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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 17 of 17. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by ClearSkies on September 22, 2006, at 23:40:31
Have no burning desires to read. This is precursor to a depressive episode, as I start to lose the ability ro do the things that give me pleasure and relaxation.
Reading the comics is even hard.
Posted by Jost on September 23, 2006, at 11:24:46
In reply to Hard to read again, posted by ClearSkies on September 22, 2006, at 23:40:31
Are there any steps you can take to prevent the episode?
Prevention is so much more effective, I think, than cure (or remission) once you've gotten deep into it.
Do you take meds or see a T?
Jost
Posted by Declan on September 23, 2006, at 17:08:25
In reply to Hard to read again, posted by ClearSkies on September 22, 2006, at 23:40:31
Sometimes you can't think of anything that will bring any pleasure or meaning or anything else. When I'm like that it can take me till lunch to turn on the radio. Then I can enjoy the fruits of my labour.
Posted by Declan on September 23, 2006, at 17:10:53
In reply to Hard to read again, posted by ClearSkies on September 22, 2006, at 23:40:31
to read Dostoevsky. You know what would be good for me with reading, CS? To have someone to read outloud with, especially for the difficult books. But I know what you mean about not being able to read the comics.
Posted by ClearSkies on September 25, 2006, at 7:53:05
In reply to Re: Hard to read again » ClearSkies, posted by Jost on September 23, 2006, at 11:24:46
Smile.
Yes, I do the whole routine. Cymbalta, Lamictal for Bipolar II, Sonata at the moment for insomnia, though that doesn't appear to work after taking it for 4 days. I dug out my Ambien and Xanax to help the last few unbearable days, and I'm calling to see if my pdoc can fit me in this week.I see a therapist weekly, and have been consulting my gyn doctor for my perimenopause woes.
I did try an alternative healthcare route, chiropracty, accupuncture and homeothapy. All of which left me no worse and no better. But you can't say I'm not trying!!
CS
Posted by ClearSkies on September 25, 2006, at 7:57:05
In reply to I have a plan, posted by Declan on September 23, 2006, at 17:10:53
Sometimes I drift off into lalaland when reading aloud or being read to. My husband is not very good at reading aloud as he struggles with some of the unfamiliar words.
I think there is a programme here for recording books and articles for the blind. That might be something to do. Sometimes the natives here have trouble understanding my Canadian accent. (No patois, I keep the "eh"s from my vocabulary so as not to embarass myself.)
CS
Posted by Jost on September 25, 2006, at 14:24:14
In reply to I have a plan, posted by Declan on September 23, 2006, at 17:10:53
Which Dostoevsky? He makes me get weird.
Speaking of having someone read, did you know that he dictated most of his novels to his wife? (May have been his second wife)-- He probably would have lost it without her-- but she saved him, largely through helping him work, as well as doing many other things.
I wish I had read the Brothers Karamazov, but I started it three times and could only read up to a place where someone died and there was this whole funeral/deadbody thing, and Alexi, or the super-spiritual one, was going off on some rant or other.
Ohwell, my squandered youth.
I want to read Gogol and Oblomov. But I probably never will finish Dead Souls, or read the Man without qualities or whatever the Oblomov book is.
yeah, squandered youth. You kinda have to read that stuff while you're young.
I do turn the radio on, though. Just never turn it off. Leave it on all night.
Jost
Posted by Jost on September 25, 2006, at 14:29:48
In reply to Re: Hard to read again » Jost, posted by ClearSkies on September 25, 2006, at 7:53:05
You are trying!
I admire that. I've never gotten up the gumption to try acupunture, and I saw a chiropracter for massage, and I think he chiropracted on me against my direct orders, which was distinctly unnerving. I don't want people hacking into my spine, thank you.
I know many people who swear by both of those. But they also believe in other things that I tend to be skeptical of.
Sorry you're not getting help from Sonata. I usually use that if I only have a few hours to sleep. Ambien and xanax are my mainstays. Definitely.
Jost
Posted by Declan on September 26, 2006, at 2:09:32
In reply to Re: I have a plan » Declan, posted by Jost on September 25, 2006, at 14:24:14
"Notes From Underground" would be a good place to start. It's very funny.
Posted by Declan on September 26, 2006, at 17:06:05
In reply to Re: I have a plan, posted by Declan on September 26, 2006, at 2:09:32
this philosophical book explores the deeper themes of alienation, torment and hatred.
Posted by Jost on September 28, 2006, at 1:26:36
In reply to Must be why I like it, posted by Declan on September 26, 2006, at 17:06:05
But if you havne't read it how to do you know it's funny?????
It's kinda funny. sort of like the rantings of some grouch who got up on the wrong side of bed every morning, and didn't like what he saw in the mirror.except instead of going somewhere or doing something (other than possibly stomping around outside), he just got carried away and forgot to stop ranting.
Let me know how it ends, I forget.
Have fun!
Jost
Posted by Declan on September 28, 2006, at 16:32:20
In reply to Re: Must be why I like it » Declan, posted by Jost on September 28, 2006, at 1:26:36
I've read the first 2/3rds of it some time back (why didn't I finish it?). But I need someone who loves that kind of stuff to share it with. I've finished Life and Fate. Pretty good. Now I need to get hold of "Into the Whirlwind" by Evgenia Ginsburg.
Posted by Declan on September 28, 2006, at 16:35:05
In reply to Re: Must be why I like it » Jost, posted by Declan on September 28, 2006, at 16:32:20
This is the book that I read every time that I am very depressed, because when you read this book and just when you think that things cannot get worse for Evgenia, they do - over and over and over again, and for as bad as things are for her, there is always someone in a worse predicament than she is in. It really puts your life into perspective.
Posted by Declan on September 30, 2006, at 19:01:26
In reply to Re: I have a plan » Declan, posted by ClearSkies on September 25, 2006, at 7:57:05
In the last 10 years or so a new verbal pattern arose here. People now say when answering a question 'yes, no.......'. Lots of people started doing this at the same time.
Posted by Jost on October 7, 2006, at 23:28:18
In reply to From the reviews of Ginsburg, posted by Declan on September 28, 2006, at 16:35:05
I'm gonna pass on that one!
The one thing I don't need-- to have the idea that things can actually get worse--reinforced.
Jost
Posted by Declan on October 10, 2006, at 4:16:17
In reply to Re: From the reviews of Ginsburg » Declan, posted by Jost on October 7, 2006, at 23:28:18
Hi Jost
You don't reckon (that things can get worse)? But these are really good times (aren't they?). We're moving into something bad now, environmentally and politically. The political is much more fixable than the environmental.
Australia is vulnerable that way, like subsaharan Africa (I say with no knowledge of the region).
OTOH it is really important (IMO) that the dimensions of this problem are felt by enough people to affect the political process.
Declan
Posted by Jost on October 10, 2006, at 20:44:34
In reply to Re: From the reviews of Ginsburg » Jost, posted by Declan on October 10, 2006, at 4:16:17
Actually, Declan, the problem is I think things can-- and will--get worse--
I just don't want to think *about* it-- cause it depresses me even more than I already am.
So other than sending campaign contributions to candidates, and following up on my preferred political netroots websites, I prefer to stick my head into the sand, as we head into the abyss. Hoping we aren't, but not necessarily wanting the latest news on the signs that we are.
Jost
This is the end of the thread.
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