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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Ted on August 6, 2002, at 15:44:23
Hi all,
Do any of you have specific triggers which initiate periods, short or long, of either happiness or sadness (I don't mean mania or depression)?
Now that I have been off zoloft for 4 full days, I am starting to get emotions again. (zoloft made me totally flat). I have rediscovered what music can do to me. Listening to some old favorites cleared out my tear ducts a bit.
Now, if I could only find a sure-fire trigger for happiness.... :-)
Ted
Posted by bookgurl99 on August 6, 2002, at 15:51:29
In reply to Triggers, posted by Ted on August 6, 2002, at 15:44:23
Ted,
congrats on getting your feelings back. i'm happy for you!
i can say that when i was last coming off of an AD, it was very hard for me to see anything violent -- so even randomly opening a newsweek or time magazine was hard. i had to go to the other room while my friends watched the news.
it was very hard for me to go through this. the return of my symptoms was hard for me to take; i wasn't used to my unmedicated self. I also had tremendous waves of panic attacks and fear as the drug left my system.
and now that i'm having cognitive symptoms (trouble remembering, learning, etc), i have depression that is triggered by not learning as quickly as i used to or being frustrated abt not remembering things. as soon as i have a moment of feeling unwell, my thoughts float to suicide.
Posted by Dinah on August 6, 2002, at 17:39:26
In reply to Triggers, posted by Ted on August 6, 2002, at 15:44:23
Hmm. There are a few songs that usually make me pretty happy too. Do you have any like that?
I remember with great fondness the days when I first went off Luvox. Ok, let me be more specific. The first days after I went off Luvox, after the withdrawal wore off, and after the agitated hypomania also wore off. It was wonderful, I could feel again. I watched all the sappy movies because once again I could cry. Once again I could enjoy the smell of freshly mown grass. Once again I could... Well since it's you Ted, I don't dare bring that up. :)
Enjoy it Ted, it's more intense now than it will be a few months from now, so get everything you can from it.
Posted by gabbi on August 6, 2002, at 17:45:51
In reply to Re: Triggers, posted by bookgurl99 on August 6, 2002, at 15:51:29
Isn't it like a rebirth when those feelings start reappearing, those little miracles that make you realize how you used to be able to get through the day. I'm really happy for you.
My triggers are everything in general nothing in particular. I have a free-floating ball of anxiety and feeling rejected that will attach itself to anything at hand, and if it means having to feel rejected if someone doesn't say hello in there usual manner, thats enough.
Last year I was anxious over nothing tangible, and then we had a small earthquake, I was actually relieved because I felt like I had a reason to be anxious, I'm not even trying to be funny, its true. Its much easier than having these feelings flying at you that you feel you have no control over.
Ah the trigger for happiness I think thats what the eternal search for the holy grail is.
Posted by Ted on August 6, 2002, at 18:57:17
In reply to Re: Triggers » Ted, posted by Dinah on August 6, 2002, at 17:39:26
Hi Dinah,
> Hmm. There are a few songs that usually make me pretty happy too. Do you have any like that?
Yeah, ok, but just a few.
> Once again I could... Well since it's you Ted, I don't dare bring that up. :)
You mean enjoy sweet, ripe mangos? Hmmmm.... I can't wait for that either. Maybe tonight.... :-)
Ted
Posted by Dinah on August 6, 2002, at 20:49:27
In reply to Re: Triggers » Dinah, posted by Ted on August 6, 2002, at 18:57:17
Posted by fiona on August 6, 2002, at 21:40:11
In reply to Triggers, posted by Ted on August 6, 2002, at 15:44:23
Music is such a powerful influence on emotion. I have certain tapes that I made up with specific songs that provoke specific emotions. One for sadness, one for happiness, one for anger etc...
I know it's really quite sad, but I usually find a good blast of disco when I first get up in the morning gets me in a good mood.
A smile from people I love makes me happy too.
Posted by Roo on August 7, 2002, at 9:47:07
In reply to Re: Triggers, posted by fiona on August 6, 2002, at 21:40:11
triggers for happiness:
the smell of garlic sauteeing for a good meal and some
good music on the stereo
some funky old james brown song coming on the radio after
them playing a string of dud songs, it's like "YES!!!!" and
turn the volume WAY up.
someone complimenting me
my cat coming to cuddle with me
learning that a crush is mutual, having someone flirt with me
getting really creatively inspired by something.
suddenly noticing the sunset when i've been in a miserable funk all
day and the misery stopping for just that one moment to be in awe of the sunsetunhappy triggers:
critism about work performance
a friend being mad at me
getting dumped by my lover
feeling completely uninspired
feeling like I didn't do a good job...I was slack...at something
that's important to me (like writing these monthly columns I do for a local paper)
Most of them have to do with relationships and feeling rejected or
abandoned....I experienced that music thing too when going off an SSRI...the
music sounded so damn good...like I felt it in my SOUL...and I crave
to hear certain songs really bad, to the point where i'll run out to the
store to get the CD just so I can listen to it. I had that experience with
a Tom Waits song...I kept wanting to hear "Jersey Girl"...by the time I
finally bought the CD, I was back on drugs again and it was kind of anticlimatic.Ugh! Why do these damn drugs have to steal part of your soul? The part that
gets totally and primally immersed in music or sex? But then the catch 22--the
depression steals your soul too and just makes you want to be dead, so I guess there's not
much of a choice...
This is the end of the thread.
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