# Have you ever suffered from a Mental Illness?



## chickydoda (Feb 12, 2010)

Just wondering.


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## obz900 (Mar 29, 2010)

Depression, anxiety, and some obsessive compulsive traits. Sometimes I think I might be bipolar but it's never been diagnosed so I can't say for sure. Currently taking meds for the depression. Seems to be helping, but then again it could just be the weather :happy:


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## Seeker99 (Jan 13, 2010)

Never been diagnosed.


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## Tuttle (Oct 30, 2009)

I had postpartum depression which eventually grew into a major depressive episode that lasted for three years. The anxiety attacks I experienced were just a by-product of the depression, and not a "stand alone" issue.


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## prplchknz (Nov 30, 2010)

si senor i'm Dx'ed schizoaffective and generalized anxiety. For a long time they thought it was pure clinical depression until asked if i heard voices.


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## Murnando (Dec 10, 2011)

Reppin' the depressives


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## Ntuitive (Jan 6, 2012)

Bipolar 2, Anxiety


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## KateMarie999 (Dec 20, 2011)

I have type 5 ADD, which is pretty much ADD that functions as depression and is misdiagnosed as depression. So depression medication was making it all worse until we discovered that I was depressed and listless simply because I couldn't concentrate on anything.


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## ImminentThunder (May 15, 2011)

OCD, ADD, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, depression, insomnia...fun fun!


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## August (Nov 13, 2010)

Not clinically diagnosed, but I think I may have cyclothymia (bipolar spectrum disorder). Struggled with anxiety for years. I'm also socially avoidant but working on it slowly over the past few years. (related to anxiety I think). loner4lief.


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## Agelaius (Apr 3, 2010)

Bipolar II (falsely diagnosed as depression early on), OCD, Social Anxiety (which is pretty much gone ^^) and there is strong suspicion I have ADHD and Tourette Syndrom, or at least a minor form of it which is a great reason why I have so many "ticks."

After a while... well, I figure I should just stop seeing psychiatrists. Who knows what else they'll find about me :tongue:


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## unico (Feb 3, 2011)

I am diagnosed Bipolar NOS (hypomania, severe depression, severe mixed episodes), and I've basically been diagnosed with all the anxiety disorders in the DSM, including PTSD, which isn't in the poll. I also used to be anorexic (restricting) and went inpatient for it. My conditions are finally under control, for the most part.


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## bronze crow (Jan 15, 2012)

dx depression anxity and finaly ADHD (which having gone un dx for 35 years expalins the other 2) but now i find out im INFJ

which actully explains things even better.


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## chickydoda (Feb 12, 2010)

I have Bipolar II, social anxiety and my parents have recently been discussing the possibility of slight Aspergers... oh my! Too bad I'm not super smart like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory.


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## unico (Feb 3, 2011)

chickydoda said:


> I have Bipolar II, social anxiety and my parents have recently been discussing the possibility of slight Aspergers... oh my! Too bad I'm not super smart like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory.


I'm bipolar and autistic, too! Also I have bad anxiety, though I've never been diagnosed with "social anxiety" specifically.


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## chickydoda (Feb 12, 2010)

unico said:


> I'm bipolar and autistic, too! Also I have bad anxiety, though I've never been diagnosed with "social anxiety" specifically.


 Ooh, I didn't know that! We looked after a boy with Autism over the week, and he is nothing like me... I am probably quite close to functioning at a normal level, theres some aspects of society and I don't quite get. My dad said I might get brain scans for my bipolar, so if I do have a touch of Aspergers, it might show up in the scans. Goody!

I don't just have social anxiety (self diagnosed), but I get panic attacks and I worry about alot of things! When I first moved back to New Zealand, I went about six weeks of not sleeping at night, because I was scared of intruders. When people were talking about the rapture last year I spent every moment praying I would be saved and my family wouldn't get left behind. I don't like being in places with more than one story, because I was in the original Christchurch earthquakes, and I am terrified of having things fall on me, or fall down 80 feet. I don't like flying, because I'm scared someone is going to blow up the plane. I get anxious about alot of unnecessary things, because of a few small incidents that have happened to me. I've only been like this for the past year or so.

Also, as far as the *social anxiety* goes, I'm only anxious, paranoid and self conscious about half the time I go out. It depends on my mood and who I'm with.


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## unico (Feb 3, 2011)

chickydoda said:


> Ooh, I didn't know that! We looked after a boy with Autism over the week, and he is nothing like me... I am probably quite close to functioning at a normal level, theres some aspects of society and I don't quite get. My dad said I might get brain scans for my bipolar, so if I do have a touch of Aspergers, it might show up in the scans. Goody!
> 
> I don't just have social anxiety (self diagnosed), but I get panic attacks and I worry about alot of things! When I first moved back to New Zealand, I went about six weeks of not sleeping at night, because I was scared of intruders. When people were talking about the rapture last year I spent every moment praying I would be saved and my family wouldn't get left behind. I don't like being in places with more than one story, because I was in the original Christchurch earthquakes, and I am terrified of having things fall on me, or fall down 80 feet. I don't like flying, because I'm scared someone is going to blow up the plane. I get anxious about alot of unnecessary things, because of a few small incidents that have happened to me. I've only been like this for the past year or so.
> 
> Also, as far as the *social anxiety* goes, I'm only anxious, paranoid and self conscious about half the time I go out. It depends on my mood and who I'm with.


I sometimes appear normal, though I looked more like regular autism as a child. And sometimes I still look "classically" autistic. My significant other looks more like the stereotype of Asperger's. 

I'm sorry you have so much anxiety! I do, too. I have panic attacks (had one last night, actually) and worry a lot about car accidents and a lot of other things. I also just have a lot of free-floating anxiety without any discernible cause.


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## chickydoda (Feb 12, 2010)

@unico Argh, I have that too! I can't get into a car these days without thinking about all the idiots on the road! It sucks, because you can be the best driver in the world, but if someone else is drunk, or driving recklessly, you could die. Its so unfair.

I haven't driven in the past three years, because we moved overseas, and since then, I hate being in the car with other people driving, I keep noticing all the mistakes they make, and I hate it when they blame other drivers for their mistakes, because its often THEM at fault, but they are too busy getting road rage to realise, lol.


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## unico (Feb 3, 2011)

chickydoda said:


> @unico Argh, I have that too! I can't get into a car these days without thinking about all the idiots on the road! It sucks, because you can be the best driver in the world, but if someone else is drunk, or driving recklessly, you could die. Its so unfair.
> 
> I haven't driven in the past three years, because we moved overseas, and since then, I hate being in the car with other people driving, I keep noticing all the mistakes they make, and I hate it when they blame other drivers for their mistakes, because its often THEM at fault, but they are too busy getting road rage to realise, lol.


I totally agree! I got into a fairly bad (and very dangerous) car accident a few years ago, as a passenger. The breaks stopped working as we were trying to get off the highway and were at a very large and busy intersection. We hit cars, flew in the air in circles, and rammed into a sign. The back was crushed and I was in the back seat. The impact stopped my breathing. Only for about a minute, but it was very scary and painful and I didn't know I would be able to breathe again. I can't drive, but I feel responsible when my partner is driving.


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## Donovan (Nov 3, 2009)

when i was younger i had extreme depression at one point, and at the age of 10-11 i was actually suicidal. what's weird is that this was the time when i was the most outgoing and involved in school activities. (the outward-seeking activity a symptom of the extreme depression?)

as i grew the depression became more and more subdued to the point where it was manageable. now, i don't have the same kind of anguished/'what's the point' mentality and have stopped taking anti-depressants all together (never really noticed a difference anyhow--more like a "un-me" if anything)... it's been replaced by anxiety and a focus on what i'm going to do with my life.


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## Shantkn (Nov 20, 2011)

Depression - Major. I don't feel the need to get into this.

Bipolar Type 1/2 - It's either Type 2 or Borderline Personality Disorder.

Anxiety/Panic Attacks - In specific, Social Anxiety Disorder. More specifically, Avoidant Personality Disorder.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - It's complex, but ends up taking more of a form of perfectionism and obsession with symmetry.

Eating Disorder - Arguably, a NOS form.

Other - Let's just put it this way, somehow I manage throughout the day.


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## Coburn (Sep 3, 2010)

Not at all. I'm healthy as a horse, mentally and physically.


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## Pete The Lich (May 16, 2011)

Depression/paranoid schizophrenia (stage 1)


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## GoodOldDreamer (Sep 8, 2011)

I went through depression when I was younger. Nearly suicidal at one point when I realized one night that I lived in a ranch house full of guns and ammo and the only thing keeping me from them was the thought that my mother would be the one to find me. >_> But that was ages ago.

Never diagnosed or taken meds or anything like that. Just got through it the ol' fashioned way. While I'm probably broken by comparison to others, I'm doing alright these days. Content, overall happy, and in some ways my experiences coming from an abusive home has made me who I am and I wouldn't have it otherwise.

Should I ever have children of my own, for example, they will be loved and they will know it. Should I ever have a wife, she will be loved and she will know it. That's one thing they will never have to wonder about, to question. I would expect by the time I propose to her, she'd respond with "what took you so long"? ;o)


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## Cetanu (Jan 20, 2012)

Up until recently I was very depressed and suicidal. My day to day experience was packed full of negativity, hatred, anger and then after a while of being like this I would cry and moan in agony as, I presume, my sadness and emotions erupted out of me.
Through a strong will to stay alive and the string of hope that things will get better I am still here and along the way I learnt valuable things such as being positive and also the concept that life is just a journey of learning and there is no end point of success so every day of pain was just learning for me to become stronger.


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## Kintsugi (May 17, 2011)

depression, anxiety, and bulimia...

All of these are pretty much under control now- through a mixture of completely changing my lifestyle (gave up drugs, excercise, healthy eating, etc) and teaching myself the basic principles of cognitive behavioral therapy.


I still have my bad days though. However, now I just accept that they will happen, that this will always be a part of me; and allow myself to wallow in self pity knowing that I _will_ be able to pick myself back up again eventually.


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## hazzle92 (Mar 2, 2010)

I've been diagnosed with 1, 3 and 4. Being a teenager was hard. I'm not too bad these days, I mainly gets bouts of number 1.


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## gleeful83 (Jan 16, 2012)

I have been diagnosed with anxiety depression.......


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## jd_ (Feb 5, 2011)

There was about a month period of time in my sophomore year of college where I suffered some bad panic attacks where I had to leave a party and walk out of class a few times. It very well could have been some kind of withdrawal symptoms from alcohol as I was drinking far too much that proceeding summer of the fall semester right before it started. I've never experienced anything like it before or after so... that is what I chalk it up to. I was probably very very stressed out then and ended up dropping some of my classes that semester.


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## RaRa (Mar 8, 2012)

obz900 said:


> Currently taking meds for the depression. Seems to be helping, but then again it could just be the weather :happy:


I take meds for depression too. This may sound weird...but I honestly think that the weather effects my moods more than my anti-depressants do. Every November I get REALLY depressed and gain like 15 pounds...then around the end of February I start to feel happier, more energetic, and lose the 15 pounds I gained. Haha :tongue:


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## RaRa (Mar 8, 2012)

I've been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and A.D.D.
I take Citalopram(Celexa) for the depression & anxiety
I take Adderall & Ritalin for the A.D.D.


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## RaRa (Mar 8, 2012)

Shantkn said:


> Depression - Major. I don't feel the need to get into this.
> 
> Bipolar Type 1/2 - It's either Type 2 or Borderline Personality Disorder.
> 
> ...


I also have Social Anxiety/Avoidant Personality Disorder. Without a doubt, it's been my biggest struggle throughout all 23 years of my life so far. It's something you have to battle your way through every second of every day. Personally, I feel like I have to put forth a tremendous amount of effort and energy just to get through basic every-day obligations and be considered a "normal" member of society. It seems like the more dominantly "INxx" you are, the higher chance you have of struggling with some kind of social anxiety disorder...


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## GingerRoot (May 10, 2013)

I have Depression, Social Anxiety Disorder, and a Binge Eating Disorder. I also have Aspergers Syndrome so a lot of my Anxiety stems from that.


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## smallgreycreatures (May 10, 2013)

Got pretty depressed over everything in my teens, like in really depressed. The psychiatrists i met treated me as a "special case" and didn't know what to do with me so they got me the diagnoses Depression, Insomnia, ADD and Aspergers syndrome. After that they started to drug me down so hard that i weren't able to do anything at all.
When they prescribed me the most i ate 12mg Xanax(Alprazolam), 300mg Efexor(Venlafaxin), 600mg Lyrica(Pegabalin), 4mg Iktorivil(Clonazepam), 2mg Flunatrezpam, 50mg Alimemazin, 120mg Dextroamphetamine and some other bensodiazepins to take when i were "in need".

Got pretty hooked on all the medicines and didn't manage to do much stuff at all, except for feeling totally wasted or suicidal. That of course led to being locked up in a mental institution quite a few times. After two years i changed doctor and he just shook his head and starting to slowly remove one medicine at the time... ...and i of course were to afraid of feeling down so i replaced the "medicine" with illegal drugs; mostly synthetic opiates.

During the time i read a lot on depressions and stumbled on an article about usage of LSD, i tried and it helped me. I got back to how i really am and were able to accept the world for what it is. The only medicine i eat now is Melatonin for my sleeping problems which i actually need, my brain obviously don't like sleeping. Other doctors have after i stopped being depressed told me that they can't see why i got diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, they can see ADD because i'm a bit "airy" but yeah, who isn't? After all i can concentrate pretty good if it's quiet around me and have good grades so ahh. The trend here in Sweden have been to diagnose people who have problems with either Asperger or ADHD/ADD, are you introverted, intuitive and depressed you are almost guaranteed to be diagnosed with AS. Not cool at all...

However; Just three years ago i were determined about to die before the age of thirty but with help of my friends and an illegal psychoactive substance i now live a really good life.


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## Aizar (Mar 21, 2011)

KateMarie999 said:


> I have type 5 ADD, which is pretty much ADD that functions as depression and is misdiagnosed as depression. So depression medication was making it all worse until we discovered that I was depressed and listless simply because I couldn't concentrate on anything.


What's that like? How do you tell the difference? Does the usual medication work on it?

ADHD's been considered as a diagnosis for me in the past...though the one time I went on medication for it didn't seem to particularly help, so the person testing me said it could just as easily be anxiety or depression, which I definitely have had problems with.


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## KateMarie999 (Dec 20, 2011)

Aizar said:


> What's that like? How do you tell the difference? Does the usual medication work on it?
> 
> ADHD's been considered as a diagnosis for me in the past...though the one time I went on medication for it didn't seem to particularly help, so the person testing me said it could just as easily be anxiety or depression, which I definitely have had problems with.


The best description for ADD I ever heard was from someone who described it as not being the inability to concentrate but instead it's the inability to focus your concentration. You can't concentrate entirely on one thing because your concentration is focused on everything at once. It's extremely overwhelming. Add that to general depression symptoms and it's time for prescription medication.


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