life help: How does one go about getting the help needed? - Help.com

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It’s a sad day of course when that happens, and I’m so sorry that it happened to you. In California, if you say that to some professionals… they are legally bound to call the police and get a health professional involved. That sound like a pretty hair deal, but it’s FAR better than someone turning their back on you. If you need to talk… I know it’s not the same, but feel free to give me a shout anytime.
Bright blessings~
Richard

Gosh… i have spent years avoiding dealing with my pain and letting people brush me off. Please do not do this. It will be the hardest thing you ever do, but you do have to take control of your recovery… I am here and I am sure others will be too. It is hard and can often bring disappointment… but do not give up - there is always hope dear jekiele… i am getting free council through a church… but i have also had to learn to make better friends so when times get tough i have them (all 2 of them) to turn to also….

DO you want to share more?

I will pray for you too, hope you can pray for me :) (((jekiele)))

I got depression when I was teenager and my parents did nothing. After I was married, my husband urged me for years to get help…and I can tell you I did not want to…it was hard.

I make matters worse when I finally agree to see a psych MD but my husband had to do all the setting it up, he and I both hated the guy he found (years later I found out he is about the worse you can see in this area). So it took me another 2 or 3 years before I cracked. I attempted suicide and after a whole bottle of sleeping pills I had no say anymore. I was in the hospital being forced into the psych floor against my will “because I made an attempt on my own life in the ER” Two doctors signed the papers and even my husband could not get me out for 30 days.

I was forced to get the help and I hated that ward so much I did everything I could to get out of there in less then a week even if I had to fake some wellness.

So I can tell you, I understand your feelings. It is very difficult and can be very scary and can almost seem like that is the exact thing you do not need.

How old are you?

are things bad at home? are you safe? are you suicidal or just thinking about it but would never do it?

please do not be afraid… you are safe here…

talk to us.

hey… you have the Hollywood vision stuck in your head… you watched Girl Interupted too many times. a 72 hour lock sown is NOT a padded room. You would get to mix with others (as long as you are not to manic)… you get fed… and mostly you get to talk to people about your issues. YOU will be taken seriously… very seriously. I thought that was what you wanted?

If you are 18 then you don’t need your parents on this. Do you have health insurance? Either through your parents or your own job? If so, I would see if you have mental healthcare benefits. You may need to contact them to find out. Have them help you find a counseler or therapist. You don’t need a psych doc. The will probably have you schedule a weekly appointment the first few weeks and depending on how you feel increase it to once a month. Unless of course you are feeling more extreme then that…i.e. suicidal. I was extremely difficult for me to have my first session with my current counselor even tho I have seen so many before that. It is always hard at first but what make it easier is the help you get and the changes you start to experience. Don’t get me wrong it can still get tough at times but it is that sense of hope that is so very encouraging.

gosh j… it is hard going through life’s transitions… you are learning so much everyday and it can be hard and challenging and frustrating and even downright crappy…

i have been there, am even still i guess, but im kind of an exception on that cause i never got help when others did.

you may need some simple medication to help… it may not even be a long term thing… can you go see a doctor and let them know you are depressed. you may be drugging to alleviate suffering that a prescription can really help with.

also… colleges have programs that can be very good too - go right away when you get there… let them know you are depressed and stressed and not dealing well

and do you take vitamins? eat well? exercise? these also help a lot… one step at a time though ok… take it easy… make sure your course load is not too tough

Oh college…they sometimes have good resources for that…I even know of several that have a whole counsling group that is free of charge for those that “just need to talk”. Look for any resources that are available to you there!

hmm…looks like your parents need to get over the “crazy” stigma!

lots of people get “transition” council…

great mental cases include… Van Gogh, Winston Churchill, Issac Newton… check out

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Sect…

and it most cases it can be cured… if you had a broken leg they would want you to get it fixed - you apparently have a broken spirit/ heart? have you get worse would be harder for then than you getting medical help :)

broken is not the same as destroyed… do not allow anyone to stand in your way for getting help. Good you are on their insurance, use it if you can. If not, use the school.

I believe you are being prepared for great things in your life. Do not doubt yourself, you have great insight and understanding here. you are well spoken and you have even kept looking for help. well done :)

nice *sarcasm* …I hate to say this because I would usually say the reverse but my advise is to ignore them and just go get help yourself. Too bad if they think somehow the privacy act will get breeched and people who should not know will know or that it will be used against them in some way. They will just have to get over it. Even your family doctor can help you. Make an appointment for, oh, I don’t know… a physical or something and mention to him you have seen the commercials on TV about the meds for depression and can he recommend anything for your feelings of depression? He might give you a med to try or refer you to a counselor.

Oh and I tried the nursing thing in college…it was the first time I remember truely wanting to die. I prayed to God at night that He would just take me then. I pleaded to Him to make me die. I wanted out!

I felt trapped and I don’t know if you feel that too but try to tell yourself that it is just an illusion that you feel like that…it is not the truth…you are not trapped and you can find an escape.

jekiele wrote:
I feel as though asking for help and admitting to a problem like that would just make me weak or something i dont know

I can identify with this. My counsler has helped me realize that thoughts like that came form my father…not really me. Do you really think there is anything wrong with being what you call “weak” when there are so many others like yourself? The mental healthcare profession is booming with profits. Do you think that is because there is only a small percentage of the population that is “weak”?

You are not weak, you are not crazy, and it is ok to seek out help.

I can tell you too that there is hope. It can get better. When you are at your lowest, you can not see it. It is only after you make it through and get the help that you can look back and see the difference.

You are an adult…but it sounds like you are not sure what that means for you, what you want to do as a profession, etc. That is ok…tons of people feel this same way. It takes time to sort this stuff out and sometimes going to college doesn’t help. If you need to take a break…then make that happen for yourself. I knew a few people my first year at college that just dropped out and went to work at a retail store or factory, and roomed with a friend until they got things sorted out in their heads. Some were happy with it and two became manager and didn’t leave and some returned quickly to college to seek out other things.

It does not help that your parents are not supportive and that makes it so much harder…but I believe you can still do what you need to do.

My advise is to try and do what you need to do for you. If you are living for someone else or just because someone else told you this is what you need to be doing now, well…that is just not living, is it?

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageS…

there are local support groups in most areas… check out this site to find one near you. these are groups with other people suffering from depression and other ofrms of this illness(from all walks of life - doctors, lawyers, moms, teens, students, artists…).

I highly recommend you seek out the company of others who have been where you are now and let them tell you how they handled it and you can see how many gotten better :)

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Sect…

here too :)

don’t stop trying j…

take it one step at a time - it absolutely is hard and i understand because i am working on this too

stay with us :)

(((jekiele)))

i was pre-med… could not take the biology experiments… kind of look back and wish i was a doctor today… cause they help a lot of people.

anyway… no credits transferred from the 1st university i went to…

cut to 20 years later i finally get BA in English and still have crappy jobs…lol

nursing is a very honorable and in extremely high demand profession and yet the schooling is tough. if you do decide to go and not drop out, take the smallest load allowed… can you take only 3 classes? maybe you need to get permission, would not hurt to try.

not sure how the classes are decided for you? can you replace any harder classes with more basic ones?

go online for the school and search for advisers or councilors or medical help that is there…

When my brother found out I had been diagnosed with Major Depression, he called me and said, “how can you be depressed? You have an amazing life!”

You know what that told me? He has know idea what it is like. I could tell myself the same things…what do I have to be depressed about? I don’t have it as bad as other people, in fact I do have a very good life.

What he did not understand and what I had just been learning was it indeed was a physical chemical imbalance in my body that caused by depression. Yes, there were traumas and triggers in my life that caused me greater stress but it was not in my ability to help myself with logic thoughts. My emotion was too high…I was majorly depressed…jsut like that diagnoses said!

What you said is most likely true. It is bigger then you…and it probably has taken you over. But just like any other illness, you can get treatment. I went through 3 drugs before they found the one that is right for me…and I went through several counselors and a couple psych MDs before I found the counselor that was actually helping.

My sister-in-law had to wait 20 years before a drug hit the market that worked for her. I not saying this to discourage you but to help you…there is so much help out there. You can get the help.

Call your family doctor for an appointment…tell him/her…if he/she doesn’t help…go to another doctor…maybe a clinic at the college.

If worse comes to worse…walking into an ER and saying I need help if way better then trying to take your own life. I know…I have experienced both sides. They will help you and you won’t end up in a padded room. You will get help…and as long as you don’t try to kill yourself in front of them, like I did…you have say one how long you want to stay and if and when you want to leave.

Please, take care of yourself. *hugs*

Wow you remind me of me in many ways. Thirty some years ago I choose teaching because my sister was successful with it. (I taught one year.) I first noticed my depression in my freshman year and did not deal with it. Back then there was less understanding of it than now and there was more stigma.
I look back now and know that it would have been smart and strong to address my concerns then. Habits and wrong thinking have had many extra years to engrain themselves in my psyche and overcoming these patterns now is just that much more difficult.
I have had several bouts of depression with suicidal thinking. This includes one that lasted over a year with near constant dangerous thinking. Take care yourself sooner than I did. I think it will be easier now than later.