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Stress plus Control - good or bad


12 years ago 0 16 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hello Glen, Thank you for your post. I am interested in your plan of recovery. The functionality under stress is what I do best when I am not walking with the black dog. I think it is my running at these high stress levels that causes me to slip into the dark. Would be great to see this as it was coming and develop a plan to avoid the trigger. Best regards, Numaseven
12 years ago 0 1853 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi Glen, 
 
It sounds like you have a good connection with your new psychiatrist.  Your ability to understand your "root causes" and reflect on how you usually react to situations that induce anxiety & depression is a huge leap in your efforts to overcome depression..
 
How do you feel now that you're better aware of your triggers?  How do you plan to work through your need for control in certain situations?
 
Keep up the great work you are doing and let us know how this evolves for you!
 
Vincenza, Health Educator
12 years ago 0 12 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Today I met with a psychiatrist as recommended by my counselor of the last three years.  He asked a lot of questions and wrote more than five pages of notes.  There are two areas that he spoke about that nailed me to a T.
 
The first, he identified me as a person that is meticulous and analytical.  A person that plans things out to the minutia in some cases.  This struck a strong chord in me and I can think back to two situations that would prove this analysis to be correct.  One, it took me a good year to start building a deck on my house that only took a week to complete.  Why, because I planned the deck out to the number of screws I would need and the shear strength of the bolts I would be using.  I'm about to do a full renovation in my basement.  Seems normal enough, but it's taken me three years to get this point.  I spent several weeks looking for architectural software to design it and a year to actually do the design.  Again, I know the exact number of 2x4's that I need.
 
The second came at the end of my appointment when he ask if I knew what was wrong with me.  I responded that depression and anxiety were easy answers and that I didn't necessarily know the "root cause".  Clearly he did.
 
I'm a high-functioning individual that works very well when I'm under stress and am in control.  However, when my feelings of control decrease, I begin to feel very anxious and become hyper-aware, which drive my perceptions.  When that decrease in control falls below a certain threshold, that hits me like a brick wall and very quickly triggers my depression.
 
So, now that I know the root cause of my anxiety and depression, I will begin to work on the control aspect of myself.  I may not be able to decrease the stress in my job, but I'm sure I can learn how not respond better when I don't necessarily have control.
 
I knew I was high-functioning and I work well under stress, but to bring in the control facet really turned a light on.

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