My double life: Mental illness in the health care

I was 13 years old when I first had thoughts related to suicide. While my thoughts never really included calculated ways of ending my life, I remember such a profoundly overwhelming desire to be anesthetized to all of my emotions and worries. In the medical field, that kind of thinking is classified under the label of “suicidal ideation,” which is often accompanied by other diagnoses of mental illness. I have carried the diagnosis of major depressive disorder since I was 11 years old. My family noticed something was wrong well before I was actually diagnosed, and after a few years of going to therapy and not improving, I was taken to a doctor and started on medication. I have been on medication ever since that day, and I know for a fact that those seemingly insignificant prescriptions allowed the family to function again; it gave me my life back, and in doing so, it gave the life back to those in my family. Like any chronic medical condition, major depression requires you to go to monthly follow-up appointments with physicians. It requires adjustments to doses and even changes in types of medications depending on how you are feeling and managing your symptoms. It can even require weekly therapy. However — perhaps most importantly — it requires you to understand and acknowledge when you are having a “flare” and need help. Flares can present themselves with either increasing and ongoing sadness or feelings of worthlessness, significant irritability or tearfu...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Conditions Psychiatry Source Type: blogs