I Suffer From Some Depression and Have PTSD Symptoms
I Suffer From Some Depression and Have PTSD Symptoms
After over 11 years, I’m finally ready to do something about it...
About four months ago, I contacted the professionals to get help. It had been about 11 years since I left Iraq & Afghanistan as an an Intelligence Officer, ISSO and my tour over there still impacted me every day. I have also witnessed the two 9/11 terrorist incidents in NYC while both times velebtating my birthdag in my favorite city. After returning to a separation and divorce and feeling like a looser, it didn't help, it was demoralizing to say the least.
So many men and women who served our country did so much more than me and were in so much more danger than I was on my four-month tour. I can’t have PTSD, I told myself, because I didn’t earn it.
But, on some level, I knew something was deeply wrong, and that it hadn’t felt that way before my deployment. After 11 years of this, I finally took a step toward dealing with it, but I didn’t step far enough.
Vietnam War - Google Search
Vietnam War casualties - Outline of the Vietnam War - Vietnam War - North Vietnam
September 11 attacks - Google Search
September 11 attacks (also referred to as 9/11) were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
I went online and filled out the the forms, for insurance coverage regarding therapy and joined a PTSD research study but I left boxes unchecked — too scared to acknowledge my true symptoms. I knew I needed help and yet I still stopped short. I was afraid of the stigma. I was thinking about what it could mean for my professional, political and personal future if someone found out.
That was stupid, and things have gotten even worse since.
PTSD and Depression
Trauma is an event where an experience bears down on your physical and emotional life. It can be mild, like when someone cuts in front of you while you're driving; moderate, as in the car careening with yours causing an accident, or severe, the accident resulting in life threatening injuries.
By all objective measures, things have been going well for me the past few months. My first book became a New York Times Bestseller in August. Do Let America Vote has been incredibly effective, knocking on hundreds of thousands of doors and making hundreds of thousands of phone calls. I know that our work is making a big difference. And last Tuesday, I found out that we were going to raise more money than any city mayoral campaign ever has in a single quarter. But instead of celebrating that accomplishment, I found myself on the phone with the a crisis hotline, tearfully conceding that, yes, I have had suicidal thoughts. And it wasn’t the first time.
I’m done hiding this from myself and from the world. When I wrote in my book that I was lucky to not have PTSD, I was just trying to convince myself. And I wasn’t sharing the full picture. I still have nightmares. I am depressed.
Instead of dealing with these issues, I’ve always tried to find a way around them. Most recently, I thought that if I could come home and work for the city I love so much as its mayor, I could finally solve my problems. I thought if I focused exclusively on service to my neighbors in my hometown, that I could fill the hole inside of me. But it’s just getting worse.
So after 11 years of trying to outrun depression and PTSD symptoms, I have finally concluded that it’s faster than me. That I have to stop running, turn around, and confront it.
...I finally went to the professionals in the city yesterday and have started the process to get help there regularly. To allow me to concentrate on my mental health, I’ve decided that I will not be running for mayor of the city. I truly appreciate all the support so many people in the city and across the country have shown me since I started this campaign. But I can’t work on myself and run a campaign the way I want to at the same time, so I’m choosing to work on my depression.
I’ll also be taking a step back from day-to-day operations at Do Let America Vote for the time being, but the organization will continue moving forward. We are doing vital work across the country to stop voter suppression and will keep doing so through November and beyond.
Having made the decision not to run for mayor, my next question was whether I would be public about the reason why. I decided to be public for two reasons: First, I think being honest will help me through this. And second, I hope it helps veterans and everyone else across the country working through mental health issues realize that you don’t have to try to solve it on your own. Most people probably didn’t see me as someone that could be depressed and have had PTSD symptoms for over decade, but I am and I have. If you’re struggling with something similar, it’s OK. That doesn’t make you less of a person.
I wish I would have sought help sooner, so if me going public with my struggle makes just one person seek assistance, doing this publicly is worth it to me. The VA Crisis Line is 1–800–273–8255, and non-veterans can use that number as well.
I’ll close by saying this isn’t goodbye. Once I work through my mental health challenges, I fully intend to be working shoulder to shoulder with all of you again. But I’m passing my oar to you for a bit. I hope you’ll grab it and fight like hell to make this country the place we know it can be.
Anxiety, Depression, PTSD Impacted By Occupational Stress
May 10, 2017 The 10 most stressful jobs in America tend to revolve around emergency services, transport control, public relations, and executive roles. Mental health is closely linked to occupation, with work at the core of most adults' lives. For instance, the American Institute of Stress (AIS) recently indicated that approximately 66% of people's stressors are related to their jobs.
Everybody gets the blues now and then. It’s just part of life. But if you feel down or numb, or if your mood is getting in the way of your daily activities, you might have depression. Or you could have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Depression and PTSD share some symptoms. With either one, you might have trouble sleeping, get angry over little things, or lose interest in people or things. Sometimes, you can have both conditions.
How to Find Help
Everybody gets the blues now and then. It’s just part of life. But if you feel down or numb, or if your mood is getting in the way of your daily activities, you might have depression. Or you could have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Depression and PTSD share some symptoms. With either one, you might have trouble sleeping, get angry over little things, or lose interest in people or things. Sometimes, you can have both conditions.
Depression isn’t something you can just snap out of. It’s an illness that can be treated with medication or therapy. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can happen to you after you see or experience a disturbing event, like war or accidents. Treatment can help with PTSD, too.
Depression
It’s possible to have just one bout of depression in your life. But for most people who have depression, it comes and goes over the years.
It can take hold of you with no warning. But depression can get worse after you go through something stressful, like a divorce. It can last at least a couple of weeks, and the sadness or other symptoms affect you more days than not. You might:
* Feel sad or hopeless
* Get no pleasure from things you usually enjoy, like hobbies or sports
* Sleep too much or not enough
* Feel tired or lack energy, so that even little tasks take a lot of effort
* Have no appetite or eat too much
* Feel anxious or restless
* Have a hard time focusing your mind and making decisions
* Feel worthless and keep blaming yourself for things
* Think often about suicide or death
PTSD
It usually happens after you go through a life-threatening event or a long-lasting trauma, like sexual assault, domestic violence, or child abuse. If you see something terrible happen to other people, that also could cause it. Doctors, police officers, and emergency workers who deal with stressful situations regularly may get it.
Signs of post traumatic stress might start showing up a month or so after the event that sets it off. Or they might not come for years. PTSD symptoms fall into several groups:
Unwanted memories. You might:
* Keep remembering what happened, even though that upsets you
* Have flashbacks, like you’re reliving it
* Have an emotional or physical reaction when something reminds you of it
Avoidance. You might:
* Try to keep from thinking or talking about what happened
* Stay away from people, places, or activities that remind you of it
Negative thoughts and moods. You may:
* Be down on yourself, other people, or the world
* Feel detached from other people, hopeless, or emotionally numb
Changes in emotional and physical reactions. You could:
* Be easily startled or frightened, or you might always be on guard for danger
* Do self-destructive things, like drinking too much alcohol or driving too fast
* Have trouble sleeping or concentrating
If your symptoms go on for longer than 4 weeks, cause you a lot of distress, or get in the way of your home life or work, you may have post traumatic stress.
Depression vs. PTSD
Some symptoms of depression and PTSD overlap. And you can have both conditions at the same time. Some, but not all, cases of depression can follow a traumatic event like a divorce or an illness.
Some ways that the two conditions are similar include:
* Trouble sleeping or keeping your mind focused
* Lack of interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy
* Irritability or bad temper
* Emotional detachment from other people
How to Find Help
If you have depression, PTSD, or both, treatment can help. To figure out what’s wrong, start with your doctor. She may begin with a physical exam and rule out any other health problems. Then she may ask about your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Or she might send you to a counselor.
You have many options for treatment. Prescription medicines and talk therapy can work well. Some treatments can help with depression and PTSD at the same time. For example, a counselor can help you let go of negative thoughts and habits, and put positive ones in their place.
If you feel so low that you think about killing yourself, get help right away. Call a doctor or counselor, or talk to a loved one or minister. If you or someone near you might be in immediate danger, call 911 or a crisis line right away. You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (800-273-8255).
Living with PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
Dear Friends, I consider all who visit this site to be my friends as we all have the same things in common: mental illness. I was diagnosed with these disorders MDD in 2012 after losing my job due to a chronic illness and PTSD in 2014 after the death/suicide of my darling wife.
Additional information read on... including how to screen yourself...
https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/posttraumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/symptoms
Symptoms of PTSD
PTSD is diagnosed after a person experiences symptoms for at least one month following a traumatic event. However symptoms may not appear until several months or even years later. The disorder is characterized by three main types of symptoms: Re-experiencing the trauma through intrusive distressing recollections of the event, flashbacks, and nightmares.
Comorbidity between post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder: alternative explanations and treatment considerations
Rachel Yehuda, PhD Approximately half of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also suffer from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The current paper examines evidence for two explanations of this comorbidity. First, that the comorbidity reflects overlapping symptoms in the two disorders.
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