Posted by afatchic on August 3, 2001, at 16:41:48
In reply to pdoc doesn't believe in dysthymia, posted by Edward on August 3, 2001, at 13:46:17
"Just" dysthymic? Dysthymia is very real and there ain't no just about it. I've had it all my life and never felt truly alive or happy until I started ADs. Dysthymia is treatable and SHOULD be treated. Don't give up, life can be better!
> My pdoc (that means psychiatrist, right?) doesn't think I'm depressed anymore, just dysthymic. He dismissed dysthymia as being "like eeyore" and "always looking on the black side of things" (sounds similar to some naive ideas about depression that we've all had to endure, I think). I'm leaving him and the mental hospital next friday, and I think I might be able to cope, but everything I read about dysthymia says it is a treatable illness. I'm only 17, but I feel completely bored with everything life has to offer. I don't think it will drive me to attempting suicide again, but shouldn't I demand a better life if there's one going? I'm might being seeing another pdoc anyway once I leave this one, so maybe the next guy will have different view. Or maybe not. Perhaps I won't see anyone at all. The question is, if I'm only dysthymic, should I ask for anti-depressants? I taken paroxetine, fluvoxamine and finally mirtazapine, the latter taking me through a bad patch. I have recently stopped taking it due to side effects, and the fact that I felt even more flat (although in a less unpleasant way to before). The more severe depression has not returned, but I am still finding life very dull and unsatisfying.
>
> Ed
poster:afatchic
thread:73361
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010731/msgs/73388.html