Mental Illness

[FurryFury]

I'll keep that in mind. Right now she feels she is sleeping well though and klonopin is supposed to be addictive so I'm not really wanting her to take it every night rather than as needed. Or really, I'm thinking she doesn't need to take it at all.

My girl has an interesting ability to just flip a switch and get better sometimes. I'm hoping that between me, the counselor and her prescribing doc, she has heard enough to push through. Her fight comes and goes since last year which is something I've never seen happen with her before. It's scary to see my fighter, who never, quit suddenly just, give, up.

Originally Posted by unknooown

My girl's prescribed Klonnies too and I don't get it. It's for her panic attacks which don't happen often luckily but are almost always at night, though sometimes in the afternoon. I notice she begins to calm down about an hour after taking one but they don't hit full effect until about three or four hours in. What the fuck is the point of that? At that point she's either asleep, exhausted from hours of severe anxiety, or completely hysterical.

It does help her sleep which is also a regular problem of hers but neither of us is comfortable with the idea of her taking them for that purpose. From what I've read, though, if instead of taking it as needed your girl takes one each night (like one would a sleeping pill), it could continue to help her be calm during waking hours without the dizziness/sleepiness.

[KoPilot]

So I gathered the courage to see a psych about a month ago and I've seen her 3 times already.

It's at the point where I've finally finished up with the backstory and apparently a lot of my issues are stemming from things that I thought I worked through/got over years ago. She says it's "serious trauma", and that such things tend to be extremely unpredictable in how they pop up in your life again, what things turn into triggers, etc.

Anyone gone through this? It's super frustrating to go 5-10 years of being irrationally afraid of X thing and then, as I'm getting over that, start to develop phobias and avoidance issues with Y thing, both of which aren't directly tied into the trauma as far as I can tell. The intensity seems to fluctuate over the years, and the triggers seem almost random.

[FurryFury]

First of all, good for you actually getting help KoPilot. *HUGS*

My girl has these kinds of issues. They come out at odd times and in ways you don't expect. Some things are difficult to truly resolve. I'm sure things will get better now that you are getting help.

[KoPilot]

Originally Posted by FurryFury

First of all, good for you actually getting help KoPilot. *HUGS*

My girl has these kinds of issues. They come out at odd times and in ways you don't expect. Some things are difficult to truly resolve. I'm sure things will get better now that you are getting help.

Thanks.

I guess, now that all this is surfacing again, I am going to have to make peace with the idea that I'm always going to be feeling the repercussions of that period in my life. I suppose I could count myself lucky if I have fewer bullets to dodge in the end.

[FurryFury]

Maybe not always . . .

And yes, developing an attitude of gratitude is a very good thing.

*HUGS*

Originally Posted by KoPilot

Thanks.

I guess, now that all this is surfacing again, I am going to have to make peace with the idea that I'm always going to be feeling the repercussions of that period in my life. I suppose I could count myself lucky if I have fewer bullets to dodge in the end.

[FurryFury]

Argh! My girl is coming home too much due to "anxiety" or "nervous energy" and it's freaking me out. I mean my blood pressure is always low but the last time she called, Tuesday I think it shot up through the roof. I felt like I might have a stroke.

She couldn't tell me why. She didn't think anything had happened. WTF?!?

Plus Monday I'd taken her to her therapist.

I have to get a handle on my feelings about this because it really feels like it could kill me.

It would be helpful to remember when she didn't come home and was more independent as well.

I wonder when she is EVER going to recover to that point again or if she will? Scary!

[BiBunny]

Ok, so I have this friend who's more than a little...off...himself. He's one of those insane drama queens whose life is so much worse than everyone else's and nobody understands and nobody wants to help and ohgodwoeisme.

Most of the time, I just let it roll off my back. When he's not over-dramatizing like a low-rent Shakespearean actor, he's fun to talk to.

But he's met a girl. He finds these girls on CollarMe and FetLife, and they're all freaking nuts. He's pretty much always chatting online to three or four of them at any given time. It's very rare that he meets them, though, and when he does, the whole thing usually just fizzles. This time, however, he met one, and now he's absolutely losing his damn mind.

They met for the first time Wednesday, I think it was, after chatting online for a month or so. Apparently, the date went semi-well, and he's hit the over-analysis stage.

He keeps asking me what I think and what he should do. I give him advice, and then he proceeds to give me all these reasons why what I say is the wrong thing to do. And so I'm like, "Ok, if you don't want to know what I think, don't freaking ask."

He won't stop texting her, despite my saying that he really needs to back off. He has this habit of coming on WAY, WAY, WAY too strong, while somehow thinking he's being subtle. I keep telling him to let it go for a day or two. His response? "Well, if I do that, she won't know I like her!"

And I'm like, "Dude, you kissed her at the end of the date and told her you'd like to do it again sometime. She's aware. Now leave her alone for a day or two before she decides you're a creep and starts avoiding you."

Then, he was like, "I'm going to ask her out for next week!" I pointed out that they'd just gone out on Wednesday and trying to schedule a second date within 3 or 4 days of the first one was most likely going to look way too pushy. I suggested he wait until later next week to ask her out for the following week if she still seemed interested. Oh, boy, that put him off the deep end. Oh, God, what was he going to do until then? I was like, "Uh, I didn't say you couldn't talk to her at all. I said stop texting every couple of hours and chill the hell out on trying to force another date so soon."

Anyway, why am I putting this in the mental health thread? Because the sonofabitch is DRIVING ME CRAZY. I'm sorry, but men are not supposed to act like this. Well, women, either, really.

I'm kinda sick of babysitting him. I'm tempted to just tell him to do what he will, and then maybe she'll stop talking to him because she thinks he's a creep, and then he'll have to find something else to obsess over. Either that or tell him to get therapy. Christ almighty.

But because I hate to be mean, I've been holding my tongue. It's. So. Hard. Though.

[FurryFury]

My mother is raging.

My girl has ruined all but one class this semester and won't stay at her apartment.

My son's new gf has decided he can't look at porn. Caught him at it then "punished" him by making him watch her cutting and "od-ing" though she is fine, alive, didn't go to the hospital. I'm outraged.

I'm surrounded by crazy. It's making me crazy.

[Sprinkles22]

Originally Posted by FurryFury

So, on a recent thread about what a PYL needs from a pyl lack of mental illness was mentioned.

Mental illness is often mentioned to explain (erroneously, IMO,) why people are into fringe behavior such as BDSM.

How do you feel about mental illness which, btw, seems rampant in Western Society today?

As someone with an Adult ADHD with depression child it breaks my heart to see the struggles she goes through every day. She is quite the warrior fighting battles by the score. OTOH, while not comfortable, having a Dr. Who brain can be quite miraculous in some ways.

FF

My response to the OP of this thread -

1) Good luck finding any mate without some form of mental illness in this world. It exists on every continent, within every ethnicity and socioeconomic group. Mental illness is a social disorder, not a sexual disorder. Mental illness should not shape our ability to be loved or needed.

2) For nearly 4 years I have been living under my umbrella of severe depression. The past 11 months of my life I have spent in isolation from the world around me. I have had suicidal ideations. I have made 3 suicide attempts. I have spent time in a psych hospital. Y'all want to know something? My sexuality, submission and BDSM enjoyment did not play a single role in my behavior. Frankly if BDSM could have been an influence it may have SAVED me from myself and protected me. BDSM certainly did not make me sicker; natures chemical imbalance has taken that credit.

[FurryFury]

*hugs*

Good points.

Mental illness is a spectrum after all and quite rampant in our society.

Originally Posted by Sprinkles22

My response to the OP of this thread -

1) Good luck finding any mate without some form of mental illness in this world. It exists on every continent, within every ethnicity and socioeconomic group. Mental illness is a social disorder, not a sexual disorder. Mental illness should not shape our ability to be loved or needed.

2) For nearly 4 years I have been living under my umbrella of severe depression. The past 11 months of my life I have spent in isolation from the world around me. I have had suicidal ideations. I have made 3 suicide attempts. I have spent time in a psych hospital. Y'all want to know something? My sexuality, submission and BDSM enjoyment did not play a single role in my behavior. Frankly if BDSM could have been an influence it may have SAVED me from myself and protected me. BDSM certainly did not make me sicker; natures chemical imbalance has taken that credit.

[KoPilot]

Originally Posted by FurryFury

My mother is raging.

My girl has ruined all but one class this semester and won't stay at her apartment.

My son's new gf has decided he can't look at porn. Caught him at it then "punished" him by making him watch her cutting and "od-ing" though she is fine, alive, didn't go to the hospital. I'm outraged.

I'm surrounded by crazy. It's making me crazy.

I know the feeling. It really really sucks not being able to do much of anything about these peripheral situations. :\

-hugs-

[BiBunny]

Originally Posted by FurryFury

My mother is raging.

My girl has ruined all but one class this semester and won't stay at her apartment.

My son's new gf has decided he can't look at porn. Caught him at it then "punished" him by making him watch her cutting and "od-ing" though she is fine, alive, didn't go to the hospital. I'm outraged.

I'm surrounded by crazy. It's making me crazy.

One of the worst things in the world is to be made crazy by being dragged into other people's drama. Take care of yourself.

[graceanne]

Originally Posted by FurryFury

My mother is raging.

My girl has ruined all but one class this semester and won't stay at her apartment.

My son's new gf has decided he can't look at porn. Caught him at it then "punished" him by making him watch her cutting and "od-ing" though she is fine, alive, didn't go to the hospital. I'm outraged.

I'm surrounded by crazy. It's making me crazy.

I'm sorry. *hugs*

[MissRedNight]

Originally Posted by FurryFury

My mother is raging.

My girl has ruined all but one class this semester and won't stay at her apartment.

My son's new gf has decided he can't look at porn. Caught him at it then "punished" him by making him watch her cutting and "od-ing" though she is fine, alive, didn't go to the hospital. I'm outraged.

I'm surrounded by crazy. It's making me crazy.

Best wishes are with you. I found myself relating a lot to the whole 'being surrounded by crazy'.

[FurryFury]

*HUGS*

Thanks!

Originally Posted by MissRedNight

Best wishes are with you. I found myself relating a lot to the whole 'being surrounded by crazy'.

[BiBunny]

Dear Fellow Crazy People,

Do me a favor please. As much as I think it's admirable to try to de-stigmatize mental illness, please don't think it's ok to tell anyone and everyone that you run across all about your issues. There are multiple reasons for this.

1.) Random people do not care about your problems. Professional contacts do not care about your problems. Acquaintances do not care about your problems. It's ok to share with close friends and family members, people in group therapy sessions, or Internet threads titled "Mental Illness." Most other places? It's inappropriate. Not everybody is your friend, and that is ok.

2.) Just because people are being polite doesn't mean that they care about your problems. They are most likely very uncomfortable but don't want to be rude about it. You're the one who's being rude by foisting your shit off on them and making them uncomfortable in the first place.

3.) Your lack of boundaries just helps reinforce all the bad notions out there about crazy people.

4.) Also, going into great detail about these things with people you barely know makes it look like you're trying to issue yourself a Get Out Of Jail free card in advance, so that when you fuck up, you've got a ready excuse handy. "But I told you I had problems!" Yeah, fuck that. Doesn't work that way.

Please advise. This shit is getting obnoxious.

~Bunz

[Stag of Oberon]

Very good advice bunny.

may i ask what prompted it?

[BiBunny]

Originally Posted by Stag of Oberon

Very good advice bunny.

may i ask what prompted it?

Some very uncomfortable conversations I've had foisted off on me lately that I had no way of politely extricating myself from. *Thousand-yard stare*

[marieR19]

I completely agree with that post, BiBunny.

However, I will say that who you should/shouldn't tell is very dependent on the individual and the circumstances. Family and friends, sure. Colleagues and other people in your work? .... It depends. My boss *has* to know about my illnesses, otherwise I would've been fired years ago for the number of times I've had to call in or leave work early.

Acquaintances? Again, it depends. If said acquaintance is someone who will most likely *become* a close friend down the line, I'd rather them know up-front so I don't have to deal with my best friend suddenly running away from me. It's why I told Bitsy, because I knew we were on the road to *becoming* friends and I didn't want things to get all awkward and hurtful if I waited to tell her too long.

I completely agree that it's Not Okay to tell EVERYONE and give tons of details to random people. But for a lot of categories, it really just depends.

[Curious_in_Cali]

When you watch someone you love walk the line of wanting to live or not for long enough, somewhere along the hours of love, words, and reassurance through their brutally honest suffering it begins to muddle what is right and wrong. Somehow it switches and helping them starts to make sense. It is in that place that all I can do is cry with them and hope that it's enough.

[FurryFury]

*HUGS*

Originally Posted by Curious_in_Cali

When you watch someone you love walk the line of wanting to live or not for long enough, somewhere along the hours of love, words, and reassurance through their brutally honest suffering it begins to muddle what is right and wrong. Somehow it switches and helping them starts to make sense. It is in that place that all I can do is cry with them and hope that it's enough.

[Katiesub]

Tell boss? Generally, yes.

But you also have to remember that the boss you tell leaves records for the next boss, and that boss ... well, there are lots of ways for a person who doesn't give a damn to get rid of a good employee.

And you don't know who that next boss will be.