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depression and my sister , who is ....and how do i deal with it

17 replies

hermykne · 11/09/2006 20:40

i need advice on this
she is 32, single, and told by a pyschartrist (cant sp) that it was as a result of a trauma that she became depressed and prescribed anti ds. she meet a guy , fell in love and 6 months later tells her he has a girlfriend in london, he's in brigton and my sis is in dublin. he was the one, this happend 18mths ago or so.

she runs her own business, has a niceflat, but would utimately like a companion for life and children, she has friends good and bad. does yoga lots of and is fairly active. compains about having no money and then i neverknow if she has or hasnt and dont ask for fear of being told its my money...

she told me, after i cancelled going to hers for her birthday with my kids, that i was selfish. it had been planned a month prior to it ( i say provisionally she claims a plan is a plan and u stick to it, with children u dont she doesnt accept this).
on the birthday (and day before) i just felt too tired to go to dublin, spend the day there, feed kids etc etc and said i would nt be going up. this is a nearly month ago, and only today she tells me she made cakes for the day. now why would she not have told me that the day before or the day of.
anyway its like a brick wall for me, i cant say anything to her - like come on sis you have to move on or whatever - it just counds trite. and i will be cut off the phone or something.

shetold me that "mattering to someone would be nice", and i feel that at her age its a bit childish to expect to "matter" as much as u did at the age of 2/12/22.
i have a life which maybe mundane repititioness tiring and she thinks i can drop things and go to dubllin just like that,
but she does matter to me , my mum and dad but not everyday mattering, if u can understand my train of thought. and she knows this.

so i dont know what to do, she sees a counsellor and takes st j'swort. she came to my sons brithday party and was in foul form and rude to one of my annoying but nice friends.
did i say anyhtingto her - no.
so i really dont know how to deal with it

OP posts:
Dior · 11/09/2006 20:46

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hermykne · 11/09/2006 20:53

dior , she has lots of friends and sees friends every day, this goes on and on, and she makes no attempt to visit me , but if shes lonely i still cant drop everything and go to see her, dh works and i'm at home with the kids.

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hermykne · 11/09/2006 21:01

bump before i go to bed

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TheVoiceOfReasonQV · 11/09/2006 21:13

Depression is a very debilitating illness.

Yes, illness. Its hard for everyone, particularly so for close family and friends, but especially so for the sufferer. Same as with any chronic illness.

Please please please do not tell her to snap out of it, cheer up, get over it or anything similar. It is an illness, and she can no more snap out of it than someone can snap out of being diabetic.

When you are depressed, one of the big side effects of it is that it over emphasises normal feelings of disappointment, lack of self worth, loneliness (feeling alone in a room full of people is VERY possible), failure etc. She cant help the way she is being. I would imagine that your cancelling at the last minute after her having made some effort/prior organisation must have actually been devastating for her.

I know thats probably hard for you to understand, but, I would almost guarantee thats how she felt. It must have been a HUGE slap in the face for her.

I know you cant drop everything and dash off at the last minute, but in many respects, an ill person - especially one with depression, needs to know whats happening, and needs a bit of routine or stability. You probably gave her a pretty huge wobble. (Although i'm not doubting your reasons for not going).

I think, actually, you should change your perspective on what depression constitutes, and re-evaluate the conversations you have had with her about this. I think you can do lots more to help her, even if it is at the end of a telephone. Its what sisters are for, isnt it?

TheVoiceOfReasonQV · 11/09/2006 21:15

Oh, and fwiw, when I was depressed, the last thing I could do was walk out the front door, and "cheer myself up". I became a bit of a hermit.

Dior · 11/09/2006 21:16

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hermykne · 11/09/2006 21:17

the voice of reason
what di u like people to do and say or what helped, if you told them about something and were asking a question what kind of anwer did u want
i am beginnning to understand it a wee bit more, just spoke to one of my good friends who commited sucide with his depression so she has illuminated me a bit.

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hermykne · 11/09/2006 21:19

dior she quit the pyshctrist as she didnt like his attitude, and now sees a female counsellor. her doc is quite good for her too.

dior she works very hard in her business.

have emailed her and siad i will go to meet her next week without kids, dh is off wed, and we could goto cinema or something

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hermykne · 11/09/2006 21:19

dior and VOR how did u overcome it

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Dior · 11/09/2006 21:26

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hermykne · 11/09/2006 21:29

jesus dior thanks so much for that, i really have learned alot just in those few contributions. i really appreicate it.

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Dior · 11/09/2006 21:33

Message withdrawn

TheVoiceOfReasonQV · 11/09/2006 21:33

DP used to take the strain of housework etc because I had no energy. He just understood really - I had to write it down and explain a bit though (will copy and paste it for you). It is hard for people to understand if they have never been there. He would tell me daily that he loved me and i would get better.

I am on a course of AD's which has helped tremendously I must say.

TheVoiceOfReasonQV · 11/09/2006 21:36

Agree Dior. THere is a great deal of guilt often tied up with it, because you know you have no "real" reason to feel so bad, and that there ARE people much worse off than you that are happy.

hermykne · 11/09/2006 21:38

thanks VOR, did oyur ad's make u put on weight as thas why my sis came off them, she didnt really look any further in to them, i'll ask her why. the weight thing would be a concern of hers, shes a 10 and likes it that way, shes never eaten properly and doesnt cook as shes alone and who cooks for 1. but then if she comes to mine she'll turn her nose up at the fab thai dinner i 've cooked. so i dont understand that either but am beginning too.
i need a book.

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TheVoiceOfReasonQV · 11/09/2006 21:40

Here it is. I dont know about the weight gain thing. Not heard of that before. I take Sertraline/Lustral and they have done me well.

Imagine walking through a lovely meadow. The sun shining. Looking up at a beautiful sky. Bright blue, lots of fluffy white clouds drifting by. Butterflies fluttering amongst the buttercups and daisies. Your fingers brushing the tips of the long grass as you walk.....and then suddenly, you stumble.

You manage to catch yourself after faltering for a bit. You dust yourself down, and keep on walking, admiring the beautiful surroundings. You stumble again, this time falling into a deep, unmarked pit. You keep falling and falling, grabbing out and flailing wildly to try and get a grip on something, anything. After what seems like forever, you stop your slide downwards and hit rock bottom. You are exhausted from your sudden and unexpected decent into darkness.

Before you know where you are, and what has happened, you are at the bottom of a deep hole with no idea how you got there or how to get out. You can see a chink of light in the top, but its quite far away, and you cant trust that the chink of light is the only way out, but you claw towards it anyway, even though you are exhausted and bruised and battered from your fall.

Its a lonely time in this hole. Only you and the darkness. You couldnt see anyone else even if they were there, because of the darkness and coldness of your environment. But once you realise where you are, you know you have to clamber out and,` if you are lucky, someone will pass by and offer a hand of help to pull you out.

Despite being exhausted, and bruised and battered, you clamber you way to the top, and you finally make your way out of the hole. Yet you are still shocked and stunned by what happened. How could you miss such a big hole in front of you? Why couldnt you see it coming? How come no-one before you has fallen into this hole (you think) and not thought to block it up? Many people before you has managed to walk through the meadow without falling into this pit, why couldnt you have seen it coming, or prevented it, or just had a better journey?

You are stood, standing in this beautiful meadow, but all you can think about is the dark hole that you have just fallen into and clambered out of, how sore and aching your body is, and how tired you are. The beauty around you means nothing for a while. But you are grateful to be out, and you realise you should appreciate the beautiful surroundings.

You keep walking, but you find yourself no longer admiring the sky, the clouds, the butterflies, the flowers. You are busy looking at your feet. Concentrating hard, because, you dont want to fall into another pit, and waylaid by your aching bones and tired body.

You lose sight of all the beautiful things around you because you are continuing your journey looking only down at the ground, on alert for danger. You dont appreciate the sky, the clouds, the flowers, the butterflies, because you are too scared of falling down another hole, you still have the bruises from the last fall.

You are terrified that, if you take your eyes off terra firma for a moment, you could slip down that hole again and you wont find your way out so easily this time.

It is a long, lonely journey, spent staring at the ground, before you trust your surroundings, and your instincts enough again to appreciate your journey, and realise its beauty. To wander through the meadow staring at the beautiful blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

hermykne · 11/09/2006 21:56

vor thanks again. will print off for re-reading.

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