Thread: The Black Dog - Depression

Sad to hear about your friend's friend Pearo but this is a timely post.

My father suffered from depression and spent many sessions in Concord repat hospital.

I too have had visits from the Black Dog, as have my three brothers. Fortunately we have watchdog wives and
are warned when things are not right. For all of us medication works but there are times when the support of
others is also needed to help along the way to recovery.

You are right- depression is not a state of mind and cannot be willed away. One cannot simply "snap out of it".

Yours is a very generous offer of support for those who feel they need it. Good on you!!!

I have been on Medication for Depression since 1990. Over that time I may have had 20 different meds. Some worked some didn't. Many worked for a while then don't. The meds are the difference between coping or not. I was "put out to pasture" in 1998. Since then I have had a couple of jobs but now I am totally "retired". I keep busy do stuff around home as well as little jobs for people I know. What I have found recently is that I have anxiety attacks while doing these jobs which makes me reluctant to do anything other than elementary ones. Its only the last week or so that I have actually worked in my shed since Christmas I just couldn't stay out there. I have been cutting the grass regularly but that's about all. The TV gets a work out.
I would love to be able to work full time again at a job I enjoy but I just can't. Some smart people tell me to "just get on with it". I would love too but just can't.
This Forum has been so good for my situation. If I am not in the shed, I am here reading what others are up to or surfing and finding information. Some times I get all fired up and go to the shed to do what ever, but I will walk in one door and out the other. Some times I just cant even sit in the shed.
Members here have been invaluable to my life.
I echo the first post's message being, if you think some thing is wrong, talk about it to someone close who knows you or better still see your GP. It can be a long rocky road but persevere!!!

A good, timely reminder. It's important to note that this is a medical illness, not just someone feeling sad and it is nothing to be ashamed of.

It's also important to note that not every medication will work for everyone. An example of this is the medication my doctor prescribed for me.

The day after I started on it I needed the day off work as it knocked me for 6. After struggling with it for a few more days it was time for a trip back to the doctors.

The most important thing is to never, ever give up.

Mental illness still carries such stigma, a lot of people even act as if it is contagious. My family fit into that category and deny it even happens. Despite me having been hospitalised several times since my teenage years. I have been on every single medication there is currently on the market, Anti depressants, SSRIs, Mood Stabilisers, anti psychotics etc etc. Non have worked for me and many have had severe side effects. Despite the bad experiences I have had with meds I would jump to try the next one that is on the market, anything not to feel like this and be able function "normally" and just feel happy.

One issue with depression is every one feels sad, or gets the blues so they think they know. Clinical and biological depression is a completely different and vicious beast and tears apart those poor souls who suffer it .

It has cost me a lot in treatment, lost jobs, lost relationships, lost my house. I was too ill to deal with government agencies so it has also cost me any savings I had.


When I'm not overwhelmed by the shed I do find some solace in making things and this forum has been really beneficial in that, it also helped me get out and start meeting people again after not leaving my room for a few years.

Be mindful what you say to people and how you treat them a small remark can have a huge impact positive or negative you never know what tipping point there on.

I can't agree more!!

Mental illness is that and illness, not the persons fault, and they can't just get over it. That's like telling someone with cancer - just get over it.

I'm think the stigma is starting to go away, but still needs lots of work. Please don't be ashamed if you feel down, depressed, anxious, upset. Admitting it is a huge thing and takes a massive amount of courage. There is help out there, another site to look at is http://www.beyondblue.org.au/.

Thank you for raising this and your support!!

I'm a lucky one! I had a visit from the BD and got great psychiatric assistance. We found a med that worked and then, when we found it gave me restless leg syndrome, and disturbed the sleep of SWMBO (and me), we found another that worked without that side effect.

It really is important to encourage someone who is having difficulty to get the very best help they can as do so asap.

Unfortunately the news tonight carried a story of a "body found" in the local high school grounds only a few hundred metres from our home. There is a little more to that story I feel.

Like others I have also lost my best man, good mates and close acquaintances to depression & suicide over the years. Almost lost another mate I went through school with and had remained in contact with since school, fortunately he was found out before "he did something stupid".

On another occasion we received a few phone calls in succession in the very early hours one morning on the land line from an apparently very "drunk" person who was wanting to talk. The first call was very incoherent & cryptic then the caller slowly confided little by little. Unfortunately the caller ID was blocked & I could not identify the person, and they would not give away anything to directly identify them, even though they obviously knew a fair bit of stuff about me that not many people would know. So there was definitely a connection there however they would not give me any info on their identity and used a nick name I had never heard before. I contacted police immediately then many friends at a more respectable hour to check up on them - all were OK so the callers identity remained a very disturbing mystery. Most fortunately the caller also ran others that morning and one person twigged as to who it was.

After many many months I accidentally learned who it was and was really shocked and thrown by the revelation. It was not some one I would expect to suffer depression. Same for a professional acquaintance who seemed to have every thing going perfectly for him. People can hide depression very well until its all to late.

Its good to read the stories here. It means something positive is happening. It was not that long ago (15-20 years I reckon) where you probably would have been laughed at if you said you were depressed, and I think its for this reason a lot of people still wont talk about it. But if we keep talking about it, keep people informed about the disease, then hopefully people will seek out help before it gets to serious.

I am getting a list of numbers and contacts together, and I will add them to my original post. Perhaps at some later date we could create a new post and make it a sticky. Another forum I am a member of has done exactly that, and I think its a great idea.

Originally Posted by Pearo

Its good to read the stories here. It means something positive is happening. It was not that long ago (15-20 years I reckon) where you probably would have been laughed at if you said you were depressed, and I think its for this reason a lot of people still wont talk about it. But if we keep talking about it, keep people informed about the disease, then hopefully people will seek out help before it gets to serious.

I am getting a list of numbers and contacts together, and I will add them to my original post. Perhaps at some later date we could create a new post and make it a sticky. Another forum I am a member of has done exactly that, and I think its a great idea.

I am 67 for reference to this story. When I was a pre-school child our next door neighbour committed suicide for no apparent reason. She was an apparently happy mother of three young children, had a husband who earned enough to be called very well off and no one ever worked out why she ended her life. These days it would be obvious that anyone desperate enough to resort to suicide must have had huge issues with depression and but then no one had the knowledge or even spoke of it to help her.

I had my first real encounter with the black dog in 1999 when just before christmas I was diagnosed with cancer.I went throught 5 months of unpleasant chemotherapy and fortunately acheived remission.
2 of the members of the local snooker club that I knew, Norman Dagley who was a legendary billiards player and a young kid who was a very talented snooker player both died during that few months from cancer.The young kid died from Testicular cancer needlessly, as he kept his illness secret for 2 years, presumably too embarassed to talk to his doctor.His familym had to suffer the anguish of him passing away on News years day.

The black dog has been with me on and off, but fortunately my cancer has been at bay nearly 15 years so have been lucky in that respect.

Depression is certainly one of the most bebilitating illnesses for sure, both my father and brother are both on antidepressants and was prescribed them at one time for OCD but felt so ill on them that I stopped taking them after only a couple of days.

I have a lot of sympathy for anyone else suffering with depression and it never really helps to keep it bottled up inside.