Crazycatlover

As implied by the topic title, I'm in nursing school. I graduate in December. This semester we are taking "Mental Health Concepts" which covers things like depression. Part of me wants to stand up and shout, "I have schizoaffective disorder. I can tell you what depression is like. I can tell you what schizophrenia is like." And yet, my state asks all nurse applicants to declare if they've been diagnosed with a psychiatric condition within the past five years. I was diagnosed with "major depressive disorder, severe and recurrent with features of psychosis" eight years ago. Having taken an interest in health since then, I can confidently say that my diagnosis is Schizoaffective disorder (depressive type). But the treatment is about the same, and the prognosis is slightly worse for schizoaffective disorder than for depression with psychosis. I don't think it would benefit me to seek a new diagnosis, especially with my boards coming up. On the other hand, my parents are generally pretty supportive of me. I moved back in with them after my divorce and again when I started nursing school. I get the impression that Mom resents supporting me as much as she does. If she knew I was closer to schizophrenia than depression though, well, I think she'd resent my reliance on her less. Until I can make enough money to hire someone to clean my house, I will rely on my parents though. I've thought things over and over and there's no way around that. There is a part of me that thinks I should speak up more in class. Last week, we went over schizophrenia. Our professor was talking about catatonic states and someone asked if a person in a catatonic state remembers what's going on around them. Our professor wasn't really sure, and I almost answered (short version: more or less, it's kinda like a dream). But my state's board of nursing looks at mental health history, and I don't want to jeopardize myself. But this class is also making me want to talk to people who have been where I have been. I almost wonder if I'm short-changing my classmates' future patients by keeping mum. Any nurses around here who have been through similar tribulations? I'd love to hear from you.

That's a cute photo, JD4010. My Meile (avatar cat) climbed under the hood of my car about one week before Thanksgiving and two weeks after I had to have my beloved tuxedo, Zorro, put to sleep at age 15. I didn't think I was ready for a new cat, but the animal shelter was closed for three days. I figured I'd probably find her owner, and I still had all of Zorro's toys and litterbox. Never found the owner, she wasn't microchipped, and Mom told me I shouldn't put in the shelter right before Thanksgiving because all kitties need to have turkey at home on Thanksgiving. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure that was Mom's way of saying, "keep the cat, CCL."

Your husband's prescription is an extended release from while yours is an immediate release. His sort of automatically breaks up the dose as though he were taking two smaller ones twice daily. If you'd prefer the extended release from, your doc might be able to change your script. I'm afraid I have no experience with the Xanax Wellbutrin combo. It's so frustrating that all of these meds take so long to reach effectiveness (or not). Sometimes just reminding myself that the adjustment period is temporary helps. I took Wellbutrin about six years ago, and it did not work for me. My depression worsened while I was on it and improved when my doc started tapering me off a few months later. If I were you, I'd report your changed symptoms. If things are getting noticeably worse, it may not be worth waiting the six weeks (or it might be). I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you for the welcome. Unfortunately, mental illness (especially anything involving psychosis, even well-controlled with medication) has a huge stigma in the nursing profession, even though it's quite common. So I kinda have to keep it to myself. Thankfully I was diagnosed over five years ago, so I don't need to report it when I apply for my license. I got worried today, looked it up, and then remembered that I've already looked this up before.

Hi, I'm CCL and I'm a 30-year-old nursing student (making a career change from teaching English as a foreign language). I've suffered from major depression since probably about age 12, diagnosed and started treatment at 19. Diagnosed with major depressive disorder with features of pyschosis at 22 and have been on Prozac + Risperdal since then which I respond to very well. I decided to join this forum because nursing school is highly stressful, and I want to stay on top of my depression (and especially avoid a psychotic episode). As implied by my username, I'm a major cat lover. One of my goals is to become a travel RN with an RV so that I can bring along my cat(s?). I definitely do better when I have kitty around. I like knitting and spinning, but I haven't done much since starting nursing school in January.