Depression, Anxiety, or other Mental Health Conditions

Minoru wrote:Does anyone here have experience trying for a private prescription for cannabis? I looked into it in the past for anxiety and depression and decided it wasn't worth the hassle, but mental health services said they wouldn't offer me therapy (or anything else, lmao) because I self medicate for my physical health issues and it's made me think it might be time to jump through the hoops.

I'm pretty confident I'd be eligible for my physical health issues if not the mental health ones, it's just the process sounds like a pain in the arse and I wondered if anyone here might have insight into it.

My experience 5/6 years ago was that it's virtually impossible. I tried getting some for crohn's disease and the Dr agreed it works really well but said they were only prescribing for a few very narrow conditions (e.g. MS). Unless things have changed massively since, I'd be very surprised if you could get it for your physical or mental issues. Unless you have MS...

Obvious question but do you not know anyone who smokes? Cooking it in Nutella and eating a set amount a day is a very cheap way to maximise the use of it for a reasonably low cost, unless you're eating tonnes. At which point it probably would be worse for anxiety/depression than sobriety.

Rocsteady wrote:My experience 5/6 years ago was that it's virtually impossible. I tried getting some for crohn's disease and the Dr agreed it works really well but said they were only prescribing for a few very narrow conditions (e.g. MS). Unless things have changed massively since, I'd be very surprised if you could get it for your physical or mental issues. Unless you have MS...

Obvious question but do you not know anyone who smokes? Cooking it in Nutella and eating a set amount a day is a very cheap way to maximise the use of it for a reasonably low cost, unless you're eating tonnes. At which point it probably would be worse for anxiety/depression than sobriety.

Things are definitely different if you go private. As far as I can tell it's, like you say, basically impossible to get on the NHS, but there are a number of conditions you can get it for privately (I looked into some clinics and most list crohn's and anxiety and depression as possible conditions you may get approved for, so I'm tripple threat there), you just have to be willing and able to fork out for it. It looks like it's a lot cheaper than it used to be, so it's possibly something I could budget for.

I'm not much of a smoker but do already self medicate with dosed gummies that are legit in other parts of the world. I'm pretty responsibile about how I use it, it would just be good to have the legitimacy. I probably wouldn't bother but life has gooseberry fool on me a lot lately and I'd like to give it the fewest possible opportunities to cause me grief.

Also, wow, hi, a fellow crohn's sufferer! It's all still pretty new me, I was hospitalised and diagnosed in May but been suffering undiagnosed for years.

I use CBD, if you are anxious about use in public or just talking about it etc you can at least get some of the calming effect from a good quality oil which is technically a "food supplement" as per ASA rules. Mine includes terpenes and CBDA that are sometimes removed, it's still nothing compared to the full suite of cannabinoids and THC etc from actual Marijuana but it does help me. Pricey for what it is, tbh you could probably get more proper weed budgeting £30 odd quid a month and save it for really bad days but obviously it's probably quite tempting to just get high every time you suffer stress and then it's gone and forms a habit quickly (speaking as someone who had every other friend piping weed virtually 24/7 at school and college but somehow managed to completely abstain save for the odd occasion later in life). Weed is good for stress but it's not particularly helpful for getting anything done. When you have a fixed amount of something that is limited in its ability to get you high (which kind of removes the temptation) that costs a certain amount of money instead of fluctuating randomly depending on the mood of the dealer or how much they're fleecing you for or how much work they have to put in burying the bodies etc I find that way less complicated. It can actually be pretty psychoactive (it is, it just doesn't get you ROFLOLOL), I had tunnel vision and mega focus walking down the street a day I had a CBD infused bar (quite a lot in it, during a tough period moving house my mum bought me about 4 boxes worth lol), which helps me not get overwhelmed. I've run out of those now, you can try looking at "almost out of date" food websites for them.

Another anecdote about "off books" medication that isn't technically medication, then. To be fair I'm not entirely sure why it can't be classed as nutrition anyway if there are beneficial affects for the mind and body owing to nutrients inherent in a foodstuff, we're pretty preoccupied around medicating in this part of the world, generally just excepting our bodies to miraculously function perfectly regardless of what we put in them. But that's about as "alternative" I get about these things, I'm not curing cancer (I don't have cancer) by poking my feet or meditating or sticking needles in my eyebrows or whatever. I meditate to manage my anxiety but it won't stop my teeth falling out if I'm over 60 and I don't brush (my aunt believes this) or get enough vitamin C/D/E.

Minoru wrote:Also, wow, hi, a fellow crohn's sufferer! It's all still pretty new me, I was hospitalised and diagnosed in May but been suffering undiagnosed for years.

Sup sup. I've had it about a decade now. They tried a ton of medication on me but for a long time only weed worked. MMF works really well for me though so could be worth a shout on the NHS. That's kept me feeling fine the last few years.

I know those gummies you mean too, they're ace. CBD actually worked quite well for me. I had to stop eating so much weed as I got more stressful work since it made my brain too slow/foggy.

Thanks both. I actually tried CBD first and found it helped a little, but I needed a high dose for it to do much of anything. It didn't really make sense to take a very high (and thus expensive) dose of CBD over something with TCH which works much better. Looking into the private prescription route, it looks like somewhere between £100-300 a month is the going rate. Which, yeah, that's a lot more than it's costing me now, but I'd essentially be paying for the medical legitimacy. It's just a matter of trying to decide of that's worth it and if it's going to be financially sustainable.

Rocsteady wrote:Sup sup. I've had it about a decade now. They tried a ton of medication on me but for a long time only weed worked. MMF works really well for me though so could be worth a shout on the NHS. That's kept me feeling fine the last few years.

It's all still pretty new to me, so 2021 has been a barrage of tests mostly, but they're going to get me started on inflixamab and azathioprine in the coming weeks. I am somewhere between dreading the potential side effects and hopefully for some improvement.

Aye I tried both those years back. Didn't work for me but hopefully you'll have better luck!

Does anyone have any experience with overcoming feelings of just sort of ennui/emptiness?

I've been struggling more recently and I've crashed through a lot of my usual coping mechanisms for my bouts of depression. I think I've really just got better at hiding my problems from those around me rather than being better able to cope. It feels too easy to exist and do the bare minimum that there's a pointlessness to doing anything more than keeping up appearances for the sake of those around me but when I'm alone I just feel totally unmotivated and empty.

I know a lot of people who post here have been in far worse situations but I don't feel I can voice a lot of my thoughts to those around me without them jumping to certain conclusions.

All I can say now is I'm suffering a similar kind of depression at the moment, after an extremely difficult late summer involving two consecutive viruses (norovirus and coronavirus) despite almost never catching colds, being served notice on my home in between those, then moving, my mother recovering from cancer, my only pet dying, horrible abuse from two old friends being a smack in the face when it should have been a positive experience after 2 years of close to total isolation, and more. Things are settling and I should be ready to run with what I have but... I'm just not doing that. I felt lifted after speaking to my PA who is pretty positive and encouraging, and he slowly discovering how capable I am but rarely exercise it (namely creatively), so the best I can advise is trying to find someone who can help you talk about the future and setting goals. Like, I haven't celebrated my birthday properly in over 10 years and we are talking about booking a pub out 4 months in advance, and putting on a concert and an exhibition for.. Myself. Which is totally something I can do but have never really thought about celebrating myself like that and thinking, strawberry float you if I don't deserve that.

Nun wrote:Does anyone have any experience with overcoming feelings of just sort of ennui/emptiness?

I've been struggling more recently and I've crashed through a lot of my usual coping mechanisms for my bouts of depression. I think I've really just got better at hiding my problems from those around me rather than being better able to cope. It feels too easy to exist and do the bare minimum that there's a pointlessness to doing anything more than keeping up appearances for the sake of those around me but when I'm alone I just feel totally unmotivated and empty.

I struggle with this a lot and sometimes there's not much to be done about it. It usually eases a bit with time (I know that's super unhelpful though, sorry). Sometimes it helps me to pick something I'd usually get some enjoyment out of when feeling a bit better and force myself to see it through. I find making an appointment (even if its just with yourself) can be really helpful.

I know a lot of people who post here have been in far worse situations but I don't feel I can voice a lot of my thoughts to those around me without them jumping to certain conclusions.

Struggling is struggling, it doesn't matter who "has it worse", we all deserve support and space to talk.

Nun wrote:Does anyone have any experience with overcoming feelings of just sort of ennui/emptiness?

I've been struggling more recently and I've crashed through a lot of my usual coping mechanisms for my bouts of depression. I think I've really just got better at hiding my problems from those around me rather than being better able to cope. It feels too easy to exist and do the bare minimum that there's a pointlessness to doing anything more than keeping up appearances for the sake of those around me but when I'm alone I just feel totally unmotivated and empty.

I know a lot of people who post here have been in far worse situations but I don't feel I can voice a lot of my thoughts to those around me without them jumping to certain conclusions.

I also feel somewhat empty a lot of the time. I don't think I've figured out how to overcome it it just comes and goes. Some days it's worse than others, but some days if I can somehow keep myself occupied I forget about it and feel a bit better. Issue is I started relying a lot on other people to help me feel less empty by making me feel like I was wanted, but then when I have days where I can't get that from others it just makes it worse overall.

So I guess I'm just kinda posting this here in case someone has gones through something similar

But last Sunday I was meant to meet my only proper friends haven't seen her in two years.

She's was traveling for work and it happened to be kind of near me so I was going to pop down and meet her while she was selling stuff.

So I get there, get pissed off at the ticket machine because you have to set up a strawberry floating account unless you have cash and then decided to just go home.

Then when I get home I just sit and cry in the car for 4 hours.

Now I realised this makes me sound like a complete lunatic out of context, but I think what happened was that I was scared of opening up around her because most of the time I don't engage that friendly/social part of my brain because I literally just can't with how little I see an actual friend, it would destroy me.

And it's not an easy thing to just bury your emotions again, so I think my brain kind of panicked in case I wasn't going to see her for another god knows how long and told me to run.

But jeez imaging being so strawberry floating lonely that you react that way when going to meet a friend, actually ridiculous.

I wasn't sure where to post this, but given that it's giving me quite a bit of anxiety and it's a rather serious topic this seemed the best place...

Basically my girlfriend has gotten quite close with my 5 year old niece and so yesterday told me that while they were watching some Kids YouTube together my niece had said to her "Either her cousin or friend had taken a TikTok of her (my niece's) private parts"

So....yeah, that's a discussion I get to have with my Brother later today.
I'm just really really hoping my niece is misunderstanding or mis-telling the whole situation and it's not exactly what it sounds like.


Edit - Well my brother and niece came round unexpectedly so that was rather good timing.
A gentle discussion with my niece and she has said that her saying that was "Just a prank", though obviously we can't be 100% sure. She has been (gently) told that she can't say things like this as a prank as it will result in getting people into trouble, but also that if something like this does happen she absolutely needs to tell someone about it and that she will absolutely not be in trouble.

I suspect my brother will be having a discussion with the cousin and her parents though to try and just get that confirmation that nothing like this did actually happen.

After 18 months I've spoken to my Doctor (the aptly named Dr Jesus) and am beginning the process of coming off my anti-depressants

Lagamorph wrote:After 18 months I've spoken to my Doctor (the aptly named Dr Jesus) and am beginning the process of coming off my anti-depressants

Hey, nice one

On another positive note I've been feeling amazing this past week, not sure why but I hope I can keep feeling like this.

I logged onto facebook and my ex (who was mentally ill and emotionally abusive as a result) had changed her profile picture on an old comment of hers on my page. She looked really happy and I think in a way it gave me some sort of closure.

Lagamorph wrote:After 18 months I've spoken to my Doctor (the aptly named Dr Jesus) and am beginning the process of coming off my anti-depressants

Good stuff!

Lagamorph wrote:After 18 months I've spoken to my Doctor (the aptly named Dr Jesus) and am beginning the process of coming off my anti-depressants

Good to hear, the doc will likely make sure it's done gradually though as suddenly stopping meds can lead to withdrawl symptoms.

I've been on and off meds now for roughly 18 years, as my issues are pretty chronic now and i seem to get flare ups at least a couple of times a year (depending on circumstances).

Vermilion wrote:

Lagamorph wrote:After 18 months I've spoken to my Doctor (the aptly named Dr Jesus) and am beginning the process of coming off my anti-depressants

Good to hear, the doc will likely make sure it's done gradually though as suddenly stopping meds can lead to withdrawl symptoms.

I've been on and off meds now for roughly 18 years, as my issues are pretty chronic now and i seem to get flare ups at least a couple of times a year (depending on circumstances).

The doctor did say that because I was on a relatively low dosage I likely wouldn't face any issues just stopping, but recommended 2-3 weeks of taking half a pill per day to make it more gradual. After that I'll probably take half a pill every other day for a week or two as well before stopping altogether.

I just got a 2 month prescription at the start of last week, so have plenty if I need to resume taking it.

Not sure if people here know this but obviously health care is not free in every country... One place it is not free is Canada but there is a phone provider there called Bell and Today January 26th, is Bell Let’s Talk Day. For every tweet using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag, Bell Canada donates $0.05 to mental health initiatives and the same amount will be donated when the #BellLetsTalk hashtag is retweeted, or used on TikTok. Yeah 0.05 might be peanuts but not if its don't loads, If your on twitter or TikTok why not hashtag it and maybe it will go towards helping someone.

This is quite a specific question that I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar.

I'm currently under a fair bit of pressure at work at the minute - new(ish) role, high workload. The world will keep on moving if I don't get my tasks complete though, if you know what I mean. Anyways, over the past few weeks I have found that when I become too overwhelmed with work I essentially give up on what I should be doing and procrastinate instead. In those situation (one that I'm in right now) I know I have a lot of work to do, but it's almost as if procrastinating - or doing something else entirely - is my brain's coping mechanism.

This is different to procrastinating on projects back in University since there isn't really one big looming deadline. It's almost as if my brain is going:



Then once I've done something else for a while, I'll get back to it.

The above is not something I've come across before, but I have noticed my attention span in general is suffering recently. So I'm wondering if it could be a symptom of depression or anxiety? I don't have prolonged depressive episodes, but I can move in and out of those episodes quite quickly. Since they don't persist I've never really reached out to the Doc for help. This particular 'symptom' (if it is one) could cause bother in the long-term though so I just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced anything similar?