Your post has confirmed something I learned about depression first-hand. I was hospitalized for severe depression with anhedonia about 10 years ago. It was triggered by long-term stress; my teenage son had been in the hospital for 5 months. When he came home and we could see he was doing better, I began to exhibit symptoms of that prolonged stress. I started having several panic attacks a day and eventually stopped sleeping because the panic attacks would wake me up almost immediately. It was probably the lack of sleep that caused the anhedonia. It took several medications and about six months to bring me out of that downward spiral and I do think I exhibited resilience. But I'm not sure resilience alone would have been enough to get my body to start sleeping again and stop hitting me with continuous shots of adrenaline. Great post Abigail. I love your discussions of psychology and mental health and I hope they are doing lots of good for your readers!
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Hello @geke :)
Five months is indeed a long time to be under stress, specially the kind of stress you described here (son in hospital). I have great respect for people who manage to go through this sort of emotional difficulty and are able to openly talk about them. For me it shows that they have moved on, which in itself is a great achievement; and second, it serves as an example while also bringging real hope to those currently going through a similar phase in life.
For me your example is particularly important because it was a case of severe depression reversed by an interplay between your resilience, medication and professional care. I say important because many people are skeptical about the last two. As said in one of my replies here, while one needs to be cautious when recommending the use of anti-depressants, it is also very important to remember they help loads, and loads of people to fully function and get their lives back again!
Beautiful comment Geke. It is incredibly kind of you to bring hope to others through your own experience. Thank you so much ❤️ :)
All the best to you & your family!