Bear Down Wildcats

Chicat wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:14 pm In all seriousness Greg, talk to someone. Sometimes things get better just knowing that someone has heard you.

Yep. The wife talked me into seeing a therapist to help resolve some stress and anxiety stemming from a past toxic job that just wouldn't go away. Yeah, just talking to someone has been a big help. Definitely recommend therapy for anyone.

CatsbyAZ wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 1:07 pm It’s that time of year again: January – my most depressing month. Not to end an otherwise OK 2022 on a bummer, but January arrives like a hangover...

CatsbyAZ wrote: Tue Jan 04, 2022 6:14 pm January through February is consistently my worst time of year for weathering depression. I’m sure it’s seasonal circumstances – cold, dark by 5PM – mixing with the post-Holiday, back-to-work letdown but it’s stark how like seasonal clockwork January becomes a month largely lost to plummeting motivation, inability to write or work effectively...

It’s amazing how consistently I’m afflicted by Post-holiday depression, the same week or two every year, and this year is no exception.

Three years ago to the week, I journaled: "Even in sunny Southern California January is always the bleakest month. Holidays over and done, back to work, dark by 5PM – a natural depression sets in through the first few weeks of each new year."

And five years ago: "The post-New Year's letdown of getting back into a productive routine is such a drag of a hill to scale - got laundry to unload, kitchen counters to clean, three miles to run on treadmill, journaling to catch up on, and it’s all too much."

This time of year amounts to my lengthiest exposure to depression, outside of which I’m largely, thankfully spared. After last November when I finished reading Noonday Demon, Andrew Solomon’s authoritative opus on depression, I ought to have the perspective necessary to realize my own way out of short bouts with depression, but that’s precisely what’s so debilitating about depression. Unlike the aftermath of a fractured arm, where the psyche can detach itself well enough to comprehend a timeline for physical healing, depression is without similar objectivity, sinking its subjects into a despair whose eventual passing can’t be fathomed until it has fully passed.

It’s killing me right now. I need a change of (mental) scenery.

Chicat wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:13 pm It’s killing me right now. I need a change of (mental) scenery.

Same here. Get help if you feel you need it or find a way to break the monotony. I've been think about finding a therapist. For me it's hard being on the receiving end of mental health treatment when I'm usually the provider. It really takes a mental toll.

My two historic therapies .... production and exercise .... don't always work. But in a chance conversation with my brother recently I was reminded that we have reservoirs of liberation unknown. He and I had agreed to split care of our aged parents, so when our mother died, my heavy lifting was diminished, and his began in earnest. He vented about truly frivolous decisions our father makes, the rectification of which depleted "the one life I have." My epiphany: within our duties we are right to care for ourselves primarily. Secure your oxygen mask before helping your loved ones on with theirs. Self-care is not selfish, it's required of love greater than ourselves.

OriginalAZ wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:27 pm

Chicat wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:13 pm It’s killing me right now. I need a change of (mental) scenery.

Same here. Get help if you feel you need it or find a way to break the monotony. I've been think about finding a therapist. For me it's hard being on the receiving end of mental health treatment when I'm usually the provider. It really takes a mental toll.

Unfortunately I live in a mental health desert. Anyone worth a damn practices in Chicago and those who are local have waiting lists for new patients longer than my arm.

I’m reluctant to try telehealth or virtual, but may just have to. I guess it’s better to talk to a disembodied face on a screen than no one. But what my wife found when she tried that is there is a distinct lack of privacy in our home. There’s just no where you can go where you can’t be overheard which makes it very awkward being open and honest. So I’d really rather go to a doc’s office and spill my guts.

Chicat wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2025 5:18 am

OriginalAZ wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:27 pm

Chicat wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:13 pm It’s killing me right now. I need a change of (mental) scenery.

Same here. Get help if you feel you need it or find a way to break the monotony. I've been think about finding a therapist. For me it's hard being on the receiving end of mental health treatment when I'm usually the provider. It really takes a mental toll.

Unfortunately I live in a mental health desert. Anyone worth a damn practices in Chicago and those who are local have waiting lists for new patients longer than my arm.

I’m reluctant to try telehealth or virtual, but may just have to. I guess it’s better to talk to a disembodied face on a screen than no one. But what my wife found when she tried that is there is a distinct lack of privacy in our home. There’s just no where you can go where you can’t be overheard which makes it very awkward being open and honest. So I’d really rather go to a doc’s office and spill my guts.

Another option - if one experiences seasonal-related depression ("SAD"), a brief course of anti-depressants could be effective.

• Some second-generation antidepressants, like bupropion XL, are licensed to treat SAD

• Most good PCP's can responsibly prescribe/monitor these - a psychiatrist would not be necessary

Also, I'd be surprised if there weren't some good therapists/counselors in Gary - as for waiting lists, that's another story...

For example: https://www.therapyden.com/therapists/us/in/gary

I just got back from one of my own forms of therapy, a few days in Baja.

Spent a night under the stars on the Sea of Cortez side and then a few days staying right on the Pacific ocean in south Baja . Slept at night with the door open listening to the waves crash on the rocks and days catching big tuna after spectacular sunrises. Feel great right now.

Hope it lasts.

pc in NM wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2025 8:19 am if one experiences seasonal-related depression ("SAD")

If I don't see the sun daily the clock starts ticking. Same for my wife. Then I have to stop drinking wine because alcohol and stress are baaaad brothers.

Morning walks are non-negotiable. Light boxes would be key outside of the desert southwest.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... t-20048298

I found this message from the Surgeon General to be very good. Maybe it will help someone here

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/surgeon ... 00568.html

After years of reflecting on the stories I have heard, delving into scientific data, and convening researchers, I have come to see there are three essential elements that fuel our fulfillment and well-being: relationships, service, and purpose.

Relationships keep us grounded and bonded to each other. Service, from formal volunteering to informal small acts of kindness, is about helping each other. And purpose gives our life a sense of direction and meaning. Together, these elements form the triad of fulfillment.

Chicat wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2025 5:18 am

OriginalAZ wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:27 pm

Chicat wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:13 pm It’s killing me right now. I need a change of (mental) scenery.

Same here. Get help if you feel you need it or find a way to break the monotony. I've been think about finding a therapist. For me it's hard being on the receiving end of mental health treatment when I'm usually the provider. It really takes a mental toll.

Unfortunately I live in a mental health desert. Anyone worth a damn practices in Chicago and those who are local have waiting lists for new patients longer than my arm.

I’m reluctant to try telehealth or virtual, but may just have to. I guess it’s better to talk to a disembodied face on a screen than no one. But what my wife found when she tried that is there is a distinct lack of privacy in our home. There’s just no where you can go where you can’t be overheard which makes it very awkward being open and honest. So I’d really rather go to a doc’s office and spill my guts.

During the pandemic I was doing telepsych as a side job. It was a national company and had psychiatrists and therapists. It was very convenient for people to see a provider. I was seeing patients in Arizona and Virginia since I have licenses in both states. I got a lot of patients from rural areas in Virginia. I would recommend it as an option if you can't find anyone in person. Also seasonal affective disorder is very real. When I lived in Chicago I would experience it every winter. I noticed a big difference when I would come to visit Arizona in the winter.

Give your kids a big hug and hold them close.

A girl in my oldest son’s grade walked in front of a train overnight Saturday to end her life. She was 14.

Holy crap. Hope your son is ok.

Chicat wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2025 2:55 pm Give your kids a big hug and hold them close.

A girl in my oldest son’s grade walked in front of a train overnight Saturday to end her life. She was 14.

That’s terrible.

Chicat wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2025 2:55 pm Give your kids a big hug and hold them close.

A girl in my oldest son’s grade walked in front of a train overnight Saturday to end her life. She was 14.

Damn Chi! What are you supposed to say after hearing something like that?

I've had to deal with 1 of my son's female friends taking her life 1 week into her Jr year in high school.

As a parent... it is your worst nightmare.

So sorry Justin

It’s just so fucking awful. My heart won’t stop breaking for her family and friends.

This comes on the heels of another boy a grade older accidentally being struck and killed by a train over the summer, so the whole town is just reeling. Our children shouldn’t have to live through so much tragedy. My kids have dealt with their own depressive episodes so I can’t help but be on edge, on a constant lookout for any sign that this has affected them so deeply that it is impacting their own mental health.

I am seriously in a Trump / Musk induced hopeless state of mind right now.

I can't seem to focus on anything right now

Alieberman wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2025 9:57 am I am seriously in a Trump / Musk induced hopeless state of mind right now.

I can't seem to focus on anything right now

The resolution has to be from the ground up. No one on the other side who has a change to undergo can be convinced otherwise. Everyone you would talk to formally already knows what's right, so it's a matter of watching the test tube for catalystic evidence. We're going to run the experiment. Trump is going to defy the Supreme Court.

Alieberman wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2025 9:57 am I am seriously in a Trump / Musk induced hopeless state of mind right now.

I can't seem to focus on anything right now

Been then for 3weeks

Listening to Pod Save America helps, it’s like the radio free Europe of our time.

I am going to try and back away from the news. I talked with my boss at work and she says I'm being negative, that things like this will always happen.

I don't agree with her that what is happening is normal. She doesn't understand what is happening now. However, she did make one point that I do agree with. I can't control what is happening so I shouldn't worry about it. Therefore, I will concentrate on what I can control and let everything else play out. If action is called for, and I know what I should do, I will do my part. But in the meantime live life one day at a time, be prepared (as much as I can), and let life unfold.

If I don't do this, I will drive myself into an early grave from anxiety and fear.

Don't worry, RFK Jr will be cracking down on antidepressants soon

My cynicism saves me. Cynicism and utter pissedoffedness at my compatri-idiot citizen voters who have stuck their dicks in the blender. You can't do anything for people who only learn by suffering.

I'm glad (but also deeply terrified) I have my two small children to distract me 90% of the day with the intricacies of their small and important lives. Giving them a normal and loving childhood keeps me sane right now.

I’m gonna start dusting off a pitchfork soon.

I'm sitting in a dentists office waiting to have the first root canal of my life. Can't hardly wait, I'm so excited.

Make them give you the good drugs.

Chicat wrote: Mon Feb 17, 2025 2:44 pm Make them give you the good drugs.

Thanks man. Hoping for it.

England is trying out … *checks notes . . .

(yep, that’s what it really says) …

STAND-UP COMEDY as an alternative to anti-depression medication.

“Haha, you don’t have trouble maintaining your brain chemistry levels! You just haven’t heard the one about the vicar in the rowboat!”