin or anything that feels good while working inside for 8 hours in a job I was in one spot while eating **** food and a million coffees to keep me going. I feel a bit better, been to the gym and watching **** TV for 2 days while playing football manager.
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I live just off Western Rd (Brighton/Hove border) so I think we're quite near each other. Fairly sure I'm ADHD but no formal diagnosis and had depression meds in the past. Happy to meet up if you need someone to chat about it.
 
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