Saturday, January 4, 2020
You are not alone!
This entry will not have anything to do on a subject about mental illness and drug addiction but taking a stand and showing everyone who suffers from mental illness that they are not alone. A lot of us suffer from these terrible illnesses but don't want to admit it. Just cause you are following my blog doesn't mean you have a mental illness or drug addiction but you want to be informed on the subject. You may know someone who suffers from this and reading this blog can help you understand what they go through. I'm just trying to inform people about these illnesses since not a lot of people know about it. I am who I am and am not ashamed about it. Going through all of this has made me a stronger and smarter person. So feel free to click the follow button and show everyone who suffers from these illnesses are not alone!
How to pick the right therapist.
A counselor once told me taking only the medication won't help you all the way that you also have to be seeing a therapist as well as taking the medication.
Trying to find the right therapist is very challenging. You want to find someone you are compatible with and can open up to and trust. While doing this you could be spending a lot of money in the process. Some advice I can give you is to try to check out www.psychologytoday.com. Now before I go any further I am not getting paid by them for you using their services. This is just the site I use to find therapist for different situations.
When you go to this site you can filter out a therapist by your insurance, location, male of female, age and what you are going through such as trauma or depression. One tip I can give you before you schedule an appointment is see if they offer sample consultations. Sample consultations is where you can talk to the therapist before you actually see them. You can normally do this over the phone and it's normally 15 minutes to an hour. I am not completely confident if its free but it should be cheaper than actually making an appointment. So when you call to schedule an appointment ask if they do sample consultations. That a way you won't be wasting your time and money on someone you may only see once or twice.
Don't be discouraged if the first session doesn't go as you expect it to go it sometimes takes multiple sessions to see if you mesh well with them.
In my opinion if you are the one doing most of the talking you probably should find someone else. You want someone who gives you input on your situations. It also helps to find someone who goes through the same situations as well but I know that can be hard to find in one try.
Make sure you are comfortable with them and are able to open up about everything. Not just surface level stuff.
Going through therapy you're going to be talking about a lot of things that may be hard to talk about. If you are not in a safe mind space when you leave I would bring that up to them. They can give you some helpful coping skills to use to deal with the depression or anxiety.
Your situation isn't going to get better over night some people do therapy for years.
Also a funny fact I found out that some therapist have their own therapist they see themselves.
If you find what I have to say informative make sure to follow me. If you are viewing this from your phone scroll to the bottom of the page and click "view web version" then you will be able to follow me without logging onto your computer.
I'll be putting out another blog tomorrow. Until then have a good night!
Trying to find the right therapist is very challenging. You want to find someone you are compatible with and can open up to and trust. While doing this you could be spending a lot of money in the process. Some advice I can give you is to try to check out www.psychologytoday.com. Now before I go any further I am not getting paid by them for you using their services. This is just the site I use to find therapist for different situations.
When you go to this site you can filter out a therapist by your insurance, location, male of female, age and what you are going through such as trauma or depression. One tip I can give you before you schedule an appointment is see if they offer sample consultations. Sample consultations is where you can talk to the therapist before you actually see them. You can normally do this over the phone and it's normally 15 minutes to an hour. I am not completely confident if its free but it should be cheaper than actually making an appointment. So when you call to schedule an appointment ask if they do sample consultations. That a way you won't be wasting your time and money on someone you may only see once or twice.
Don't be discouraged if the first session doesn't go as you expect it to go it sometimes takes multiple sessions to see if you mesh well with them.
In my opinion if you are the one doing most of the talking you probably should find someone else. You want someone who gives you input on your situations. It also helps to find someone who goes through the same situations as well but I know that can be hard to find in one try.
Make sure you are comfortable with them and are able to open up about everything. Not just surface level stuff.
Going through therapy you're going to be talking about a lot of things that may be hard to talk about. If you are not in a safe mind space when you leave I would bring that up to them. They can give you some helpful coping skills to use to deal with the depression or anxiety.
Your situation isn't going to get better over night some people do therapy for years.
Also a funny fact I found out that some therapist have their own therapist they see themselves.
If you find what I have to say informative make sure to follow me. If you are viewing this from your phone scroll to the bottom of the page and click "view web version" then you will be able to follow me without logging onto your computer.
I'll be putting out another blog tomorrow. Until then have a good night!
Anxiety and what to expect from your psychiatrist including meds.
Everyone has anxiety and have different symptoms of it. With me my heart starts to race and I feel like I can't breath and my head feels like it's going to explode. Everyones anxiety is different and some of these pills may help you. Im just listing off the ones I have personally been on.
When telling your psychiatrist about your anxiety if they are a good doctor they won't automatically start you on a benzodiazepine like Atavan. First they will probably start you on something like Gabapentin which also goes by the name Neuraptine. This pill is mainly used to treat seizures and is also a nerve pain killer. They will probably start you off on 100mg-300mg and have you come back next visit to see if it has helped. If it hasn't helped they will gradually increase the dose. I believe the highest dose you can be put on is 1800mg. But be warned if they decide to take you off this med have them gradually reduce the dose cause if you stop it cold turkey you will go through withdraw symptoms including sweats, stomach pain and aches.
If that pill doesn't work they will put you on Propranolol which is a beta blocker and used to treat high blood pressure. The reason they put you on this is to help hide the symptoms of anxiety like a fast heart rate. Warning this is not a drug to abuse cause it can be fatal if taken at a high dose.
Another drug they can put you on is called Clonidine which is a sedative and a antihypertensive drug which also treats high blood pressure. I was not on this drug for long since the side effects were terrible. I was super constipated, had no sex drive and it gave me erectile dysfunction.
If none of these work their next move might be to put you on a drug called Buspirone or Buspar. This is one of the only non narcotic pills that is specifically meant to treat anxiety. I've heard this helps some people but it did not help me. They had me on the highest dose of it which is 90mg. I had no bad side effects from this drug and would recommend it to people with anxiety.
They can also put you on Seroquel for anxiety as well and you can read about those side effects in one of my earlier blogs.
Another med they can put you on is something called zydis which is also known as Zyprexa. But Zydis dissolves under the tongue and from what I remember tastes like cherries. Or you can take the pill Zyprexa for anxiety also. These pills do help with anxiety the only problem is they make you really drowsy. And at high enough doses Zyprexa can also increase your appetite and make you gain weight.
One drug they put me on cause they were so desperate to not put me on a benzo was Haloperidol also known as Haldol. This drug literally made me feel like a zombie and I would not recommend taking this drug at all.
Also your psychiatrist might try to put you on Hydroxyzine also known as Vistaril. This drug is an antihistamine which pretty much equates to Benadryl. This drug made my heart rate increase and was not a good match for me.
After exhausting all of these pills they finally decided to put me on Klonopin which is a benzo. Klonopin is a longer lasting slow acting benzo. It is good to take cause it can last anywhere from 4-6 hours. They will probably start you off at a low dose of it like .50mg once a day and gradually increase it if that doesn't work.
This is just my experience with anxiety. Everyones anxiety is different and at different levels. If you have found any of this informative make sure to follow me and stay tuned for my next blogs. I will try to put 1-2 out per day on the topic of mental illness and drug addiction.
When telling your psychiatrist about your anxiety if they are a good doctor they won't automatically start you on a benzodiazepine like Atavan. First they will probably start you on something like Gabapentin which also goes by the name Neuraptine. This pill is mainly used to treat seizures and is also a nerve pain killer. They will probably start you off on 100mg-300mg and have you come back next visit to see if it has helped. If it hasn't helped they will gradually increase the dose. I believe the highest dose you can be put on is 1800mg. But be warned if they decide to take you off this med have them gradually reduce the dose cause if you stop it cold turkey you will go through withdraw symptoms including sweats, stomach pain and aches.
If that pill doesn't work they will put you on Propranolol which is a beta blocker and used to treat high blood pressure. The reason they put you on this is to help hide the symptoms of anxiety like a fast heart rate. Warning this is not a drug to abuse cause it can be fatal if taken at a high dose.
Another drug they can put you on is called Clonidine which is a sedative and a antihypertensive drug which also treats high blood pressure. I was not on this drug for long since the side effects were terrible. I was super constipated, had no sex drive and it gave me erectile dysfunction.
If none of these work their next move might be to put you on a drug called Buspirone or Buspar. This is one of the only non narcotic pills that is specifically meant to treat anxiety. I've heard this helps some people but it did not help me. They had me on the highest dose of it which is 90mg. I had no bad side effects from this drug and would recommend it to people with anxiety.
They can also put you on Seroquel for anxiety as well and you can read about those side effects in one of my earlier blogs.
Another med they can put you on is something called zydis which is also known as Zyprexa. But Zydis dissolves under the tongue and from what I remember tastes like cherries. Or you can take the pill Zyprexa for anxiety also. These pills do help with anxiety the only problem is they make you really drowsy. And at high enough doses Zyprexa can also increase your appetite and make you gain weight.
One drug they put me on cause they were so desperate to not put me on a benzo was Haloperidol also known as Haldol. This drug literally made me feel like a zombie and I would not recommend taking this drug at all.
Also your psychiatrist might try to put you on Hydroxyzine also known as Vistaril. This drug is an antihistamine which pretty much equates to Benadryl. This drug made my heart rate increase and was not a good match for me.
After exhausting all of these pills they finally decided to put me on Klonopin which is a benzo. Klonopin is a longer lasting slow acting benzo. It is good to take cause it can last anywhere from 4-6 hours. They will probably start you off at a low dose of it like .50mg once a day and gradually increase it if that doesn't work.
This is just my experience with anxiety. Everyones anxiety is different and at different levels. If you have found any of this informative make sure to follow me and stay tuned for my next blogs. I will try to put 1-2 out per day on the topic of mental illness and drug addiction.
Friday, January 3, 2020
The start of a new life: My first blog
The start of a new life: My first blog: Hello my name is Will. Im a 28 year old male dealing with mental illness and drug addiction. Over the period of this blog i will be going ov...
Disclaimer for mental illness and the beginning of my journey!
As a disclaimer I am not a professional on the topic of mental illness by any means. I have no schooling on the subject. But i have been experiencing it for the past 16 years now and i want to share my experiences on everything. I've taken many medications and have done some other treatments to deal with my illness.
When i was a kid I got picked on and bullied at school a lot. So much to the point that I didn't want to go to school. That is what started my depression. At the age of 12 I was first hospitalized at a hospital in Texas that is now closed. I was there for 10 days and during those 10 days we did a lot of therapy groups. We learned many coping skills also while in there. I'm not going to lie when I first got there I was terrified. To this day that is the only hospital that used straight jackets to calm the patients down that acted out.
After I got out I was doing ok. One of the side affects that I recently found out about the medication was that it can cause suicidal thoughts in children and young adults under the age of 24. If you are a parent reading this blog keep that in mind when you are putting your kid or teen on anti depressants. Another bad side affect was that my anger got really bad. I started lashing out at my parents and punching holes in the walls. I even kicked out a screen door. Though the anger spells did go away the longer I was on the medication. When I was younger I went through so many medications cause sometimes the ones that are working can all of a sudden stop working. It is important to be on the right mixture of meds.
At the age of 12 I was diagnosed as bipolar and they started me on mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. Later on in life I learned it is very hard to diagnose a 12 year old with bipolar. The symptoms normally start showing around the age of 19.
When i was a kid I got picked on and bullied at school a lot. So much to the point that I didn't want to go to school. That is what started my depression. At the age of 12 I was first hospitalized at a hospital in Texas that is now closed. I was there for 10 days and during those 10 days we did a lot of therapy groups. We learned many coping skills also while in there. I'm not going to lie when I first got there I was terrified. To this day that is the only hospital that used straight jackets to calm the patients down that acted out.
After I got out I was doing ok. One of the side affects that I recently found out about the medication was that it can cause suicidal thoughts in children and young adults under the age of 24. If you are a parent reading this blog keep that in mind when you are putting your kid or teen on anti depressants. Another bad side affect was that my anger got really bad. I started lashing out at my parents and punching holes in the walls. I even kicked out a screen door. Though the anger spells did go away the longer I was on the medication. When I was younger I went through so many medications cause sometimes the ones that are working can all of a sudden stop working. It is important to be on the right mixture of meds.
At the age of 12 I was diagnosed as bipolar and they started me on mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. Later on in life I learned it is very hard to diagnose a 12 year old with bipolar. The symptoms normally start showing around the age of 19.
My first blog
Hello my name is Will. Im a 28 year old male dealing with mental illness and drug addiction. Over the period of this blog i will be going over a lot of topics such as depression, anxiety, drug addiction, and if you absolutely need to get help I will tell you what it's like being in a mental hospital. I am doing this with no editing tools or help from anyone. I will also be going over medications and my experience on them.
Mental illness is something not a lot of people want to talk about but something everyone has questions about. Now a days mental illness is more acceptable today than it was back in the day.
I am not ashamed to admit that I am mentally ill and a recovering drug addict. I've already told my story of my addiction on my facebook page and got a lot of positive responses. Many of us suffer from mental illness but need someone to first admitting to having a mental illness before someone else can talk about it.
A little bit about myself. My first encounter in a psychiatric hospital was at age 12. I first tried to attempt suicide when I was 19. I took 500 100mg ibuprofen. I was in a comma for 2 days. They thought I would have permanent damage from this but after being in the hospital for a week and running numerous tests I had no damage to any organs. Then they sent me to a psychiatric hospital for a week. Over the years since then I've had numerous overdoses and have been in one other comma. Over all I've been in 7 different psychiatric hospitals and been hospitalized close to 20 times in my 28 years.
My drugs of choice were cocaine, hydros, oxy, xanax, x, acid and also weed. Along with being in many mental hospitals I've also been in 2 drug rehabs.
My next blog i will dive into being mentally ill as a kid. I will tell you about what my parents went through and what I went through.
Also if you want me to discuss my experience with anything that has to do with mental illness just comment and i will try and answer everyone.
Mental illness is something not a lot of people want to talk about but something everyone has questions about. Now a days mental illness is more acceptable today than it was back in the day.
I am not ashamed to admit that I am mentally ill and a recovering drug addict. I've already told my story of my addiction on my facebook page and got a lot of positive responses. Many of us suffer from mental illness but need someone to first admitting to having a mental illness before someone else can talk about it.
A little bit about myself. My first encounter in a psychiatric hospital was at age 12. I first tried to attempt suicide when I was 19. I took 500 100mg ibuprofen. I was in a comma for 2 days. They thought I would have permanent damage from this but after being in the hospital for a week and running numerous tests I had no damage to any organs. Then they sent me to a psychiatric hospital for a week. Over the years since then I've had numerous overdoses and have been in one other comma. Over all I've been in 7 different psychiatric hospitals and been hospitalized close to 20 times in my 28 years.
My drugs of choice were cocaine, hydros, oxy, xanax, x, acid and also weed. Along with being in many mental hospitals I've also been in 2 drug rehabs.
My next blog i will dive into being mentally ill as a kid. I will tell you about what my parents went through and what I went through.
Also if you want me to discuss my experience with anything that has to do with mental illness just comment and i will try and answer everyone.
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