Depression and attempted suicide

[MadgeB]

Any information/experiences you can give me please

[Hidden]

Many years ago I suffered severe depression which led to a nervous breakdown. It is an illness. It is not "in your head". You need treatment.

Suicide is a thought process and often is successful despite treatment. What are your alternatives if this is what you are considering? You have people that love you, friends and family. Doctors and people do not have the cure so we try to support you as you take an alternative route away from suicide.

Both require several years of battling the condition. Once you succeed and begin to live a normal life, your life will seem so much better than prior to the condition.

If you need more, I will watch for your reply.

Make a happy day.

[MadgeB in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your reply. It is my daughter I am worrying about, and yes we are getting professional help after her attempt over the Easter break. She was not released from hospital until a psychiatrist analysed her state of mind, but is arranging for ongoing assistance to be available. Over a year ago, she succumbed to compulsive gambling as a result of agonist drugs, and when taken off she was assessed for DBS. In between times I am finding out now that there was hardly any monitoring of whether the gambling had stopped. As a result of her desperate 'cry for help' this weekend, we have found out that it had not and she was too scared to admit this to anyone. We have had a most distressing few days, which has resulted in her teenage children and close friends finding the whole episode hard to comprehend. At the moment there is a lot of anger, which we are having to manage and can only hope this subsides with time and understanding.

[Hidden in reply to MadgeB]

Discuss with her and help her discover healthy options. She will be the only person that can bring the "cure". Let her take control. Do not become authoritative or forceful. Do not become "mothering". (smothering). If all fails, be well in knowing you did good and do not blame yourself.

[MadgeB in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. Yes her self esteem is pretty low as you can imagine. We do not want to lower it any more. Slowly does it.

[isis6361 in reply to MadgeB]

We're the dopamine agonists just stopped? If so this needs to be rethought out. Many people who have been on or are on can experience dopamine agonists withdrawal syndrome and for many of my patients we have restarted them on low dose agonists abd this has lifted the. Depression. It then enabled us to deal with the depression. Young onset tend to have more behavioural issues than those diagnosed over 65 including impulsivity. Some times admission to a psychiatric setting with a pdns sorting out the parkinsons while the mental health team sort out the behaviour can work really well.

[MadgeB in reply to isis6361]

No the agonists were removed slowly. I am aware of issues if they are stopped too quickly. I think the main problem was the follow up. The PD Nurse she had known was off sick and she was referred to a new one and told to report to her weekly. What I am only now learning is that with the onus put on her she did not manage to be honest.

[isis6361 in reply to MadgeB]

That's because she can't cope at this time and putting the onus on her simply gives her more things not to cope with and in turn the icd behaviour becomes her sanction. It's not about her not being honest it's addiction and behavioural therapy is needed.

[zawy]

I read a research paper that said PD patients are not more likely to attempt suicide, but they may be more likely to think about it.

[MadgeB in reply to zawy]

I have read a lot about this in the past few days, but it seems there is some controversy between professionals. Many PD patients suffer with depression, so without any help for that who knows what it can lead to if you add quite a lot of other problems into the mix. My daughter also been diagnosed with a mild form of MS. Her husband was killed in a motor bike accident just before she was diagnosed about 8 years ago. She has not had a job due to him being a fireman working shifts. The compulsive gambling caused by the agonist drugs caused her to have to sell her house last year and she has been in two different rented properties which are not very nice. Her finances are still in a dreadful mess, getting worse due to the ongoing gambling. At xmas she fell and broke the wrist on the hand that works ok, and it has not healed. She is likely to have to go back and have a pin put in it. All in all she has had a very bad run of luck and she must have been so desperately low to do what she did.

[JohnPepper]

Hi Madge. Yes! The best way to treat depression is EXERCISE! Especially fast walking.

Do you have Pd?

Kind regards

John

[MadgeB in reply to JohnPepper]

No john it is my daughter who has PD and recently had DBS. I have explained the current problems in other replies.

[deder]

Madge left private message....please call xx

[MadgeB in reply to deder]

I will as soon as I can but she is here with us at the moment. She is ok just very sad. We are sorting it. I realised I ran the risk of worrying you, she does not know I have posted this, please dont email her direct.

[deder]

Sent a private message xx

[gcorrell]

I went through careful withdrawal from Mirapex, Azilect, EmSam patches, and several others. Being on these drugs is hell, and hard to describe; withdrawal is a different kind of terrible. I am MUCH improved being off them. I am symptomatic with tremors and walking issues etc, but MUCH happier and aware.

For some, not all, these drugs are worse than the conditions they are intended to alleviate. Be careful about going back on them. If she had these responses, I think it is a strong indicator they are not for her. For me, exercise, Tai Chi, diet, the loving support of friends and family, and talk therapy were and are a powerful and effective way to "reset my clock."

IMO there is too much attention paid (and too many new drugs used) to "normalize" the patient, instead of finding creative ways of living with how movement disorders change us.

One of the most powerful things of all, regarding my deepest depression, was when one of my grown daughters said to me: "Dad, never make us get "the call." It sobered me, and shifted my perspective to the aftermath, and how much I love my family. The drugs your daughter and I were on heighten the drama of life in surreal ways; the addictive side-effects of the drugs apply to this sense of drama, too. This can be useful to know, as you try to get her to focus on a more positive POV. Make a realistic, positive narrative of what she is going thru, and share it with her. It worked for me.

[Ama_10]

Look on chriskresser.com regarding gluten and depression and for Dr Farrar and Dr. Stan's long talk about psychosis and schizophrenia and low iodine, possibly from the methylbromide pesticide widely applied to many crops which damages the sodium-iodide symporter that supplies available iodide/iodine to specific receptors.

Link to the lecture might be found on helpmythyroid.com. Interestingly in those with autoimmune thyroiditis the immune system attacks the thyroid which has surface markers resembling gluten, the original target.

[MadgeB]

Thank you all very much for taking the time to respond. We are taking things slowly each day we have progressed with some positive steps, talking to medical professionals. Appointment for tomorrow locally hopefully, and the DBS assessment team now aware.