WI has it. Whether the abuse is emotional or physical, you MUST protect yourself from it.

I'm guessing the meds she was on was one of the 10 anti-depressents with side affects that included a higher rate of suicide. I've been on 3 of them, and never personally had those feelings, but I can tell you from experience that each anti-depressent is formulated different, and WILL react differently to different people.

I know a lot of people have had success with zoloft. For me, sure, I wasn't depressed, but I also had no desire to get out of bed. I was perfectly happy laying in bed all day, and literally laid in bed for nearly 2 months. I got up to eat, and go to the bathroom, and if I absolutely had to leave the house. Otherwise, I just laid there.

She needs to work very closely with the perscribing doctor while taking the pills. Something that would help a lot is for her to keep a daily "feeling" diary. Nothing where you write out everything thta happened, but just a place to jot down how she's feeling from day to day. If she's upset and can't figure out way, or agitated, or sad, or happy, she should write it down. It makes it easier to tell when your feelings are going hay-wire from meds.

Personally, when I'm on meds, and have to go off for a time, I don't notice my behaviour changing until it's extreme. I'll go from feeling fine, to suddenly realizing a week later that I'm yelling at the kids for no reason, hiding in my bedroom, arguing over stupid things, and crying all the time. And I just don't realize it until I hit a wall. Reading back in a diary to see how you were feeling a week before, or a day before, or even an hour before will help her to sort out which meds are helping, and which are hindering.

They affect moods, and a lot of doctors are more than willing to dope up the public these days. 10 years ago, it was a huge secret and embarassment to be on an anti-depressant. Now, it's odd if you aren't on one, which isn't anymore right than before. I've had a doctor tell me (on my first ever visit to him) that he was upping my previous dose of 50mg's to 100mg's a day, and that he was using that as a "springboard" to get me to 150mg's a day. This was after I told him that I thought 50 was doing fine.

Just being there for someone is a huge help, as well. I don't know about others, but I find it easier to spill my "guts" so to speak to a stranger I can't see than to tell my husband.


Good Luck

We do get to see each other. Not just a net chat. Pills are and should be just a short term thing. 100,000,000 people are on anti-depressants in the US I read. Kids as young as 7 to.

I'm totally against anyone under 16 being on an anti-depressant. The side affects more than triple on children because they don't have the same levels of hormoans in their bodies, and the pills are tailored towards higher amounts.

It's like giving a baby an adult dose of tylenol.


Again, I hope things work out soon.

Catch22 ... any news on how things are going with your friend? We've kept her in our thoughts and hope between the counseling and authorities that the abuse has stopped and that she's being helped.

DB she is on pills, some of which had to be changed. She was very down a couple of weeks ago. She has not been able to get local counselling. I think a victims help group would be a help to her. The cops have been a help.

Hello,

Just an update. She took an overdose and has been in and out of hospital the last couple of months. I will be going over there to see her soon. Sorry to anyone I was chatting to here and have not been doing so since leaving here.

Catch22,

Thanks fo the update. I wish her well and good luck. I'm sorry that you left, although I feel I understand why.

Best of luck with her, buddy. She is lucky to have you caring about her.

I see from another thread on this advie board this is going on a lot. There does not seem to be much in the way of Govt help for this sort of thing over there it seems. We just had a big Govt funded ad and letter box thing about this in Oz.

Can I offer a very strange suggestion?

After my experiences with my ex, who was violent and abusive (he had an "episode" once a year), I went to a program called "Al-anon," not Alcoholics Anonymous. AA is for the drinker. Al-Anon is for the family of drinkers.

Now, even though her ex might not be an alcoholic, the principles of al-anon helped me IMMENSELY. They work for life, no matter what, even if the man is just addicted to violence instead of alcohol. I would advise her to go, it's free group counseling, it WORKS wonders, and it's everywhere. It saved my life.

Thanks, Sweetlady. I told her to find a group some time ago. There isn't anything near by to where she is.