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Mental health

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Flip

Original poster

I really need help

8 replies

PleaseHelp101 · 08/12/2012 19:56

My friend uses this site and I decided to come here for advice as I just don't know what to do.

I'm 18 years old and I suffer from anxiety/depression and at the moment I am really, really low. I am waiting for an appointment to see a nurse therapist for CBT and am currently on 40mg Citalopram, but I feel so awful. I have been on the citalopram for a few months now, but this week has been particularly bad. I have just been sitting in the bathroom crying for an hour, holding a razor in my hand, but I couldn't do it. I thought I was going to faint. I really, really don't know what to do. My Mum is supportive, but I don't think she understands how bad I feel. And I have AS Level exams in January (which I was supposed to do in May, but my depression/anxiety meant I couldn't cope doing it) and I NEED to do them and pass them, but I can't even get out of bed to revise.

I really just need advice, I feel like there is a huge pressure on my chest and that I can't breathe. I don't know who to turn to.

OP posts:

Mumofthreeteens · 08/12/2012 20:09

Hello, I am so sorry you are feeling so low. Is there anything recently that has happened to make you feel worse? Is it the stress of impending exams?

Firstly don't do anything to harm yourself.if you need to talk in RL to someone and can't express yourself to family then call the Samaritans now.

I feel that you need to go back to your GP and ask to get your medication adjusted or changed. It is obviously not doing it's job helping to get your brain chemicals balanced.

Please talk to your mum. She needs to know how bad you feel. I know I would want to know if my dc couldn't cope.

noraa · 08/12/2012 20:11

really sorry for your situation :(
i dont know much about self harm but please dont do it.
citalopram should help you its been quite a while you taking it.
my first impression is citalopram not helping you, were you better before citalopram? if you stop it you have to do it gradually.
it feels like its a depression season with dark weather etc.
you will get better i believe and wish so and you will do your exams very well.

FloatyBeatie · 08/12/2012 20:12

Hello there. I'm so sorry you are feeling so low. Please remember that although it seems to hard to see beyond the depression now, there will come a time when things feel much less bleak. The depression might seem inescapable, but that pessimism about the illness is itself part of the illness, and a day will come when you suddenly realise that you are enjoying things a bit more and life seems less grey.

It is very hard on you that you are having to think about exams at a time when depression and anxiety makes it so hard for you to work. I'm glad your mum is supportive, but you could probably do with talking to someone else too, even before your appointment comes through. Could you make a new appointment with your GP and explain how very difficult things seem for you right now? Is there any counselling service in your school/college?

There is a mental health web guide on Mumsnet that has lots of useful contacts too. The first few contacts are a bit focussed on mums with depression, but there is lots of more general stuff there too.

And keep posting here if it helps: even if you don't get many responses on a saturday night there are lots of people here who understand what it is to feel so down.

All best wishes

Mumofthreeteens · 08/12/2012 20:26

Are you there? Are you ok?

Original poster

PleaseHelp101 · 08/12/2012 21:23

Hi I am here and okay, just for you to know

OP posts:

FloatyBeatie · 08/12/2012 23:08

Hope you get a good night's sleep. Perhaps don't think about working tomorrow. Concentrate of being kind to yourself, talking to your mum as much as possible, and thinking about seeing the doc again.

aliasjoey · 08/12/2012 23:28

this will pass.

you feel bad now, but it won't stay like that. you have already made a really brave step by talking about it on here. maybe you could write down some plans on what to do tomorrow. e.g.

talk to mum. explain about y and z.
make appt to see doctor. discuss y and z
talk to friend

even just writing it down may help you feel more in control. you will not always feel like this.

SirBoobAlot · 08/12/2012 23:37

Please go back and speak to the doctor. There are lots of different medications you can try, and this one obviously isn't working for you right now.

Is there a support system at your sixth form? You need to take a deep breathe, and try not to freak out about your exams. I say this as someone who is now 21, didn't take her A Levels for health reasons, and am now well enough to start contemplating education properly again. Not doing your A Levels at 18 really isn't the end of the world, I promise you. So, if you do them, great, but if you find you are too ill, then that is okay.

Go back and see the GP, and ask for an urgent referral to the mental health team as well as a change in meds.

Also may be worth having a look around and seeing if there were some support groups in your area. Finding a group of people who understood what I was going through was so key to me starting to recover.

Much love.

Flip