Comics and Depression!

[1Cool]

First off - thanks for letting me vent on these boards more than my participation in other threads warrants but the boards are pretty much made up of some of the best people I have encountered.

 

That being said - I want to relay my experience where comic books helped set me down a new path. I've always enjoyed reading and collecting comics since I was about 12 and have wavered in my collection but have always enjoyed a stack of comics on a sunday afternoon. However, I noticed that my reading got less and less over the last couple years during a tramatic divorce which I dismissed due to being stressed or overly busy. This did not bother me so much but I also noticed about the same time I started having heart palpitations and feeling weak/dizzy while at work which prompted me to go see the doctor and have them test me every which way for about 3 months and finally did a stress test and full blood test - of which they all came back showing I was 100% healthy.

 

Quite frankly - I did not believe them. I'm 39 years old and people die all the time from health issues. I started getting afraid of walking up steps since it made me dizzy and I started checking out every ailment on the net like it was my job. The doctors referred me to a councellor and she kept telling me I may be depressed and if the doctors could not find anything then it must be anxiety/stress causing the issue. I could not understand how my mind could be poisoning my body so I fought this idea for a few months while bemoaning the countless side-effects of the pills they had me taking.

 

About a month ago - all that changed. I made an effort to go to the library and get a stack of comics to read while I relaxed one weekend and I could not read one issue. They contained no joy to me. The stories seemed stupid and mildly annoying. I closed the book and thought about what else I had stopped liking - golf seemed like too much work, going out seemed ripe for a panic attack, playing with my daughter seemed boring. I went back to the library and got a great book called When Panic Attacks by David Burns and started reading about all the issues I was dealing with. After a few chapter - it all became clear that I truely was depressed and all my issues were just "fake" fears I had invented.

 

Over the last couple weeks, I have gotten on some good anti-depressant medication (which will take a while to fully work) and have started yogo/meditation along with weekly councelling. I don't know if I can actually credit my love for comics for starting a healing path but I am greatfull for whatever has helped me start feeling happy and healthy again. Hopefully I will be reading my comics again and enjoying them as much as always - one day at a time.

 

Thanks for reading and I hope each and every one of you have a good day! Feel free to use this thread to express your thoughts on this topic and how comics may have helped you through a tough time.

[PokerKid]

Comics and beer, they'll fix anything.

 

It sounds like you were very proactive in seeking out your ailment, which is great. I hope the medicine continues to work as it should and you continue to get better and enjoy comics and many other aspects of life as you once did.

[mikenyc]

It's great to hear that you had the courage to admit to yourself you had problem and then actually follow through with a solution.

 

Good luck and all the best wishes

 

P.s. Try reading "Chew", pretty awesome.

[mikenyc]

Comics and beer, they'll fix anything.

 

Amen! Throw in a ho ho every now and then, and you've solved life's mysteries!

[seanfingh]

 

I am glad that you are on the road to enjoying life again. Take care,

 

--S.

[1Cool]

After re-reading my post - I'm just glad I did not assume all new books are mildly annoying and lacking joy and kept right along Chew was good and I always enjoyed Fables, Walking Dead and Y. I've been trying to get into Hulk and Thor lately but nothing has grabbed my attention.

[Wally's Comics]

I wish you well on your recovery.

 

I have a possible chemical imbalance but I have never got checked out because

I feel I overly medicated as it is.

 

I often go for a walk in park and see what there is to see.

 

Taking in a breath of fresh clean air, focusing at the river rolling off the rocks,

watching the clouds and most of all looking at my boy that I decided to bring into this world.

 

It is easy at times in life to see a glass that is half empty because we live in a world full of uncertainty,

but I try to kick the negative things and be happy with what I got and what I have in my life.

 

 

 

[TupennyConan]

Comics

 

Best wishes with your health!

[passion4comics]

PTSD and comics ARE more therapeutic than the meds! Go figure.

 

Get better!

[mikenyc]

Wow, you guys are all *spooned* up

[the blob]

clinical depression will sap the joy out of most activities. while i do not have great faith in mental health professionals (in part because there is so much disagreement within the field as to how to treat various conditions/symptoms), it is always worth hearing what one or two have to say, particularly if they come recommended by someone they have helped. this is not coming from experience, though there are certainly times i wouldn't have minded sitting down with a therapist over the years, i'm not into laying out money to talk to someone for 50 minutes.

[Wally's Comics]

Here is one of my favorite songs from a great concert that I like to

listen to just for the lyrics and meaning alone...

 

 

 

 

 

[1Cool]

clinical depression will sap the joy out of most activities. while i do not have great faith in mental health professionals (in part because there is so much disagreement within the field as to how to treat various conditions/symptoms), it is always worth hearing what one or two have to say, particularly if they come recommended by someone they have helped. this is not coming from experience, though there are certainly times i wouldn't have minded sitting down with a therapist over the years, i'm not into laying out money to talk to someone for 50 minutes.

 

I would have to agree to some extent. I'm actually learning a TON more from reading some good books and doing some of the excercises on my own (ie going to the gym and working through a panic attack - scary stuff) than I am getting from the councellor. I do enjoy hearing a different perspective but I'll probably taper off the councelling once I get on track. A good phyciatrist is very important since they know what meds will help what issues and know when to taper you off the drugs. I'm actually right now listening to some heavy rock music that has been too intense for me lately and enjoying the freedom.

[Senormac]

Its hard to sometimes realise we need to ask others for help, but thats just the way it is. God created us to interact with each other and be social creatures. Its not all about money .... good councelors are worth every penny, and should help you get to the place where you don't need them anymore. Same with anti-depressants. They can and will help you move into new areas of life where you don't need them anymore. I can't think of anything that can devastate a life as much as a divorce...... especially when kids are involved. Its not always easy to get past. Take heart engineer...... sounds like you are on the right path.

 

 

[the blob]

clinical depression will sap the joy out of most activities. while i do not have great faith in mental health professionals (in part because there is so much disagreement within the field as to how to treat various conditions/symptoms), it is always worth hearing what one or two have to say, particularly if they come recommended by someone they have helped. this is not coming from experience, though there are certainly times i wouldn't have minded sitting down with a therapist over the years, i'm not into laying out money to talk to someone for 50 minutes.

 

I would have to agree to some extent. I'm actually learning a TON more from reading some good books and doing some of the excercises on my own (ie going to the gym and working through a panic attack - scary stuff) than I am getting from the councellor. I do enjoy hearing a different perspective but I'll probably taper off the councelling once I get on track. A good phyciatrist is very important since they know what meds will help what issues and know when to taper you off the drugs. I'm actually right now listening to some heavy rock music that has been too intense for me lately and enjoying the freedom.

 

yeah, i'm using therapist/psychiatrist interchangeably and that's inccurate as the therapist or psychologist usually can't prescribe, which is a biggie, and i don't know how much therapy psychiatrists give (though i thought some did).

[Snake Eyes]

 

Word of warning...biased post ahead

 

As a boardie, I want to congratulate you on finding the courage to acknowledge the problem, seek out resources, and take steps to help alleviate your difficulties. These are all incredibly difficult steps to take individually, and to truly walk such a path is more difficult than most know.

 

As a psychologist, and speaking much more generally, it still dismays me that in this era there is still so much stigma placed upon mental illness and difficulty in admitting such symptoms in order to seek care. Mental health is really not that different from physical health (in fact the boardie that mentioned chemical imbalance is correct in that we increasingly find genetic predispositions for mental illnesses, structural differences in the brain, and neurotransmitter imbalances that account for many symptoms). Small analogy...if we had high blood pressure or the flu, most folks would readily admit this and seek care...not so much with periods of hopelessness, panic attacks, or perceptual oddities/distortions

 

There are many that have no great love or trust for folks working in my field. Believe me, I understand this and take no personal offense. But to argue that because doctors differ in opinion or suggested treatment regimen means that such care should not be sought is a treacherous path to take. For example, see a physician sometime with migraines or back pain...there will often be many opinions as to why you are symptomatic. The key is to be honest with yourself and if a particular plan of care is not working...seek out an alternative. Just like there are many medicines to control blood pressure, there are also many antidepressants and anxiolytics. Many times when I have seen patients fail to improve, it is because they fail to see gains in the first line of treatment and assume that everything is guesswork and they are wasting their time.

 

On a more conversational level (and bringing it back around from my rant to the topic at hand)...this thread really serves as some good preventative medicine. Depression really is quite insidious sometimes...creeping up on us by degrees until one day you notice all the pleasure is gone. If you find yourself losing pleasure in previously enjoyable things, this does not mean you have depression. But it certainly can be a warning sign...take a moment to do a personal accounting of other changes you might have been experiencing (appetite and energy level fluctuations, avoiding social contact, sleeplessness, etc., etc.) and decide if seeking assistance/advice might be helpful.

 

My two cents,

SE

[mikenyc]

[trip74-migration]

Sorry to hear you're having a hard time but glad to see you're learning how to deal with it. Hope you improve and relearn how to enjoy life again.

 

My wife had depression issues and basic anti-depression drugs helped some, but not great. She then found it she has a thyroid problem. The thyroid medication helped this out and worked far far better than anti-depression meds and she's doing great now.

[seank]

 

Two people now on ignore.

[JuliusSeizure]

Here is one of my favorite songs from a great concert that I like to

listen to just for the lyrics and meaning alone...

 

 

 

 

 

That entire album (The Division Bell) is an amazing anodyne. Right now, actually, a stack of comics, a ballgame on the radio, and a bucket of fried chicken would be a little slice of heaven.

 

Engineer, glad things are getting better!