Have you/family member/friend etc, ever suffered from a mental illness?

[YCRanger]

While watching the videos of the escapist expo, I was surprised to hear of Yahtzee's confession of a life long struggle with anxiety disorder. As a fellow sufferer of anxiety/depression it's always nice to hear others you respect talk openly about it. For me, it makes me feel like less of an outlier. So I want to hear from you all, what is your history with mental illness? How did you overcome it? Are you still dealing with it today? Have you ever had a family member or friend talk to you about their troubles?

 

[Fappy]

My girlfriend has social anxiety and loves Silent Hill, so she fell in love with Yahtzee when she found both those things out. I know a lot of people medicated for one reason or another. Some people deal with it better than others. My girlfriend does well enough with it, but she's going to be trying a new medication soon.

 

[Mekado]

My uncle's legally retarded (light) although it dosen't affect him much, he's a very interesting person to talk to he's just a little spacey at times. He can't count but he can read and has been gainfully employed all his life by his own choice.

 

[Esotera]

I would think that the mvast majority of people are related to someone who has or has had mental health issues. I have a diagnosis of psychosis but it's quite under control at the moment...just waiting to see if it manifests into schizophrenia over the next few years.

 

[MammothBlade]

I have social anxiety disorder and obsessional OCD, and occassional bouts of depression. The severity fluctuates, though I had to take a year out of uni because of it. CBT helped a bit, and I can "cope" if I push myself - but it's not something that one can just think away.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Two of my best friends have Aspergers but I personally wouldn't really consider it an "illness" really. They both have slightly different kinds of it aswell, with one of them having more of a socialising difficulty I think. With how similiar we all are in terms of what we like and how we behave I sometimes wonder if I have Aspergers also.

My uncle also has some form of mental illness after he fell from a ladder years ago although i'm not sure of the diagnosis, if there is one. He's just... its hard to explain how he acts.

 

[Tiger King]

I had a close family member suffer from psychosis brought on by drugs.

it's really sad how misunderstood mental illness is

 

[DugMachine]

I have a pretty mild social anxiety disorder and suffer from random bouts of depression (but I think everyone does).

My great grandmother died about 2 months ago and spent the last year of her life suffering from some nasty Alzheimers. I really hope I don't go down that road when I'm her age.

 

[Phasmal]

Yep. My parents.
My mother and stepdad both have depression, and it's been difficult sometimes.
They're pretty good at managing it, and they have a sense of humour about it.
Seeing as I've seen what it's like, I do hope nothing like that happens to me and I try and avoid anything that could increase my chances of having such problems (drugs and stuff).

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

My boyfriend has Aspergers and I have Dyslexia.
I'm not sure if I'd really classify these as illnesses though.
We both get depressed, but neither of us have ever gone to therapy and been diagnosed for it.

 

[Mel Theofficegamergirl]

Manic Bipolar disorder and Depression run in my family (joy). I get depressed often, though most people don't see it. I've never been on meds and have no intention of starting. When I first met my bf, he was dealing with acute PTSD. I also once dated a guy with schizophrenia. All of these things were why I majored in Psychology. I ended up dropping out when I found out there were no answers. Best thing to do, I think, is just sort of exist for the time being. Have fun while you can, etc. *heavy sigh*

 

[Doclector]

I've known a couple of people who were/are diagnosed with depression.

As for myself, I was diagnosed with Aspergers a really long time ago. I think it was when I was eight.

I also think I have something else wrong with me. I'm constantly worried about one thing or another, sometimes to the point of feeling hopelessly doomed. I feel depressed an awful lot, but also sometimes manic to the point of laughing at absolutely nothing. Thus I plan on going to get some help soon, or at least talk to someone.

I almost find myself trying to guess now I've finally owned up that something else may be horribly wrong with me. I've considered Bi-polar, anxiety, or simply a bout of depression. Of course, I know better than to self diagnose, but I can't help but be curious as to what it is.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Yes, I have several. Social Anxiety, regular Anxiety, MDD, and Adult ADD.

 

[Emilox The Great]

My dad has schizophrenia which lead to an unhappy childhood, and it played a part in a depression i got when i was younger, it remained untreated because i was good at hiding it and convinced no one cared, it probably knocked a few bolts loose in there as far as i have observed.
I was later diagnosed with Aspergers (not really a mental illness).
Thats the only cases i know of.

 

[Euryalus]

I have moderate Social Anxiety disorder, Aspbergers, PDD (pervasive developmental disorder), and ADHD...

Listing these all off makes me feel like shit. I'm crazy :'(
The only one most people are gonna notice is the social anxiety though. I'm pretty good at hiding/coping with everything else.

 

[Xannidel]

I have anxiety attacks but that's all I can think of for myself.

When I was like 10 or 11 my best friend was sent to the hospital because he got shot in the head with a BB pellet. Ever since then he has been in the special classes in school and what not. I have not talked to him in a long time but I believe he is still doing well.

 

[King of Asgaard]

My grandfather had Alzheimer's, before he passed on. It got so bad that he didn't recognise my mother any more, as well as other close people.

 

[Frankster]

My dad's bipolar and i myself got some mixed depression and anxiety disorder.
From what i recall in the rest of the family, there's schzophrenia, PTSD (former solder) and think that's about it.

All of these things were why I majored in Psychology. I ended up dropping out when I found out there were no answers. Best thing to do, I think, is just sort of exist for the time being.

Heh, for me it was the opposite effect. I'm studying psychology and finding that because i have my problems, i'm more able to understand and help anxiety and depression related cases, my work experience in a mental health clinic has given me hope in that regard. Also couldn't find the answers i was looking for , and things like death terrify me more then ever now, but the feeling that i can put my experience to help others make sense of themselves counterbalances it and sort of gives me some motivation to push forward if you see what i mean .

 

[Lurklen]

I had a nervous breakdown at 13; which I later found out had happened to my father and great grandfather at around the same age. I became terribly, terribly depressed and couldn't function at all really. I ended up leaving school, though I tried to go back several times until I was about 19 and just realised it wasn't going to happen the way I was going. I would fall into a cycle of severe anxiety followed by depression when things fell apart because the anxiety overwhelmed me.

At eighteen I moved out and got a job and a place. But the job was stressfull and couldn't really cover my bills; also it was customer service which didn't help my anxiety any. I was good at it(I sold 3 of my store's premotional cards in one shift before my break, something which hadn't been done at my store before.) but the constant feeling of trying to please people would trigger anxiety attacks and the stress around work caused me to miss too many shifts so they let me go. I spent the rest of that year sleeping, going to therepy and trying to scrape together enough cash to pay my rent, though in truth my mom was pretty much keeping me a-float.

I'd been in therepy on and off since I was 14, it had helped but it took a long time before I realised I was messed up and I was going to have to deal with that, instead of just trying to make it go away. I'd been on meds but they didn't really fix anything they just made me numb, which became a problem later when I was trying to figure out where this was all coming from.

After that year I moved back home, I went to therepy for a while longer and I still check in every couple of months. I don't take pills anymore and I haven't had an anxiety attack in years, I still get depressed but it runs it's course intstead of taking over my life. I haven't had much luck in finding jobs, not finishing highscool has that effect. But I just keep trying, that's all I can do and though It feels like it's taking forever sometimes, things are getting better.

Sorry this was so long a post, thanks for reading.

 

[Doclector]

Feel free to tell me if this has already happened or simply wouldn't go well, but has anybody thought of setting up some kind of support group on here? I know maybe, out of our large userbase, less than 1% might be qualified psychiatrists, but maybe just talking with people with similiar problems might help?

I mean, just looking at the amount of people who've posted here, and other people who have mentioned such issues, we clearly have a lot of people with mental issues on here. Maybe we can help each other?