Help !!!!!

[Speicher]

You have hopefully read all the posts so far, and realised that people are not going to "fall out with you".

In 2002 I started to get depressed. I was given advice by well-meaning friends and family, unfortunately they did not like it when I did not feel able to take their advice. One of the classics was "set your alarm for six o'clock in the morning and go to the gym". Very few people seemed to be able to begin to understand how I felt. My sister in law seemed to think she could solve my problems single-handedly over a cup of tea. That she was a very small part of a very complex set of problems, never occured to her. After an abysmal 2003 and an even worse 2004, I reached "rock bottom".

I only began to understand what was happening when I read a book.
"Depression: the way out of your prison" by Dorothy Rowe. (The third Edition). She writes in a way that is easy to follow. In my case when my brain was so over-loaded and foggy, and my concentration was very bad indeed.

I would like to suggest you read this book. You may be able to borrow it from the library, or it is available on the internet. If you cannot find it, and think you might like to read it, send me a message and I will lend you my copy.

I have just "finished" receiving counselling, after seeing an excellent counsellor on average once every two or three weeks, for four years.
It is difficult to know what to say to you, because I know what it can be like to hear all this advice and still not have much of a clue as to how to start to take the small steps that will begin to lead to some improvement.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

Reactive depression is usually a reaction to an event, endogenous depression can just happen though. It has no link to a cause, it just washes over you and you disappear into the morass of despair so many people have spoken of.

Thats me fecked then !!!!
(Their are under lying reasons for the way I feel, that happened years ago that, although I know (?) you all, i don't really want to go into.)
and I'm gonna start boring yez if I carry on !!

 

[bonj2]

I don't know how lowly old me could ever hope to know about such matters, but if you are a drinker and you want to quit, then one solution which may or may not work is to apply maths/science to it. If you now drink , x beers a week, then measure x, and make sure you keep it constant, then in 2 weeks reduce it to x-1, then in another 2 weeks, x-2, etc.
It's how rugby players and body builders work. They don't just eat as much bodybuilding powder and red meat as possible then go and power on loads of weights at the gym, they measure everything as an exact science.
Know what you mean (well, think I do) about topping up though. I only get it when I'm in on my own and I have a little whisky. I just, for some reason, cannot stand the sight of a glass with about a millimetre up it left. None left, fine. Centimetre left, fine. Millimetre left - can't stand it, have to top it up. So I have to put the bottle next to me on the table - and it probably results in me drinking less overall. Total psychological illogicality, but there you go.

My problem is that I dont seem to have a problem

I sometimes have a problem with that problem aswell

Wow Buggi, ..'the only place you can't cry is on the bike'. Makes me want to cry!

I had a ride the other day when I had chronic sniffing disorder - basically I didn't have any tissues and I couldn't physically sniff hard enough. If that counts?

 

[buggi]

Thats me fecked then !!!!
(Their are under lying reasons for the way I feel, that happened years ago that, although I know (?) you all, i don't really want to go into.)
and I'm gonna start boring yez if I carry on !!

then you have reactive depression. so that's another step closer to working out what to do.

if you haven't already, you need to tell the doc what the underlying reasons are, so they can put you on the right track.

 

[ash68]

think the replies show you have lots of friends on this forum Elmer, I join in the well wishes and hope you can overcome your problems. There's always plenty of people ready to read your posts and reply to them. Keep your chin up mate, we want you fit and well in the years ahead.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Have you tried to put yourself in a situation where you can't have a drink? For example, if you go out for a mountain walk, there're not many places where you can get a drink.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

chin up elmer. i know real depression is a lot deeper than wearing black and listening to the smiths (otherwise i would be depressed too). all i can offer is my support and (as a psychology graduate), a modicum of understanding.

sometimes life can seem shite regardless. robbie williams is "rich beyond my wildest dreams" but still suffers from depression.

mind you, i'm pissed off that take that reformed too

 

[Terminator]

I know the feeling EF.

The booze doesn't help me either.Im thinking of going on the wagon from 31/12/2007 for a year to see how it goes.I haven't had a drink for a few days and I dont feel too bad.

 

[Terminator]

(Honest answer time) and this may make a few of you fall out with me, but what the heck.....
DRINK !

I am officially classed as alcohol dependant, not alcoholic as I can wait for my 1st drink until a reasonable time (say anywhere between 12 'n 2).

Now I've confessed I feel a bit better but feel that amongst all you health freaks I'm in the wrong place.

N.B. I still love me bike tho'

This has been going on for the last 3 or 4 years.

Ask her indoors, she swears I pay more attention to it than her ! (mind the bike was a lot cheaper !!)

That would never make me fall out with you.I understand the problem perfectly.

About 10 years ago I had a real problem with cycling.I was cycling but could hardly breath.I had picked up Bronchitis after cancer treatment.I still smoked after said treatment at Barts.On 31/12/1999 I gave up cigarettes and havent smoked one since.It was either cigs or cycling I had to give up so you can guess which I chose.

Now with boozing hopefully I can do the same.I want to try it.

 

[buggi]

it surprises me actually how many people i know who i would class as alcoholics. eg. some secretaries that i work with can't calm down after a day at work without having a bottle of wine! a lot of my friends often hit a bottle of wine if they've had a bad day/relationship break up etc. i never have. one girl i knew who was told by her personal trainer to not have a drink for a week nearly had a nervous breakdown at the mere thought of it.

i sometimes wonder if its the unitentional fault of parents? my parents never had alcohol in the house when i was growing up (not bcoz they are square but because they were broke LOL), thus i never bother to pick a bottle up unless its for a special occasion. i never drink at home, it never occurs to me, the only place i drink is in the pub or at a restuarant. my friends though, have been brought up with alcohol in the house. i sometimes wonder if this is the reason i've never hit the bottle, because believe me i've been depressed enuf times in my life to do it! mostly i retreat to my bed if its that bad.

(i have, however, gorged myself on chocolate)

eg. absolutely gutted i split with fella. spent at least four weeks in tears and the next four weeks managing to control my tears, felt like the walls were caving in... yet there is still an unopened bottle of wine sitting in my fridge left over from the girls night in we had 3 months ago.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

mind you, i'm pissed off that take that reformed too

Now that is depressing !!

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

you probably already know that ad pills and booze do not a happy combination make. The highs and lows are accentuated, like a rollercoaster.

after all the years like this I know what it is like...I cant explain where I am right now, but something in my head just snapped...I got out of my room where i had lain for several years and got on my old mtb...I kind of did a forest gump, well that is what my friends told me...just started pedalling and havent stopped. Weird. But the pain on the bike forced me to realize that I wanted to be healthy so i could ride...I wanted to get better.

my advice mate fwiw is to ride ride and keep riding...your body wont let you abuse it with booze under those circumstances. Also whatever happened in the past needs to out...so let it.

Anyway, i wish you well.

 

[buggi]

maybe we should all just accept that life is a fecking bitch and there's feck all you can do about it....

... and then have a party.

anyone for a beer???

actually, i think a few cyclists as my place have the got the right idea. they do a pub crawl in the summer. it's an afternoon thing, you book off the afternoon and cycle to the nearest pub... stay there for an hour... cycle 10 mins down road to next pub... stay for an hour and so on and so on. they've kind of got it licked ain't they. cycling and beer. what a great mix. and yes, i think they do cycle back pisht.

 

[bonj2]

maybe we should all just accept that life is a fecking bitch and there's feck all you can do about it....

... and then have a party.

anyone for a beer???

actually, i think a few cyclists as my place have the got the right idea. they do a pub crawl in the summer. it's an afternoon thing, you book off the afternoon and cycle to the nearest pub... stay there for an hour... cycle 10 mins down road to next pub... stay for an hour and so on and so on. they've kind of got it licked ain't they. cycling and beer. what a great mix. and yes, i think they do cycle back pisht.

I think that's a great idea. I think all companies should do that every day week, the government should introduce it.

 

[buggi]

I think that's a great idea. I think all companies should do that every day week, the government should introduce it.

yea, it could be the Cycle to work Pub scheme.