Thanks

Was just hit with a crossbodyblock from depression recently, like this week, partly stemming from my shyte luck in speed dating, partly attributable to my receding hairline, and partly attributable to more personal things I cannot relate. It's disappointing because this summer is supposed to be the summer I rise above this for a few months and really make things happen...

Might want to supplement with vit.b and vit d in winter
fresh air and a little sunshine
quiet time if you need it to recuperate
exercise and good sleep
eat decent
be careful about self medicating
with booze and what have you
tend to make things worse in long run
journaling helps many

Well another year and I am glad to see this thread pop up.

Post Holiday season is often hard for people with depression .

Unfortunately a lot about the holidays does tend to disrupt the lives of those that struggle with any mental illness.

If the holidays maybe made you skip some care to repurpose your card dollars for holiday gifts or other expenses get the budget pencil out and try to get back on track. A calendar IS your friend. You can go low tech and get just as much savings out of a dollar store paper one so this is not where you hang yourself in expensive electronics. If you schedule as many freebies and use coupons and avoid late payments, and double booking yourself.

Many insurance programs do have special help programs to help cover copays and they can not help until you apply. New insurance year maybe it is time for an annual physical. If you are doing good let your doctor see you well for a point of reference; if not then help yourself out.

Maybe you want to ask your bank to open a Christmas account so next year you have transferred a dollar a deposit and have a reserve so you don't have to chose care or Christmas. If you get a change purse and downsize the drinks or snacks and put those coins in the account it will be fun to see the fund grow.

If you fell out of the routine of seeing your doctor/counselor call up and make and appointment. If you have been journaling over the last year skim for the high points to have some personal notes to bring your care team up to speed.

If you have moved to a new area go to any A.T.&T. phone, dial 311 for some confidential referrals about the resources in your new area. Have pencil and paper ready they give you lots of current program names, addresses, phones, and web sites.

Early in the year is time to sign up for many things but some of the best are actually summer Parks and Recreation programs where you have something positive to look forward to. Most YWCAs also have sliding scale membership to great programs for health and wellness and social interaction.

Start getting your taxes together. The earlier you file the sooner you get your refund. If you are on disability you can get free Expert Tax assistance through senior centers but you need to sign up for and appointment.

Cold dreary days are good time to get some small boxes and go through your stuff to donate to your local charity or sell at thrift shops. While you are at the donation center you are likely to find some great reads for pennies. An EXCELLENT time to add to your personal develop library. Many of the major things like PTSD, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Greif are there to read, take notes, scribble in the margins of your own self help books at pennies on the dollar. Aren't you worth the investment of knowledge?

Not a bad time to tune up your diet and spend a little time warming up for exercise season by stretching and mini home work outs while you watch the tube. Don't have to go over board just make some homemade soups and drink a little extra water so you aren't dehydrated. Clean your furnace filter so you can breathe easier. If you feel dreary you might want to think about getting some light in your environment. Depending what you have available many malls have pre-opening walker groups. Sometimes getting a high intensity light helps but the best thing is to turn the "blue light off" an hour or two before bed and clean up your sleep routine because in winter it is easy to get your days and nights mixed up.

A lot of talk this time of year about resolutions and probably you already cra-ed out on at least one but maybe roughing out a plan for the next year and setting some baby steps on your todo list would help you have a better end of the year.

I will sign off with if you are having some Post Holiday blues because your not so perfect holidays are giving you some serious heart burn don't sweep it under the rug. Yea everyone has a few crummy holiday days but if yours was just too much talk to someone about it. That is weather it was your problem or a pain in the neck family/job issue that is always harder during the holidays. Mental health issues run in families and holidays tend to amplify them. If yours is giving you a hang over getting a game plan and some support is only fair. You can not deal with your illness and everyone else's at the same time. Give yourself the help you need. Learn about their problems but let them own them.

Ok I want to talk about something different. I am not speaking for Doctors but I am going to talk about how you as a person with depression treat your doctors.

I am going to say plural because over the years of coping with depression you are going to run into a bunch of doctors. Some are going to be good, a few will actually be great, most are going to be mediocre, and lets be real some are going to be pretty poor. You might actually bump into the rare criminal.

If you do my sympathy's and I encourage you to report them immediately. Trust your instincts if something sounds wrong or feels wrong then go to a patient advocate and ask for help. There is always a Mental Health Patient Advocate that works totally separate from whatever clinic or health care provider that is Federally mandated to act in your best interest as a person/patient. And they have to respond very quickly. Sometimes with in 24 hours. Faster if they are committing a crime such as assaulting you, threatening you, or sexually molesting you. You are quite likely going to be ask to be examined by a doctor if it is any kind of physical injury but it should cost you nothing.

Generally speaking your doctor should never touch you if there is not a witness present. They should not call you or come to your home without your permission or with out the police. Some doctors do work with patients by phone or online and it can be a viable option if transportation is a hardship. It also can waiver a deductible in some insurances.

You get a Patients Rights Statement and often Guides for patients that if you have them hanging around in your paperwork would be a good thing to familiarize yourself with before something happens. Or ask your care provider for one. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill has excellent printed materials they send for free.

You always have the right to report it to the police. Usually there is a designated and specially trained team but you can call the Public Information officer of the department and ask how your municipality handles it. Try to remain as calm as possible doing so but they are going to probably want to videotape you and repeat your report several times; most like sign a written statement. The reality is if you don't have proof you are probably not going to get very far and for all the hype about medical paydays don't count on it. But there is strength in numbers and even if you can not prove your claim if a pattern emerges then things often result in very severe penalties. Including incarceration. Often revocation of their medical licenses.

My advice is if you get a poor doctor or even one you feel is pretty mediocre then don't over react but start paying attention to why you feel this way, take notes and then start looking for a better doctor.

You have the right to change doctors without saying why.

It will not be particularly helpful to the people who try to watch for patterns that show a doctor may not be doing a great job but it is your choice. Try to be specific why you feel uncomfortable or frustrated; some doctors actually do try to do better when they realize they are not meeting your needs. Even if it means they have to modify or change their approach. Many know their own weaknesses and sense when the fit is bad but the rules say they pretty much have to treat you if there is not some compelling reason not to . Like your request for another doctor. Sometimes it is not the doctor is bad but a bad fit with you. Doesn't mean either of you are wrong just not compatible.

Or maybe having a bad spell. Or even a bad day. Doctors are vulnerable to a lot of influences and exposed to a lot of illness and sometimes are just "sick". You see the doctor but they see probably 10 to 20 people or more a day. They can be ill or over tired or over stressed too. Mental health professionals are susceptible to burn out like any other career. If you have a good doctor that seems suddenly or temporarily "troubled" it may be in your best interest to be honest with them and see if you need to be a patient consumer or even allow a temporary transfer if your needs are going to allow that. Sometimes a temporary new set of eyes actually helps you make progress. Treating Good Doctors with compassion helps you personally with consistency of quality service but also encourages doctors to not leave the field or degrade.

I think it is especially important to recognize the really great doctors and tell them how their care has actually helped you. The greatest teachers of professionals are those patients that catch them being right. Not always do doctors actually know they helped you. If you get better and go away with out telling them what it was they said, or asked, how they interacted with you that worked they may not just feel you were unappreciative they may feel like they failed. If what they did for you worked then chances are it may well help others. It does not have to be something really elegant just a simple Thank You and a hand shake, Maybe a follow up card later telling them Hey I am doing good, or even going up their chain of command or better yet funding. DO NOT KID YOURSSELF mental health services depend heavily on the funding streams and if someone has helped you function better, then it is way easier for them to persuade the powers that be that where the money needs to go. This is particularly true if the care you receive allowed you to care for your family, return to work, and save your life. Every suicide that mental health prevents is a huge win for the mental health dollars.

Since it the seasonal time many of us get the "crud" be a mental health HERO and stay at home where you are not spreading your physical illness to others. You are not going to get nearly as much out of treatment if you are sick than you will if you can wait and it is a really good way to make your doctor your ally if you do NOT infect him with your "germs". Also if you are in clinic setting be smart about making as minimal a contact as possible. Was your hands and try for as little contact as possible.

I am going to shift gears a little and talk about how you actually treat your doctor. You may be having acute symptoms but remembering they did not cause your symptoms is a good starting place. You can be mad as hornets but you don't want to blast the anger at your doctor. And even if you are depressed at leas t clean up enough to be bearable to be around. Even if you have to admit it is the first time you have done so in days. If you do then you are more than likely get over medicated or have big problems getting seen.

When yo go to the doctor you don't want to lie. Tell them where you are at, why if you know, and be as honest as you can be what you are really doing to take part in your treatment plan. DO not become "well" to please them, but don't stay sick because you just like hanging out in their care. They are your doctor not your buddy.

Hope this is food for thought.