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Something’s not right

Wooshy
Casual Contributor

Not sure how to approach this?

Hi All,

As explained in some of my earlier posts my wife suffers from Bi Polar.

 

However recently my anxiety has kicked in with a vengeance I do not know the triggers of it and I have been hospitalised twice in the past week for it.

 

I guess what I want to know and I am not sure but I fear I may have a bigger underlying mental health issue as I was diagnosed manic depressive when I was 5 and developed anxiety attacks when my brother died in my arms when I was 16. So for the past 14 years I have tried to manage this with no counselling or medications (I see stuff like medication as a band aid)

 

Should I get a complete analysis done? Is it worth while?

 

I went to my GP again yesterday and I have been subscribed medication. I do not feel this is the answer I feel it takes away my quick wit and I always need to be active with my work and young family of 5 children.

 

Any words of wisdom would be most welcome

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Not sure how to approach this?

Hi @Wooshy 

It can be confusing not knowing where to go or how to go about getting assessed. I think that if you're concerned about a mental health issue, then definitely get it checked out. Prevention is better than cure, and it can be very helpful to manage symptoms before they can get worse.

Going to your GP is usually a good first point, but unfortunately not all GPs are trained in mental health. You are right, treating mental health often requires a combination of psycho-social support and treatments, not just medication alone. It might be helpful asking friends or family, or even your pharmicist about where you can find a GP that is trained in MH. Another option is to go on the Beyond Blue website or mindhealthconnect, which list MH professionals. This way they can do an initial mental health assessment then they can refer you onto a mental health specialist (e.g., psychologist, psyhciatrist).

Perhaps some of Lived Experiences who occassional pop into the the Carers Forums give provide some advice here @PeppiPatty @Alessandra1992 and @kristin

Hope this helps,

CB

Re: Not sure how to approach this?

Hello @Wooshy 

research tells us that we do better when medication is combined with psychological treatment, as opposed to either of the treatments alone. So you are correct in thinking you don't feel medication is enough.

 

I also hear someone that is carrying a heavy load at the moment, as a carer in one form of another. Do you get any support or respite for yourself as a carer? It is no surprise that carers often suffer their own mental health issues, as a result of the ongoing nature of the role they are in. Be happy to make some further suggests if you like?

It is also possible, and I really don't have much doubt, that their is unresolved grief for you in dealing with your brothers death in such circumstances.

Would you consider seeing a therapist? If only to address the recent anxiety attacks, and gain some strategies for reducing this? It's not essential to dig deeper, in fact, some approaches might avoid this, rather addressing the current 'dysfunction', and getting you 'functioing again'.

Sane's fact sheet reiterate my comments, and also provide a little taste of what's available down this line.

http://www.sane.org/information/factsheets-podcasts/549-psychological-treatments

  • Sometimes they work best combined with other treatments
    Psychological treatments are often effective on their own for people with depression and anxiety disorders. Sometimes it is also useful to combine them with other treatments such as medication. For people, with psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, for example, ongoing rehabilitation, accommodation and employment support are often needed as well as medication.

 


What psychological treatments are there?

There are many types of psychological treatment which are proven to be effective. These may be provided individually, as part of a group, as a couple or even as a whole family – depending on the nature of the problem. Some common psychological treatments are:

  • Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
    CBT helps people discover how their feelings, thoughts and behaviour can get stuck in unhelpful patterns. They are encouraged to try new, more positive ways of thinking and acting. Therapy usually includes tasks to try between sessions. CBT is a well-established treatment for depression and most anxiety disorders. It can also be an effective part of treatment for other conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), eating disorders, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
  • Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT)
    IPT looks at the way someone has related to significant people in their life, and how this may have affected other relationships and how they feel, think and act generally. It then looks at finding more positive ways of interacting with others. IPT can been especially effective in treating depression and anxiety disorders.
  • Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)
    DBT is a form of treatment specifically for people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). DBT is based on an understanding that a key problem for people with BPD is extreme difficulty in handling emotions, and the distress associated with this. DBT helps people learn to handle their emotions better and re-learn the way they typically respond to situations and other people. DBT generally combines individual and group therapy
  • Family interventions
    These treatments aim to support families and other carers by fostering calm and constructive family relationships where a member of the family has a psychotic illness such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Family intervention sessions typically focus on education about mental illness, solving of problems encountered as a result of the illness, and improving communication and relationships where these are strained or stressful. Family interventions can reduce relapse rates for people with psychotic illness while also supporting everyone involved.

Psychological treatments vary in the length of time they take to work. The benefits of psychological treatments often happen at a different rate for different individuals.

 

Be keen to hear your thoughts/feedbackSmiley Wink

Re: Not sure how to approach this?

The first way to deal with this is to be kind and fair to yourself, a diagnosis at the age of five is huge , your wifes illness , your grief from the loss of a brother  a family of 5 children and you work , your load is huge and i do believe you that medication is not always the answer,and it is a mask. but some times the mask is needed to get past the scary bits ,do you trust your doctor to do the right thing by you as a person if yes go with his/her advice but if your iffy about him/her it might be time to change..some times they get too busy in their own head and get tired themselves, if youve been seeing the same dr for a long time try introducing yourself again.i asked my daughters dr (and shes amazing )if she could revisit her as a new patient not the 14 year old that she met 7 years ago  but the young woman 21 yr old she has become. she immediatly knew where i was coming from and next visit didnt ask about mental health as a first question but a asked about her pysical health(pap smears and the like ) my daughter came out saying ,well that was different. and she looks at her dr a little differently as well, she had changed drs a few times but i saw part of her recovery  when she decided to go back to to the right one and has even decided that her prescription addiction has to be addressed..if your not happy it pays to say something 

i wish you well  

Re: Not sure how to approach this?

Thank you for all the replies!

Since my original post I have had to go back to hospital twice. I really dislike some of the meds they give you. I still do not know what is triggering all this but I have a GP appointment this morning.and for some reason I found I get really panicky behind the wheel of my car so driving is off the table for the time being :(.

 

I tackled the work issue head on and exlained everything to my manager. He knows I never take time unless I have to. (I think thats a 2 year track record of medical certificates even if its a 1 hour appointment for the kids or my wife.

 

Of course I have had every family member telling my to pull my head ot of my a**. But I thought about it last night a lot of them have always had me there for them and just expect me to be and act a certain way. With a lot of my family I would give them the shirt of my back latelty I have just avoided the phone and people in general cause i dont need or want their opinion. Especially my dad who thinks just because I work on 10 projects at a time plus all the family activites I do a somewhat 'sentry job'.

 

The biggest let down for me personally at the moment is I really cant control this and over the last 10 years I have been by her side through thick and thin let her yell at me, throw things at me and mentally abuse me and when I finally need her to be there for me I got told that her work is too important (it is not after all I mentored and trained her how to do it so she can validate her life in some way) she doesn't think its a good use of her time.

 

A good friend of mine suggested I skip the consuelling and get a good evaluation as a starting point so I know what I am up against.

 

So off I go this morning and try and make progress on this.

 

Again I really do appreciate the feedback and ideas. It is good to know there is a forum like this where people can help other people 🙂

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