Quote:
Originally Posted by PCH
These are my questions...
1-So how does an individual first suspect they may be suffering a mental health issue?
2-Does it build up over time and arrive at some sort of spectacular crescendo at which point it becomes starkly obvious?
3-Does it affect people who are marching on with a perfectly successful and happy life?
4-Is the onset brought about by some personal catastrophe such as financial ruin or a death in the family etc?
I’ll leave it there and hopefully people with experience can just pass their thoughts. Once again, if anyone is peeved by my questions, please just ask that it be deleted and no hard feelings. I’m just genuinely interested to know more about this in a real world environment, and I know from this and past threads that there are many on here who have fallen prey to this one way or another.
Kindest regards to all...
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Everyone is different, and each time you get it may be different.
1. First signs? Maybe not sleeping well, anxiousness, stress, depression, lack of happiness (rather then sadness), lack of motivation, irritability, lack of appetite, etc.
2. It certainly can build up over time.
3. Yes. Stress, anxiety and depression are closely linked. Most recently, I was quite happily "marching on", but a relatively minor stressor (should've been anyway) triggered me into very high stress levels, and dragged the anxiety and depression out of the locker for company. For a couple of years I've persevered with the stress, but it's only since I've bitten the bullet and retired that things are heading back to more normal. I've just recently started to notice how well I'm sleeping - and it's been months since I stopped work, and probably 10 years or more since I've slept this well.
4. Big trauma or loss can certainly trigger it. I went through that when we divorced and I was jettisoned from my own family (that's how it felt!). With the right treatment, these events CAN BE recovered from relatively quickly - 9 weeks in my case. The situation I was most recently in with work related stress, certainly comes on more slowly, and takes longer to recover from.
Some people are more disposed to it than others, but I don't think anyone can really be sure they won't suffer from anxiety, depression, or some other mental illness - it can literally happen to anyone.
I'm obviously happy to talk about it. If anyone else needs someone to talk to about it, feel free.
Al.