Mental health disorders?

Question

what is it like living with one?.. my daugther has adhd. and her doc is ruling out schizo and bi polar so i know what it is like living with someone who has it..but i want to hear from the other side... yeah i could ask my child..but i want adults to answer this..and how long have you had your condition..

Answer 1

I have PTSD and depression. With the PTSD I have a short attention span and it's hard at times. Eventually you learn to adapt and do work in intervals.What's hard for me is the social problems I because of the disorder. I was in the military though so I know this was part of the job, and I except it.

Answer 2

I don't have what you stated but I do have my share of mental problems.I'm 46 years old and have been dx with Depression, psychosis, PTSD, I hear voices and anxiety. Depression for about 8 years and the rest for 4 1/2 years. I also just hit the one year marker for getting off drugs.

Let me just say that life is getting better and I plan on getting my smile back. I have worked long and hard to get back to where I am and though it's still very rough at times, I will do it.

Now what it's like or was like living with me. In the beginning when all the symptoms came out I hid them from everyone. I isolated when ever I could and stayed away from friends and family. When things got so bad I moved in with family, not because of money, because of fear. My family thought I was struggling and never knew until years later. Now I'm off drugs and in therapy for my mental problems and they(my family) are ecucated on what life is like for me. I think that is the most important thing for people who live with someone struggling with a mental problem. Because you can't see it,it's not like if someone has a broken arm.

They tell me it's hard sometimes for them and I see it and understand this. I still isolate even now. They encourage me to a point and back off when they see I need them to. Although were all human and may not see eye to eye all the time. Since I live under there roof I still have to respect them even though I'm old enough to makeup my own mind. At times I welcome there thoughts and views because sometimes it's to hard for me to know I'm making the right choices.

So be good to yourself, join a support group for family and care givers and take one day at a time. If your not doing good your no help to your child.

Take care and don't give up!

Answer 3

I've never had the "conditions" you speak of, but having been in the profession for 20+ years before I retired not long ago, I can advise you on one way to approach all this.  Don't get caught up in the labels / diagnoses.  People seem to get afraid of those big words that they've rarely heard before, and they think of them as some big problem that has some degree of mystery to them.  They don't.

Make what you want out of adhd, but many a times that "diagnosis" is given because the practitioner can't think of something else and they don't like having a client go by without at least some diagnosis.  And diagnoses are often given in cycles.  What ever the latest fad is, you or  yours is more likely to get that diagnosis than at other times of more restraint on the  part of the professionals.  Psychiatry and psychology aren't necessarily the answers even though they are the ones promoting the big ADHD frenzy.  I recommend you read about the diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM) and you'll read all about it in plain language.  And please be aware of the words "Mental Disorders" in the title.  That does NOT necessarily mean "mental illnesses", even though some diagnoses are mental illnesses.  ADHD  is NOT.  There is a big distinction between "mental illness" and "mental disorders", the latter which may focus more on a behavioral disorder as opposed to a mental illness.  Maybe your anxiety will go up after reading about the "big illness" of ADHD, and then, maybe you'll begin to realize all the hype that's being coined under those letters.  You can also read about Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders if you want, but realize that there's as much hype in psychiatry and psychology as there is in new car ads, so, anxiety won't do you any good.  Just don't buy it, like you won't always buy the new or used cars that are advertised.   And drugs (oops . . . "medicine" . . .) isn't always the answer, and often just garbles up the situation into a real problem later on.  And once you realize all this, your anxiety over it all will go away, or at least lessen, and you'll be able to manage yourself much better over these labels / diagnoses that the mental health field so quickly uses to promo their business, along with the pharmaceutical industry.  God Bless you.

Answer 4

Every incidence and happening that occurs in life is destined. They come to teach us a good lesson and make us more humane and strong. Let us try to accommodate and adjust in every possible way to our fate. Do not lose heart at any stage. Be bold and courageous to face even worst situations. Human sufferings and happiness are cycle of events. Feel that you have been given an opportunity to serve and derive happiness.

Answer 5

Well, I have obsessive-compulsive disorder..

Every mental disorder is different, but I'd say that all of them are quite frustrating and distressing..

Like with OCD I get VERY anxious..it's a constant..

Well, OCD progresses over time..it probably started when I was in middle school.

It's gotten much worse the past two years, though..

I've had it for about seven years, the last two being the worst yet..

Answer 6

I have a frind that have her son with adhd, is hard. But the good news that they get older it become more managable. As a mom you have to take you battles as a chalange, i will recomend you to fieght back to adversity. Look other ways to help you child, like for example. check the food sensibility, you can check with hypnosis to get help, you can check with a proper nutrition for your child is so many ways that you can do something for you kid. In alternative medicine is diferent approaches to help your kid. Good luck to you and I hope that your child improve by all means.

Dr. Salgado