Returning low mood

If you have a general question about mental health that is not covered by any of the forums listed below, please post them here for our experts to answer.

Moderator: talkhealth

Locked
7 posts
melanie84
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 11:42 pm
Quote

by melanie84 on Sat Oct 12, 2013 12:12 am

Returning low mood

Hi

I have suffered with depression (low mood) the end of last year and my gp suggested that i take fluxcetine to help with my low moods, feelings of hopelessness etc due to losing my job through long term ill heath i suffer with chronic back pain and suggested i stayed on them for a year. I came off them after only about 4 to 5 months. I was happy to do this as i was now settled in a new job in a different career which i was able to do with my back pain, but also had to come off them because i developed anemia and low sodium levels and had to go on to tablets to sort them out. The problem is i have become unemployed again i went for an interview for the junior post of what i was doing to secure a permanent job and was happy to go down a grade but did not get the job. Since this happened all the same feelings of low moods, crying and hopelessness have returned with feeling confused and forgetting things. I am tired but cant sleep how ever hard i try . I not sure what to do. Part of me thinks i should go back to see my gp but just feel i am wasting his time.

Mel

User avatar
Gary Turner
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:04 am
Quote

by Gary Turner on Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:17 am

Re: Returning low mood

Hi Mel, I really feel for you. Definitely go back to your doc's - it is his job to help, you are his client, you will definitely NOT be wasting his time. Go on...book in now...

Depression has a psychological origin, so ask to get a referral to an appropriately experienced professional, a counsellor, a CBT Therapist, a psychologist or a hypnotherapist for example. They will help you look at solving the causes of the low mood.

You learn by your experience. In the past you learnt when things weren't going right to have that low mood. Now familiar circumstances just bring back all the same feelings. You can learn to be different - though, like an athlete needing coaching to be their best, a bit of coaching from a professional will help you get there quicker.

Chronic back pain - I love working with it!! I work alongside an ex-Army rehabilitation specialist helping people with their pain. He helps them recover from any injuries and 'balance out' their bodies so that the problem doesn't recurr. He sets exercises that I help them with - whilst I also work on their minds. All pain is a perception formed in the mind. Sometimes it has a purely psychological origin - imagine a 'memory' of the injury remaining, and you may not have switched off the pain even though the injury has gone. All pain is a subjective experience and that experience is worse when you have negative emotions, and better when you have positive emotions.

So for your pain, whatever the cause, if you work on the causes of your low mood the pain will feel better anyway. See an appropriate physical injury specialist. Ask your doc for a referral to an experienced person who can work with the mental elements of this. Lots can be done.

What do you think?
Gary Turner
Advisor to British Army School of Physical Training, World Champion Elite Sportsman

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... turner.php

melanie84
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 11:42 pm
Quote

by melanie84 on Sat Oct 12, 2013 11:13 am

Re: Returning low mood

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the reply. Firstly i am being treated by the pain clinic when i saw them in September they suggested that i went on the intensive pain management course and me being an idiot turned it down as it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. The reason for this was i was in a job and my mental health had improved and to me i felt like me again. I couldnt afford and still cant to go on a 4 wk course. The back pain didnt matter as much i was in pain for working but i felt good about myself.

As to my moods now i know what caused it there is a few things all work and study related and things i put off and to an extent know how to improve this i just cant see a way out of this tangled mess. I feel like im stuck in this maze and cant get out.

I have made an appointment with my gp for next week not sure if its the right thing to do or how to approach it with him

Mel

User avatar
Gary Turner
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:04 am
Quote

by Gary Turner on Sat Oct 12, 2013 12:38 pm

Re: Returning low mood

You don't have to feel pain you know. Pain is a signal to pay attention to something. Either something is wrong, in which case take action and get it sorted, or if there is nothing wrong then the a skilled psych like a hypnotherapist can help you regulate or even switch off that pain. You don't have to choose to have pain - you can pay attention to it...

If you are stuck in a maze (nice metaphor - it represents thoughts in your head) - that tells me you aren't moving towards where you need to be. Bear with me on this, and give this a go - this maze, what kind of maze is this maze? And I wonder how many ways you can think of that can get you out of it? Can you go through it, over it, round it...take some time and wonder about this maze. Find as many ways out of this maze as you can, and in your mind, run through each one. Find out what works, and what is easiest, and what way out just seems 'right'. Then think about being 'stuck' in this maze again...it won't be the problem it once was...

GP - brilliant! It's movement - you're already looking for a way out of that maze. Best way to approach it with them is to say how you feel and be honest. They'll know what to do to help, its their job.
Gary Turner
Advisor to British Army School of Physical Training, World Champion Elite Sportsman

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... turner.php

melanie84
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 11:42 pm
Quote

by melanie84 on Sat Oct 12, 2013 6:49 pm

Re: Returning low mood

Hi Gary,

Most of the time the pain is controlled by meds its when i have over done things or feeling down its a problem but may ask my gp about it next week.

The Maze there is a lot of thoughts in my head just none of them clear or they add to the frustration. Might be the lack of sleep thats causes this.
You gave me a lot to think about when it comes to the maze, and am continuing to think about it. At the minute there seems to be something in my way at every turn which i cant face at the min or climb over. I know i will because i used to be a positive person i just dont know how yet. Hopefully the doc will help with that.

Many Thanks

Mel

User avatar
Gary Turner
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:04 am
Quote

by Gary Turner on Sun Oct 13, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: Returning low mood

Lots to think about in respect to the maze - cool, that means you'll find solutions. Each time you have something in your way, there will always be a way to get over it, get through it, move around it, or even push through it...think of it literally, your mind will know what it all means. What you will be doing is putting strategies in place to deal with things now and in the future, and gain movement. A skilled hypnotherapist or other change worker, counsellor, CBTherapist or psychologist will help you here quite nicely - go private or ask your GP for a referral.

The maze is a bit of a gift though. It is a metaphor that represents your thought patterns. Find the way out of the maze and lots will clear up.

You used to be a positive person - imagine what it would be like to be that person again now - completely imagine that, continuously imagine that, and imagine that happening automatically...
Gary Turner
Advisor to British Army School of Physical Training, World Champion Elite Sportsman

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... turner.php

User avatar
Adam Eason
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2013 9:16 am
Quote

by Adam Eason on Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:56 pm

Re: Returning low mood

Hello mel,

I am sorry to read about your struggles and wish you the best finding the right way forward with them.

You might like to consider having a look at a couple of my previous posts here that hold some relevancy to your query:

viewtopic.php?f=507&t=5117 and viewtopic.php?f=506&t=5135 and viewtopic.php?f=506&t=5126

What's more, depression and pain (as with depression and sleep disturbance often being co-morbid), especially pain with an emotive component, can be co-morbid. You may therefore be interested in some of the evidence supporting the use of hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis for dealing with pain and enhancing the quality of life. I wrote a couple of articles here with a basic self-hypnosis protocol for helping deal with a pain that may be of interest:

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/bl ... -blocking/

and

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/bl ... aesthesia/

Learning relaxation skills is often overlooked as appearing too obvious, but there is a strong evidence base also supporting the use of relaxation (as well as things like distraction methodologies and cognitive strategies that you'd learn about from some of the sources and recommendations Gary has made here) to help with lessening the impact of pain. Learning to relax properly and regularly often leads to a dissipation of pain as it cannot exist as well in the same body, and the body often responds to pain with tension that sustains it.

So you might also be interested in this technique I wrote about here:

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/bl ... -hypnosis/

Most importantly, I hope you find the right way forward for you. There are some other incredibly valuable contributions here from the other panel members that I think will provide much use too, so do have an explore of the other threads.

best wishes to you, Adam.
Adam Eason
Clinical & Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... _eason.php

Locked
7 posts