LIVE CHAT EVENT FOR MENTAL HEALTH WEEK: Thursday 8 October at 1pm - A GP's tips on staying mentally healthy

[Chris_B]

Hi everyone,

As part of Mental Health Week, we will be hosting another live chat here on Thursday 8 October, 1-2pm with Dr Stephen Carbone, beyondblue’s Policy, Evaluation and Research Leader.

Stephen worked for many years as a General Practitioner. A few years ago, Stephen decided to hang up his stethoscope and to move into the area of mental health promotion. He is now working at beyondblue where he is working with others to find ways to promote mental wellbeing, prevent depression, anxiety and suicide and ensure people affected with these mental health conditions have the opportunity to get the supports and services that are right for them - at the right time.

Our live chat will be focussed on tips for staying mentally healthy, and also how you can get the best out of your relationship with your doctor.

See also the BB resource What are my options?

PLEASE NOTE as per our community rules, Stephen won't be able to answer questions about medications, these are best discussed offline directly with your mental health professional. 

So bookmark this thread, get your questions ready, and we'll see you back here next Thursday afternoon when this thread will be unlocked and Stephen will be here to chat.

[Dr_Steve]

Hi trustlife, this is going to sound a bit cliched, but the main driver was wanting to make a difference on a bigger scale.  I enjoyed helping people as a GP, but I think my work in mental health promotion allows me to reach more people and hopefully make a bigger impact.

[geoff]

I apologise for not referring to your title.

There must be many people who come and see you and don't believe that their depression can ever be cured, and I was one of those people, so this may make you frustrated, perhaps annoyed, and you feel as though you have been treating this person for quite awhile and they don't believe you.

[Dr_Steve]

Hi jadealaB, thanks for your willingness to share your experience and participate in the forum.  

PTSD is quite a common mental health condition, and typically has 4 main characteristics:

1. People feel very wound up, tense, anxious, on-edge.

2. They often have flashbacks or re-experience the trauma that led to the condition.

3. They tend to want to avoid anything that reminds them of that situation that led to the condition.

4. They can often feel numb, irritable, angry, and find it hard mixing with people socially.

They are conditions that can really affect people's wellbeing, and relationships with others.  However, there are treatments available. The main treatment is a type of counselling called Trauma Based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.  But there are other treatments as well.

The symptoms you discuss could be related to PTSD, but possibly other conditions as well, as it is very common for people with PTSD to also experience, for example, depression and other anxiety conditions. If you're not sure and would like to talk to someone about this, you can call our support service or talk to a GP that you trust. It sounds like this is really distressing for you, and I encourage you to reach out for help through those avenues.

[MisterM]

Hi Dr Steve,

I have been diagnosed with anxiety/dysthymia/depression. Is it possible for mood to change over the course of a day with depression? Sometimes I am upbeat and energetic and then in the same day I withdraw and feel down.
I thought I may have bipolar but looking at the Changing Minds documentary on ABC last night I can draw no comparisons to the behaviour of the bipolar patients in a high mood. I don't talk fast, not sleep, have pressured speech etc.

 Thanks.

[Dr_Steve]

Hi romantic_thi3f, great question.

I guess it depends what we mean by cure.  As mentioned, some people may only experience one period or episode of depression or an anxiety condition, and with the right treatment and support, they recover completely and are well from then on.  For other people, it may be about managing the condition which may come and go.

Doctors try to help people get on top of the symptoms.  Even if people can't completely get symptoms under control, it is still very important to assist them to get back into their day to day life, whether that's studying, working, mixing with others and participating in life regardless.  Recovery is about feeling included and doing the things that are good for you.

[Zeal]

Hi Dr Steve,

Thanks for being on the forum today 🙂

Here's my question: when you were a practising GP, did you feel that people were more forthright and proactive about discussing certain types of mental illness and symptoms, but not others?

[Dr_Steve]

Hi Geoff, GPs see people from all walks of life, with all sorts of health and mental health conditions. I see my job to diagnose conditions where I can, and provide information to people about their health conditions, explain their options to them, listen to their questions and together work out a plan of attack. I'm here to provide advice and guidance, but it's a collaboration and people will work out what they think is best for them.  

GPs are obviously human, and obviously there are times when we might feel a little bit miffed or frustrated, but really we are professionals and we think we try to do our best and not let these sorts of personal feelings get in the way.

[jadealaB]

How long does PTSD last for?? Ive had it for years now & ive had alot of help for it. When does the night mares stop??

 Jadeala

[Plain_Jane]

I have agoraphobia, what is the best way to get help when you can't face going anywhere?

[Dr_Steve]

Dear MisterM, thanks for your question.

It's not uncommon for some people with depression to experience changes in their mood within the same day. There is a technical name for it called diurnal variation - this can be part of depression and not necessarily a symptom of bipolar disorder. 

Bipolar is different in that people can experience episodes of either persisting depression, or persisting elevated mood (a high, hypomanic, manic).  Usually each episode of low mood or elevated mood would last days to weeks.  Without getting too technical, there are some people with bipolar disorder who cycle quite rapidly between low mood and elevated mood, but my impression is that your changes are part of your dysthymia/depression, but you might wish to discuss this with your doctor or psychologist.