topic Road to Recovery in Staying well

Road to Recovery

MyBlackDogBites — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 07:20:54 GMT

Having depression/anxiety for most of my life, managing without having episodes greatly affect my "public persona". I had been seeing a shrink for a couple of years, with treatment options confined to standard anti-depressants. Then came along 2010. Will a full time job requiring high levels of travel, studying for a MBA, volunteering in Cambodia, loosing my first dog, getting married, and having my grand-mother die the following day. The cracks began to appear and during a Sydney stay I managed to manage my third suicide attempt. I discovered "self harm" as way of coping with a world that was collapsing around me. Another suicide attempt ended with me off to hospital, and a painfully daily follow up with the CAT team. 2013 saw me fired from 2 very good jobs, and a continued decline in health. Come 2nd Jan 2014, I had my first 2 .5 week admin to hospital for ECT, closely followed by an additional 2 weeks of treatment. NOTE: ECT not only affects short term, but also made swiss cheese of my long term memory. I was without employment for 7 months and beginning to think that it wasn't going to happen. I have been required to have a few transfusions due to sever anaemia, the last of which was 2 weeks ago. So here I am today, 7 weeks into my new job with a great company. I continue to take 4 anti-depessants. I no longer have to see my shrink every second day, and Im very confident that I am on the road to recovery. The collateral damage of the last few years is the loss of friendship of some colleagues, and a weight gain, which at its peak was 40kg above normal. Only 30 kg to go. Wish me luck.

Road to Recovery

OZ911 — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 10:47:15 GMT

Great to hear you're on the RTR, RTR_1972. I think having confidence in the way you are handling your situation, and the latter part of your post suggests you do, is a big step toward getting better.

I also put on weight when I started to get better. I'm probably 25 kg over what I should be. I lost weight when I was sick though. About 15 kg. Yes, the math seems to suggest I was overweight before I got sick.

Anyway, keep up the good work. Hope everything goes well with your new job.

Road to Recovery

Struggler — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 14:47:09 GMT

Dear RTR_1972

Wow not often I see such a positive post. Congratulations on your recovery and a new job. I hope you come back and share your tips, the nuts and bolts on how you overcame that demon. Please keep us informed of your progress and all the best.

Struggler

Road to Recovery

geoff — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 16:47:14 GMT

dear RTR, thanks for joining us and welcome aboard.

I support what Struggler has mentioned back to you, but it must have been a very traumatic life before your recovery, so there is light at the end of tunnel. Geoff.

Road to Recovery

travelling_light — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 09:42:57 GMT

Wow RTR... your a very strong person and an inspiration. You`ve helped me put my problems into perspective and realize every day is a blessing. I`ve been thinking about exiting for a while now, but my problems are really only financial. If I won lotto tomorrow all thoughts about ending things would disappear.

Thank you making me think about appreciating life more and be thankful for what i have.

All the best

Travelin

Road to Recovery

Daffodil — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 10:36:11 GMT

Wow, just goes to show that perseverance is the key that's fantastic for you !!!! You just have to live one day @ at time & try not to look to far in advance, that's what I have found. Also I try to keep to my routine, as tough as that is each day, it does help. Even just getting out of bed every morning is a huge achievement for when I am really sick with depression. I have been well for a while now & have just volunteered to become a speaker with BB which I am really excited about & hopefully I can pass on some of my techniques/strategies to help even just one person out there. Good luck with your RTR, sounds like you are definitely on the right track !!!! Great post from you. Cheers Carolyn