Mental Health

[think]

it is the formula
alcohol + antidepressants = alcohol times six or so

one beer is about six beers with a antidepressant going on... as per tried and tested in my personal guinea pig lab my body... back when 89? or so.. there were other meds as well back then (it is a wonder I am alive.)

so these days there is not much cough syrup going on ...Once I thought my mom(rip) had left some cough syrup in her medicine spoon - 000 - at ten or eleven years old mom was asleep so I slurped up the syrup... but it was her cooking spoon for her heroin and I spent the next week in the hospital with enemas four times a day... but mom too took the "psych pills" she called them tranquilizers so I know where I get it from.. again...---

 

[rhubarbodendron]

that sucks My parents were just violent but fortunately always sober. It must be horrible for a kid to have an addicted parent. Tranquilizers and Heroine is a, extremely bad combination - she could have killed herself.

SSRIs block certain enzymes in the liver. That's what makes them so dangerous. If you take SSRIs and alcohol, blood thinners, Aspirine, Codeine or the like, the liver won't be able to digest them as quickly as usual (or in the worst case not at all) and that will lead to poisoning.
I got an injection at my dentist the other day and my face was numb for 30 hours. And for about 2 weeks I had sensorial problems. I was damned lucky - a little more and he'd caused permanent nerval damage. It's outrageous how little most doctors know about "psych pills" and their side effects.

 

[Gryffindorian]

So sorry to hear about your late mom's addiction to heroin, @think. My dad was a heavy drinker when I was growing up. Don't get me wrong. He was, and still is to this day, an amazing father; he and my mom raised us six kids, and we never wanted for anything. But he has suffered from anxiety most of his adult life. He retired at a young age from the U.S. Navy in the 1960s, and in addition to taking meds, he was also self-medicating with alcohol. When his health started to decline - he had a double-bypass surgery 30+ years ago (and another one 10 years ago) - he quit smoking and drinking. Now both my parents are well into their early 80s, and while they're not in optimal health, they're managing pretty well.

 

[Timby]

I've been taking 20 mg Fluoxetine (i.e. Prozac) per day for the last 12 months. At the moment I'm gradually lowering the dose a little, attempting to sneak out within the next 12 months without major withdrawal problems.

For what it's worth, out of the regularly prescribed antidepressants, Prozac's withdrawal symptoms are on the very, very, very mild end of the spectrum.

 

[think]

Mom supplemented the pain pills with street drugs as is still common when the dr. Doesn't get the pain gone or you get addicted to them,,, mom died in 1975 of ,.. pneumonia,, or radiation treatment for Hodgkins cancer of the thyroid gland that was killing all the white blood cells that left her with no immunity to pneumonia and her, dad, and her dr. Thought an over dose of morphine was best since she would not survive,.. the pneumonia--:::: I still hear her voice in my head,..Rip,,,, Mom ....////. The tranquilizers helped her "deal" with me my little brother and such,..

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Utterly frustrating that nowadays she could very likely be healed of both
Hodgkins is usually painless but can become extremely painful if you drink even small amounts of alcohol. I have a suspicion that the drugs and particularly the tranquilizers had the same effect, so that the "therapy" actually worsened the problem. Parents can be terribly unreasonable sometimes

 

[Gryffindorian]

The mindfulness class I'm taking is geared toward people with depression and anxiety disorders. But from what I'm learning too, mindfulness-based therapy like ACT also helps with pain management and chemical dependence.

In addition to treating my anxiety, one of my goals is to be a better person. I think over the years, I've lost my way and given in to too much negativity. I want to be more responsive, not reactive; more compassionate and less critical of myself and others. Mindfulness will hopefully lead me to the right path.

 

[think]

Utterly frustrating that nowadays she could very likely be healed of both
Hodgkins is usually painless but can become extremely painful if you drink even small amounts of alcohol. I have a suspicion that the drugs and particularly the tranquilizers had the same effect, so that the "therapy" actually worsened the problem. Parents can be terribly unreasonable sometimes

there is a cure they found in 1977 for this cancer... --- though when she had it she was told she would die from it at 16 years old that was when I was born by my mom.. and she lived another eleven years so I was eleven when she died..at 27

 

[Tribble puncher]

I was given a preliminary diagnoses of Autism spectrum disorder (formally known as Asperger's). It fills in many blanks I have for how I was as a child, young adult, and still am in someways now. I've also got ADD, but I'm already a thin person, and when I was given one month of Adderall, I lost alot of weight because I was never hungry, it helped with the ADD immensely, but even though I thought I was eating okay, my weight became dangerously low for my height, so my then doctor quit prescribing it.

 

[think]

OK -- the people that have been diagnosed "on the spectrum" seem way interesting to me --- yet you say @Tribble puncher you are dealing with the ADD disorder this seems almost like a contradiction or paradox of ideas or dilemmas sorta but possible none the less.. I use Coffee for my ADD and am overweight from the psychotropics so... maybe A switch to caffeine in place of Adderall --- might be good for you but I am NOT a dr. nor do I want to be one... I just know that my ADD is limited and focused thru caffeine . still I abused caffeine in my addiction days / years and well If I had that adderall IDK what I would do... probably just explode cause someone tried me on it and my bp blew up... not to mention they thought I was smoking that in the hospital like I used to do the crystal smokings 000

 

[Gryffindorian]

Take care of your health, @think . It's never a good idea to "self-medicate" with alcohol/drugs while taking prescription meds. Do you still smoke?

One of the things I never learned or developed any interest for is smoking. My dad did it for decades until he was diagnosed wth atherosclerosis and needed cardiac surgery. Growing up, I wasn't always in great shape and had to watch my cholesterol levels because hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes ran in my family. So I said to myself, I wasn't about to introduce a new problem into my life by smoking cigarettes.

 

[think]

on January 13 is 11 years without a cigarette... I don't know when the last time I smoked crystal was as it was like... before 1990 must of been that summer before of 89 and crack is over...since 1997 may 11 -- I know it is not too cool at all but when you get addicted to it - it is one of the harder kicks ... not like cigs really really difficult to stop cigarettes as The control of the mood is well exact when using cigarettes as a schizo personality type - I really should go to my 12 step meetings tomorrow but I do not know if I will be free or that I am able to ,,, I guess it is all excuses to not go to the program that got me off the streets and to stop using ... right now I am having problems with caffeine as I am addicted to it and use it like ... a antidepressant and stimulant -- and ADD fixer ... I went 8 months without caffeine and my dr said one to two cups in the morning is ok now a pot a day coffee drinker I refuse to use.. the caffeine pill no matter how much easier as it would seem like using to take the exsederine with caffeine or an equivalent --

I have been missing my meetings too much as I am attempting to solve the caffeine situation in my life... (not doing to well with that) but they keep having the coffee at the meetings as per what they do... so I have the avoid on for the moment as I did with the quit cig avoid the outside of the 12 step meetings cause the smoked there. --- I have more or less stopped cutting as well --- mostly that would be the hardest quit I have to HAVE to do because I always am needing control and more physical pain then emotional pain...

soo sorry with the typing but I was inspired by things @Gryffindorian

 

[Gryffindorian]

Just keep going to the meetings. Our instructor told everyone on the first day of class to make the effort to attend every session, even if we're running late or stuck in traffic. That's how we learn and interact with others who are dealing with the same or similar situations. The other important part is practicing what we've discussed in class out in the real world. This week I'm doing daily gratitude by writing down things and people for whom I'm grateful, taking a moment to reflect on them, and sharing them with others.

 

[Cheapjack1]

What about stalkers on and off social media? What would their mental illness be classed as? Generally as they're the most hated people in the world at the moment, how would that be dealt with? Informing them of how unpopular their behaviour makes them and what other punishments should be enforced?

 

[Cheapjack1]

Has anyone managed to serve a stalking order on more than one person at once? In the case of a stalker who's in administration, and duresses others into placing threats against someone he's stalking, how would that work? He would carry the can for it all, obviously.

 

[STR]

What about stalkers on and off social media? What would their mental illness be classed as? Generally as they're the most hated people in the world at the moment, how would that be dealt with? Informing them of how unpopular their behaviour makes them and what other punishments should be enforced?

As a generalization, people with odious behavior usually do *not* have a mental illness. They might have a personality disorder, then again they might not have that either. Some people are just jerks. They're aware of their actions and simply choose to continue in their ways because they place your feelings and welfare at a low priority.

Has anyone managed to serve a stalking order on more than one person at once? In the case of a stalker who's in administration, and duresses others into placing threats against someone he's stalking, how would that work? He would carry the can for it all, obviously.

Um...IANAL and that seems like a legal question. Laws vary by location. It's best to get an expert in your regions law. Talk to a lawyer, you should *not* be charged just to get an answer to your question. A good lawyer doesn't charge for an opinion, only when he/she has to actually file or do something.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

I think that bullies are just weak characters but stalkers I'd count as obsessed and thus emotionally ill per definition.

The legal question very much depends on what country you refer to. In my country, stalking has been a crime for less than 5 years and it's treated very mildly. In the US the courts are much stricter, I heard. In many countries stalking is no criminal offense at all.

Against stalkers on social media I advise strict data security: don't use facebook or google (they sell your personal data) and never ever post anything personal that enables people to identify you. Whenever possible use an alias and use different aliases (and email addresses !) on different boards etc.
Basically the same general rule applies offline: keep your data to yourself. Be careful whom you give your address and phone number.
It's very useful to have a dual sim cell, preferably with two prepayed accounts. No data trail and you can use one number for family and closest friends and the other for business and less trustworthy contacts.
Also, some phone companies offer an extra service for a small fee: you can block certain phone numbers. This way the stalker can call you till he gets blisters on his fingers and no call will come through to you.

(And yes, I do all of the above Also, I switch off my doorbell during the weekends because there's a pub across the lane and the drunks tend to linger around and lean on the bell when the landlord throws them out. )

ETA: welcome to the board, Cheapjack1 Don't worry, we are a bit crazy but not nuts. And on the whole we're fairly harmless.

 

[think]

As for bullies I have bullied my little brother in brotherly bickering but now that i have organized my thought waves into a type of schizophrenic like label of me there of he does not understand and does not look up to me --- at all --- but he is also still shooting heron and such so I guess I will live with him disowning me cause it works out in both directions... but I have found that bullies were bullied and judges were judged and ,,, wimps were not.. but all from the idea that "hurt people hurt people" so why hurt anyone and just be kind to everybody right?

 

[Gryffindorian]

I just wanted to share this website. It has great resources on how to meditate, the benefits of mindfulness, as well as the common myths and misconceptions about the practice of meditation.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Just checking in to say that my OCD symptoms have all vanished, thanks to the increased dosage of Prozac. Now I know SSRIs work to neutralize intrusive thoughts. Sure, I still get them or picture them in my mind, but they don't really bother me. I will meet with my therapist next week for a follow-up.

@rhubarbodendron , @think , and many others out there, good luck to you all and realize that things can and do get better in time with a combination of therapy, meds, and/or mindfulness practices. I'm still reading my mindful acceptance workbook and also practicing what I've learned from my wellness class.