LeilaNadine

Hi Aidan, I can look into this for you, which post is it?

Hi Aidan, Congrats on being sober and clean, that’s quite an achievement It sounds like you’ve been through a lot. I hope things continue to get better for you. Please know that no one is here to judge you, but to support each other. I look forward to reading your posts warm wishes Leila

Hi there Has anyone been in contact via email about this? If not I can look into this for you warm wishes Leila

Hi NickyLynn I’m sorry to hear your feeling this way and that your being treated like this by your work colleagues. Please know that this is likely nothing that you’ve done, just a few people acting out. Have you addressed the situation with them? If not how might that feel to bring it up with them? Or maybe a supervisor? In relation to your therapists, in the UK we have registering bodies such as BACP and UKCP, finding therapists on their directories can be a good idea. The reason for this is that it makes sure that the therapists you are seeing are fully trained as they have to be in order to be on the directory and also any behaviour like you described would have likely resulted in complaints which they take seriously and may stop them being on the directory. Do you have anything like this where you live? It may stop you getting bad therapists. Having said that it may take a few times to get a therapist your truly click with. I hope things get better for you soon Leila

Hi Cam and welcome to DF I’m so sorry to hear of your struggles. I hope you find the forums helpful and supportive. I think it’s lovely that you want to help others, it shows a very kind heart that you would use your experiences to support people. Warm wishes Leila

People will only show you what they want you to see on social media. They won’t show you the struggles. It’s like a filter of perfection. The bad stuff is there but people will work hard to ensure you don’t know that.

Hi Karlbarx, You are definitly not alone in this. What you have overcome already is inspiring! This is but a chapter in your life. I know it can feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel when things are tough however life will get better and you will feel better, even if it doesn’t seem that way right now. Thank you for reaching out to us, I want you to know also that you are certainly not garbage. Garbage wouldn’t be asking for support in an effort to help themselves. Warm wishes Leila

Hi Justsurvivesomehow and a warm welcome to the forum. Thank you for reaching out to us. There are many members here that can relate to what your going through and I hope you get lots of support on your journey towards healing. Warm regards Leila

Could you do it without seeing it as something to pass or fail? Say for example you have an image of self care on there as a reminder to take 5 minutes for you. There’s no pass or fail, just a gentle reminder to do something you enjoy or something that relaxes you. If you don’t do it every time it doesn’t matter, you don’t have to be at war with yourself

Hi Frida and a very warm welcome to DF Thank you for reaching out to us, this is a very welcoming forum with supportive members, a lot of whom can relate to what your going through. Im sorry to hear about the lack of support from your family, please know that you have a safe space here to share. How are you finding the medication so far? Warm wishes Leila

Concentrating on yourself and your wellbeing is a great way forward, I think that confidence and a sense of self identity follows this. Once your feeling that confidence and you’ve given it to yourself it’s hard for others to diminish as you dont need it from them so much. What I would say about the jabs in conversation is that you are quite within your rights to establish healthy boundaries because that’s not ok. Whatever that means for you whether it’s walking away or addressing it, you don’t have to take it. This might sound super cheesy but have you ever made a vision board? Putting out visually what you want to achieve and putting it somewhere your able to see it every day is a nice reminder to work on yourself.. and it’s something creative to do...for you.

Hi Sabiflitch, I tend to think that sometimes in relationships it can be easy to put our partners on a pedestal, turn them into someone that can do no wrong in our minds and exhaust ourselves worrying about their happiness. I’ve been here in the past and it made me lose sight of what I wanted, who I was and how I deserved to be treated. How would you feel about thinking what you want out of life, what makes you feel good and how you’d like to be treated by someone? You deserve the best. I also remember thinking that instead of finding someone that makes me happy, being someone that makes me happy is far more rewarding. The former falls into place when this happens as you are no longer turning to them for the happiness that you can offer yourself. They become part of your life instead of its entirety.

Hi Anonimu, I wanted to say first that I know that it can feel daunting to reach out to strangers on the forum, thank you for joining and for explaining what your going through, we are glad your here, the members are supportive and welcoming and I hope you find being on DF a great help. The feelings of apathy that your describing aren’t uncommon when suffering with depression and I know that many of us have gone through the same, it can be tough and feel impossible and like it might last forever. Usually it doesn’t, your depression isn’t you, it’s something your going through right now and you can come out the other side. I can understand that it might feel like the only way to cope by drinking, maybe it could be beneficial to have some other ways, maybe someone to confide in such as a counsellor, your doctor, here on the forum or some forms of self care. There are also some great help lines available to access support, I can help you with some numbers if you’d like them? Please reach out to us whenever you need some support, the door is always open Warm wishes Leila

It warms my heart to see posts like this, I’m glad your feeling good as you also deserve the world. You know the door is always open should you ever need us.

Hi there and welcome to the forums, how are you today? Thank you for reaching out to us. I'm sorry to hear that you are suffering with depression and anxiety. That sounds like a lot to go through dealing with symptoms without the support of a doctor. Do you have a support system at home such as friends and family? There are many members here who I’m sure can relate to what your going through, I hope that you find the forums supportive and you find comfort here. Warm regards Leila

Hey, Its so good to hear that your doing better, I have every faith that this will only improve. When I first started the meds I slept constantly, it was a side effect that eventually got better, I also took them super early in the morning to make sure I got to sleep at night and slept through. Persoanlly I stayed at one dose and used it as a tool towards getting me to therapy, so I guess what I mean is it helped me function enough to go out and do the rest of the work. Everyone’s different but I found that they weren’t a magic cure, working on my life and the difficult aspects of it was. In terms of when to start if you want to..do what your comfortable with, have self compassion and patience with yourself and you’ll get there. Keep checking in and letting us know how your doing

Some great posts on this thread... I’m grateful for the empowering and amazing women I work with every day who work so hard to bring a safe space to women that may have been without one I’m grateful for my boyfriend who in the last 7 years has encouraged me to be independent, to go back to college and train to make my life how I want it and has given me so much love when things were tough I’m grateful for coffee.. I think everyone else is also grateful that I have coffee at home because without it in the morning I’m good for nothing I’m grateful for Nutella!!!

Another quick tip is blowing bubbles.. it forces you to take long, slow, purposeful outward breaths, I have found breathing like this helpful when anxiety has set it.

Hi, im so sorry for the late reply, I’ve been out of action for a while. How are you getting on? Any luck with the different dosage? Therapy is one of those things that really help some people and I know others that it just doesn’t, I feel like it’s worth a try.. it could potentially help you to explore your options and give you the tools to change your life. It helped me more than I can begin to explain.. you do the work, you get guidance, support full attention while you do it. You may face and talk about some things that are difficult but it’s all towards the journey of healing.

I think it was around a month or so, just small things at first like less panic, showering, getting dressed etc, they started to get me to function enough to get out of the house and go to my therapy sessions, which is where the real healing happened. How are you finding them? Are you not noticing any difference? It can take a while and of course start up side effects can factor in, I’d go back to the doc if your not getting anything at all from them. The right med can work miracles, it could also be the dosage. i hope they start to work for you soon

Hi Chumly, I’m no expert in relationships, i have found that guys that are not only interested but are ready for a relationship will make the effort, burn bridges with anyone their dating and will stop messing you around. Some just aren’t there yet so keep their options open. There is something to be said for being someone that makes you happy rather than finding someone that makes you happy, becoming engrossed in your life, your hobbies, goals, friends etc etc. I find this stops us putting people we are interested in on such a high pedestal and wondering if they like us, they become just a small part of what we have going on in our lives instead of all of it.

Sorry that was me not phrasing it very well, I mean how do you find it works or you? Is it like essential oils that calm you down?

Thats really interesting, How do you find it when you use it?

I thought it might be a good tool/quick reference guide for people starting Zoloft if users or those that used to use this med share what worked for them to ease the possible start up side effects. Please add your own below... Peppermint and ginger tea for nausea and indigestion as well as taking meds with crackers or other food cold bedroom and pillows and a fan if you get night sweats taking meds early in the morning so I could sleep at night (although everyone is different) noticing the small positive changes that are happening that will eventually turn into big positive changes

Sour sweets!!! Hot sweets!!! Ice cold water splash!!! All force you to quickly focus on something else.