[Mental Health] BetterGoon - Unlicensed, unprofessional help.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [Mental Health] BetterGoon - Unlicensed, unprofessional help.

(Thread IKs: Josherino)

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Chokes McGee posted:

For gods sake disclose all your illicit substances to your psychiatrist. They may disapprove but they won't refuse treatment or release that info to anyone. If you're smoking trees or shotgunning an entire bottle of jack each day they need to know so they don't put you on something that will kill you. I mean you shouldn't be doing that stuff in excess anyway, it's self medicating, but I'm not your mom so w/e

Substance abuse is self-medicating for an underlying disorder in an unhealthy way, and it's usually because it's the easiest and most readily available way. There are alternatives and medical professionals can help you find them. I couldn't, in good conscience, recommend 12 step programs because I've had to attend AA/NA meetings for class assignments and those were among the most unbelievably uncomfortable experiences of my life; I was surrounded by people who ditched alcohol and drug addictions in favor of socially acceptable addictions like drinking 10 cups of coffee at 8PM and smoking 3/4 of a pack of cigarettes during a 10 minute break. It also didn't help that when they went around the room and I said that I was there for a class any not because I was an addict, the hosts said things like "are you sure? a lot of us used to say things like that."

Blanketspace posted:

I disagree with the anti GP prescribing psychiatric medication point, considering how less people have access to a psychiatrist than a general practitioner. Depression is both underdiagnosed and undertreated, people need whatever help they can get and doctors didn't go to med school for nothing, they can help.

A GP who cares about their patients can hep you immensely. I have sleep problems, high blood pressure, and a variety of other symptoms. After years of reflexively saying "no" when I described symptoms and he asked me if I felt depressed, I finally admitted that I did and he prescribed me Lexapro. That was on a Tuesday, and the next Thursday I woke up, got ready for work, and was on my way to the train when I realized I just felt normal. Waking up wasn't an ordeal, getting dressed wasn't an ordeal, and I just felt OK in general. He's also a 100% professional, no nonsense guy, so during the next visit when he asked how it was working, I admitted "I feel like I'm part of the way there but could be better, and my penis doesn't work." He thought for a moment, told me that since I was on the highest dose of Lexapro with no other side effects, he thought I would do well switching to Zoloft and asked me if I wanted to try it. Now I feel pretty good (but I think even normal people have down days,) and my penis is back in operation.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2019 23:06

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# ¿ May 13, 2024 18:43

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

The Xkdc Larper posted:

I have fantasized at length about an alarm clock that actuates a hydraulic lift arm to turn your bed on its side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XneXIxEEqnY

turn off the TV posted:

i would settle for just sleeping well and waking up rested and ready for the day

I think that happened to me once. It was kind of nice. (currently wide awake at 4:26AM)

# ¿ Apr 14, 2019 09:26

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

SunAndSpring posted:

I feel very paranoid about going outside and participating in stuff these days. I mean, poo poo, the poo poo people can get away with doing to you if you�re trans is unreal. Even leftist spaces like this can be bad, excusing transphobic comments from people are who are friends with the right figures as �just jokes� or �just questions�. I mean, gently caress, the amount of poo poo I�ve gotten for just going �some stuff Nick Mullen says is really transphobic� is unreal. I just wish I could stop being trans, it�s a huge target painted on my back that announces to people that it�s ok to humiliate and hurt me.

First of all, *hugs*

If you don't have anyone local who you can talk to, I'm just going to assume this is the case based on your post, I can reach out to people in your area directly or via network of trusted individuals and groups to connect you with them.

# ¿ Sep 28, 2019 05:28

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

SunAndSpring posted:

Will anti-depressants make me able to feel actual joy again? I feel so empty when doing most things these day.

When I first started on antidepressants (lexapro) I woke up a week and a day after my second dose. I felt something it was hard to identify because of my distance from it - at least 15, maybe even 20 years. I woke up the next morning feeling the same. This continued for 8 nights and mornings. Then, on the 10th day, I woke up, stretched my arms over my head, and simply walked out of bed and into my morning routine. It wasn't until I stepped into the shower and started washing myself without hesitation that something felt different. I didn't feel different in the way I had for the past 15-20 years, I simply felt normal.

[my bullshit]
I need to find a psychiatrist. As much as we talk about boss and worker classes, my boss is in the same union as me with the same pay grade as me, and he's been on my side every step along the way for over 10 years. Recently, I've suffered severe anxiety on top of fifteen years of increasingly severe depression, and it's showing. He's been putting his rear end on the line protecting me from disciplinary action and only just admitted this today. I don't know what to do but curl up in a ball, cry, and try to think of anything else. My PCP has me on Zoloft and Xanax 1mg (loving lol, I go through 3-4mg on a good day and suffer [read: drink heavily after work] for the rest of the month.)

My boss gave me tomorrow off, and Friday if needed, to help get my poo poo together. How do you find a good psychiatrist?

GWBBQ has issued a correction as of 04:00 on Oct 31, 2019

# ¿ Oct 31, 2019 03:46

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Chokes McGee posted:

hi all crafts are important to give you a sense of fulfillment

Is ... is this ... the specter haunting Europe?

Side note: is it normal to dissociate while doing astronomy and come to a few hours later, a mile away?

# ¿ Nov 3, 2019 05:12

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

I talked to my boss and the FMLA administrator at work. They're both incredibly supportive and encouraged me to file for FMLA leave for both my anxiety/depression issues and caretaker leave for my mom who has gone from diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer with doctors not even willing to talk about how long she had left 2 years ago to in remission since she needs someone to be there to help her some days.

Once FMLA is filed, I still have to use paid sick days (15 per year but is banked "as-if accrued" for anything left over) but those sick days legally and contractually don't exist for anything related to reliability or attendance when it comes to disciplinary action or my annual reviews.

The day the semester started, I had a transformation from zombie to actual person. I have no idea why this happened since responsibilities and stress levels are exactly the same as always, but it was like flipping a switch in my brain from "miserable" to "able to function." I see my doctor tomorrow and I'm going to ask him to up my dose of Xanax again for anxiety attacks and go over my depression and see if he thinks a different dose or medication would help.

Chokes McGee posted:

this cat is sixteen goddamn years old

You don't have to use a camera as old as the cat :p

# ¿ Nov 13, 2019 07:07

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Chokes McGee posted:

???????

??????????????????????

I was joking about the low-res picture. Cat is good cat, even when blurry

turn off the TV posted:

for the last couple of years i've been having a really weird vision problem with my vision, and i don't really know how to describe it other than similar to what happens when you look at this gif for 10-15 seconds and then look away https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/Illusion_movie.ogv/Illusion_movie.ogv.480p.vp9.webm

has anyone who has taken a lot of medications run into something similar? i've been to a bunch of doctors and nobody has been able to even begin to figure out what is going on, and the best guess any of them have had is that it's a medication related side effect.

I am by no stretch of the imagination a medical professional, but I sometimes have very similar symptoms accompanying migraine aura, and it sometimes persists for several weeks after a migraine. You can get the aura without the headache, so don't dismiss it if you have other symptoms, but also don't rule it out. Beyond that, you need to talk to a doctor and probably a neurologist who specializes in migraines and seizure disorders.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2019 02:31

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

BENGHAZI 2 posted:

I came out to a good bit of my magic playgroup last night

Granted I did it specifically because there are other trans people in the group so I knew nobody would melt down but still

Congratulations on being able to admit who you are to your friends, friendo/a/x.

# ¿ Nov 25, 2019 06:30

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Had the dreaded "fact finding" interview with HR and management yesterday regarding my performance, tardiness, attendance, falling asleep at my desk, etc. and I just went into it telling them what my issues are (I have serious depression and anxiety after my dad died my first week of college and my mom was laid off, unable to find work for several years, and in 2017 was diagnosed with advanced Stage IV pancreatic cancer with weeks to months left to live (she's currently on her fifth round of chemo and borderline in remission). I explained that I'm filing for FMLA both as a primary caregiver and for my crippling anxiety attacks. I explained that I'm taking my psych care from my GP, who is a great doctor, to a psychiatrist who really helped a member of my extended family after some traumatic stuff, and that I have an appointment with a sleep specialist to figure out what's going on with my inability to make it through a whole day and the insomnia that's affected me for the past ~26 years.

I genuinely thanked my supervisor and director for being so supportive and explained that I'm sorry I haven't been doing as well as I used to when every review was Very Good or Outstanding*, and promised to keep them up to date with how I'm feeling and prep for everything ahead of time so coworkers or student workers have minimal things to do if I'm unexpectedly out. My union rep said she felt I did well be being straightforward and honest (I would have done the same regardless of who was there from HR, but I'm not going to try to BS a lawyer when I have honest reasons for everything). They talked after I left, and it sounds like everyone is satisfied that I'm working to be the best I can be, and actively getting help for where I can't do it on my own.

The mental and emotional stress are all but gone, and I'm focusing on this bullshit re-injured knee that has me, age 35, walking with a cane and a knee bracke that looks like a prop from a sci-fi movie.I think I need a Xanax, but that's just 6 feet (3 minute walk) away.

* - (Very Good is awesome, and bumping up to outstanding is grounds for a raised based on improved performance, so he was playing the system on my behalf)

bobtheconqueror posted:

I worked in finance and have hit a lot of these same hurdles. My job was a weird half manager half analyst thing so my resume is super broad but it doesn't fit well into the job market.

I've been trying to sidestep into like an entry level state job or something while letting contract folk handle private sector stuff.

I'm always worried about that recession finally hitting and just trashing white collar job markets. It'll be a hell of a ride once it's in full swing, cause these morons in charge have mishandled things so dramatically, even without climate death.

As an 11 year state employee (9 more to go until I'm 44 and fully vested in the pension and retiree healthcare), look up state jobs (ideally education, but that's personal bias) and and see if you can find their union newsletters. Look at membership percentages post-Janus and the annual breakdown of employee reviews. High membership numbers indicate that employees trust the union and are satisfied with their representation. Performance reviews indicate whether management judges your performance against your job description or against your fellow employees. Feel free to ask me anything here, or by PM if you don't feel comfortable asking publicly.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2019 21:40

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

GlassLotus posted:

Congrats on the date at least!

Yesterday at work I got splattered in the face by some blood. Luckily my glasses kept any from getting in my eye as far as I can tell, but some did get on my forehead/in my eyebrow. After I wrote up the incident report everyone was asking me "I saw the incident, are you okay?" in a way that made it sound like I'd been shot. It's making me feel like maybe I should be more concerned than I am, and maybe I'm a little too blas� about getting someone else's blood on my face. They suggested I go to a workplace accident clinic, which I'm doing just to be safe but like, the fact that other people are worried is making me worried. I also wonder how much could be learned from any tests/titers at this point if the blood did get into my system.

You are 99+% OK thanks to using proper PPE, but they may want to give you antivirials and PEP to be on the safe side.

BENGHAZI 2 posted:

Apparently my boss talked me up at some big regional meeting this week and now he thinks they want to promote me

Promotion would mean more hours per work, mandatory, slightly more money per hour, first person called in when someone calls out with no way to say no

gently caress that, I'll refuse and if they force it I'll quit

And you'll all sing The Internationale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB5x-3mzRPk
(accompaniment by Lorna McKinnon, surprisingly not credited officially)

Zvahl posted:

every few months a counseling center nearby drops flyers in the mail, and apparently at just the right length of time for me to forget about them enough to just look at the weather and say maybe I should try these people

their board of directors is like 90% ministers or holy people of some stripe and it makes me remember that, oh yeah, even when I do want to get help I have to remember that most places that want to offer it are going to be staffed with people who are happy being or working with bigots and that if I'm not careful I'll be signing up for people trying to fix me because I like dick and I just use it as an excuse to give up more

I wish these dumb dispiriting things didn't always happen on Fridays for some reason, they probably don't and it's just confirmation bias, but everything lately is just a bunch of shut up and give up signs. nothing helps, i can donate to charity and efforts I know are good here and otherwise but all it does it make me feel like I'm only useful for my money, since I can't really, like, participate or help myself, that'd just make everything much worse

this is stupid venting for no good reason, I just got mad at a flyer and I should have better control over my emotions, gently caress knows I have few enough of them anymore.

If you're posting it in C-SPAM, you have at least a few hundreds of people who you need to vent to and who are willing to listen. Your issues are every bit as valid as the rest of ours.

Chokes McGee posted:

I did something like this once where I started kicking someone who dove for me. I connected with a 30 lb. kettlebell I kept by my bed for whatever stupid reason, and since I hit something solid, I briefly thought it was real and kept kicking it while screaming.

I did not enjoy the following day.

This is why I never keep guns unloaded and unlocked aside from those two times I skipped sleep meds because I felt my life was in danger otherwise.

Frog Act posted:

the unspeakable cruelty of every aspect private sector work, from initial contact to unexpected termination, is just unbelievable. the idea of adversarial, lengthy, brain melting interviews is just so transparently absurd too I just can�t understand how it could possibly make a positive contribution to office culture, morale, or unit coherence

The cruelty is the point. They break you, they condition you to do their tasks, they deprive you of human interaction unrelated to work, and instill in you a deep sense of self-doubt.

# ¿ Dec 28, 2019 19:54

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

For anyone else who has anxiety and sleep problems, my new sleep doctor recommended me the CBT-i Coach app for relaxation and it's a good, free app developed by the VA National Center for PTSD, Stanford University Medical Center, and the DoD National Center for Telehealth and Technology.

He sent out for an in-home sleep study for sleep quality and sleep apnea, and his preliminary diagnosis is that my sleep quality is poor and that I need to force myself to get less sleep 15 minutes at a time because more, low-quality sleep with a lot less time spent in Delta and REM phases is worse. Just got accepted into a psychiatric practice and need to call tomorrow to schedule an appointment.

cool dance moves posted:

Oh hell yes! Way to go! Make sure you buy that friend a beer or something, that sounds like a solid job

Union-Made Beer :hmmyes:

GlassLotus posted:

They didn't end up doing anything preventative for HIV due to the fact that even if it had gotten directly into my eye and if the person had it the likelihood of infection would still be really low. But they did give me hep B immunoglobulin and are doing a ton of titers over the next few months for hep B, hep C, and HIV and all of those have come back negative so far.

To be honest I was only wearing prescription glasses, not safety glasses or anything because my lab is relatively lax about that considering the only dangerous thing we really directly handle is blood. And the safety glasses my lab provides don't fit over my glasses and aren't much bigger. It's stupid and I should have pushed harder on getting ones that work with my glasses. I did just get some chemical splash goggles though which fit and I've been wearing.

Bring up the fact that it scared the hell out of you and worried a lot of others. If you don't want to deal with glasses, any hardware store should have full face masks for a few bucks each.They're cheap enough that if one gets contaminated, you can just toss it in the biohazard bin.

Okan170 posted:

Since I consider radical change even more unlikely, this may be a big part of why I don't really have much hope for anything anymore. Thus I don't really want to be around to live through the long slow blackslide. Let alone any sort of pitchforks-out revolution, I think thats the stuff where I'm just done- I don't have it in me anymore. At least I feel I've contributed a good amount to the world overall, so it makes the idea of not being around a little easier to deal with.

You know what you're saying here, right? You're not telling us you want to die, you're telling us that you don't and that you need support to help you be sure of that choice.

# ¿ Dec 29, 2019 22:17

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

I had a really stressful day today, bringing my mom into the hospital to have a G-J tube put in. Her blood sugar was 389 (normal is 80-120) and they had to hydrate her and regularly inject insulin to bring her sugar down to a safe operating range. It took 7 hours, but they did it and successfully inserted the G tube. They're going to wait three weeks to make sure she's OK before putting in the J tube and I'm probably going to have to take FMLA time to take care of her, but I have ~70 days of FMLA eligible leave so whatever.

So, despite lovely news and the fact that my mom will likely never going to be able to eat solid food again, things are pretty good considering she was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic cancer and estimated to have a few weeks left in April 2017.

Chokes McGee posted:

hell yah. I just grabbed it and will put it in the op if it looks good.

:tiphat:

OK Boomer posted:

thread:

thanks for your encouragement. I stopped drinking the day before yesterday and I'm doing fine. I just picked up 7 week old trash out of my apartment and took my hoarded garbage (FIVE BAGS) to the apartment dumpster

an old friend invited me out to a Chanuka gathering with an average age of 65 and I forced myself to go. I forgot how funny I am and that people like being around me

I'm going to send helpme texts to all my old friends begging to invite me to any gathering, no matter how obscure, and I'm going to go no matter what

I think that perhaps having fun and telling jokes at these events I might even (finally) get a job.

Thank you all.

Dude, you just went from here [puts hand on floor] to here [hand at head height, wiggling fingers]. Get a paper calendar. Mark this day on your calendar with a big smiley face and pin that page by your new calendar and any time you feel yourself sliding back, draw a big arrow from that day to the next day, and try to make it worth drawing a smiley face tomorrow.

Consummate Professional posted:

my therapist explained some sort of double smash hit of the booze ramping up the good feelings and then sucking them all out during the hangover and after. she used science terms like serotonin and stuff but it was very helpful

Alcohol is really complicated and fucks with GABA primarily, then robs you of your dopamine while suppressing serotonin transport.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2019 03:01

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

bobtheconqueror posted:

Grats on the 2020 goons. Y'all are good folks and deserve the best the world can give you.

Honest conversation with my brother last night
Me: Am I mostly annoying to be around while drunk?
Br: Yes
Me: would you talk with me rather than just grunting if I gave up drinking?
Br: Yes
*sound of bottles clanging*
Me: Here's my beer. Know anyone who likes Miller High Life?
Br: Yes, but could you put it outside in the cold?
Me: gently caress off, it's your beer now. [I have an injury running from shoulder to hip, lifting my left arm is actively painful.]

I should have quit drinking 15 years ago. This isn't a New Year's Resolution, it's a promise to myself.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2020 17:44

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Chokes McGee posted:

good for you. Stick to it, you'll feel tons better once the craving washes out of your system.

being an ex-alcoholic is so weird. you know Thing will make you feel awful and potentially kill you, but just the sight of Thing makes you salivate. I guess that's addiction in general but it's so bizarre when you stop and think about it.

humans are wired weird and I want to talk to the manager of whoever put us together

I stopped for a month back in April and felt great, then I had one or two here and there, and before you know it I was back to liquor and beer daily. WTF is the point, even, when I don't feel anything short of 12-15 drinks? (adjust from normal human size to 6'8" and 300 pounds and it's still way too loving much.) If I can't feel OK and relaxed normally, that's why I'm booked to see a psychiatrist.

Also, my stress level is way the gently caress down since my mom is out of the hospital and looks and feels better than she has in months. On Monday she looked like a skeleton draped in skin (actual quote: "my boobs look like someone blew a bubble with gum and it popped") and now she looks like a real person again. Probably no solid food ever again, but I can handle everything to do with her feeding tube and I have a reason to get really loving good at making soup.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2020 04:55

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

new kind of cat posted:

what kind of anxiety/depression mixture causes compulsive plucking of facial hair any time my fingers are idle and how do i stop feeling this because i�m developing bald patches in my fuckibg beard and it�s just adding on to the poo poo pile of emotional volatility that i am and i really need to be better for my infant sons sake but i really feel like i�m failing him and my wife in enormous ways lately and i�m just so sunken and feeling like me being dead would be better for all involved gently caress GODDAMN even though i know that ain�t true goddamn man just want to scream but that poo poo is caught in a painful knot in my throat ahh

thanks for listening

I a not a doctor, but compulsive hair pulling/skin peeling is called Thrichotillomania and it's listed in the DSM-5 as a known symptom Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. Now that you have a name for it and you know it's a recognized symptom, you can talk to a psychiatrist (or even GP, mine has been handling my psych meds until I can see an actual psychiatrist and get things under control.)

# ¿ Jan 7, 2020 04:43

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

I was in the goon support discord but accidentally left when I was leaving a bunch of servers I didn't participate on. Can anyone PM me the invite so I can rejoin you?

Also, just over 3 weeks ago I quit drinking and got professional help. A week of Detox and a few weeks into an outpatient rehab program, I'm feeling better than I have in years and am nothing but positive and optimistic looking forward. If anyone wants to chat in this thread, via DM, or elsewhere regarding overcoming addiction, I've gone from ~20 years of drinking moderately, to heavily, to excessively, to completely sober, and while I'm still on the recovery path I feel really good and optimistic and would be happy to give some advice and every kind of reassurance to anyone who has been through the same thing and needs someone to talk to.

# ¿ May 28, 2021 03:24

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# ¿ May 13, 2024 18:43

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

GWBBQ posted:

I was in the goon support discord but accidentally left when I was leaving a bunch of servers I didn't participate on. Can anyone PM me the invite so I can rejoin you?

Also, just over 3 weeks ago I quit drinking and got professional help. A week of Detox and a few weeks into an outpatient rehab program, I'm feeling better than I have in years and am nothing but positive and optimistic looking forward. If anyone wants to chat in this thread, via DM, or elsewhere regarding overcoming addiction, I've gone from ~20 years of drinking moderately, to heavily, to excessively, to completely sober, and while I'm still on the recovery path I feel really good and optimistic and would be happy to give some advice and every kind of reassurance to anyone who has been through the same thing and needs someone to talk to.

I'm coming up on 6 months sober, I left my old job where I never realized how miserable working there made me until it was behind me, and since then I've been able to go off my antidepressant and anti-anxiety meds because I just don't need them anymore (still seeing my psychiatrist and therapist/addiction counselor, and I'm sticking with my addiction recovery program). I lost 15 pounds and I'm down to the lowest does of my blood pressure and blood sugar medication and probably won't need them much longer since I'm much healthier than I've been in most of my adult life. Everything can get better, and for anyone struggling or going through tough times, I hope things get better for you, too.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2021 09:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [Mental Health] BetterGoon - Unlicensed, unprofessional help.