Nationstates' Mental illness thread.

[Jute]

I was always curious and could never get a straight definition to OCD.

It can be hard to describe, as it's often very varied. It used to be called "the doubter's disease", as OCD is, as I understand it, usually be when you obsessively worry about a single small thing, like not having washed your hands enough or having touched something perceived as dirty, and then trying to offset that terrible anxiety by doing something over and over again until you feel relief, but it's only temporary, as soon enough you feel compelled to do the same actions again, "just to be sure"

[Xanama]

So much my mind warps reality sometimes, I hallucinate

Well, just know that there are people out there who can help you, as well as medication. But, even that can only help so much.

I know, but I try and it doesn't work for me, I'm always left miserable, plus my terrible past.

[Transyl]

I was always curious and could never get a straight definition to OCD.

It can be hard to describe, as it's often very varied. It used to be called "the doubter's disease", as OCD is, as I understand it, usually be when you obsessively worry about a single small thing, like not having washed your hands enough or having touched something perceived as dirty, and then trying to offset that terrible anxiety by doing something over and over again until you feel relief, but it's only temporary, as soon enough you feel compelled to do the same actions again, "just to be sure"

There really is no 'straight' definition of OCD. You have to actually have it, or be around somebody who has it to actually understand it.

[Apple-Loosa]

It can. If it hinders your every day life then yes. There doesn't even have to be any outside cause for depression even, it just happens.

So you're saying that being physically restricted or just restricted from acting and being a "normal" human being? If it hinders you someway, that could also be the pathway to most of these mental illnesses?

Another thing which I hate about society is the stigma that is attached to mental illnesses, how sometimes I hear dimwits throw around the terms on the bus as If they were just common insults. I wanted to throw them off the roof of that double-decker bus so badly...

[Transyl]

Well, just know that there are people out there who can help you, as well as medication. But, even that can only help so much.

I know, but I try and it doesn't work for me, I'm always left miserable, plus my terrible past.

I have depression, as well as other things. The suffering is a long-term thing, but you can find ways to cope with it to make it a little less awful. You can try to be optimistic about it, and try to find some happiness.

[Highfort]

I was always curious and could never get a straight definition to OCD.

It can be hard to describe, as it's often very varied. It used to be called "the doubter's disease", as OCD is, as I understand it, usually be when you obsessively worry about a single small thing, like not having washed your hands enough or having touched something perceived as dirty, and then trying to offset that terrible anxiety by doing something over and over again until you feel relief, but it's only temporary, as soon enough you feel compelled to do the same actions again, "just to be sure"

The difference between OCD and something less serious like perfectionism is that with perfectionism there's multiple facets to what you're worried about where with OCD it's a single facet and repeated like a ritual.

A perfectionist might need to straighten a crooked painting, for instance, but could go through with his or her day confident in the knowledge that said straightened painting is probably still straight. The perfectionist might worry about other things like how their papers are arranged or perhaps how their hair looks but they can move from one thing to another without needing to have any single object or action repeated constantly to feel as though they'd accomplished it (or to feed some compulsion).

An individual with OCD may need to straighten the painting multiple times and then check it afterward to be sure - and even then, will remain unsure - of its straightness. It's the requirement for something to go a certain way meeting the neurotic need to be in control of it and have it go your way all the time. That's why it takes over people's routines and lives, because they have the compulsive urge to do it - an urge so compulsive it overrides other normal schedules and behaviors.

[New Polypontia]

I was right!

[Xanama]

I know, but I try and it doesn't work for me, I'm always left miserable, plus my terrible past.

I have depression, as well as other things. The suffering is a long-term thing, but you can find ways to cope with it to make it a little less awful. You can try to be optimistic about it, and try to find some happiness.

I know, I can't really find anything, I always used to be happy, then, all of it went away

[The Flame Dawn]

Well I never bothered with diagnosing, or a self diagnosis but I think I always feel like I have to be a totally different person towards everyone. Around my parents and family I act conservative and quiet like they expect of me, around my good friends I'm open and fairly wild, around strangers I close myself off from the world, towards figures of authority I am passive and will only act if instructed too, and towards love interests I'm passive and submissive. All the while I wish I could change the way I look all the time.

I guess most of these lean towards me being passive but if I get really annoyed or frustrated I just act like a mute and don't speak at all. However, what goes through my mind are profanities to insult the source of my aggravation and thoughts of me committing atrocious acts. I don't feel right at all unless I'm at a computer screen, where I can talk freely and not have to physically interact with others or show my appearance. But I always get absorbed in it and don't make room to study or do homework so I'm doing poor in a bunch of classes, which makes my parents mad since my sister is significantly smarter, more popular, and more athletic than me. I envy my sister but also hold a deep grudge against her.

I feel as thought the world is caving in around me and my only comfort is my Chromebook which I always carry around when travelling. It's my gateway to a community I can enjoy and take part in. View what I want and converse whenever I wish, I can choose what to read and what not to read, all the while seeing people of different cultures and beliefs. I'm an adopted child who could easily have been an abortion but I'm still pro-choice, I deplore western culture but I can only speak English, I hate religion and capitalism but I've been stuck in a catholic school since I was little and I'm trapped in the cycle of capitalism, doomed to fall. I feel broken, stressed, and lost. I've thought of suicide but decided against it, I thought of running away but I decided against it, I thought of doing drugs and I was against it, and I thought about living life like the normal human was supposed to based off of pop culture and the advertisements that blared out on radios, billboards, and television, but I decided against that.

[Highfort]

I know, but I try and it doesn't work for me, I'm always left miserable, plus my terrible past.

I have depression, as well as other things. The suffering is a long-term thing, but you can find ways to cope with it to make it a little less awful. You can try to be optimistic about it, and try to find some happiness.

Telling someone who is clinically-depressed to just "try to be optimistic" or "find happiness" can actually sabotage them and be counter-productive, no matter how well-meaning. Clinical depression isn't just like being blue or down in the dumps, it's been documented as an actual hormonal and chemical imbalance in the brain. Many of these individuals are incapable of being happy, no matter what they try to do or how they try to view the world. Their mind is telling them that happiness is an impossibility and attempting to beat your own mind is pretty difficult.

It's more productive to get them psychological care, psychiatric treatment, and attempt to understand where their depression is rooted in rather than trying to change their minds. Mind does not trump matter in this case.

[Transyl]

I know, I can't really find anything, I always used to be happy, then, all of it went away

I honestly can't remember a time when I wasn't depressed. I've had depression since I was 8 years old. That's sad to say but it's true. When I was growing up with my mother and her boyfriend (not my father, he never cared for me.) The entire time when I was age 5-8, I had to witness my mother being beaten by her boyfriend. I was forced to see that terrible stuff, I cried myself to sleep every night wondering if my mother was going to be alright or not. I honestly thought that guy was going to murder my mother, then kidnap my and my brother. It was awful, and that was just the beginning of my life of suffering.

But. I won't go into too much detail..

[Torisakia]

I'm sure I have many mental illnesses (many that probably haven't even been discovered yet), but I have been diagnosed with social anxiety. Which is mostly my fault since I chose not to interact with other people. So I don't necessarily suffer from it much. Only reason I can't go out and meet people is due to my current living situation where I can't find a convenient time to do so. Other than that, I seem perfectly fine.

[Jute]

It can be hard to describe, as it's often very varied. It used to be called "the doubter's disease", as OCD is, as I understand it, usually be when you obsessively worry about a single small thing, like not having washed your hands enough or having touched something perceived as dirty, and then trying to offset that terrible anxiety by doing something over and over again until you feel relief, but it's only temporary, as soon enough you feel compelled to do the same actions again, "just to be sure"

There really is no 'straight' definition of OCD. You have to actually have it, or be around somebody who has it to actually understand it.

Even as someone who has visited a therapist for obsessive-compulsive tendencies I still struggle to explain it concisely in a few words.
Another attempt would be describing it as an attempt to control terrifying, anxiety-inducing uncertainty where you can't be 100 % sure, about some thing other people wouldn't care as much about. But even that is still not doing it fully justice, I feel, so I agree with you here. It's actually true for most mental illnesses, and probably the reason they're often so stigmatized: they're hard to relate to if you've never had them yourself, unlike bodily injuries which almost everyone has experienced at some point.

[Justin States]

Tag

[Transyl]

I'm sure I have many mental illnesses (many that probably haven't even been discovered yet), but I have been diagnosed with social anxiety. Which is mostly my fault since I chose not to interact with other people. So I don't necessarily suffer from it much. Only reason I can't go out and meet people is due to my current living situation where I can't find a convenient time to do so. Other than that, I seem perfectly fine.

I have a problem with interacting with other people, least in person. Whenever I try to talk to someone, I always choke on my own words and embarrass myself, that or I have a panic attack and can't hardly breathe correctly. I understand how you feel honestly.

[Xanama]

I know, I can't really find anything, I always used to be happy, then, all of it went away

I honestly can't remember a time when I wasn't depressed. I've had depression since I was 8 years old. That's sad to say but it's true. When I was growing up with my mother and her boyfriend (not my father, he never cared for me.) The entire time when I was age 5-8, I had to witness my mother being beaten by her boyfriend. I was forced to see that terrible stuff, I cried myself to sleep every night wondering if my mother was going to be alright or not. I honestly thought that guy was going to murder my mother, then kidnap my and my brother. It was awful, and that was just the beginning of my life of suffering.

But. I won't go into too much detail..

I had terrible life too, I'll also spare the details.
I was beaten, both at home and school, and you'd think me and my mom wouldve gotten along, but no! It's fights all the damn time, cussing out everybody who comes over, then one thanksgiving, a knife was pulled, my mom was hurt and now can't speak. As her voice box was destroyed....

[The Flame Dawn]

I took one of those depression tests online... it said I was severely depressed. I got a 57 and if you had 54 or up you had sever depression.

I took a Dissociative Identity Disorder test online... it said I have a higher association with DID. Total score of: 63.6(30 or Above - Higher Association With DID)

Looks like I proved I suffered from disorders.

[Torisakia]

I'm sure I have many mental illnesses (many that probably haven't even been discovered yet), but I have been diagnosed with social anxiety. Which is mostly my fault since I chose not to interact with other people. So I don't necessarily suffer from it much. Only reason I can't go out and meet people is due to my current living situation where I can't find a convenient time to do so. Other than that, I seem perfectly fine.

I have a problem with interacting with other people, least in person. Whenever I try to talk to someone, I always choke on my own words and embarrass myself, that or I have a panic attack and can't hardly breathe correctly. I understand how you feel honestly.

The only time I have trouble talking to other people is if I'm in a situation where a lot of people are focused solely on me (presenting a project in school, meeting new people at home, etc). Things like going to a cashier in Walmart or ordering food in a resturaunt I do pretty fine with.

[Transyl]

I had terrible life too, I'll also spare the details.
I was beaten, both at home and school, and you'd think me and my mom wouldve gotten along, but no! It's fights all the damn time, cussing out everybody who comes over, then one thanksgiving, a knife was pulled, my mom was hurt and now can't speak. As her voice box was destroyed....

That's terribly traumatic...

[United RussoAsia]

I went through horrible bullying in my past due to my autism which led to extreme depression. It was a bad time and one I prefer not to talk of.

[Xanama]

I had terrible life too, I'll also spare the details.
I was beaten, both at home and school, and you'd think me and my mom wouldve gotten along, but no! It's fights all the damn time, cussing out everybody who comes over, then one thanksgiving, a knife was pulled, my mom was hurt and now can't speak. As her voice box was destroyed....

That's terribly traumatic...

It is, I left the room before it happened, then there's my ADHD, that helps none
And Kat, thanks for making this thread, as it was needed

[Highfort]

I'm sure I have many mental illnesses (many that probably haven't even been discovered yet), but I have been diagnosed with social anxiety. Which is mostly my fault since I chose not to interact with other people. So I don't necessarily suffer from it much. Only reason I can't go out and meet people is due to my current living situation where I can't find a convenient time to do so. Other than that, I seem perfectly fine.

I have a problem with interacting with other people, least in person. Whenever I try to talk to someone, I always choke on my own words and embarrass myself, that or I have a panic attack and can't hardly breathe correctly. I understand how you feel honestly.

Ah, I haven't had the panic attacks so often, now it's just blocking or choking on my own words. Makes it difficult to order at restaurants - I usually just end up pointing and apologizing for being rude.

[Transyl]

It is, I left the room before it happened, then there's my ADHD, that helps none

ADHD is pretty tough to deal with. My brother has ADHD, and he doesn't know how to deal with it.

Ah, I haven't had the panic attacks so often, now it's just blocking or choking on my own words. Makes it difficult to order at restaurants - I usually just end up pointing and apologizing for being rude.

I can hardly even talk to my own mother without having problems speaking. It's just tough to deal with sometimes, and it frustrates me.

[Highfort]

I can hardly even talk to my own mother without having problems speaking. It's just tough to deal with sometimes, and it frustrates me.

I find that mood control really helps. I went to several speech therapy sessions at the behest of my high school and was taught how to control how I felt to prevent the rising panic. The chokes are airway-constrictive and tend to happen when I rapid-fire my speech and don't pause to breathe and slow my heart rate. The blocks, however, are neurological and no matter how calm I am or how much I modulate my air flow I still get really bad blocks when I talk to people, even close friends.

[Xanama]

It is, I left the room before it happened, then there's my ADHD, that helps none

ADHD is pretty tough to deal with. My brother has ADHD, and he doesn't know how to deal with it.

I can hardly even talk to my own mother without having problems speaking. It's just tough to deal with sometimes, and it frustrates me.

Yeah, it makes me seem like I'm hyped up, sometimes I think I have PTSD.... And a split personalty, which I do, my so called brain is a mess, if I even have a brain, I'm an idiot