Professional help.
Sweetleaf
Veteran
Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 34,461
Location: Somewhere in Colorado
17 Jul 2011, 9:24 pm
draelynn wrote:
Sweetleaf - you have made your opinion and support of medical maijuana very clear. I'm not attacking you in reminding you of the counterindication of medical maijuana in depression. It can make it more pervasive. Dangerously so.
I know the risks associated with cannabis use, but I also know they have found it can help some peoples depression and anxiety....there are some people who suffer negative psychological consequences from cannabis. Even anti-depressants do not help everyone they are supposed to.
I find that most SSRI meds are prescribed at way too high a dosage for me. I usually need ot start medications are half of the lowestr dose available - and usually STAY at that greatly reduced dose. Otherwise the side effects are too much to handle. I've also had much better results with vwery low doses of SSNRI's liek Cymbalta. The norepinephrine addition seems to be much more gentle on me - less side effects, better, longer lasting results. It feels like slowly waking up on the right side of the bed for a change.
I don't really like to be on drugs 24/7, and I was taking 20mg of prozac it was raised a little bit around the third week to 40mg because I said I was feeling no difference( I felt physical side effects but no change in mood). Then by the end of the fourth week it got really bad so I threw the rest away.
I've tried marijuana - many people suggested it would relieve several of my issues. It did not. It makes me extremely paranoid and jumpy. Everyone has different results with it, I know. And the issues it does help, I'm sure nothing will be more effective for you. But I would suggest you try to get the most serious side effect - suicidal thoughts - under control first. Perhaps try weaning off the weed for awhile and see if it helps - along with other self help methods to get you some mood control.
Cannabis does do that to some people, it has not done that to me and I have noticed it greatly reduces my depression and anxiety. And I would rather not cut out the thing that helps most with the depression as I would prefer to avoid feeling suicidal. Also I recently cut down a lot on smoking ciggerettes but I still crave them more often then I would like and the cannabis kind of reduces the cravings.
Unless you can find a therapist that specializes in ASD, it will probably be useless to talk to one. For me, the misunderstandings have been epic. You do not have to worry about hurting their feelings. They are getting paid to ACT like your BFF - it would be unprofessional of them to get emotionally involved on any level. You won't hurt their feelings by telling them it isn't working. Beating your head against a wall, in order to spare the therapists feelings, is counterproductive and can further your depression as well. Pleaqse don't do that to yourself.
If I can find such a therapist and can afford it I might give that a try.
Applying for disability is something of a scam. I think, in order to get it, you need to have something big, obvious and blatantly wrong with you. I know people on disability for depression. They are crying messes incapable of maintaining conversations or social contact. But, in depression, they do expect you to get and continue treatment on disability. And they require you to be reevaluated periodically because depression isn't always a permanent condition. If you can't function, you need it. They can only say yes or no AFTER you apply. Everything else is speculation.
Professionals are an extremely mixed bag - you never know what you'll get when you visit one. Will you get the top of the class or the guy that barely squeaked by by half a percentage point? Does your specialist consider himself one because he attended one seminar 4 years ago? The trepidation is entirely warranted. There is alot you can do for yourself to help improve your own situation. I'd delve as deeply into the self help route as you can. The more successes you can win for yourself the better and better you begin to feel about yourself. Personally, I save the 'professionals' for those purely chemical imbalances I just cannot right on my own.
I know the risks associated with cannabis use, but I also know they have found it can help some peoples depression and anxiety....there are some people who suffer negative psychological consequences from cannabis. Even anti-depressants do not help everyone they are supposed to.
I find that most SSRI meds are prescribed at way too high a dosage for me. I usually need ot start medications are half of the lowestr dose available - and usually STAY at that greatly reduced dose. Otherwise the side effects are too much to handle. I've also had much better results with vwery low doses of SSNRI's liek Cymbalta. The norepinephrine addition seems to be much more gentle on me - less side effects, better, longer lasting results. It feels like slowly waking up on the right side of the bed for a change.
I don't really like to be on drugs 24/7, and I was taking 20mg of prozac it was raised a little bit around the third week to 40mg because I said I was feeling no difference( I felt physical side effects but no change in mood). Then by the end of the fourth week it got really bad so I threw the rest away.
I've tried marijuana - many people suggested it would relieve several of my issues. It did not. It makes me extremely paranoid and jumpy. Everyone has different results with it, I know. And the issues it does help, I'm sure nothing will be more effective for you. But I would suggest you try to get the most serious side effect - suicidal thoughts - under control first. Perhaps try weaning off the weed for awhile and see if it helps - along with other self help methods to get you some mood control.
Cannabis does do that to some people, it has not done that to me and I have noticed it greatly reduces my depression and anxiety. And I would rather not cut out the thing that helps most with the depression as I would prefer to avoid feeling suicidal. Also I recently cut down a lot on smoking ciggerettes but I still crave them more often then I would like and the cannabis kind of reduces the cravings.
Unless you can find a therapist that specializes in ASD, it will probably be useless to talk to one. For me, the misunderstandings have been epic. You do not have to worry about hurting their feelings. They are getting paid to ACT like your BFF - it would be unprofessional of them to get emotionally involved on any level. You won't hurt their feelings by telling them it isn't working. Beating your head against a wall, in order to spare the therapists feelings, is counterproductive and can further your depression as well. Pleaqse don't do that to yourself.
If I can find such a therapist and can afford it I might give that a try.
Applying for disability is something of a scam. I think, in order to get it, you need to have something big, obvious and blatantly wrong with you. I know people on disability for depression. They are crying messes incapable of maintaining conversations or social contact. But, in depression, they do expect you to get and continue treatment on disability. And they require you to be reevaluated periodically because depression isn't always a permanent condition. If you can't function, you need it. They can only say yes or no AFTER you apply. Everything else is speculation.
Professionals are an extremely mixed bag - you never know what you'll get when you visit one. Will you get the top of the class or the guy that barely squeaked by by half a percentage point? Does your specialist consider himself one because he attended one seminar 4 years ago? The trepidation is entirely warranted. There is alot you can do for yourself to help improve your own situation. I'd delve as deeply into the self help route as you can. The more successes you can win for yourself the better and better you begin to feel about yourself. Personally, I save the 'professionals' for those purely chemical imbalances I just cannot right on my own.
Yeah that seems true about disability, and that is partially why I do not want to be on it enough to try and repeal the decision. I find that having to constantly be pushed to recovor from the depression and such is a bit too stressful on top of trying to do ok in college and since disability is probably regulated I probably would not have much say in what sort of treatment I could have access to.
Also my depression is of the chemical imbalance nature, so as much as I find ways to deal with the stress of life and not get too down on myself about that I still have the depression and have to cope with it....and currently I do use cannabis for that.
17 Jul 2011, 10:18 pm
Sweetleaf wrote:
How do you get an official diagnoses if you cannot afford it and get denied for Disability and Medicaid? If I knew of a way I might think about trying to get officially diagnosed at least.
Well, my statement was of the sort of you don't actually /need/ the official diagnosis to get help. I got help, from specialists even, before I had a diagnosis.
However, to answer that question - where I live, if you qualify for Mass Rehab (the group that helps with things like finding people jobs who have disabilities), then it'll take a rather noticeable wait, but they can test you for aspergers if there is a question about it. Check the rehab centers your state has for helping you find a job, and see if an official diagnosis can be part of the job search process that they help you with.
I haven't worked with Mass Rehab yet, I am still on the 3 month waitlist, but they told me that if I went with just social anxiety, migraines, and a question about aspergers, they'd be able to put me on another waitlist, for getting an aspergers evaluation. We decided not to wait in my case.
Sweetleaf
Veteran
Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 34,461
Location: Somewhere in Colorado
17 Jul 2011, 10:32 pm
Tuttle wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
How do you get an official diagnoses if you cannot afford it and get denied for Disability and Medicaid? If I knew of a way I might think about trying to get officially diagnosed at least.
Well, my statement was of the sort of you don't actually /need/ the official diagnosis to get help. I got help, from specialists even, before I had a diagnosis.
However, to answer that question - where I live, if you qualify for Mass Rehab (the group that helps with things like finding people jobs who have disabilities), then it'll take a rather noticeable wait, but they can test you for aspergers if there is a question about it. Check the rehab centers your state has for helping you find a job, and see if an official diagnosis can be part of the job search process that they help you with.
I haven't worked with Mass Rehab yet, I am still on the 3 month waitlist, but they told me that if I went with just social anxiety, migraines, and a question about aspergers, they'd be able to put me on another waitlist, for getting an aspergers evaluation. We decided not to wait in my case.
Well I am attending college right now so I am not looking for a job at the moment, so I am not sure if that would work. Also for future reference if I am ever looking for a job do you know how their regulations are? because there are some potential issues related to that.....do they help you look for work and that is about the extent of it or do they moniter you at all in a controlling manner?
