Will meds help me or I don't need it?

[missdesguised]

I have never felt the need to take any meds but my daughter just started fluoxetine and she said that it makes everything 'smooth' as in her feelings, and I thought 'wow! maybe I need some too'

What makes me think so is that although I think I function well, my daughter's MH struggles apparently affects me too and the reason why I say this is because her therapist and other professionals involved insist I get support for myself - problem is: I don't want to do counselling, group talk or anything like that. I wonder what the professionals see in me that I am missing or if it is just normal practise to offer support for parents whose children have MH issues.

I'm a single parent in a high pressured full time job and studying a somewhat complicate course on the side plus exams - sometimes when I need to study, I have zero ability to focus and stare at the wall for hours...I also lost a lot of my enthusiasm and zest for life - I still self care and eat reasonably well - but I've lost the desire for friends, a romantic relationship, leisure, exercise... I'm isolating myself more and more and feeling exhausted a lot...sometimes I think the overthinking causes the exhaustion more then anything I do physically tbh, but the only time when I feel visibly anxious is when there is a possibility that I will run late to something - it doesn't matter what it is or if it is nobody's fault like a traffic accident for example - if I start to think I will run late to anything I panic. I have not being punctual.

Could also be suffering from pre-menopause and in this case maybe hormones therapy would be better?

How to even start talking to my GP about it?

I think you should explore with your gp some antidepressants. Also maybe you just don’t have depression because of your daughter. It’s sounds like you are under lots of pressure. But if her professionals are advising you to get help do it. My dd has anxiety, I have depression neither one causes the other. Maybe genetics but? I hate talk therapy too.

I'm not being funny but your a parent and your glad your daughter got the right help but refuse for yourself so what then puts you in the best position to be helpful to your daughter atm nothing does. As a parent you should be showing mental health etc is not a problem and should be fixed ASAP with any professional help that's required. So get to your gp and get sorted things can only get better taking that step.

If your issues are due to peri-menopause, and they very well could be, ad's are not recommended, and can even make things worse. Your brain fog, anxiety, malaise and exhaustion are all classic peri-menopausal symptoms.

I can understand what your daughter means when she says her meds 'smooth' things out for her, sounds like the medication is working for her.

I've had periods of anxiety or depression where taking antidepressants was absolutely necessary for me to function and reset. For me, the meds would dull down the negative aspects I was experiencing and would allow me to regulate myself more back to normal. For example, at times crippling anxiety would lead to self doubt which would lead into not being able to function properly at work, which would lead to time off from work, then isolation, not able to leave the house, then not able to leave bed...etc. A spell on meds would help bring me out of this and once I started getting back into a rhythm my mental health would improve.

The negative aspect of antidepressants, for me, was that while it dulled down the anxiety it would also dull down life's natural highs which are essential.

So in summary I would say that I am a great believer in taking medication where it is absolutely needed but to be mindful that it does also alter your natural mood too. Some people, like me, need them to stabilise while they heal and recover, other people might need them for a lifetime. Some people can cope with majorly stressful periods with no medication help at all - you might be one of the latter?

Thank you yes - I didn’t think meds was an option for me because I didn’t know what signs to look for. When the professionals suggest I get help they refer to talk therapy and suport groups. To be honesf I have not had luck with the threapists I have tried and I have no time for coffee mornings with other parents going through the same - there are other things I can do with that chunck of time that helps me better. Work helps me immensely, I would be in a very bad place if it was not from work. During weekends or hiolidays like Christmas etc, I become all over the place because I lose the structure of my working pattern - work is like the floor that grounds me. So much so that I am on beggining stages of applying for a part time position WFH in USA so I can work on my evenings! Crazy I know.

Studying helps me a lot too but because is self structured mostly, I struggle a bit but once I get in the flow it feels amazing.

Yes genetics for sure. My family is prone to MH issues.

Thank you - I need to investigate. Will talk to my GP and see what he thinks.

At nearly 46 it could be it!

Thanks everyone - error on the OP - it shoud read

“I hate not being punctual” rather than
“ I have not being punctual”

Even spotting this mistakes causes me grief lol