Life got really stressful. Then I got anxious and depressed. I am doing pretty much all the non-medication stuff (psychotherapy, exercise, avoid alcohol/caffeine, etc). I'm now considering trying meds (not sure if I want to, nervous about it). The hard thing for me is: My understanding is that starting on psych meds, you might get a little out-of-commission for a while. I feel like I have too many stressors/responsibilities to be able to afford that. Looking for ideas, advice, etc.
Some specifics:
I'm a man in his early fifties. I am going through a divorce and have 6-year-old child. I am self-employed and going through a very challenging time in my business, and a lot of financial challenges.
For the past six weeks or so, I have been experiencing a fair amount of anxiety and depression, and trouble sleeping. I think I probably have what would be described as "mild" to "medium" levels of these things. (I'm able to do most of] my work, albeit at a reduced capacity. I'm able to do basic stuff like leave the house, go shopping, visit a friend from time-to-time. But I also can get caught in hours of ruminating, have occasional anxiety attacks, low mood most of the time, etc... My sleep is often disrupted, waking several times a night with worry, etc).
I'm considering trying out meds for this. (SSRI's, or possible Wellbutrin for its lower side-effects).
A lot of reviews have some version of "I was a basket case for a week, but then things were okay".
I feel like I can't really afford to be a basket case for a week. As the newly-divorced parent of a little kid: I feel like I need to be able to mostly keep my shit together when I am with him. The prospect that I'd be, like, having enormous panic attacks or crying jags or whatever when looking after my kid seems very worrisome. I don't think I can comfortably ask my ex to cover for me if things get really bad. (Our current schedule is we alternate every couple of days or so).
In my work: A lot of what I do involves running events, workshops, classes, etc. My job is then to show up, on my own, and do the thing. These are often fairly high-stakes events where it's really, really, really not good to "call in sick", and where, often, I need to be able to perform at a pretty high level. (My job now is to be putting more of these into my calendar, which makes me nervous, because filling the calendar also feels like it reduces my freedom to get knocked out by meds, etc)
What are some strategies for getting started on anxiety/depression meds in cases where it feels like you don't have leeway to mess up? Have you done/tried anything? Am I over-worrying the risks? Any advice/suggestions/etc welcome! |
Video
Web
Image
Music
BlogU
